Lincoln2London - Summary

Lincoln2London

Dedicated to those genius’ at Apple & Google who bought us iPhones with Google Maps

For the Prince’s Trust Million Makers Challenge 2010, Siemens Commercial Academy Students have entered a team called Project Siemens to raise as much money as they can for the competition – with all the money going to The Prince’s Trust and their great cause. Adrian & Kye, two Academy students based in Lincoln decided to cycle 160 miles from the Lincoln offices to Siemens UK HQ in Frimley, over two days in early September. All the money raised will go to the Prince’s Trust in their work and support with young adults throughout the country.

It was a bright Thursday morning when we set out from Siemens Industrial Turbomachinery in Lincoln. Spirits were high, energy levels were full and tyres were inflated. Oh, how none of those lasted long.

We set off around 8am from Lincoln, cycling down the High Street and off towards one of the many smaller communities surrounding Lincoln City Centre. After a large hill, there was a smooth, flat road as far as the eye can see. This was great news – that is until Kye shouted “Stop! I have a puncture!”

“Already?!” I groaned and went back to inspect the damage. 3.5 miles in and his back tyre was completely deflated and it suddenly dawned on us that we had no idea how to change a tyre. I phoned my friend who does a lot of cycling and he talked us through how to change it… except we were missing tyre levers. We tried our fingers and keys but nothing could get the tyre off the wheel rim. As a last resort we found a couple who were out gardening and asked if we could borrow some spoons as tyre levers and the bloke – who used to work at Siemens in Lincoln – helped us change our first tyre successfully.

We had already lost an hour and a quarter from the first puncture so already 12miles behind schedule. We carried on for a good few miles and came to our first ‘A’ road. As we came off the road Kye got his foot stuck between his pedal and the floor and face dived into some local greenery. Funny as this was, he had actually twisted his ankle and this continued to plague him with pain for the next day and a half.

We got to a place called North Witham which was 34 miles out of Lincoln by about 2pm which is where Kye experienced his second puncture of the day. We decided to eat lunch here, now being 2 hours behind schedule due to a nasty road with more uphills than down.

Caption: This is a prohibited place within the meaning of the official secrets acts. Unauthorised persons entering the area may be arrested and prosecuted.


After lunch Google maps decided to take us through a RAF base protected by the Official Secrets act. As we decided on a route to take around the base, I got on my bike and ripped my shorts in comical fashion – actually making the classic ripping noise.

We carried on due South for another 20 miles or so, before hitting a ridiculously large valley. Going down, I hit speeds of over 40mph – without pedalling, but up the other side we were forced to get off and walk. Even a pro cyclist in all his lycra only just made it up the other side, with much puffing and panting.

Just north of Kettering, Kye got his third puncture just before a dual carriageway. He had to walk a mile and a half with a flat tyre to find me who had sped ahead unawares of his tyre situation. As we changed the inner tube for the third time in 65 miles the sun went down behind the trees and we decided to make a dash for Kettering, only 5 miles away, and to find a hotel there rather than getting to Olney, 23 miles away, where we had originally intended to stay.

We made it to Kettering and found a hotel with a couple of spare rooms and stayed there for the night. In the morning we were both feeling the pains of the day before – especially the classic saddle sore. And knowing we had a mammoth journey ahead we wanted to set out early.

However, we went to buy a new tyre for Kye’s rear wheel to avoid further delays through punctures on the second day and they didn’t open until 9. After the wheel was changed and a quick stop at Tesco (other supermarkets are available) we set off for the remaining 96 miles of our journey. At this point, the thought of stepping on a train for the remaining journey were starting to enter our minds…

After we got south of Kettering, there was a fantastic stretch of about 10miles where cyclists regularly go to train for time trials and we were making good progress.
We made it through to Olney by midday – where we should have been the night before – putting us approx 4 hours behind schedule. However, due to the nice roads we were beginning to feel hopeful of a decent time of finish.

The beginning of the afternoon was great, the roads were flat and smooth and we went round the outskirts of Milton Keynes with no problems. There were a few large hills and a few nice stretches on downhill and everything seemed to be looking up.

We got to Slough around 7pm and the sun was just starting to go down. We powered on through and made it to Legoland by half past 8 - a mere 12.1 miles from the Frimley offices.

However, the sun had now gone down, and being completely un-prepared as we were, we did not have lights for the bikes so had to walk down the road, pushing our bikes.

After 2 miles of walking, Kye got a puncture again. But this time in the front tyre. We spent 45 minutes trying to fix it, but in the end just decided to push it for the final 10 miles.

We then spent 3 hours pushing our bikes through towards Frimley, finally making it to the offices just after 1am on Saturday morning.

We were dirty from oil and tired from the riding and the walking but we were glad to have made it – we even ran the last 100 metres!

Overall it was a fantastic experience, which would have been made lots better if we had planned our route, had proper equipment with us and had some bike lights! Though I can’t say I’d recommend the trip to anyone.

We’d like to say thank you to those who have already sponsored us for this great cause, we’ve raised just over £500, and would like to encourage people to sponsor us now you’ve read what a gruelling experience it was for us both, the donations website is still open! www.justgiving.com/lincoln2london

Many thanks,

Adrian & Kye