In the last full week of the relay the route turned finally turned north again, with over 1,600 miles covered.
Cathedrals Cycle Route. How Week 5 Unfolded.
It started on Monday from Wells to Bristol Cathedrals, with a team including the Cathedral Cycle Champion, Ben Potter, riding a recumbent trike.
Ed from Sustrans and Lee, Bishop of Swindon, joined the demanding 87-mile ride from Bristol Cathedral to Christ Church, Oxford, paced by John on his e-bike.
The route turned west back to Gloucester Cathedral, from where some 15 riders set out towards Hereford and Worcester Cathedrals, meeting Sir Edward Elgar and his bike on the way. John, Bishop of Worcester, joined the group at Hereford. At 77, Mervyn was the oldest relay rider so far not riding an e-bike; he cycled the whole 60 miles then rode back to Gloucester the next day.
Isabel and Asha from Coventry Cathedral made up the first all-female cathedral team and took the baton to Birmingham. The week ended with the challenging 70 miles between Lichfield and Chester Cathedral where the team got drenched in between a dry start and a dry finish.
This week the route takes the riders on to Liverpool, Manchester, Blackburn and Carlisle before the grand finish at Newcastle Cathedral on Saturday, 10 July.
A team of cyclists set off from Newcastle Cathedral on Sunday May 30 – at the start of Cycling UK’s Bike Week on a relay to ride 42 Cathedrals in 42 days to launch this new kind of pilgrimage route, the Cathedrals Cycle Route (CCR).
The CCR is a unique partnership between Sustrans, Cycling UK, the British Pilgrimage Trust and the Association of English Cathedrals that links all 42 Church of England cathedrals in a new initiative to promote greener travel and mental and physical wellbeing.
The 2,000 mile Cathedrals Cycle Route is the invention of academic, entrepreneur and keen cyclist Shaun Cutler, from Northumbria University, and is designed to help us all out of lockdown with opportunities for short cycle rides between cathedrals, new partnerships and fundraising for physical and mental well-being activities.
Shaun said:
“The Cathedrals Cycle Route is about connecting our historic cathedrals and enjoying the spaces between them.
“Now more than ever, after a year of living with the coronavirus pandemic, this is a way to support people’s mental and physical health and promote the mission of England’s cathedrals through pilgrimage, wellbeing and heritage.”
Read more about the Cathedrals Cycle Route:
