11 Sep Deloitte Ride across Britain

When we were approached to provide the coffee for the Deloitte Ride across Britain, we were instantly excited by the logistical challenge of following 800 odd cyclists from Lands End to John O’Groats, feeding their caffeine needs along the way.

The brief was to start service with the coffee van at 5am each morning when the cyclists woke up after sleeping in a tent all night, then be at either 1 or 2 pit stops along route, ending up at the base camp that night for when the cyclists finished their day. Sleep and repeat for 8 days. The trick was to serve the last cyclist out of each stop and beat them to the next stop, meaning that 2 vans were essential to achieving this. Add to that the need to serve 800 odd cyclists’ requirements over 1 hour in the morning, the service had to be fast to cope with the short demand period first thing.

Now here we are having delivered the first 4 days and on day 5, and we’re really feeling the camaraderie amongst the riders and the support crew. We’re all in this together so we’ve all got the make the most of such an experience. Sure, there are always a few logistical challenges and we’ve already had a few, but the important thing is how you work through them, and I have to say we are one of the best at dealing with van issues, electrical challenges and logistical nightmare’s- it makes for an interesting ride.