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!
66 thoughts on “Davina McCall’s Edinburgh to London cyclothon almost derailed when she’s affected by ‘hypothermia’”
“Cyclist gets ‘a bit cold’
“Cyclist gets ‘a bit cold’ while riding in Winter” shocker!
Still – at least she carried on! 😀
Hypothermia can sneak up on
Hypothermia can sneak up on anyone, but I have to ask what the support staff were doing to let her get so cold. She’s not carrying much body fat, riding into a gale, so its predictable that hazard is going to be there. There’s so many things they could have done – and a simple mountain goretex jacket over the top would have warmed her up.
I wonder if her clothing choices were dictated by the camera crew rather than common sense?
Yawn, z list publicity
Yawn, z list publicity seeking non-celebrity gets a bit cold on a ride today. Do keep me updated…zzzzzzz
Rules 5 & 9 Davina!
Rules 5 & 9 Davina!
The homepage headline about
The homepage headline about her doing a “500m” ride: might read better if it says 500-mile. I know it’s pretty nippy out today but I think she could probably do half a km in shorts and sports bra…
I bet the hypothermia didn’t
I bet the hypothermia didn’t stop her shouting at everyone and everything like she does on TV. Bloody annoying person that she is.
Her condition was totally
Her condition was totally avoidable:
Insufficient clothing
Insufficient calorie intake
Lack of positive mental attitude
Medics and support staff that recommend you withdraw at the first sign of difficulty.
It’s the old cliche: ‘a winner never quotes and a quitter never wins’. Although it’s the man in the arena that counts, bugger me, her skin is waterproof, a short rest, food and some warm clothing and she would have been as right as rain.
Dunks517 wrote:Her condition
That post makes you sound like a right knob, especially the 3rd point. Still, i assume that it was a poor attempt at humor.
In reply to Dunks
Looking at
In reply to Dunks
Looking at your veloviewer she still did more than you though =D>
When you go out and raise as much money as her efforts will have done in the similar conditions then feel free to comment. Until then shut the F up.
Or else what exactly?
Or else what exactly?
Pretty easy to get caught out
Pretty easy to get caught out by hypothermia, it doesn’t take long to set in. Fair play to her, nobody forces her to ride for charity.
Three degrees (or minus
Three degrees (or minus three, for that matter) shouldn’t really trouble anybody who is adequately prepared, even with the levels of wind chill you can get zooming downhill on a bike. But it is cold enough to have fairly serious consequences for the unprepared. Probably not when they have a support crew on hand, but not everybody does, so it’s no harm to see hypothermia getting a bit of publicity.
Come on guys, give the girl
Come on guys, give the girl some support, she is out there trying to raise money for good causes, I’m sure you lot are so perfect you have never got home cold or wet because you dressed wrongly.
Good luck Davina and keep going.
Not my favourite presenter
Not my favourite presenter but……she certainly has guts, well done Davina, keep going
It’s really cold and wet up
It’s really cold and wet up here, I’ve the right gear and eventually feet and hands were freezing. In reality, nothing works when it’s so wet and so cold, the kit does one or the other.
I would have thought though that with support they could supply her with dry shoes, gloves etc. as required.
Flying Scot wrote:It’s really
Totally agree Flying Scot. Got caught in the rain as it swept down from the Campsies the other day. Despite all the right kit and full guards I was soon chilled. Fortunately was on the home run. Regardless of gear and nutrition, hypothermia can fairly throw a left hook. Looking at different media it looks like Davina was pretty well kitted out. Though she is missing guards on her bike which definitely contribute to her condition.
Am well impressed that she did the full 130 miles. I just wonder how many of the winter turbo kings would have stuck it out
Have you ever seen a James
Have you ever seen a James Brown show?
Same principle, different stage.
I bet Marianne Vos et al
I bet Marianne Vos et al don’t complain when it’s cold and windy. And they don’t even have any super buff 15 second workout DVDs to flog from it. There are more interesting and inspirational people doing and promoting cycling.
Probably a longer ride than
Probably a longer ride than most of you lot managed today though
We shouldn’t judge her from
We shouldn’t judge her from the point of view of a seasoned cyclist. We should put ourselves in the shoes of someone who doesn’t go out every week/weekend in the 4 seasons and was counting on people around her to guide her.
Her support crew should have been looking after her which (if this is a true story and not a publicity stunt) they clearly did not.
Does anyone know who was meant to be supporting her. These are the people to blame for all the preparation and execution of this ride.
Also, regardless of what we personally think of her she is doing this for charity. Even if some of it is also publicity whatever she raises in funds and awareness for the charity(s) is better then not doing anything. (As someone has said, she doesn’t have to do this or even cycle.)
We all have our opinions about one another but credit where credit is due and a non-cyclist out in the UK during winter deserves credit.. she is a cyclist now! Even if this is a publicity stunt so what its for a good cause and she’s riding a bike!
Spot on. I agree with you
Spot on. I agree with you whole heartedly. She should be applauded for getting on a bike in this crappy weather let alone cycling 60 miles,
She’s not actually doing a
She’s not actually doing a “cyclothon” or a charity bike ride. It’s a triathlon. Cycling will be done over six days but only three days will just be cycling. It is also due to include running 26 miles (split over three days) and a swim in Lake Windermere. :O
Else look like a douchebagel?
Else look like a douchebagel?
Douchebag it is then.
Douchebag it is then.
As far as I am aware if you
As far as I am aware if you spot ‘positive mental attitude’ in somebody that you suspect is suffering from hypothermia it is time to get the spaceblanket & hot tea out!! It’s called being delusional!!
In a situation, under no circumstances should you let them carry on ‘coz they say that they’re fine.
In that case I’m glad it was
In that case I’m glad it was Shackleton who got his chaps off a Elephant Island and not you.
Let’s face it, z list celebs
Let’s face it, z list celebs need to keep their brand in the shop window or they might face having to live off their lack of talent. Hence, the main reason irksome brats like Davina are always up for charity is to fly their own flag first and foremost.
Makes me a cynic but I would prefer celebs just to go and do charity incommunicado, like helping out at the local Sally Army without feeling the need to bring along a publicist and photographer or incessantly tweet about the great and good they are doing.
@Welsh Boy & @Stealth
As you
@Welsh Boy & @Stealth
As you can see from this link I was talking absolute nonsense.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=positive+mental+attitude&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari#hl=en&q=positive+mental+attitude+and+hypothermia
By the way I have been criticised, I will remind anyone in the future not to criticise any other cyclist’s efforts unless they have cycled exactly what they had done on that day.
Regards
Duncs
Dunks517 wrote:@Welsh Boy &
You’re kind of missing the point though aren’t you?
David Arthur wrote:Dunks517
You’re kind of missing the point though aren’t you?— Dunks517
I haven’t missed the point I was making neither have I missed the various insults for stating a matter of fact.
Like most people reading this
Like most people reading this site, I’ve never completed 130 miles in one day’s ride. Let alone overnight, in shitty weather and in bloody cold February. I’ve done several charity rides, the Dun Run, and a number of other silly things, and none of them match up to what Davina’s done on day one of a week of serious effort. Chapeau to her; she kept going and she got the job done.
Well, I’ve done 120 miles in
Well, I’ve done 120 miles in a day starting out in sub zero air temperatures skirting with hypothermic conditions. All I can say is chapeau Davina
When I was riding the
When I was riding the London-Edinburgh-London 2013 I suffered very much from cold rain on the descend part of the road from Edinburgh to Traquair. I can’t even imagine what is it like to ride from Edinburgh to London in February.
I’m with Dunks517 and
I’m with Dunks517 and Bobingnogs she is obviously in need of more self promotion, she really does emphasise the fact you can be a talentless nobber and get on in the entertainment industry.
It’s the same on children in need when all the B list tribe rush to be involved. I have nothing against folk helping good causes but would have more respect for them if they just got on and did it without the entourage that they will always have in tow to maximise the fact that they are so smashy and nicey “it’s all for charity”. Am I not the greatest?
130 miles in wet conditions
130 miles in wet conditions is a bigger day’s ride than I’ve managed so far this year. More than a few critics here too I guess, looking at strava footers above 😉 Fair dues. (It’s disappeared now? Was only pulling your leg a bit chap!)
Cycling celebrities has to be good for general exposure of cycling to the Big Bro-watching non-exercising masses. For that, a chapeau from me.
To be fair to the folk
To be fair to the folk checking my Strava, I haven’t ridden that much so far this year but when I cycled from home up the Cairnwell and back to crack the Strava Gran Fondo 1 a few weeks ago, I did it in less than favourable conditions with snow and sleet for the middle third of the ride (hence the lovely conditions in the image below). I didn’t have the luxury of a back up team following close by which makes it that much easier to wrap one’s tits in. All I had was my man suit zipped fully up and the remains of the Christmas cake to give me sustenance…
I’ll let you into a secret though, just after the 12% sign on the Cairnwell, I was that knackered I fell sideways into a manky snow drift whilst still clipped in, much to the amusement of the skiers heading home in their cars.
However, a quick look on Twitter shows that she has a media team with her so no doubt when it is televised is will make ‘great’ viewing.
Who came up with the cracking idea to ride from Edinburgh to London in February anyway?
Regards
Duncs
And in the current weather!
And in the current weather!
I did a very wet Manchester
I did a very wet Manchester Blackpool night ride a few years ago. Wasn’t feeling very clever in when I arrived in the early hours of the morning. Half the distance, and not nearly as nippy, so yeah, chapeau Davina, and glad she’s back on the horse. No idea what she does on the telly though.
As for “celebrities” doing charity rides, am all for it. Still remember Messrs Chiles and Shearer riding from Newcastle to London. That fella off Masterchef did one recently as well. And someone off Hollyoaks was on that same wet ride as me. More cyclists is goodness, and it gets a few more people on bikes, even better.
I’ve done 130 miles in decent
I’ve done 130 miles in decent weather. I did 38 miles today in near-apocalyptic weather. I would not fancy combining the two. Fair play to her. To those who say she’s just doing it for self-promotion, how do you know? Do you know her personally? If someone had asked you to take part, would you have said no? If not, why should she? I would’ve been in there like a shot.
Fair play to the lass, it’s
Fair play to the lass, it’s grim out there.
130 miles in a day is no joke either.
Here is a picture of her
Here is a picture of her starting out.
Seems well wrapped up to me https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BgEadOoCEAAgnaK.jpg
Also, when being an official on LeJogLe, Chris got VERY cold, not so far from Edinburgh, in April and he was wrapped up VERY well.
I think that it is a hard
I think that it is a hard place for her to be in. The weather is atrocious and she’s set herself a sizeable task – she does have a good support team with her, but also loads of expectations on her to complete the challenge, which while tough, is not unachievable for most folk. If she fails she has people sneering at her, and probably those same people would sneer at her if she succeeds.
Personally I would love the opportunity to do what she is doing. I think it is great that she is doing it for a good cause and is also encouraging people to participate in the sport.
I feel that the problem of celebrity sporting achievement is that the parameters for any given challenge always seem to diminish those of people of lesser means.
I always felt Ewan McGregor and Charlie ‘what’s-his-face’ made these endeavours look worse with their ‘Long Way Down’ shenanigans. The fact that they got free bikes, free tools, crew support and assistants in London made them look like the biggest douches. It was made worse when they randomly bumped into some chap cycling around the world on fresh air and luck. All they could say was ‘wow’ and ‘good luck’. It certainly put their ‘epic’ journey in perspective.
Anyway, good luck Davina. Hope someone mails you a Castelli SanRemo Thermal Speedsuit.
Colin Peyresourde wrote:I
The real story in the Ewan McGregor and Michael Palin journeys are the BBC fixers that travel ahead arranging everything.
I found this article –
I found this article – particularly the sub-heading – a bit sneery.
Props for what she’s doing. Don’t take the piss.
She’s just climbed Scafell
She’s just climbed Scafell and is now going to swim 1.5 miles in Lake Windermere. She looks close to going down during the TV interview.
However, I’m not going to criticise as by the rules of this thread I would be forced to go skinny dipping to qualify my statements.
Wow, what a load of badasses.
Wow, what a load of badasses. Who knew so many hard men were out there… 8>
Of course, if it was easy for Davina, then there wouldn’t be as much incentive for people to donate money – otherwise why not ask Chrissy Wellington or Chris McCormack to do it?
How quick some people are to
How quick some people are to judge others’ motives. With no knowledge of their personal situation or life history.
Whether you believe Davina to have a talent for presenting popular programmes or find her irritating, surely the fact she’s ding this in itself is worthy of praise, let alone the fact that she is raising a lot of money for the charity and giving it loads of publicity. She’s hardly in need of much more promotion herself is she, she’s been a top tv presenter for a long time. And having a team there to look after her and a team to promote what she is doing is EXACTLY what the charity want – they invite celebrities because it helps them get publicity FFS.
The criticism she is getting from some of you as to her own motives reflects more on yourselves than on her.
All i can say is good luck,
All i can say is good luck, 130miles in any weather is a good ride, in the current weather it is pretty f’ing badass in my opinion.
As to the ‘self promotion’ argument that people have put forwards, of course it is. How else do you think she is going to raise money for the charity if she isn’t in the media, on tv, on websites like this? Psychic fundraising? Seriously, she is doing something good, to help a charity, something that I suspect a lot of people on here, me included, would struggle with. I’m no novice, have a bunch of centurys etc under my belt, but i think that she is doing something amazing and deserves to be given credit for it. Chapeau
After looking at the pictures
After looking at the pictures of her been dragged out of Windermere you have to wonder why she was so unprepared this for.. Ooo Yes only 10 weeks training… Daft really but she has some guts.
Would love to see some of the
Would love to see some of the hard men on this thread and the Facebook one accomplish what Davina’s doing right now. I must remember when you post your achievements and centuries to totally slag you as you’ve done to her.
giff77 wrote:Would love to
I would love to do what she has done.
You know, ten weeks assisted training without the distraction of having a job and having to get up and go to work and what not, cars, vans and people supporting me throughout, being protected from traffic, supplies of food and water, sponsors throwing shedloads of top of the range new kit at me etc. I’d really, really love to do it and I’d enjoy it too.
But I guess that wouldn’t make the same level heart wrenching, epic struggle TV that this sort of thing requires would it?
It’s funny that these “challenges” always get planned to the Nth degree by teams and teams of people yet every year the people involved in doing them have some unseen adversity that just stunningly blindsides the hundreds of people involved and our intrepid heroes look like they wont make it.
They definitely won’t make it.
Surely they can’t make it.
No, wait, what’s this? Oh the celebrity has somehow dug deep and overcome the *insert this years tribulation* and is now, implausibly making it to the finish line.
Spare me the bleeding heart stories please, it’s not being a hard man, it’s not falling hook line and sinker for the same played out contrived bollocks that has been done to death before.
yep there are some pretty
yep there are some pretty mean spirits on here. I find Davina McCall annoying as a TV presenter. She seems to do the stuff where you need to “emote”. But hey that’s her living. Some people lile it and I can change the channel without grtting off the sofa.
But she likes cycling. So that’s good. Fellow cyclist then.
She’s a celebrity that likes cycling.
Now what would I do if I were a celebrity. I’d go cycling. I’d do challenges like this one. I could do them on my own an use my celebrity income to pay for accommodation and maybe sub my cycling mates to come along for the giggle. Or I could use the fact that I am a celebrity who likes cycling to do challenges like this this and raise some money for charity. That would kill two birds with one stone.
And if it helps the sport of cycling then so much the better. There may well be some middle aged women out there that think. Blimey 130 miles. Perhaps my 5 miles to work is doable then. Then well done Davina.
Davina McCall is 46 years old. I am 6 years older and have been cycling properly since I was 13.
130 miles on a winter’s day is bloody good going in my book.
chapeau Davina chapeau!
I rode 5.6 miles to work this
I rode 5.6 miles to work this morning.
It was hard going. Just when I thought I couldn’t go on a Taxi pulled alongside me and Flicked a well dragged Raffles 100 in my General Direction while blaring out M People’s “Search for the Hero” I dug deep and found the inner strength to carry on.
Epic.
There are normal people
There are normal people everywhere doing this every day of the year out of their own pockets using their own motivation for their own chosen charities without personal trainers or a support team whilst also going about regular working life.
Those are the people I’ll support. Not another Z list celebrity having a bit of a hard time.
I just knew the Davina haters
I just knew the Davina haters would be out in force on this one. 130 miles in filthy cold weather is no picnic for anyone – remember all the riders who abandoned Milan San Remo last year? And – putting this tactfully, she is 46 now, female, has had a few kids, you could reasonably expect her to be past her physical peak, and yet she’s still out there.
Whether you like her as a presenter or not – and I happen to – she deserves huge respect for what she’s doing. I’m sure there is some media froth being generated around it, but have you ever watched Masterchef and its “COOKING doesn’t get TOUGHER than THIS” schtick?
The snobbery evident on here
The snobbery evident on here is amazing. She’s raising money and awareness of a charity so that is a good thing. She’s getting off her arse and doing something and using her ‘celebrity status’ not for self promotion but in a way that will benefit others.
I’d hate to meet some of you in real life, you’d probably turn your nose up cos I’m not wearing Rapha kit!
Good luck Davina, and if you read these comments on here (doubt you will) just remember not all cyclists are up their own arse! =D>
Equally surprised by the
Equally surprised by the negative comments on here. Fair play to her for doing it, not least at this time of year.
Some have commented that other, “regular” people are doing this day in, day out, which is all very well and those efforts are of course to be commended.
However, the charities don’t survive on the donations from that sort of fund-raising alone. They need to get well-known celebs involved, usually ever-present radio or TV sorts, and couple it with a bit of a media frenzy, so that the average person sat on their sofa at home is actually aware of it and donates some money. Think David Walliams swimming the Thames or Eddie Izzard and his marathons.
Similarly, if she’s gotten the cycling bug from these sorts of efforts herself, and begins to promote cycling, then surely that will only encourage others to take it up too? More cyclists will mean that both central and local government will take more notice, and offer better cycling infrastructure for all. I can’t for a minute see what’s wrong with that.
Bless her. You can’t really
Bless her. You can’t really fault her for trying. Have you seen the pictures of the swim? Good thing she did have support.
She is probably getting dogs
She is probably getting dogs abuse on some open water swimming forum!
If you find one then copy the
If you find one then copy the link….
1.5 miles open water
1.5 miles open water swimming? I couldn’t/wouldn’t do that in an indoor pool, never mind out in the cold. That’s fairly hardcore in itself.
2 km open water swim in
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
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
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
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. =D>
Oh, and she rides Campag. Double-star. =D> =D>
As someone who is commuting
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.