No, unfortunately Tenacious is not back in action(yet) again but the Race the Ship Cycling Group had such a good time on their ride from Ipswich to London last year while the ship sailed between the same ports, that we decided to run a further ride this year. As the Jubilee Sailing Trust has ceased trading we wanted to publicise the plight of the UK’s fully accessible Tall ships.

What better way than to do a multiday mixed-ability ride from Barry Island where the Lord Nelson has been laid up to Gloucester passing Sharpness where Tenacious is currently docked. Paying respects to a ship that has meant so much to so many people.

Since Tenacious was forced to cancel her voyage program last autumn the group Save Tall Ship Tenacious (tenacious.org.uk) has put in a lot of work to make people aware of how much the loss of this specially designed Tall ship has effected so many people. Tenacious was designed and built to allow people with mixed accessibility to maximise their potential and we hope that she can continue to operate in this way. We are grateful to BBC Wales and ITV Wales who publicised this event.

David Bainbridge, one of the organisers from last year, put in a lot of effort to plan the route and kept us informed of progress. This is particularly important for those like me who need a goal to keep our fitness up. We wanted to open the trip to others from the Jubilee Sailing Trust and also non sailors and were very pleased that Brian joined us from Pedal Power Cardiff with his pedal assisted electric trike but essentially it was the same group as last year. 

Abi who brought her Road runner and piloted the O Pair Tricycle.

Lauren who pilots the tandem for John the blind and deaf stoker; just back from climbing in the Himalayas.

We came down from all across the country to meet at Barry Island Station to set off on a very cold Friday morning particularly for Graham, David Gary and Brian who had had to start early from Cardiff to bike down for an interview with ITV Wales. 

We were not able to get very close to the Lord Nelson because of her position in the dockyard. Maybe just as well as she has been essentially untouched for several years.

I quickly realised that the O Pair I had borrowed from Pedal Power Cardiff while having the same configuration as the Duet I had used last year and better brakes had only 5 gears and those closely spaced so to make any progress and keep up with the others need very high cadences. I wished I had taken my promises to David to get fit more seriously particularly as this was not a nice flat route around the coast but some significant lumps in the way. 

Day 2 was always going to be a long day so we started herding the squirrels early at 8:00 ish and had a glorious ride up through Caldicot (excellent cake but not as frilly aprons Rosemary would have liked).

 Then a really sharp climb to Chepstow and down to the Severn Bridge where Abi joined to go over on her Road Runner particularly poignant as her mother had walked over it the day the Queen opened. We knew the approaches were quite steep but it proved easy to give some push assist to get her up and reassuringly her brakes worked on the down.

Glorious ride up the Severn to Sharpness where we found Tenacious incarcerated by the dry dock that she had gone to for maintenance. Excellent cake from a local garage served up by Ruth who had done most of the driving of the Campervan we used to transport luggage and generally provide support

The last day was a gentle start, early coffee and a rather mixed lunch as we did a star burst due to punctures and then Abi did 4 miles along the towpath on the road runner to Gloucester before we all dispersed. A fantastic long weekend making us all want to do more.

The great thing about this ride was the Ethos of the JST. It is not that disability doesn’t matter it is the ability to adapt to it that matters more. We all helped each other in different ways. We enabled people to do more than they otherwise would and get their bikes round obstacles that would otherwise be insurmountable and we had a great time doing it. While the ship is out of commission this allows people active breaks and camaraderie like we had on board. 

My only reservation is we did not manage to get more and different people involved. Maybe next spring we will try a hub and spoke approach ie staying in one place and organising rides of different distances to see if that is more tempting for people to try. Perhaps in the New Forest though Cardiff certainly has a lot to offer. If you are at all interested, please contact me Timtayler57@gmail.com I would love to get you involved.