As the weeks tick down towards the 18th September and the 3 passes on the 85 miles Rivers Route fail to shrink things are getting more serious.
The scene – the school hall at Paddle, just outside Cockermouth
The participants – nervous and more nervous
The Boss – Barry Johnson, elite athlete and trainer
We may not have been wearing old fashioned gym shorts and white t shirts – but it felt like we were properly back in school. That sense of nervous expectation when you’re not quite sure what the teacher’s going to ask you to do. I won’t distress readers with the details but when I said to our trainer ‘this exercise really makes my elbows hurt he replied with a slight smile ‘yes it will do, don’t worry, it’s only your ligaments’.
In truth Barry was a gentleman and never asked us to do more than we could manage, but I’m still not sure why we need to have arms like Popeye for riding a bike!
We’ve had a great deal of interest in the Jennings Rivers Ride – entirely down to the wonderful efforts of Matt Whitehurst and his stunt riding on the waters of Buttermere – photo attached which has gone ‘viral’ on the internet. (Warm thanks to the Cockermouth Mountain Rescue team and the expert photography of Charlie Hedley).
