Team QGate go the extra mile

Team QGate, QGate's team of cycling enthusiasts, have just completed the ride from Lands End to John O'Groats in under 60 hours. Mark Child, Jim Evans, John Rogerson and Steve Smith set off from Lands End at 2.15pm on August 10th arriving at John O'Groats, 891.6 miles later, in 59 hours and 51 minutes.

Last year the team completed the Brittany Challenge, a 500 mile ride over three days in northern France. Now though they had to cope with a lack of sleep, itinerant drivers and no proper meal breaks for nearly three days.

At one point, things got so bad that Mark resorted to shouting at himself to stay awake while riding but others, notably Steve, found it difficult to rest immediately after a good ride. 

The team were lucky in that they endured only a few breakdowns and rider changeovers tended to be prompt affairs, unless the police felt inclined to ask the team's support vehicle not to stop on a main road.

And, inspite of the close attention of other road users, there were no fallers until John collided with the Welcome to Scotland sign.

Having made such great progress on the journey through England, the team were faced with a 2am arrival at John O'Groats but they made sure to stock up on bubbly and cans beforehand. They arrived (very) tired but happy and now have to recover and prepare for the Loire Challenge in October.