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Sport Relief Davina McCallDavina McCall's Edinburgh to London cyclothon almost derailed when she's affected by 'hypothermia'
The television presenter Davina McCall found herself ‘close to collapse’, with suspected hypothermia as she took part in a charity cycle ride from Edinburgh to London this weekend.
McCall, who has described herself as having been bitten by the cycling bug, is no stranger to endurance riding, having taken part in a relay in the Sport Relief John O’Groats to Land’s End Sport Relief Bike Ride in 2010.
Yesterday, the Big Brother and The Jump presenter was cycling from Edinburgh Castle, but within hours she was forced to temporarily abandon the effort in freezing rain.
With only 20 miles clocked up, McCall’s team tweeted: “In temps of just three degrees with a bitter wind chill, the medics say Davina is showing early signs of hypothermia.”
Then, 60 miles in to her 500 mile, seven day trip, McCall was half-carried in to her lunch stop in Moffat, Dumfries and Galloway.
Her team tweeted: “Sixty miles in the bag. Sleet, gales, bitter cold and hypothermia. Warm clothes and a phone call home are her priorities.
“She’s made it to the lunch stop. They were the worst conditions we’ve had on any challenge we’ve ever done.”
But, ever resilient, the star went on to cycle a total of 130 miles yesterday and may still be on course to finish her effort in the set deadline.
It’s a startling flashback to 2010, when McCall’s escort rider on the Sport Relief John O’Groats to Land’s End Sport Relief Bike Ride started showing classic symptoms of hypothermia as the team headed through the Scottish Highlands.
Despite the cold, McCall said she found the moonlit Scottish scenery breathtaking, something that helped keep her going, though afterwards she admitted that her legs had turned to jelly the moment she stepped off the bike.
And just a year after that in 2011, she announced she would be leading a women-only charity ride, called Davina’s DIVA100, in Sussex.
McCall said at the time: “I’ve become a cycling bore since then [the Sport Relief ride], but I love it with a passion. It’s an affordable, sociable way to keep fit and doesn’t have to be competitive. Although when Matthew and I go out together it always is!
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Welcome - probably didn't show as they tagged it "not near miss of the day"?
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The small frame, the aggressive posture, lots of standover height.
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You're defending bombing hospitals and refugee camps and starving children.
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66 comments
2 km open water swim in Windermere (water temp 5 degrees) and then 65 miles back on the bike to round off the day. Yes, she's got a team around her (anyone would need one for that swim), but I have to say this is a pretty impressive effort. I hope she raises loads of money for Sport Relief.
Thumbs up from me. Just doing 130miles In a day is a worthy challenge...
And cycle bore. No chance cycling is never boring. All I hear all,day from the joggers at work is talk of 10 minute miles over 5miles...that's boring.
Thumbs up from me. Just doing 130miles In a day is a worthy challenge...
And cycle bore. No chance cycling is never boring. All I hear all,day from the joggers at work is talk of 10 minute miles over 5miles...that's boring.
It's Feb, the wind especially has been atrocious and pretty much directly in to her face. She's pushing day after day the limits of her body. It will make - of course - compelling TV but also could well inspire may others to do something epic too, even if that 'epic' is just going out on a 5 mile bike ride at first. She'll probably raise around £1m from these efforts. To me she is a star doing this, a total star.
Oh, and she rides Campag. Double-star.
And in the current weather!
As someone who is commuting in that weather, and worse, I think it's a wee bit of hype to add to her effort. The weather is pretty sharp cold, but that's not unusual for Scotland at this time of year. I was cycling down in Wigtownshire last weekend and it was never above 5 degrees. I guess it depends on what you're used to, and probably your immune system to an extent too.
But that she's even out there attempting it is something to be impressed by and applaud - she has a cosy enough life to not need to bother. It's also difficult for any celeb to live up to the incredible achievements by Walliams; it's almost akin to any good sportsman having to follow a national hero; I already feel sorry for the British tennis player that takes Murray's spot a few years from now.
Plus she is at least performing well - I could barely stop laughing at Christine Bleakley "water-skiing across the channel". She only fell 14 times in total, in a 20 mile crossing. She was effectively dragged across the channel.
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