Vanunu Freedom Ride

Day Fifteen and our final day - Hertford to London

2007-04-22T12:48:00.000-07:00

Some of our route into London took us along the canals and we arrived in Hackney at just after 2pm to our final welcome reception. Hackney and Islington CND fed us veggie goodies and organised for Jean Lambert MEP, a Green Councillor Mischa Borris, a representative from Hackney PSC and another from Hackney Stop the War Coalition, to all speak in support of Mordechai and the ride.

Lots of cyclists turned up for the final stretch and gave our ride an extra boost as we wove our way through the London traffic chanting the song that we have been perfecting over the two weeks.

Downing Street was our next stop and there Kate Hudson, Chair of CND, and Louise Richards, Chief Executive of War on Want, joined us to hand in a letter asking Tony Blair to help secure Mordechai's true freedom. We also handed in a petition with nearly a thousand signatures we have collected along the way. Mark Thomas and friends were protesting about the right to protest inside the Downing Street zone and we gave them a big thumbs-up for their efforts.

And then on to the Israeli Embassy (or as close to it as we could be with the roadworks). Jeremy Corbyn MP rode along with us and more people joined us as we held an hour's vigil there with speeches from Jeremy, Kate Hudson and Louise Richards.

Our final destination was a room in the Kensington Library where we had a goodbye feast. Any sadness was cheered away by the sleight of hand of an alternative and very humourous magician (and also a rider from last year).

We've given out thousands of leaflets, we've sung our way into many towns and cities, we've met so many kind and supportive people (thank you to them all), we've talked and demonstrated. We will be thinking of Mordechai Vanunu often and he can be assured there are many people out there who believe in his right to freedom.

Day Fourteen - Cambridge to Hertford

2007-04-22T11:05:00.000-07:00

A smooth ride and the fair weather is still holding out. The dynamics of the group have changed slightly as some of the riders who started at Faslane have left the ride in the last few days and have been replaced by new faces.

Our van driver today has been a friend of one of the riders, she had never driven a van before but just wanted to give her help to the ride and she did a good job of it. The support van has been an essential component of the ride; it is where we keep our all of our luggage, our snacks and drinks, and where we end up after one hill too many when our knees give out or our bikes won't work anymore. The van driver encourages us on, know the route, and keeps us safe. We have to thank all those who volunteered to simply drive and those riders who gave up their cycling to drive instead for the day.

The Quakers in Hertford welomed us warmly on our last night of the ride with a reception and a film showing. It is strange that tomorrow will be our last day.

Day Thirteen - Lakenheath to Cambridge

2007-04-19T15:22:00.000-07:00

Another great day for raising awareness. But, before that, on our way to Cambridge we had a three bike pile-up. Fortunately, noone was seriously hurt (Mel got a sore toe though) but one of the bikes was a bit mangled and had to go straight in the van.

Just outside of Cambridge we had lots of supporters join us and so had a real presence of around 35 cyclists coming into the city. A music event with a line-up of seven live acts welcomed us when we arrived in the centre. Held on Parker's Piece and organised by the Cambridge Stop the War Coalition, the event with a stall and gazebo really drew in the local people.

Later in the evening the event included speeches made by representatives from Stop the War and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Veteran peace campaigner, Bruce Kent also spoke seriously about the UK government's hypocritical stance on nuclear weapons but was interrupted rudely by two male streakers who ran in front of where he was speaking. Bruce took it all in his stride and simply commented on the 'two holy inadequacies' that had passed before him.

A reading of one of Mordechai's poems by Mel was very moving. The latest update on Mordechai's restrictions are that they have only been renewed for 3 weeks instead of the usual year. We don't know what will happen after that. We hope.

Day Twelve - Peterborough to Lakenheath

2007-04-18T13:13:00.000-07:00

A good send-off today from the Friends Meeting House this morning, after having our photo taken for the Peterborough Evening Telegraph. We've now been mentioned in several local and regional newspapers along the way thanks to concerted efforts by the local campaigners.

It was a fine, if bumpy, ride out of the city on the cycle route. A quick stop for a puncture repair outside Whittlesea and then on to March where we managed to do some leafletting as we passed through. The weather was sunny but the wind was chilly, made worse due to the flat terrain (but at least our knees were given a break from hills).

We arrived later than planned for lunch at Downham Market but made up some time through the lanes towards Brandon. We received a rousing reception from the peace activists from Eastern Region CND and Lakenheath Action Group who were holding a demonstration we joined at the Lakenheath base, home to over 100 US nuclear weapons. We held a mini-blockade and then headed to our accomodation for the night - a wonderful, Hansel and Gretel type cottage in the middle of the forest donated to us for the evening by one of the peace campaigners.

Thanks to everyone who supported us, including the three new riders who joined us and the patient drivers on the roads today.

Day Eleven - Nottingham to Peterborough

2007-04-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

The sound-system cyclist from yesterday joined us again coming out of Nottingham this morning and the RinkyDink music certainly woke us up (and we certainly woke up those drivers in the rush hour traffic too). A bit of cycle-dancing on the quiet back streets also raised our spirits in readiness for the long day ahead (yes - we were being safe for any rider's parents reading this!). We ended up riding 64 miles today - it was a very tiring day but Kam had chosen our route well and we sped past lots of pretty scenery.

We lunched late at Ratnor Water watching the sheep with their lambs on the field near the water's edge. Then we dashed on to Stamford. There we had a welcome reception with the Mayor, several Lib-Dem councillors and the Stamford Peace Group - the Mayor fed us her home-made biscuits.

Dawn's knees gave up just near Peterborough and she hopped into the van for the last few miles. Peterborough CND and the Peterborough Peace Campaign met us at a funky, fair-trade cafe, the Glass Onion. There we ate and had a film-showing. Later we had a get-together and discussion about the ride and Mordechai's situation with the peace group members at the Friends Meeting House.

Day Ten - Sheffield to Nottingham

2007-04-16T14:43:00.000-07:00

Our rest day was much appreciated and we were cared for by some of the Pedal Ready people. Our route from Sheffield to Nottingham today clipped the edge of the Peak District. Steve was our route master and led us up many a hill ("You ought to have seen the ones I didn't lead you up!" he says).

Our lunch stop was at an amazing bookshop and cafe in Crowford. We got free drinks and cake and the owner even cycled out with us for an hour. Supporters from Chesterfield CND, Wirksworth Amnesty Group and Hope Valley Peace Group all sent us off with waves and cheers from the cafe.

At Nottingham University we were met by Nottingham CND and Nottingham PSC cyclists. Four cyclists on a four-seated bike and a cyclist with a sound system also joined us on the way into the city. We had a rally and leafleted in the main square with some local UNISON support. On the way to the Sumac Centre, where we had a great dinner and film show, we had another fall. Hilary got her tyres stuck in a tram line but fortunately she was only slightly bruised.

We've said hello and goodbye to many freedom riders now and each of them has given a special part of themselves to the ride. We've just heard that Mordechai's restrictions have been renewed for another year and we will keep on riding and supporting him.

Day Nine - Rest day in Sheffield

2007-04-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Day Eight - Leeds to Sheffield

2007-04-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

Tears and pain. There has been some of that over the first week of the ride. But probably nothing for us compared to what Mordechai has had to suffer over the years he has been imprisoned, so many of which were in solitary confinement. Nothing we can really imagine.

But there has been so much support and so many people who care about his fate, such kindness and generosity of character.

Two of our riders had broken bikes and so had to stop off at a local bikeshop Bikology (around the corner from the University). The mechanic there was super efficient and so they were off on their bikes without any delay. The weather was glorious sunshine and some of our ride took us along the Trans-Pennine path. We stopped and leafletted at Wakefield, Wombwell and had lunch at New Miller Dam.

Reaching Meadowhall shopping centre, just outside of Sheffield, there were 16 cyclists waiting for us from Bike not Bombs, Sheffield PSC and the Woodcraft Folk.
We made a real entrance into the city with 34 cyclists. We were met by a fab music band Ragna Rok and many more supporters. A Green Party councillor, the Chair of Sheffield PSC and Chair of Sheffield CND all made speeches.

After such a lovely, lively welcome we then had tasty food and a film-showing organised by Sheffield PSC. We've done over 400 miles and are looking forward to our rest day tomorrow.

Day Seven - Ripon to Leeds

2007-04-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

This morning crossed communications (or some kind of chinese whispers) meant that we lost Mohammad (our rider who had come especially from Palestine for the ride). The cyclists had to head off without him from Ripon centre to make sure we weren't late getting to Leeds. The van driver and a worn-out cyclist waited around for him. A whole half a worried hour later he turned up safely. He had only gone off to phone his family! Phew.

Sheridan's tyre blew up with a resounding crack only 10 minutes into the ride, luckily she was ok and once the van reached her she borrowed the worn-out cyclist's bike (said worn-out cyclist was keeping the van driver company for the day) and raced off to reach the other cyclists who all sang, 'Who shot the Sheridan?' when she caught up with them. She took it well.

We rode over 40 miles up an down very hilly countryside with our youngest rider as lead rider and our eldest as tail. A picnic lunch provided by the Menwith Hill peace activists was very gladly eaten up when we arrived. Menwith Hill is a huge US surveillance base and essential to their missile defence (or Star Wars) strategy and military agenda. Helen John and Sylvia Boyes were being filmed by a tv news crew in

anticipation of their court case next week for challenging rights to protest there so the crew filmed us with them too.

We then handed in one of our leaflets to the base and each one of us was also filmed and photographed by some of the base personnel.

Many hills later some us thought we were hallucinating from over exertion when we saw a zebra in a field but as we cycled on we released he was a captive of a circus nearby. Another hill or two and we arrived in Leeds to a great curry at the Friends Meeting House, a warm welcome from a local councillor and a film showing all organised thanks to Yorkshire CND.

Day Six - Durham to Ripon

2007-04-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

The first fall of the week. Nat's thin racing bike tyres couldn't find any purchase on the cobbled streets of Durham and Nat went crashing to the ground. He got lots of sympathy and fortunately only suffered a bruised elbow and was back on the bike again immediately.

The morning had not got off to a great start when it was discovered that a car park attendant had ripped two of the banners off the support van. Apparently the area is a heritage site and no political messages are to be displayed there. However, we had not been aware of this so we made a complaint to the local police officer as the banners had been all torn.

The day did improve after the events of the morning and we covered over 50 miles in sunny weather with some wind to keep the temperature from getting too warm. There were some hills to give us our daily dose of challenging terrain!

We arrived punctually in Darlington for lunch and were met by the Darlington Cycling Campaigners. Local supporter, Elizabeth Barclay with York PSC then welcomed us to both North Allerton and Ripon. We finished the day with dinner at the Water Rat pub in Ripon.

Day Five - Amble to Durham

2007-04-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

Our youngest rider is a teenager and the eldest is 70 but we all managed the 60-plus miles of cycling between Amble and Durham.

It was a long and tiring ride from Amble to Newcastle along the coastal route. Two riders from the Durham Peace Action Group were along for the day and several more joined us en route.

Progress was slightly slower than planned due to several punctures along the way so we were late arriving in Newcastle. We made a colourful and noisy picture as we pedalled across the Millennium Bridge to Gateshead before enjoying a late lunch sitting in front of the Baltic Centre.

The ride to Durham was hard as we were all quite tired and some of us were a bit sunburnt from all the wind and sun. (We have been lucky so far and not had any rain).

Eventually we arrived in Durham to a super welcome reception from Durham Peace Action Group
and local MP Roberta Blackburn-Woods. We then went to the Palace Green and met David Kennedy, Canon of Durham, who welcomed both cyclists and their bicycles into the Cathedral!

Dinner was a delicious pot luck and during the evening we had the opportunity to meet some of the members of the local Palestinian Solidarity Group. We watched the film 'Israel's Secret Weapon' and then updated everyone on Mordechai's current situation.

Accommodation for the evening was at St Chad's, one of the colleges within Durham University.

Day Four - Berwick to Amble

2007-04-10T14:42:00.000-07:00

A long day today which ended with a photo shoot by local supporters at a beautiful castle in Warkworth.

We started the day along the coast with wonderful views of the sea but yet more hills to pedal up. Dennis, who had just joined the ride got a puncture only an hour in and we had an impromptu break until the support van came and picked him up.

We started off taking the country-lane cycle routes but changed our mind after a few hours when the wind decided to change direction and we were facing it head on and taking a long time to get anywhere really. It seemed like we would never get to our lunch stop but pained legs got us up a few more hills and we were there at Belford.
Belford is a small hamlet and we were surprised when a woman came running out of the Crafts Gallery there, all excited that we had arrived and sorry she hadn't known we were coming through. She presented us with a mug from her crafts shop and a pretty card that we promised we would send to Mordechai.

We reached a small seaside town Seahouses much later than planned but managed to give leaflets about the ride out to lots of interested tourists.

We're all worn out but again are heartened by the kindness and support of the people who are looking after us this evening.

Day Three - Edinburgh to Berwick upon Tweed

2007-04-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

There is a core team of riders who will cycle the whole way, several others are cycling most of the way and on most days we have supporters from the groups who are welcoming us in their cities and towns and who come along for a few hours or even the whole day. It's great to have new people along every day and gives our ride a real boost. Today we had 3 Edinburgh supporters join us for the first hour or so and yesterday 4 more joined us into the city.

Hilly from Edinburgh to Berwick for over 60 miles. We cycled through beautiful countryside and tackled an especially mammoth hill over high moorlands - but was it worth it on the way down!

We lunched by a reservoir in the wildest of winds. No matter which way we parked the support van the wind managed to whip round it to frisk away our plates and cutlery. Using the wooden toilet block in the middle of the picnic area was described by one of the riders, Michael like he felt he was in a 'ship cabin in a storm!'.

Berwick Peace and Justice group welcomed us at the town and there we had reviving refreshments in the Peace Church and are being fully fed and accomodated by a very generous member of the group.

Day Two - Glasgow to Edinburgh

2007-04-08T15:31:00.000-07:00

Our lucky Scottish tail wind pushed us all the way to Edinburgh today. We made great progress across rolling green countryside and not a spot of rain....yet! But we did suffer a bit of wind-chill having our picnic lunch in a park. We arrived early in Edinburgh and so had a quick riders' meeting. When cycling the riders pass messages along the line about potholes (lots!), turnings and any hazards. There was a short, feisty debate about whether "keep in" or "auto" should be used to mean a car was overtaking. Happily a compromise, we would use both!

A delicious meal was put on by Edinburgh CND and supporters at the Quaker Meeting House. After, we all talked about how bikes give you so much freedom and the contrast between that and the lack of freedom of both Mordechai and the Palestinian people, whom Mordechai identifies with. Mohammad, our Palestinian rider, told us about the cycling club he is setting up to try and bring some freedom to his people.

Day One - Faslane to Glasgow

2007-04-07T13:18:00.000-07:00

Our first day completed! And we had balmy, sunny weather on our ride between Faslane and Glasgow. Last night many of us stayed over at the Faslane Peace Camp. The women cyclists slept in an old bus, which was very cold but a novel way to spend our first night.

This morning we joined the Faslane 365 blockade with a short vigil with the Older Lesbian Network. We spent our vigil painting flags for our bikes and launched the ride with a fab send off from the other blockaders and from the peace campers too. Helensburgh CND sent us off on our ride proper with refreshments on the pier.

A lucky tail wind took us all the way to Glasgow. There we had an interesting nuclear talk organised by Glasgow PSC, where we were reminded of the horror of the use of nuclear weapons.

Now we're feeding up at a city pub and looking forward to our beds.

Day minus 6 and counting

2007-04-01T02:48:00.000-07:00

Frantic preparations continue to make sure the Ride is a success. Our Palestinian cyclist Mohammad arrived in London and is enjoying the freedom of London. Hope the weather stays good for us on the ride.

Welcome

2007-03-28T10:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Blog for the Vanunu Freedom Ride 7th - 21st April 2007