30/30 riders meet up for May challenge
THE 14th Ian Brown’s Cycle Shop 30/30 Challenge pedalled into action on Saturday.
Throughout May, a total of 127 people have committed themselves to cycling for at least one hour a day to raise money for Les Bourgs Hospice, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary.
Approximately half of the riders are taking part for the first time, including retired banker Mike Pitcher, 78: ‘I do a lot of travelling and, given the pandemic, this is the first year I’ve been able to commit,’ he said. ‘I want to do it before I get too old.’
Mr Pitcher got up at 6am and had done his first ride before breakfast. A couple of years ago he rode from Land’s End to John O’Groats, unsupported.
Lawyer Natalie Chandler, 52, was one of three people, along with Simon Hancock and Richard Jones, who are taking part for the 10th time.
‘Les Bourgs is something that is very close to my heart and it helps to keep me fit,’ she said.
‘It can be difficult fitting it in when you work full-time but it’s worth it.’
The event raised £58,000 for Les Bourgs in 2020.
Teacher Vanessa Mitchell and partner Stuart Blondel, both 36, and children Felix, 8, and Clem, 1, were taking part as a family for the third time.
‘Stuart rides back and forth to work and we go out together in the evenings,’ said Miss Mitchell. ‘We do extra long rides of a weekend.’
The event has raised more than £800,000 for Les Bourgs since it began in 2008. Organiser Ian Brown said it was a figure he was very proud of.
‘It’s the riders who go out and achieve it,’ he said.
‘I know we had a big turnout in 2018 for our 10th anniversary but the number of people signed up this year is one of the best yet.’
Friends of Les Bourgs Hospice vice chairman Mira Domaille told riders at a pre-event breakfast at Oatlands that in 14 years she had still not been able to come to terms with what people did for what was now the hospice’s biggest fundraiser.
‘You pray to God that you will never need Les Bourgs, but people who do deserve that sort of care,’ she said.
