During the Easter holiday, TPS cadet Ben M joined cadets and staff from Churcher’s College CCF to cycle the South Downs Way between Winchester and Eastbourne.
A route of 100 miles (160km), the classic route is described as “steeply undulating with relentless hills and rough terrain but with sweeping views and a breath-taking sense of space”.
The distance alone was significant for the cadets but when combined with a total climb of 3390m (11,122ft) this made for a very tough challenge indeed! The ride is the equivalent of climbing Mount Snowdon 3 times over 4 days! On arriving at camp each evening, cadets had to erect tents and cook their own meal from army issued ration packs.
TPS CCF instructor Rob Newton, who also completed the ride along with TPS instructor Phil Cheesman, said, “The cadets showed resilience, determination, teamwork and self-motivation and maintained a positive attitude throughout the whole four days. Ben said that the ride was physically really hard as the hills seemed to just keep getting bigger, but that he is really proud to have represented TPS and completed the whole ride.”
