Ruth Bergan and Elinor Wakefield cycled from Birmingham to Bradford over Easter 2005. They raised money for Development in Action, and discovered muscles they didn’t know they had...the painful way.

Birmingham to Burton-on-Trent

Following the necessary photo-op outside the town hall, we cycled out of Birmingham along quiet canal paths, and criss-crossed the M5. At some point after Litchfield, late afternoon, we were over-taken by a man riding a pedal cycle complete with battery-powered motor...

Burton-on-Trent to Chesterfield

We coped like a pair of pros with our first puncture (i.e. swearing a lot and blaming the bike shop) but didn’t lose too much time. We were both relieved to see Chesterfield’s twisted spire and felt compelled, in the spirit of DiA, to finish the day with a curry.

Chesterfield to Wakefield

We turned towards Sheffield on a long disused railway that followed the canal. Another puncture prolonged our time in the land of shellsuits, quad bikes, broken glass and graffiti.

Wakefield to Bradford

Nothing could take away from the fact that this was the last day, we’d nearly made it and neither of us had had to start walking like John Wayne. Mr. Beeching and Mrs. Thatcher had again ensured that we were able to follow disused railway lines for a long time as we headed into Leeds. We ploughed on to Bradford. A final photo in front of the town hall, and a slightly random demand for a hug from a teenager who thought his home town was a dump and didn’t know where Birmingham was (and therefore couldn’t really appreciate our own excitement at being there), ended our 165 mile expedition.