Last Monday three members of the University of Plymouth Sailing Club rode 180 miles from Plymouth to Portsmouth to raise money for The Armed Forces Charity. An amazing charity which supports veterans and active personnel with mental health and financial support.

The ride was inspired after Plymouth competed in the Big South West Ride back in May, a virtual race around the UK against the other University Sailing Clubs in the South West, raising money for the charity Mind. As a whole club effort, we completed the 2300 mile race in just 4 days, beating by Exeter by 20 mins and raising just over £1000!

Our ride started at 2 am and took us up and over a foggy Dartmoor before descending into Exeter as the sun rose just before 7 am. From here the cycle became easier with temperatures back into double digits and the majority of our climbing completed! The next couple of hours were spent fighting a headwind towards Poole whilst temperatures rose to over 30 degrees, before a descent into the new forest and a cruise into Portsmouth.

In total, we rode 179 miles and climbed 3900m in a total of 13hr and 16 minutes as well as raising over £700 for SSAFA.

Donations can still be made here: justgiving.com/fundraising/rideforssafa

Quotes:

'One of the hardest things I've ever done, especially the last 40 miles. I'm so glad that I've done it tho, especially for such a worthy cause.'

 

- George Kennedy

'This ride was definitely one of the hardest things I've done, especially with such an early wake-up call. I think the hardest part of it was the amount we climbed as well as just eating enough as we were just burning so much energy! In the end, I'm happy we did it and happy with what we've raised!!'

 

- Callum Combe