Students take on 400-mile cycling challenge for charity

By Josie Adnitt via SWNS

A group of students took on a stiff challenge for charity - cycling 400 miles from Cock Lane to Dick Place.

The eight Edinburgh University lads wanted to do something hard for Movember.

So they decided to cycle from Cock Lane near Smithfield Market in London to Dick Place in Edinburgh - a journey of 388 miles.

The peloton reached their destination on Sunday afternoon (12/11) after 36 hours straight of cycling.

The team, made up of Alex Mutter, 21, Mungo Toms, 21, Will Brown, 22, Calum Gundry, 25, Calum Dempster, 20, Douglas Phillips, 22, Gregor McArthur, 22, Tom Bonner 22 and Conor Carleton, 25, even had time for a pint on arrival.

Alex, studying Biomedical Sciences, said: “The whole route idea came from a meme of an ultimate road trip across the UK through all sexual innuendo named places.

“We thought perfect for a Movember route so decided on Cock Lane to Dick Place to help raise awareness.

“Morale is high, it’s great, we’re this group of guys who supported and helped each other.”

Mungo, studying Computer Science, said: “London to Edinburgh is a famous ultra-cycling challenge, it’s quite a famous route that people like to take on, so it’s a bit of a twist on that.

“It’s a nice way to have fun with mates at same time – we did a training ride a few weeks ago and within a few hours we were in the middle of nowhere under blue sky.

“It’s a great escape from pressures and stress of university so if we can combine the love of that and raise money for people struggling at the same time, then why not."

Some of the group have taken part in previous Movember challenges, including riding 525km around the famously steep Arthur’s Seat hill in 2021 and completing a 500km ride around the Scottish Borders in 2022.

But this year’s challenge has been the toughest so far – seeing the team cycle a total of 625km and hoping to raise five times more than last year's fundraising total of £3k.

During their training they completed a series of 200km rides and the team say they had to practicing drinking and eating while on the bike.

The group even had a support team tracking them along the way and additional riders who dropped in along different parts of the route to help give the team a boost.

Now they’ve completed the ride they say it was an emotional experience, and they've raised nearly £5k.

"We’ve been spreading awareness, fundraising and doing some publicity for months now - even before ride started we were just about to top our goal from last year and were on the way up to £15k,” said Alex.

“When I’ve told people what we’re doing, the main response I get it is people asking where are you staying along the week, that will be fun doing a week of cycling.

“We’ve had to say no we’re going in one go, people don’t get that we’re going all in one go.

“It was hard to process, it wasn’t an enticing thought beforehand and we know how difficult it was to be on the bike after 26 hours last year.

“To think we still had another 10 hours more after that is daunting but seeing two sunrises and two sunsets in one ride was pretty surreal.

"We were all very emotional, this group have done a couple of challenges together but this one seemed like something special.

"It was very emotional at the finishing line - we all knew it was the hardest challenge we'd done mentally and physically so seeing each other having finished it was really something special."

Mungo said: "The ride for the most part went to plan, we got really lucky with the weather but it was quite cold in the night which was a struggle

"It got down to -4 degree which meant people were riding in puffer jackets and ski jackets.

“It’s been partly a logistical challenge - getting the bikes to London, having enough food, fuel and clothes for the time on the bike.

“Without the help we’d be really struggling - I think it’s a nice way to try and give back to other people who may be struggling.

“In previous years when I was doing the rides I thought this is really hard, but there are lots of people who go through much worse than this every day and we’re really lucky to go and do something like this.

"And it's just a huge thanks to the support team, they didn't sleep from 4am on Saturday until 6pm on Sunday - without them it wouldn't have happened."

To sponsor the London to Edinburgh team, visit here.