COMPARE ALL THE LETTERS
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Can't decide which letter to take on? Here's our handy at-a-glance guide to all the stats behind the routes.
NOTE: The route isn't quiiiiiiite finalised so the exact distance and climbing might still change a little. The start and finish points ARE fixed so feel free to plan travel and accommodation. Kilometers?! We've put the distances in kilometers because it makes for a higher, more impressive number. Sweat Score?! This is a mathematical rating of how sweaty the route is, from 1 to 5 mountain emojis. It tells you how much hill you're getting per kilometer. NOTE: Sweat Score doesn't necessarily equal difficulty. 136km with 2,200m of climbing is darned hard to do in a day or two - but spread it over a week and it's not so bad. No shame in pushing! |
|
Letter |
Start |
Finish |
KM |
UPHILL |
Sweat Score (1-5) |
Cornwall R |
Par Station |
Downderry (7.2km from St Germans station) |
139 |
2,217m |
⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️ |
Dartmoor E |
Tavistock (11.7km from Calstock Station) |
Totnes Station |
177 |
2,580m |
⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️ |
Exmoor F |
Dulverton (26km from Tiverton Parkway Station) |
Paignton Station |
224 |
3,770m |
⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️ |
Jurassic U |
Bampton (15km from Tiverton Parkway Station) |
Taunton Station |
129 |
1,960m |
⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️ |
Glastonbury G |
Chew Mendip (23km from Oldfield Park Station) |
Axminster Station |
237 |
2,290m |
⛰️⛰️⛰️ |
White Horse E |
Avoncliffe Station |
Chitterne (13km from Warminster Station) |
164 |
1,676m |
⛰️⛰️⛰️ |
Stonehenge E |
Pewsey Station |
Whitchurch Station |
166 |
1,380m |
⛰️⛰️⛰️ |
Wessex S |
Reading Station |
Micheldelver Station |
146 |
1,280m |
⛰️⛰️⛰️ |
New Forest W |
Tisbury Station |
Andover Station |
163 |
1,120m |
⛰️⛰️ |
South Downs E |
Eastleigh Station |
Havant Station |
143 |
1,160m |
⛰️⛰️⛰️ |
Bognor L |
Farnborough Main Station |
Ford Station |
100 |
730m |
⛰️⛰️ |
Surrey Hills C |
Gatwick Airport Station |
Brighton Station |
127 |
1,180m |
⛰️⛰️⛰️ |
Brighton O |
Falmer Station (Or anywhere on the loop!) |
Where you started! |
151 |
1,701m |
⛰️⛰️⛰️⛰️ |
Dungeness M |
Cooden Beach Station |
Dungeness (20km from Appledore Station) |
156 |
1,201m |
⛰️⛰️ |
White Cliffs E |
Chilham Station |
Dover Priory Station |
139 |
1,230m |
⛰️⛰️⛰️ |
Worldwide 💚 |
Join Spell It Out anywhere in the world by designing your own GPS heart! |
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CHOOSE YOUR LETTER
Click on one of the letters of our interactive map to find out more. Works best in landscape mode on mobiles.
One letter is NOT ENOUGH / too much!
Each letter is between 115-260km, but you are completely free to build a route that satisfies your body and soul - and your donors! You know best whether that means cycling 1km or 2,000km so we'll leave it up to you. What days & How long do i ride?
The challenge runs from 12 June to 26 September - but it's completely up to you what days you ride and how long you ride on those days. Each letter is designed to be ridden over a long weekend (2-3 days), but you'll know what's best for you so feel free to take your time. Exactly how long it takes you to ride the 100-237km of your chosen letter will depend on your experience, fitness and (most importantly) how many times you stop for swims, snacks and selfies! As a guide, 4-5 hours of what Komoot calls 'time in motion' (i.e. actual cycling excluding breaks) is a solid day's ride.
WHAT WILL I NEED TO BRING?!
What you need for your Spell It Out adventure really depends on how you're doing it. Your kit list will look very different if you're camping compared to staying with friends or in a swanky hotel. One thing you'll definitely need is either a smartphone (and a battery power pack!) or a bike GPS like a Wahoo or a Garmin so that you can follow the route and record your part of our amazing collaborative artwork. We're fans of doing things as cheaply and greenly as possible, so there's not much on our 'essentials' list. We really recommend asking buddies and pals to borrow bits and bobs to save on buying new! What about accommodation and travel?
Spell It Out is an unsupported adventure, so it's completely up to you to sort out your own accommodation and travel to and from the start and finish points. We've tried to start and finish as close as possible to train stations, but expect to have a little extra cycling above and beyond the official route distance. Please do check the map closely and make sure you have a plan for getting back home. Accommodation wise, check out Warmshowers: a wonderful network of generous people around the world who are up for hosting touring cyclists. Who am i cycling with?
Spell It Out is totally unsupported so you can either cycle solo, or - better - invite your mates! According to the government road map, there will hopefully be no limit on the size of your cycling crew, but it'll still be the rule of six or two households for indoor accommodation. what if i can't get down to the south of england?
If you can't get down to the south coast, don't panic - we'd love for you to get involved wherever you live! You can still take part in Spell It Out by riding a heart-shaped route of your own devising anywhere in the world. Besides the fact that you'll need to work out your own route, it's exactly the same process to join the challenge: signup, fundraise, ride and finally upload your gorgeous GPS artwork. Let's fill the map with love! 💚 How much does it cost to take part?
Spell It Out is an unsupported adventure so we're suggesting you 'Pay As You Feel'. Our main aim is to raise loads of money to help make refugees feel welcome in the UK so we won't be offended if you want to focus your resources elsewhere. But, as you can imagine, organising such an epic adventure has taken a lot of our time so if you feel that's worth some of your hard-earned moolah, we'd be thrilled with any contribution. Cheers! more questions?
Email Adventure Inventor Georgie on georgie@thighsofsteel.com and she'll do her best to help! |
Fancy a cycle ride?Join our monthly London not-so-serious cycle club
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Get fundraising!
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Past Rides & TestimonialsFirst-hand experiences, anecdotes and accolades from past riders
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