An antidote

Well sort of ....

Reading the post about the drip, drip, drip of bad news for cylists I thought I would add an experience from last weekend for 'balance'.

I've been organising a charity bike ride in the Chilterns and this year was our third. It's not a sportive, it's a solid charity job. People enter, pledge to raise money and ride 45 miles from Berkhamsted to Marlow. It's not very far (relatively speaking) but the hills are challenging for quite a few of the participants.

Fortunately, my mate owns four gastro pubs so we ride between them, starting with breakfast at one and finishing with a BBQ at the last. In between there are pitstops for, ahem, essential rehydration - all gratis from the pub group's suppliers.

The route is mostly very quiet lanes, save for a nuisance bit to get under the M40. It's a small event - just 50 riders usually, but we have roadies, MTB-ers, casual bikers and riders who have ridden in the past and forgotten how much they loved it.

Ordinary people, with jobs, houses and yes, cars, enjoying the simple pleasure of riding a bike.

Last Saturday was the best event yet. Everyone stayed safe and happy and the weather helped out too, starting off quite cool but transforming into warm sun at the end.

The ride raised just under £8k for three local charities, which was our best ever result.

Next year, I think we'll change the route and finish at the pub near Beaconsfield so the route is slightly longer. I'm already looking forward to it.

#bloodycyclists indeed.