So what is the
Three Lakes Challenge?
We will be traversing the calm waters (fingers crossed) of Loch Lomond (Scotland), Lake Windermere (England) and Lake Bala (Wales) on a bike powered pedalo. We then ride across Britain from lake to lake. In total we will be ‘cycling’ 15km on water and 550km on tarmac. Each person will endure 188km / 16hrs in the saddle, with cycling over water much harder than on land! We will be crossing each lake and cycling in three teams in relay.
Who are RCL?
We are a group of friends who met at Bath University (many years ago!) and formed a sports club in 2010. The aim of our club is two-fold; firstly, to keep fit (we meet every Tuesday in Wandsworth park for exercise sessions) and secondly to embark on large charity fundraising projects every few years.
RCL FitnessWe are raising money for three charities
The Royal Trinity Hospice
Trinity provides skilled, compassionate care and support to people with progressive, life-limiting illnesses and those close to them. We support people living in our central and south west London community, at home and at the hospice. All our services are provided free of charge to patients and their families. ‘We support patients, their families and carers, to live every moment’.
Find out more
The Ickle Pickles
The Ickle Pickles Children’s charity support the smallest and sickest babies who come into this world needing our help. They support and purchase equipment for Neonatal units, for transport ambulances and for specialist units across the UK. With NHS budgets being continually squeezed there is a real and tangible need for public donation and support.
Find out more
KEEN London
KEEN London is the only charity in London providing one-to-one support at free sports and activity sessions for children with disabilities. Over 100 families across London are members of the KEEN family and they provide over 6000 hours of supported care to children with disabilities every year. No child should miss out on the benefits of sports and physical activity.
Find out moreAgainst the Clock
We will have 48 hours to cycle across and in between the three lakes - Loch Lomond, Lake Windermere and Lake Bala. A crew of 12 covering 565km in total.
Bike Powered Boats
The Akwakat is a compact and lightweight conversion set that temporarily transforms virtually any bike into a twin inflatable hull water bike.
Notable Participants
Tom Pellereau (2011 winner of TV’s Apprentice) and Rob Bell (a successful TV presenter from various engineering programmes on BBC2 and Channel 5).
Curious to find out more about the #ThreeLakesChallenge?
We made a video to explain how we will either #cycleorsink.
In detail...
We are a group of 12 enthusiastic, focussed and fit (ahem - mostly fit) individuals. We will aim to complete the Challenge as a relay - split into 3 teams of 4 riders per team. At any one time, we will have 4 bikes on the go - whether that’s over land on 4 road bikes or over water on 4 Akwakats. We’ve divided the course through Scotland, England, and Wales into chunks that we think will take about 2 hours to complete.
As one team of 4 finishes a particular chunk, they’ll jump off the bikes and hand over to the next team of 4. We’ll continue this method until we’ve gone across and between all 3 lakes - meaning everyone will go though a cycle of 2 hours riding, 4 hours rest, 2 hours riding, 4 hours rest...
In total, we estimate everyone will have contributed 188km from a cruel 16 hours in the saddle over the 48 hour period. It’s also estimated everyone will get very little sleep in that time - given that the rest periods will be spent in a cramped and smelly support van.
Watch the videoOur Participants
- Ben Knowles
- Dan Honour
- David Winborne
- Jonathan Hey
- Mark McDermott
- Nick Thomson
- Peter Richardson
- Philip Baer
- Robert Bell
- Simon Wannop
- Toby Cooper
- Tom Pellereau
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Tom Pellereau
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Robert Bell
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Ben Knowles
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Dan Honour
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David Winborne
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Jonathan Hey
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Mark McDermott
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Nick Thomson
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Peter Richardson
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Philip Baer
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Simon Wannop
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Tobias Cooper
