TEAM's page
TEAM WEYBRIDGE is raising money for CARE International UK
Story
The Weybridge to Maidenhead leg began early on the Saturday morning with an intended 7am roll-out. However, due to the increasingly wet but warm weather, some serious faffing around with what to wear went on, delaying the start. In addition, a large supply of free Lucozade products bedazzled some riders, with one suffering unintended consequences a few miles into the ride; greed is one of the seven deadly sins, with climbing on a bike with a belly full of Lucozade sport being another!!
For the first hour-and-a-half, we rode into an increasingly bleak cloud-cover, spoiling the view from the first significant part of the Olympic road race route, Staples Lane. However, as we moved towards Box Hill, the clouds began to break-up and the rise in temperature had us almost wishing for the cooler wind.
By the time we reached the top of Box Hill and were enjoying our tea and cake, we had already experienced two punctures, a broken spoke and a problematic wheel bearing. However, we were all still together and we had the majority of the significant climbs out of the way. A thoroughly enjoyable, fast decent into Epsom followed by a reasonably trouble-free run back to the starting point in Weybridge. Here we took a brief rest, changed the odd tyre, swapped one bike, ate more Lucozade products and prepared to leave for the next leg to Maidenhead. Two of the guys dropped out at this point and three ladies joined the group.
The journey to Maidenhead took in an awkward ride through late-morning Saturday Walton-on-Thames, where we encountered one or two drivers who I can guess would be disappointed if they got cycling in the Olympic ticket draw! Once we reached The Great Park in Windsor, we were treated to car-free roads and beautiful sunshine. The increasing wind was annoying, but it did not spoil the ride, nor did one of the chaps breaking a cleat. We stopped off at Mr. Gunson's house in Windsor, where more fuel was eaten and the cleat was replaced.
Then, it was the final few miles to Maidenhead factory, where many thanks go to Peter for waiting for our delayed arrival. The baton was handed over, the photographs were taken and the official ride was over. However, a relatively brief sojourn to the pub, which didn't have food, was followed by the three girls riding back to Weybridge via the Thames towpath and seven of the boys riding directly back to Weybridge in tight and fast "chain-gang" formation. This was an unexpected fun battle against a strong head-wind, which was done at impressive speed given that we'd already covered 70 miles. The only unfortunate event was when one of us took a bit of a nasty tumble after a touch of wheels; no major bike damage, but a few scrapes and bruises were the result.....still, as long as the bike was OK!!
We arrived, into Weybridge for the final time, having covered a collective total of 90 miles. Everyone ached, one of us bled and most of us had acquired some interesting tan lines.
Well done team Weybridge - an eventful, great day out.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for visiting our page!
GSK UK Sites 2012Km Cycle Relay - Gold Challenge
To celebrate the Games we’ve set ourselves a big charity challenge for 2012.
We’ve decided to take on the Gold Challenge and complete 2012 km as a team to help raise money for Care International.
The Challenge
The concept is simple really - we are planning to cycle in relay style between all the GSK UK Sites in order to cover 2012 Km.
This is how it’ll work:
· There are 14 major Sites in the UK;
· So there are 13 ‘legs’ to cycle between them, visiting every one;
· Distances between sites vary from 10 miles to over 200;
· Each site will put up a team to cycle to the next site in a certain sequence, and 2012km overall will be covered;
· A ‘baton’ will cover the whole distance – like in a relay and pass from site to site;
· Each of the legs will take place on consecutive weekends starting from Montrose in May, through June to July – and this will allow a finish at our headquarters GSK House (Brentford) hopefully before the opening weekend of the Olympics.
When each ‘leg’ is successfully completed, we’ll add the Kms covered to our Gold Challenge Team Page totaliser.
This is not just for ‘elite’ cyclists…..some of the legs are short and flat – so see your organiser for details. Be part of it.
Please sponsor the Weybridge team as they undertake the challenge. We’re aiming to raise £2012.
Thank You...Team Weybridge
Andrew Middleton, Rob Mackie, Daniel Taylor, Simon Gunson, Alastair Lomax, Majedeh Mazraei, Olivia Pinel, Jon Creeth, Julian Earl, Riccardo Conti, Simon Vincer, Robert Lucas, Robert Bonnar
The Charity
CARE International is a remarkable charity who is one of the world’s top three aid agencies. CARE works in 84 countries around the world, implementing long-term programmes to fight poverty, responding to humanitarian emergencies, and advocating for policy change to improve the lives of the poorest people. To learn more visit:
http://www.goldchallenge.org/morecharities/careinternational
This is an amazing opportunity to be a part of something special and raise much needed funds for CARE International.
Gift Aid - Ticking the box, what does it mean?
Under Gift Aid, the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will usually top up every £1 given to CARE International with 25p. So CARE International could receive £250 for every £1,000 donated with no extra expense.
For donations to be eligible for Gift Aid, the donor needs to be a UK taxpayer and have paid an equal amount in income/capital gains tax.
So please support us in our journey to Gold!
The Charity