North Hampshire endurance cyclist prepares for round Britain adventure
23-year-old Harry Lidgley will cycle to all of the RNLI lifeboat stations to raise money for the charity
Last updated 17th Apr 2021
A 23-year-old endurance athlete from north Hampshire is about to begin a 7000 kilometre cycle ride around Britain.
Harry Lidgley from Burghclere plans to visit all 168 RNLI lifeboat stations to raise money for the charity.
The distance is the equivalent of Land’s End to John O’Groats five times, back to back. He says when he started planning the route he got an unwelcome surprise:
"The stations are often only 10 or so kilometres apart so it's going to be a very coastal route and that also makes it extremely hilly, I didn't quite realise that when I first thought of the expedition!"
In fact dropping down to sea-level to reach the stations, several times a day, adds serious elevation - over 65,000m in total (that's almost 8 Everests).
Harry is no stranger to the coastline of Britain - last year he and some friends rowed around it in 42 days. He says he hopes he can complete the cycle ride faster. It was while on his epic row that he had the idea to support the RNLI:
"At times we were rowing through very remote and dangerous waters so they were a very reassuring presence. They were very generous with their time they offered advice and even off the point of Ardnamurchan, the most western point of the mainland, the Tobermory lifeboat came out, they motored out to meet us, that was a really nice gesture"
Helpfully Harry's current job as a fast food delivery cyclist fits perfectly with his training:
"Training for an endurance cycle like this you don't want to do long slow hours on the saddle, but it's good to get in some sprint sessions to elevate those heart rates into the higher zones so Deliveroo actually provides some diversity to my training (chuckles) as well as paying the bills"
To complete the cycle on schedule Harry needs to do around 170 kilometres a day and he says he knows it'll be a tough challenge:
"When I'm by myself and it's hammering with rain in Scotland and my bum hurts and my legs are sore, I've just got to dig deep and find some more strength to keep going. The first few weeks are going to be very hilly so it'll be quite a shock to the system tackling the hills of Devon and Cornwall"
He'll begin his ride at the RNLI's HQ in Poole on 1 May - you can find out more about his expedition at www.gblifeboatcycle.com
Harry is also looking for people to join him along the way.