Team members of the GM Fundraising Border2Border (B2B) cycling challenge sponsored by Deceuninck, got their first taste of just how tough next year’s Vancouver, Canada to Tijuana, Mexico ride will be, when they recently took part in Yorkshire’s 2015 Dark Peak Challenge.
While the landscape and the climate may be continents apart, the challenge was a great taster for the team, covering some 65 miles and scaling heights of 1,640 feet. The ride was officially started by Former World Champion Yvonne McGregor MBE, cycling manager on the Border2Border cycling challenge, and B2B team members taking part included Matthew Glover, Darren Lloyd, Andrew Glover, Mike James, Alan Sadler and Nigel Barrett. The ‘West Yorkshire Windows’ team line up was completed by, James Elston and Andy Ibberson.
GM Fundraising’s Gary Morton commented: “Taking place over 11 days next June, spanning 2,016 miles between Vancouver, Canada and Tijuana, Mexico, offering up 92,295 feet of climbing and temperatures in excess of 40º, the GMF B2B ride is being described as the ‘toughest yet’ for good reason.
“Without the necessary advanced training, there is no way even an experienced cyclist would survive the B2B challenge. That’s why the 18 strong riding team is already starting a regime of planned training of the 2,500 miles target prior to the ride, including 75,000 feet climbing and at least fifteen, 70 plus mile rides over the next 12 months.
“Riders commented that this Dark Peak challenge really proved how essential this training is, as many of the days on B2B are far tougher. It was the first of many such training weekends with more to follow including Wales, Mallorca and the Peak District.”
To follow the progress of the team during its 12 month training visit www.gmfundraising.co.uk/border2border, ‘like’ on Facebook, or follow: @gmfundraising on Twitter, and look out for the hashtag #GMFB2B for regular updates.
The fundraising starts now and each member of the team has their own profile pages on the website, with links to their fundraising pages on JustGiving.
