Cycling Freemason Phil Aitken and his brother Rob are hopping into the saddle again to ride more than 400 miles in support of the #Lincs2025 Festival, which aims to raise £2.25m for the Freemasons’ charity the MCF.
Determined to do a ride into France, which Covid’s travel restrictions prevented them for doing at the first attempt, they’ll ride from Calais to Paris (195 miles), then Paris to Dieppe (138 miles), and from Newhaven to Dover (84 miles).
Says Phil, of Industry Lodge in Scunthorpe: “We’ll be unsupported all the way, so we’ll be carrying all our luggage and equipment as well. It’ll be 420 miles, and more than 12,000 feet of hills. We expect to be in the saddle for 35 hours! Please dig deep and donate what you can – and please gift aid your donation. Contact me on 07747 622989 or p.aitken2@ntlworld.com.”
The route will be:
Day 1 Calais to Arras – 66.5 Miles, 2782ft Elevation, 6 hours
Day 2 Arras to Compienge – 71.86 Miles, 2569ft Elevation, 6.5 hours
Day 3 Compienge to Paris – 56.42 Miles, 1469ft Elevation, 5.2 hours
Day 4 – Paris to Gisors – 65.70 Miles, 1519ft Elevation, 6.0 hours
Day 5 Gisors to Dieppe – 72.33 Miles, 1713ft Elevation, 6.5 hours (Ferry to UK)
Day 6 Newhaven to Hythe – 70.78 Miles, 1275ft Elevation, 6.4 hours
Day 7 Hythe to Dover – 13.36 Miles, 839ft Elevation, 1.2 hours
– Drive home – 253 Miles, 5.5 hours
To sponsor Phil on his ride, visit his JustGiving page here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Philip-Aitken?utm_campaign=lc_frp_share_transaction_transactional_–_page_launched_–_campaign&utm_content=64279444-6f27-4aae-99ff-a462f2ed5ef0&utm_medium=email&utm_source=postoffice&utm_term=1646164803936