Kenny Smith Leaves Chichester To Cycle Around The U.K.

Kenny Smith has been preparing for today for the last two years. Today Kenny embarked on day 1 of 50 days unsupported cycling around the U.K. in aid of the MS Trust in memory of his much loved and missed sister Kathleen Painter.

Kathleen was diagnosed with MS in 1990 but in 2014 lost her battle the debilitating disease and since then Kenny has undertaken numerous challenges from trekking, running and cycling all over the world to raise funds and awareness of Multiple Sclerosis. Kenny has raised an astonishing £250,000 for the trust to date and on this challenge he aims to raise £50,000. If you would like to support Kenny’s challenge you can donate here.

At 9am Kenny left Chichester Gate accompanied by one of the local fire engines who saw him safely cross the Fishbourne A27 roundabout to begin his challenge in style.

What’s Kenny riding?

Kenny’s been training on his Vaaru MPA for the last few months. Monday morning was spent checking his set-up and making some last minute adjustments to his riding position. We found he was more comfortable in a more upright position so with some minor adjustments he was ready. We are delighted to be a part of Kenny’s challenge and hope that he enjoys his challenge on his Vaaru MPA.

Vaaru MPA titanium endurance frame

Vaaru F:140 custom painted carbon forks

Vaaru custom painted carbon bottle cages

Shimano Ultegra mechanical groupset

3T aluminium wheels and Continental tyres

3T handlebars

3T seat post

Fabric saddle

Some Facts About Kenny’s Challenge

“My overall mileage is approximately 2655 miles, providing I don’t go too far off course! (But I will be adding a few miles to see places of interest that are worth a detour) With all of the total elevation gain I ride every day added together this makes things quite shocking…. the total elevation is a jaw dropping 136325 ft, which is equal to 25.819 miles or 41.551 m or 41,551,860 mm or to put it simpler, equal to over 4 and a half times the height of the worlds tallest mountain, Mount Everest, or just under the distance of the London marathon, or over 8. 6 times the height of Mount Blanc and 134 times higher than the shard in London!!

The wheels on my bike will be size 700c with a circumference of 2136mm, there are 1,609,344mm per mile, which means every mile I ride my wheels will turn approximately 753 revolutions per mile meaning for the entire 50 days my wheels will turn a total of 1,999,215 times in total!!

I will be riding anywhere around 8 hours each day, some days I could be in the saddle for well over 10 hours due to the hills and uneven terrain, so this will burn a lot of energy and calories, around calories 6000 a day to be exact! Burning 6000 calories a day is equal to 24 cheeseburgers a day! or losing 1.7 pounds in weight each day, a total of 85lbs over the 50 days, thats 6 stone in weight!!

Riding long days means sweating, and this needs to be replaced by drinking around 4ltrs of water per day, that is 200 ltrs of water over the 50 days, as well as water I will need to drink water with electrolytes in to avoid dehydration and muscle cramps

During my 50 day cycle ride I will be staying staying in 19 houses, 14 guest houses, 10 B&Bs, 7 hotels and one campervan!

Along my way around the UK I will see 5 different seas

• The English Channel
• The North Atlantic Ocean
• The Celtic Sea
• The Irish Sea
• The North Sea

I will ride through 11 of the UK’s National Parks..

• South Downs
• New Forest
• Dartmoor
• Exmoor
• Brecon Beacons
• Snowdonia
• Peak District
• Loch Lomond
• Caimgorms
• Northumberland
• North York Moors
• Yorkshire Dales

I will be riding over 26 of Britain’s largest Rivers River Arun, Avon, Exe, Tamar, Taw, Parrett, Wye, Severn, Dee, Mersey, Ribble, Luned, Eden, Loch Ness, Spey, Tweed, Tyne, Tees, Ure, Wharfe, Aire, Trent, Nene, Great Ouse, Thames, Medway I will also ride through 24 major cities and visit 16 cathedrals, and go through and see various sea side resorts, castles, churches, villages, famous land marks and ports and harbours Finally, in between all the cycling I will get to meet some amazing people around the UK, some who I have met on treks and multi day cycles before and many more amazing people who have kindly offered me a place to stay”