Congrats Team Age UK H&F!

Congratulations, team #ageukhf! You guys are amazing.

We're so proud of you for raising money for us by completing the 55-mile London to Brighton Cycle on 11 September. You all did an incredible job, and we want to thank you for being part of the community that makes Age UK H&F such a special place.

We love hearing stories from our supporters about their adventures. Here's what Sarah had to say about her experience:

We left the house bright and early on in the morning to get to the London to Brighton start line at Clapham Common. Our team set off at 8am and wanted to get a group photo before we were too sweaty and exhausted! Pretty much immediately out the gate, we got separated. Antony flew off ahead, aiming for a sub-5-hour time. We saw him briefly at some traffic lights and then lost him again!

Four of Team Age UK H&F were behind us, but we powered on ahead to escape the crowd of cyclists trying to get out of London. The first 17 miles weren't too bad. Once we'd cleared the crowd, we had a nice run out into the countryside, where we quickly started encountering the hills! Having trained exclusively in London, these inclines were a nasty shock for my legs. But, what goes up must come down, and the descents were quite enjoyable!

At the first water stop, I had to get my gears looked at because they were crunchy, but the mechanical support team got me fixed as best they could and then we were off again. The next leg felt much harder, and we had to stop a few times. The isotonic gel packs were a huge help, and we made it to the next stop (which they had cruelly put at the top of a hill!). We had a snack, filled up the bottles and then headed on again quite quickly, knowing that the most challenging bit was ahead of us.

The sun had come out by then, which was lovely. After what felt like constant uphill, we started running out of water and kept expecting the next water stop to be round the corner until a fellow cyclist told us it was at the top of the Ditchling Beacon!

We found a pub along the route where we could fill our bottles and pop to the loo, where Ali caught up. The three of us set off together, but the Beacon separated us very quickly. I had gone ahead but was soon overtaken by Ali, who was better prepared for the hills than I was! John was behind, needing longer to get up the Beacon. I stopped more than I can count but managed to cycle up, feeling very proud of myself on my heavy mountain bike, when people in club cycling gear with fancy road bikes were walking up!

Ali and David were finishing their ice creams at the top of the hill when I made it up (and immediately sat down!). They went on ahead to the finish line to secure a pub for when the rest of us arrived. I waited for John to get up the Beacon before we followed them. The last six or so miles were mostly downhill and suddenly felt so much easier than any of the rest of it, and it wasn't long before we were approaching the finish line (after getting caught in a little bit of traffic).

Finishing was incredibly satisfying, and knowing that we'd raised so much money to support Age UK Hammersmith & Fulham made it all the better.

It was a fun day out, and whilst difficult, I would recommend it to anyone considering it. My medal now has pride of place on a shelf in my bedroom, and Age UK H&F have more money to use to support older people. Not bad for a Sunday out!

Please click here if you would like to support our mission in helping make Hammersmith & Fulham an age-friendly area.