On 3rd June 2022 eight middle aged men in lycra from Chess Valley RFC, ably assisted by a support crew of 5, will embark upon a two-wheeled journey from our home ground at Croxley Guild of Sport, Rickmansworth to the Stade Jean-Bouin, the home of Stade Francais Rugby in Paris.

In celebration of the end of our 25th Anniversary season we will visit 25 rugby clubs en route, 18 in England and 7 in France, a total journey of 255 miles over three days of cycling. A twist on the famous London to Paris bike ride.

In 1996 the founder members of Chess Valley RFC met to decide upon the club colours. Options of black, green, blood red and for some reason salmon pink were all considered. Eventually they settled on bottle green with salmon pink collars. The kit that our 1st XV are sporting this season in our 25th anniversary season. So where else could our destination be than Stade Francais, where the Parisians host Brive on the evening of 5th June in their final Top14 game of the season. The French club are famous for sporting pink jerseys and have done so since 2004. And of course the riders and support crew will be all sporting pink kit on their journey.

With so many good causes to choose from we have decided to split funds raised equally between three excellent causes, all of which have a connection to our riders, Chess Valley RFC and rugby in general –

Cure Parkinson’s - Everything Cure Parkinson’s do is to move closer to their goal of finding new treatments to slow, stop or reverse the progression of Parkinson’s. Your donations will lead to the breakthrough we all want to see. We have chosen Cure Parkinson’s as our very own rider Will Cook works tirelessly on their behalf as CEO and it’s a disease that has personally touched the families of some of our riders.

Read more about Cure Parkinson's here

The Matt Ratana Rugby Foundation – launched in memory of Police Sergeant Matt Ratana, tragically killed on duty in 2020. The foundation supports the growth of community and school rugby at local, national and international level. We have chosen the Matt Ratana Rugby Foundation because Matt was a rugby man and a Met copper just like a couple of our riders. We will visit Matt's home club East Grinstead RFC on our journey.

Read more about The Matt Ratana Foundation here

Whizz-Kidz – a charity providing mobility equipment to young wheelchair users and long supported by our very own rider Stu Miles. Stu first got involved with Whizz-Kidz as a Chess Valley coach following a rugby coaching session at a school for disabled children. He was struck by the mobility of the boy with the cool wheelchair and learnt how Whizz-Kidz had changed the boy's life. Stu has raised over £50,000 in 5 years for Whizz-Kidz and we would love to help him add to that.

Read more about Whizz-Kidz here

Our Ride

Chess Valley RFC - Ruislip RFC - Ealing Trailfinders RFC - London Welsh RFC - London Scottish FC - Richmond FC - The RFU Twickenham - Harlequins FC - Thamesians RFC - Teddington RFC - Met Police RFC - Esher RFC - Cobham RFC - Dorking RFC - East Grinstead RFC - Haywards Heath RFC - Ditchling RFC - Hove RFC - Dieppe University Club Rugby - RC Union Sportive Forges Les Aux - Beauvais RC - Arlequins XV Beauvais - MLSGP Rugby (Poissy) - Rugby Club Versailles - Stade Francais

Our Riders

Andy Smith, Brad Hallam, Brian Reilly, Mike Williams, Paddy Hughes, Stu Lemon, Stu Miles and Will Cook

Our SAG Team (Support & Gear)

Doug Wotherspoon, Paul Morgan, Richard Bowden, Richard Browne and Richard Sidley

Please do all you can to support these amazing charities and help motivate our riders to keep on pedaling!