Hottest Day in September But They Did It!

Memorial ride to Amsterdam for David Eales

A group keen cyclists endured high temperatures and fatigue but made the 500km distance to Amsterdam in memory of their colleague and friend, Ealing's David Eales.

David - who was planning to join them on the trip - died in Chelsea and Westminster Hospital last month after contracting SJS/TEN - a very rare disease..

Below, Nick Moffitt recounts the group's epic cycling journey:

Five of us (Brian Smith, Gareth Redmond-King, James Gower, Jon Chambers and Nick Moffitt) set off from Parliament Square on the morning of 13 September.

This turned out to be the hottest September day in the UK since 1911, with the epicentre of the heat wave focused on Gravesend just as we cycled past it.

We had lunch in Rochester, and all made it as far as Kemsley before Nick could not continue due to the heat.

Jon and Brian graciously helped him ride from Sittingbourne to Dover to meet up with Geraldine O'Grady who was beginning her ride there.

James and Gareth then heroically took on the North Downs in record heat and made it to Dover under their own power. We all then rode to the hotel in Dunkerque in the dark. We set off late from Dunkerque to give ourselves a chance to recouperate.

We crossed the border into Belgium just before noon on the 14th, and rode to Veurne for lunch. After that we powered on so that we would reach Bruges while there was still some daylight. On the 15th we rode to have lunch in Ghent, and dinner in Antwerp.

At 105km this was the longest stretch for everyone but James and Gareth. We were fortunate to have the wind on our side that day! On the 16th we rode north and crossed the border into the Netherlands on a quiet residential street. We had our one and only mechanical fault of the trip then: Geraldine's pedal seemed to have a cracked bearing loose inside the housing.

We rode to Roosendaal and Jon and Brian helped to fit the new pedals on. We ate lunch in the market square in Roosendaal and rode on to Rotterdam, crossing a stunning system of bridges and taking two dedicated cycling tunnels.

On the 17th we set off early and rode to a field near Alphen aan den Rijn where we met up with local cycling infrastructure boffin Bertram Bourdrez. Bertram grew up in the area, and led us the rest of the way to Amsterdam. The final approach through the Amsterdamse Bos and Vondelpark impressed us all, and we cycled through the Rijksmuseum tunnel in triumph as classical music played.

We cycled almost 500km to Amsterdam in memory of David Eales, and we all shared our own fond memories of the man. He had planned to come on this ride, and we hope we brought him along in spirit.

We each had our part to play in the ride: Nick Moffitt planned the routes, and navigated via GPS devices and paper maps. James Gower shared in navigation, but served also as pilot, guiding us through the unfamiliar roadscape in places. Brian Smith's experience as a ride leader and marshal helped him keep the six of us riding together. Gareth Redmond-King assisted with some of our mild medical complaints. Geraldine O'Grady kept us stocked in fresh fruit and ensured we took regular breaks. Jon Chambers brought a full set of tools, and prevented a mild mechanical problem from becoming a ride-stopping one.

We've all learned so much from this ride that there was talk of doing it again, as a more regular tribute to David Eales. We shall see!

You can still sponsor the cyclists here

Help raise funds for research into SJS here

20th September 2016