The GoTrek – Final Preparations
On Tuesday morning Dave Cornthwaite and I will be making our way to Liverpool to start our next adventure; The Go Trek – a world record distance of 3000 mile’s around Western Europe on our ElliptiGo‘s.
As we cross five countries our mission is very simple; to raise money for the breast cancer charity Coppafeel, to encourage people to join us and share the love of good adventure with a simple message ‘say yes more‘ and all whilst having a very good time!
It’s strange to be starting in Liverpool, which is so close to home and for once in the UK – so often my trips begin after a long haul flight. We have chosen this as our start point to be amongst friends – Everton football club use ElliptiGo’s and they’ll be seeing us off.
Preparation before a trip has become a familiar process to me… It goes a little bit like this
1. I have so much time I’ll get super organised and be ready to go well in advance.
2. Hmmm, time is getting shorter, I’d better start getting organised.
3. Ok there’s just days to go until I leave, I need to stop shuffling kit around and actually pack.
With very little time until we begin I’m currently in Stage 3!
It’s been a really good few weeks, I’ve loved getting to know Dave, my gotrek companion, better. He is incredibly calm with a very positive attitude. He has experience of expeditions and we’ve been able to work well together, sharing the process which can, at times, be daunting and difficult. He clearly has a sense of humour too which, for me, is one of the most important qualities you can have in an expedition buddy.
My parent’s are delighted that during this trip, Dave and I be wearing the safest helmets in the world – Kranium Helmets. We met the designer, Ani Rao, at The Outdoors Show in January where he was exhibiting his helmets, that are made of cardboard! He’s young and cool but mostly he’s super intelligent with a fantastic story and product. After a serious cycling injury left him hospitalised he set about designing a helmet with woodpeckers in mind! Replicating the structure that a woodpecker has between it’s beak and skull Ani has developed one of the safest helmets out there!
On just day two of our trip we’ll be heading into Derby and our stop over for the night is at my parents. Home cooked food and my own bed….such a treat at the start of our journey!
Dave and I will be towing trailers behind our ElliptiGo’s with everything we need to be completely self sufficient. However, we are welcoming the offer of beds for the night so if you happen to be on our route we’d hugely appreciate a place to stay… and shower!!
In my trailer I’ll definitely be taking my new Jetboil stove – I used it yesterday for the first time and love it.
We’re encouraging people to come and join us or just say hello during our trip, if you can meet us for a cup of tea or ride a section with us we’d be delighted to have you along.
We’ll be in Hyde Park London on Sunday 5th May between 3-5pm so if you fancy test ride or a look please come. Then on Monday 6th May we’ll be leaving Clapham Common at 8am (tbc) to ride London – Brighton.
For details about our exact movements please keep a close eye on my facebook and twitter … and of course on The Go Trek website – which you can sign up to for updates which automatically enters you into prize draw for some fantastic prizes!
We are supporting the breast cancer charity Coppafeel and we’re asking people to donate just £3.00 to support us on our 3000 mile journey to help reach our £3000 target!
To donate click here. Thank you!
Now… back to packing chaos!
Back to blog