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This year marks the 150th anniversary of Stags and to celebrate the occasion the firm are fundraising for four charities across the South West. Throughout this momentous year, the teams from each of Stags’ 22 offices are taking part in a number of challenging and fun events in an effort to raise a total of £50,000. Every penny raised will be going to help support cancer patients and their families across the region thanks to our chosen charities, Ducks & Drakes in Dorset, SURE in Somerset, FORCE in Devon and the Tanya's Courage Trust in Cornwall.
One of the challenges, which sounded like a ‘fun’ idea on paper, was to cycle to each of the 22 Stags offices stretching across 4 counties. Not only did Stags colleagues sign-up to cycle over 400 miles, with the route taking them over hills that amounted to climbing 29,219ft (higher than Mount Everest!), but they achieved this within just 4 days.
The team comprising of Claire Pile (Lettings, Tiverton), Kevin Clarke (Estate Agency, Honiton), Alister Smith (Planning, Exeter), Sam McCreadie (Estate Agency, Bideford), Luke Miller (Estate Agency, Totnes), Simon Cooper (Professional Services, Wellington) and Alex Rew (Professional Services, Tiverton) are delighted to announce, after much preparation and training they completed the challenge with a few hours to spare!
The marathon pedal saw them travel the West Country with a summary of the 4 days below;
Tiverton – Wellington – Taunton – Yeovil – Bridport – Honiton – Exeter
Feeling fresh and with a flattish first 50 miles the team warmed up with some typical Somerset lanes and then some short sharp climbs. The run into day 1’s finish in Exeter bought familiar roads which meant day 1 didn’t seem too bad.
Exeter – Torquay – Totnes – Dartmouth – Kingsbridge – Plymouth – Tavistock
Riding around the South Hams was always going to be challenge… and it was: up, down, up, down, up, down, it felt never-ending. However, being rewarded by some stunning coastal views made it worth it. A bit of a slog up the cycle path from Plymouth to Tavistock, which definitely felt longer than 15 miles, led to the finish. The team could feel the weather on the change for the days to come.
Tavistock – Truro – Wadebridge – Launceston
Three words… wet, wet, wet! This route had always been earmarked as the toughest, with two long days already spent in the saddle, feeling tired and then not only the Cornish climbs to do battle with but this was combined with heavy rain and wind. Through grimacing faces and very soggy Lycra, day 2 was completed. Arriving back in Launceston and greeted by a Cornish pasty – not quite sure it’s the food of athletes but it appeared to do the job!
Launceston – Okehampton – Bideford – Barnstaple – South Molton – Dulverton – The Finish, Tiverton
The final day and although wet to start the sunshine came out and the miles seemed to tick by as did the offices. Even a welcome tailwind made an appearance to help the team on their way. Before they knew it, the team were flying back down the Exe Valley into the finishing straight to be greeted by colleagues, friends and family back at Tiverton, where 4 days ago they started.
The challenge certainly bought out the team spirit, not only within the group pedalling but between all the offices who enjoyed tracking their colleagues and eagerly awaiting their arrival.
The Tour de Stags team have been overwhelmed by the support received for this challenge and in turn the donations received for our chosen charities and if you too would like to pledge your support, we really would appreciate it, visit our gofundme here.
