KINGFISHER 8
Well-known member
Did I miss a post somewhere about yesterday's charity bike ride? ... Was everyone too knackered to post?
Bike ride?
- Thread starter KINGFISHER 8
- Start date
lisilou
Active member
I can tell you for sure it took a lot out of them and they all looked pretty knackered when they crossed the finish line. A massive achievement by all and one they can all be rightly proud of but I'm sure someone will post a write up when they've had a chance for their bits and pieces to recover. LOL
As I understand it, the end total could be in the region of 10k. Awesome job guys & gals.
L
As I understand it, the end total could be in the region of 10k. Awesome job guys & gals.
L
STEVEDUNSTABLE
Active member
Wot u sed X10 !!!!
I can tell you for sure it took a lot out of them and they all looked pretty knackered when they crossed the finish line. A massive achievement by all and one they can all be rightly proud of but I'm sure someone will post a write up when they've had a chance for their bits and pieces to recover. LOL
As I understand it, the end total could be in the region of 10k. Awesome job guys & gals.
L
rafiki_
Well-known member
Yep, I'm sure Gary will be along in a bit, but it was one helluva day. We started at about 10.00, and drifted in sometime before 6. About 5-6 hours cycling and 3 rest stops. The nav was challenging at times, but we all ended up in the right place. Not too much skin was lost, although to my knowledge we had 4 capsizes, when the rider failed to unclip from the pedal. It happens. We had 2 wonky wheels, P4Paul fixed his, but Flowerpower twanged a spoke, needing a diversion into a bike shop. I think these were the only failures.
The pubs along the way we're great, welcoming, and supportive. MDL were immense, great support at Penton Hook and OV. I cleared off before the wake at the Yacht Club, so there is a bit more to learn I believe
Lisa is right, it looks like the final tally will be £10,000. Absolutely astonishing generosity from so many people, and well done too to the other riders.
Happy to say that legs, bottom and back are absolutely pain free today, although I was less than secondhand at OV last evening, refusing beer and wine. Mind you a Bombay Saphire is calling now.
Absolute respect to Gary for organising this, Trevor for running Thunderbird 1, Ian from MDL for T/bird 2.
The pubs along the way we're great, welcoming, and supportive. MDL were immense, great support at Penton Hook and OV. I cleared off before the wake at the Yacht Club, so there is a bit more to learn I believe
Lisa is right, it looks like the final tally will be £10,000. Absolutely astonishing generosity from so many people, and well done too to the other riders.
Happy to say that legs, bottom and back are absolutely pain free today, although I was less than secondhand at OV last evening, refusing beer and wine. Mind you a Bombay Saphire is calling now.
Absolute respect to Gary for organising this, Trevor for running Thunderbird 1, Ian from MDL for T/bird 2.
Lloydroberts
Member
Respect to all, bar none.
z1ppy
Well-known member
yes indeed, there was some pain but a lot of laughs, smiles and a huge amount of generosity!!
I have seen some rather disturbing pictures of me on Facebook already but we are waiting for the official (and hopefully photoshopped) photos to come from Ian the very nice man who followed us in one of the vans taking pictures.
We will put together a full post later but a massive achievement from all who took part in any form, not just the riders but also those who helped to organise a great send off at Penton Hook, Ocean Village who organised an amazing reception and of course everyone who has dug deep and sponsored us!
I believe the Justgiving team us up over £7.5K now with significant funds to add from the beer and natter auction and raffle and the collection pots that were bursting at all points en route.
I can confirm that when i got to bed at 02.00 this morning having been up since 05.00 Saturday morning i was aching a lot but smiling inside with a huge sense of achievement and satisfaction!
Thank you again to everyone and we will put together the full report that you all deserve (with edited pictures hopefully) when we are back to some form of normal!
edited with a few pics.
I have seen some rather disturbing pictures of me on Facebook already but we are waiting for the official (and hopefully photoshopped) photos to come from Ian the very nice man who followed us in one of the vans taking pictures.
We will put together a full post later but a massive achievement from all who took part in any form, not just the riders but also those who helped to organise a great send off at Penton Hook, Ocean Village who organised an amazing reception and of course everyone who has dug deep and sponsored us!
I believe the Justgiving team us up over £7.5K now with significant funds to add from the beer and natter auction and raffle and the collection pots that were bursting at all points en route.
I can confirm that when i got to bed at 02.00 this morning having been up since 05.00 Saturday morning i was aching a lot but smiling inside with a huge sense of achievement and satisfaction!
Thank you again to everyone and we will put together the full report that you all deserve (with edited pictures hopefully) when we are back to some form of normal!
edited with a few pics.
KINGFISHER 8
Well-known member
Well done to you all ... hell of an achievement!
Jurgen
Active member
Well done everyone. A great effort by all that took part and a fun evening in the yatch club.
Very generous folks bidding for some wonderful prizes and thanks to Henry for his good work as MC
Hope all of the riders and supporters are feeling ok .
Very generous folks bidding for some wonderful prizes and thanks to Henry for his good work as MC
Hope all of the riders and supporters are feeling ok .
petem
Well-known member
Raising £10k is a fantastic amount. You guys should be very proud of yourselves.
oGaryo
Active member
Sorry for not posting sooner. we'll pull together a full report asap as Howard and Paul have suggested.. there's also updates going in MDL and YBW news articles and I spoke to a nice lady on Friday to give her the details for the RYA magazine and All At Sea paper. just arrived home after a bitch of a journey back along the M3 after failing at demolishing a mega huge gigantica all day breakfast from Eegons in West Cowes, needing to sleep it off in the sun for the afternoon
For now I'd like to extend a huge thanks to the sponsors (Innovise, Marine Teak, The Beauty Room at the beehive, Aritisan Signs, MDL & YBW), The Napiers in Ash Vale, The White Heart in Holybourne, The Hinton Arms in Cheriton and everyone who turned up on the day for their support. Thanks also goes to Trevor (mechanic van), Ian (minibus and photographer), Henry (book him now for your event, you won't be disappointed), Gwen & Debbie (Ocean Village), Ali, Andy and Dan ([Penton Hook), Dean & Nic (MDL management team), Rob (B&B&T.. Bed, Beer and Thai Curry at Penton Hook) and of course, each and every person who has dug deep to donate via Justgiving, the auction, the raffle and collection tins to raise what is looking like £10k (not quite there yet). Thanks also to RSYC for looking after us last night and those that contributed to the auction and raffle prizes. Sorry if I've missed anyone, it's easy to do when so many have contributed.
Saying this last thank you on a separate line to make it stand out coz the buggers continue to play down their contribution.. Paul (Rafiki) and Howard (Zippy).. thank you so much for your support since October last year, you're both awesome, there's no way this would have been done without you
cheers Gary
P.S. the Kayak sold to Jon at the auction may very well have saved a life today.. it was used to remove a rather cold and damp crew member from OV marina this afternoon after they slipped from their yacht.. Jon just happened to have the kayak inflated and used it to paddle from A pontoon to the south basin to haul said crew member from the water.. nice one Jon :encouragement:
For now I'd like to extend a huge thanks to the sponsors (Innovise, Marine Teak, The Beauty Room at the beehive, Aritisan Signs, MDL & YBW), The Napiers in Ash Vale, The White Heart in Holybourne, The Hinton Arms in Cheriton and everyone who turned up on the day for their support. Thanks also goes to Trevor (mechanic van), Ian (minibus and photographer), Henry (book him now for your event, you won't be disappointed), Gwen & Debbie (Ocean Village), Ali, Andy and Dan ([Penton Hook), Dean & Nic (MDL management team), Rob (B&B&T.. Bed, Beer and Thai Curry at Penton Hook) and of course, each and every person who has dug deep to donate via Justgiving, the auction, the raffle and collection tins to raise what is looking like £10k (not quite there yet). Thanks also to RSYC for looking after us last night and those that contributed to the auction and raffle prizes. Sorry if I've missed anyone, it's easy to do when so many have contributed.
Saying this last thank you on a separate line to make it stand out coz the buggers continue to play down their contribution
.. Paul (Rafiki) and Howard (Zippy).. thank you so much for your support since October last year, you're both awesome, there's no way this would have been done without youcheers Gary
P.S. the Kayak sold to Jon at the auction may very well have saved a life today.. it was used to remove a rather cold and damp crew member from OV marina this afternoon after they slipped from their yacht.. Jon just happened to have the kayak inflated and used it to paddle from A pontoon to the south basin to haul said crew member from the water.. nice one Jon :encouragement:
Last edited:
matm
New member
Shame on you Gary, told you lying around in the sun this avo was a bit lazy
Look forward to the "full" write up. Needless to say it was an amazing day. Made a mere, non-cycling, mortal feel humbled. It was truly an amazing effort from the guys.
Evening event was excellent fun. More to be revealed I'm sure.
Great to see some of the post ride in CYH this afternoon.
A huge well done to the cycling team - truly an achievement.
PS. Egons want their cutlery back Gary.
Look forward to the "full" write up. Needless to say it was an amazing day. Made a mere, non-cycling, mortal feel humbled. It was truly an amazing effort from the guys.
Evening event was excellent fun. More to be revealed I'm sure.
Great to see some of the post ride in CYH this afternoon.
A huge well done to the cycling team - truly an achievement.
PS. Egons want their cutlery back Gary.
[2068]
...
Hi,
I’d just like to take a little time to say a massive “Thank You” to those that sponsored me on June 6th, and to give a brief report on how the ride went.
The weather forecast wasn’t bad, apart from the Force 5-6 wind going completely in the wrong direction, but at least it meant that overheating was not a problem on the day. (Louise had said encouragingly before the ride, that the worst case would be “To end up with heat exhaustion, the patterned sunburnt head of an alien, and the rear of baboon.” Thankfully, I can confirm that all these nightmare scenarios were avoided by Lucozade, Factor 30, and careful selection of kit.)
Having carefully tested the Garmin Connect Live link beforehand, when it came to the start, it failed to connect with “Server Error ... unknown code”. I restarted the GPS, and the rest of my group started to ride off into the distance.
Three minutes later, and we had our second faller (The first faller didn’t unclip after the initial photo shoot). One rider slowed and stopped to adjust their rear derailleur, and another rider drew up parallel to “assist”. Assistance being, in this case, another failure to unclip, followed a by a less than graceful plunge into the hedge and a wheel that wasn’t round any more. Being wary about offering any more assistance, I left the tangle behind.
I rapidly realised there was a rhythm to my cycling: I was fine on the flat, really quite fast on the downhill sections, and utterly, utterly, useless up the hills. This might have had something to do with my training routes, which had a maximum elevation of 6ft.
At the first stop, I fiddled with GPS some more, ate some bananas, and the group started to cycle off again as I was still pressing buttons trying to get the Live Link to work. Shortly afterwards, the GPS said “Turn Right”, so I did, and led the riders into a Military Housing Estate.
At second stop, I rebooted the phone. Ta-da! Live Link now works, and I can post the link for about, err, five minutes, because the signal is hopeless, and having Bluetooth enabled has drained the battery to 20% with 40% of the ride to go.
Never mind the technology, let’s focus on the cycling, and I start to enjoy the ride through a town centre, when TWANG, wobble, wobble, oh dear, that’s not good, a spoke has broken on the rear wheel. What are the chances of finding a bike shop within 100 yards, that is open on a Saturday, and that could do a repair at short notice? Very good, as it happens, although I’m still extremely suspicious that there might have been someone with a spoke-breaking-device lying in wait for me, who gets commission from the shop for each wheel repair.
Half an hour later, and I’m on my own, having lost the rest of the pack. This part of the ride was tough: there were a couple of hills where I was pulling small wheelies in the lowest gear, and had to dismount and walk up. I remember a couple of vultures circling above in the cloudless sky, waiting for their staggering victim to fall. The terrain levelled off, the vultures glided away in search of an easier meal, and I gathered speed.
As I approached what was meant to be the last rest stop, I wasn’t sure of the exact location, but I knew I was in the right village, so I phoned Louise to get detailed guidance.
“Hi, where are you, exactly?”
“In the pub.”
Following this detailed route caused me to overshoot the rest stop completely, and arrive at the next village. I’m very grateful to the small group of riders that waited for me at this final stop, and we met up at the crest of the next hill, and rode the last leg into Southampton together, guided by Trevor in the support van when the GPS finally went to zero, riding over the line four-abreast to a crowd that seemed surprised we had made it.
The final tally is looking like it will be well in excess of the original target (£8000+? not sure), which is a great result, as it represents the combined efforts of the organisers, especially Gary P, MDL, the riders, and of course, the sponsors.
Thanks again,
Dave.
I’d just like to take a little time to say a massive “Thank You” to those that sponsored me on June 6th, and to give a brief report on how the ride went.
The weather forecast wasn’t bad, apart from the Force 5-6 wind going completely in the wrong direction, but at least it meant that overheating was not a problem on the day. (Louise had said encouragingly before the ride, that the worst case would be “To end up with heat exhaustion, the patterned sunburnt head of an alien, and the rear of baboon.” Thankfully, I can confirm that all these nightmare scenarios were avoided by Lucozade, Factor 30, and careful selection of kit.)
Having carefully tested the Garmin Connect Live link beforehand, when it came to the start, it failed to connect with “Server Error ... unknown code”. I restarted the GPS, and the rest of my group started to ride off into the distance.
Three minutes later, and we had our second faller (The first faller didn’t unclip after the initial photo shoot). One rider slowed and stopped to adjust their rear derailleur, and another rider drew up parallel to “assist”. Assistance being, in this case, another failure to unclip, followed a by a less than graceful plunge into the hedge and a wheel that wasn’t round any more. Being wary about offering any more assistance, I left the tangle behind.
I rapidly realised there was a rhythm to my cycling: I was fine on the flat, really quite fast on the downhill sections, and utterly, utterly, useless up the hills. This might have had something to do with my training routes, which had a maximum elevation of 6ft.
At the first stop, I fiddled with GPS some more, ate some bananas, and the group started to cycle off again as I was still pressing buttons trying to get the Live Link to work. Shortly afterwards, the GPS said “Turn Right”, so I did, and led the riders into a Military Housing Estate.
At second stop, I rebooted the phone. Ta-da! Live Link now works, and I can post the link for about, err, five minutes, because the signal is hopeless, and having Bluetooth enabled has drained the battery to 20% with 40% of the ride to go.
Never mind the technology, let’s focus on the cycling, and I start to enjoy the ride through a town centre, when TWANG, wobble, wobble, oh dear, that’s not good, a spoke has broken on the rear wheel. What are the chances of finding a bike shop within 100 yards, that is open on a Saturday, and that could do a repair at short notice? Very good, as it happens, although I’m still extremely suspicious that there might have been someone with a spoke-breaking-device lying in wait for me, who gets commission from the shop for each wheel repair.
Half an hour later, and I’m on my own, having lost the rest of the pack. This part of the ride was tough: there were a couple of hills where I was pulling small wheelies in the lowest gear, and had to dismount and walk up. I remember a couple of vultures circling above in the cloudless sky, waiting for their staggering victim to fall. The terrain levelled off, the vultures glided away in search of an easier meal, and I gathered speed.
As I approached what was meant to be the last rest stop, I wasn’t sure of the exact location, but I knew I was in the right village, so I phoned Louise to get detailed guidance.
“Hi, where are you, exactly?”
“In the pub.”
Following this detailed route caused me to overshoot the rest stop completely, and arrive at the next village. I’m very grateful to the small group of riders that waited for me at this final stop, and we met up at the crest of the next hill, and rode the last leg into Southampton together, guided by Trevor in the support van when the GPS finally went to zero, riding over the line four-abreast to a crowd that seemed surprised we had made it.
The final tally is looking like it will be well in excess of the original target (£8000+? not sure), which is a great result, as it represents the combined efforts of the organisers, especially Gary P, MDL, the riders, and of course, the sponsors.
Thanks again,
Dave.
Last edited:
lisilou
Active member
Great write up Dave. Thanks and well done that man!
L
L
rafiki_
Well-known member
Great job David, and a pleasure to ride with you, although I had a tendency to lead us all in the wrong directionHi,
I’d just like to take a little time to say a massive “Thank You” to those that sponsored me on June 6th, and to give a brief report on how the ride went.
The weather forecast wasn’t bad, apart from the Force 5-6 wind going completely in the wrong direction, but at least it meant that overheating was not a problem on the day. (Louise had said encouragingly before the ride, that the worst case would be “To end up with heat exhaustion, the patterned sunburnt head of an alien, and the rear of baboon.” Thankfully, I can confirm that all these nightmare scenarios were avoided by Lucozade, Factor 30, and careful selection of kit.)
Having carefully tested the Garmin Connect Live link beforehand, when it came to the start, it failed to connect with “Server Error ... unknown code”. I restarted the GPS, and the rest of my group started to ride off into the distance.
Three minutes later, and we had our second faller (The first faller didn’t unclip after the initial photo shoot). One rider slowed and stopped to adjust their rear derailleur, and another rider drew up parallel to “assist”. Assistance being, in this case, another failure to unclip, followed a by a less than graceful plunge into the hedge and a wheel that wasn’t round any more. Being wary about offering any more assistance, I left the tangle behind.
I rapidly realised there was a rhythm to my cycling: I was fine on the flat, really quite fast on the downhill sections, and utterly, utterly, useless up the hills. This might have had something to do with my training routes, which had a maximum elevation of 6ft.
At the first stop, I fiddled with GPS some more, ate some bananas, and the group started to cycle off again as I was still pressing buttons trying to get the Live Link to work. Shortly afterwards, the GPS said “Turn Right”, so I did, and led the riders into a Military Housing Estate.
At second stop, I rebooted the phone. Ta-da! Live Link now works, and I can post the link for about, err, five minutes, because the signal is hopeless, and having Bluetooth enabled has drained the battery to 20% with 40% of the ride to go.
Never mind the technology, let’s focus on the cycling, and I start to enjoy the ride through a town centre, when TWANG, wobble, wobble, oh dear, that’s not good, a spoke has broken on the rear wheel. What are the chances of finding a bike shop within 100 yards, that is open on a Saturday, and that could do a repair at short notice? Very good, as it happens, although I’m still extremely suspicious that there might have been someone with a spoke-breaking-device lying in wait for me, who gets commission from the shop for each wheel repair.
Half an hour later, and I’m on my own, having lost the rest of the pack. This part of the ride was tough: there were a couple of hills where I was pulling small wheelies in the lowest gear, and had to dismount and walk up. I remember a couple of vultures circling above in the cloudless sky, waiting for their staggering victim to fall. The terrain levelled off, the vultures glided away in search of an easier meal, and I gathered speed.
As I approached what was meant to be the last rest stop, I wasn’t sure of the exact location, but I knew I was in the right village, so I phoned Louise to get detailed guidance.
“Hi, where are you, exactly?”
“In the pub.”
Following this detailed route caused me to overshoot the rest stop completely, and arrive at the next village. I’m very grateful to the small group of riders that waited for me at this final stop, and we met up at the crest of the next hill, and rode the last leg into Southampton together, guided by Trevor in the support van when the GPS finally went to zero, riding over the line four-abreast to a crowd that seemed surprised we had made it.
The final tally is looking like it will be well in excess of the original target (£8000+? not sure), which is a great result, as it represents the combined efforts of the organisers, especially Gary P, MDL, the riders, and of course, the sponsors.
Thanks again,
Dave.