Climbing Every Mountain

You may recall that Mr Kris Tyas, Head of Mathematics, when faced with a two week Autumn Half Term last year, successfully ran seven marathons in seven days to raise money for the British Heart Foundation.

This year, it looked as if he would be attempting a relatively relaxed Three Peaks challenge, until we discovered he was planning to cycle between the legs.

Mr Tyas takes up the report of his epic achievement:

'We started with a quick trip up Snowdon on Friday night, in the dark. Only then did I find out my partner in the madness, Andy, had never been up a mountain before, let alone in the dark!

Anyway, back down in one piece, we camped that night, left the car at a friendly outdoor centre and set off 85 miles to Ormskirk just south of Preston via Liverpool and a ‘ferry across the Mersey…’.

Sunday saw us cycle over 90 miles through the lakes to Seatoller in Borrowdale where we met up with the camping kit we had sent ahead by courier earlier that week.

On Monday morning, after a quick trip up Sca Fell Pike, we were back down by 10.30am and then cycling another 80+ miles to Moffat, having met Simon, our support driver for the rest of the trip, half way down (or up for him!) Sca Fell. Simon was the friend that supported me last year on '7in7'.

Tuesday then saw us ride from Moffat, over Beattock summit, through Glasgow and Dumbarton- both urban contrasts- up Loch Lomond and up (lots) to Tyndrum (125 miles). All in time to watch Barcelona rob Celtic in the 94th minute and all the Rangers fans to celebrate as though Scotland had won the World Cup!

Wednesday saw an early start, in the dark, just like every other day! As we rode up and over Rannoch Moor, the sun came up and we were treated to a truly inspiring sight- dawn on Rannoch Moor. I do not think I have ever seen such a beautiful scene; it almost made it all worth it!

There was then a madcap descent into Glen Coe- six miles at 30 miles an hour without having to even pedal, heaven! We had a quick trip around the coast to Fort William for Breakfast at Tiffany’s- well not quite, we had to make do with a supermarket version but it tasted good.

A final cycle into Glen Nevis and the bike was onto eBay and we were off up the Ben. The glorious weather continued as we bounded up the Ben- well Andy bounded, I limped and Simon plodded. I have been up the Ben a dozen times before and have never been able to see more than six feet, ever- not then though, there was glorious sunshine reflecting off a covering of frozen snow, no wind and a view of the Scottish highlands as far as you could see. It was fantastic, so fantastic that I fell asleep for an hour in the sunshine. A quick trip down and a local hostelry was calling.'

When asked to summarise the key aspects of this weekend, Mr Tyas mentioned: 450 miles; three big hills; perfect weather (no wind at all); two great friends; massive thanks to Andy for letting him hide behind him all the way; 10 miles cycling on a newly built, yet to be opened motorway (a slight navigational error!); only one break down- right outside a bike shop- no punctures; incredibly sore legs; and a job well done.

Please do not ask and say the following to Mr Tyas! 'Cars are a brilliant invention!' ‘Why are all roads uphill?’ 'The flat earth brigade were blatantly wrong; it is not round, it is hilly!’ 'Are we nearly there yet?’ 'You never get a view off the Ben.' 'Porridge, cereal, five Mars bars, peanut butter sandwiches, fish and chips, large pasta meal, four bananas per day and you still lost weight?’