Office to office on two wheels

Years ago, there was talk of a charity challenge where we would cycle between our two offices in London and Exmouth. At the start of 2026, Charles led the charge to make this dream a reality. On Sunday 10th May, the Pixelfridge cyclists rolled into Exmouth to finish this challenge and make what was once a discussion over a beer, a done deal.

We’ve built our agency around our strong values. As a B Corp certified agency, we also put our money where our mouth is in putting people and planet alongside profit. This challenge was to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital, a charity that we’re all passionate about. If reading this article inspires you, please do donate to the cause. 

The challenge

Simply put, we wanted to ride from our London office, to our Devon office. That meant we had to take on 350km of England’s finest roads, lanes and little chunks of unexpected off road… which it turns out isn’t well suited to laden road bikes.

We had a core team of four cyclists (Chris, Charles, Tom and Nick, definitely not in speed order), and some guests that joined along the way, as well as support throughout the trip from various friends and family members!

A huge thank you to everyone for your support along the way, and in raising money for GOSH.

Note: Full routes at the bottom, for anyone interested!

Day 1: Metal Box Factory, Southwark to Hungerford

Distance: 130km

Day 1 was an early start for the Devon cyclists, as they boarded their train at 0650 to head up to join the London team on the start line. The team morale was high from the off, with Charles preparing sausage sandwiches and Nick providing coffee and apples. Fuel was going to be key from the start.

On arrival at the office, the cycling team were greeted by the London office with a freshly prepared breakfast selection of pastries, fruit and coffee to send the cyclists on their way. With the selection complete, it was time to take to the saddle and set off through central London, at a slightly late start time of 1100, with a lot of distance to clear!

We rolled out along the river, and before we knew it, skyscrapers turned to trees and we were surrounded by deer in Richmond park, where Nick stumbled upon a local cyclist in their team kit from Exmouth! From Richmond park, to Bushy park, we weaved our way through Surrey and beyond the M25 into Ascot for a late lunch stop around 1400 – knowing we still had 70km to get through.

After Ascot, we decided it was time to test the road bikes with some gravel paths, through Swinley Forest. A welcome break from the cars, but a slightly rough road surface led to some giggly moments and a rather dramatic decrease in our average speed. Out of the forest we went, and back onto tarmac, time to get some distance in us.

We rolled through the gentle hills and flatter roads where we were met by Nick’s sister and her family to cheer us on, and give us yet more Haribo. In hindsight, we should have asked for some sponsorship from Haribo for the event…

Bums back on saddles, we set off towards Newbury where we had a planned refreshment stop. With only 20km left, it was very important that we stayed hydrated and fueled the body with those essential electrolytes.

With the sun setting, we clocked off the last few miles of lovely countryside and as we heard the GWR railway, we knew we were closing in on the end of Day 1 at Hungerford. A lovely hill into the town led us to our place of rest for the night where we were able to refuel. After a couple of refreshing drinks, and some supper, the team were exhausted and in bed early targeting an 0830 leave for Day 2.

Day 2: Hungerford to Crewkerne

Distance: 145km

We woke knowing that Day 2 was going to be the biggest day of the challenge. Some serious distance, and a few climbs thrown in along the way. The good news was, we woke to birds chirping and the sun shining – the perfect day. After some breakfast and some caffeine to get us going, we were back in the saddle, albeit a little gingerly.

We were treated to some special scenes in our first few hours of hares bounding through fields, foxes scrambling into hedgerows and birds of prey circling above. A reminder that nature is all around us.

The ride took us through a military training area, with tank crossing signs and lots of troops and aircraft to be seen. A great distraction as we clocked through the miles, with smooth road surfaces and legs in the groove. We had Amesbury in our sights for a coffee stop and a refuel.

Getting back on the bikes at Amesbury, we took a little wrong turn leaving the town and to add to this – we had our first (and only) puncture! Charles was the victim, but thankfully he was well prepared and trained to quickly get the bike back in action. Formula one teams would be hard pushed to change a tyre quicker…

Leaving Amesbury, we wound around Salisbury and pointed our noses for Gillingham. This was a really delightful section of riding through some gorgeous countryside, a little bit of unpaved woodland and then some picture perfect villages (and names; Cucklington, Horsington, Hardington Mandeville and Teffont Magna) thrown in. Sadly, stopping to take pictures wasn’t top of the list and our pace setter knew we had to press on.

We rolled into Gillingham for a late lunch and to take a bit of time out of the saddle. By chance, we stumbled upon the wonderful pub, The Dog House, where they kindly delivered on the bar snacks of toasties and chips – perfect fuel. And, the pub and staff were so friendly – we’d recommend this one! Alas, the beers weren’t yet an option with 50km still to go.

Onwards we went, through some more perfect villages, and an increasing number of shorter, sharper hills… signalling we were coming towards the Somerset and Devon leg of the journey! Crewkerne awaited us, but sadly was at the top of a long, sharp ascent to finish the day off, and finish us off too.

Another evening of refuelling and rest, whilst we were joined by Alex for the final day.

Day 3: Crewkerne to Exmouth

Distance: 68km

Day 3 saw a split in the team with Chris having to crack on with the route a little early to get back home. Alex subbed in and the group set off via the only open shop in Crewkerne at 0745 on a Sunday… the One Stop. Breakfast was limited, but we were underway and aiming for Axminster where we were joined by Nathan, a Propeller member, for the final leg of the journey.

Within 15 minutes, the ride took an unexpected right turn off the beautifully tarmaced road, down a very rocky path. We’re a little religious about the route by this point, so we followed it… and wished we hadn’t. We ended up on rocky paths, riverbeds and hay fields, not the ideal surface for the road bikes we were on. Thankfully for us, Chris going on ahead meant he hadn’t passed the message on and let us all suffer the same fate as himself.

As we finally left behind the mountain bike paths, we made for Axminster and met Nathan, aiming for a coffee at the very friendly café, the Railway Kitchen. We knew at this point that we weren’t far away, but between us and Exmouth stood some very serious climbs – the biggest of the trip by a long way! We wiggled our way through Colyton (and up out of!!) and into Branscombe, before a long climb up out of the beautiful Devon village. At the top of the Branscombe climb, we could taste the sea air and a big descent into Sidmouth meant it must have been time for an ice cream.

Ice cream down, the steepest climb of the whole trip awaited us – Peak Hill. At some points, this clocks over 20%, and it felt like it! As we all regrouped at the top, we took in the views and could see the finish line at Exmouth.

A lovely rolling ride down from the top of Peak Hill led us all the way to the beachfront at Exmouth, where we had our biggest near miss of the whole trip! What a sad finish that would have been… but we won’t go into the details. Cycling down the road to the finish line, and the office, we were welcomed by a wonderful group of friends and family, as well as the Exmouth Town Crier! A big thank you to everyone that showed up at the finish – that really made our day!

And with that, challenge complete. Lots of kilometers cycled, lots of money raised and lots of fun had along the way.

It’s time to start thinking about what the next challenge could be…

Day 1 route

Day 2 route

Day 3 route