Yesterday Lee, Rickie, Jenny G and Jenny T unveiled their gorgeous new Shand bikes at Bespoked (The UK Handmade Bike Show in Bristol), and today they launch our 2018 team by riding #Southbound for one week, encouraging schools across the UK to follow their progress online and collectively match their daily mileage. The school whose students have ridden the most miles by the end of the week will be treated to a visit from The Adventure Syndicate and a screening of Divided.
Our friends at Shand Cycles have generously supplied the team with bespoke Stooshies - their all-road adventure bike, which is built to handle anything from the gravel roads of Kyrgyzstan to the scarily long days that Jenny Graham will be riding as part of her round-the-world record attempt.
"The whole process has been fascinating," confirms Jenny. "I took along a bike that didn't fit me very well. Steven and I chatted about what I'd like from the new bike, and the annoyances of my current set-up. He made a few measurements, and off I went. The boys in the workshop kept me posted with Instagram updates throughout the process, sending me pictures of the tubes in a box, then welded together, then riveted and finally painted! When I collected the finished bike, it was like meeting an old friend."
If you're in Bristol this morning, head over to Bespoked to admire the bikes for yourself, and watch the team set off at 10.30 this morning. (I'm sure they'd welcome an escort out of the city, if anyone fancies a spin.)
And if you're elsewhere, you can follow their progress on our Live Updates page.