Barcelona fundraiser is 'best ride of my life'
BARCELONA is the destination for the next fundraising tour organised by We Move As One, the group – now a registered company – behind four Tour de Sez rides and last year’s Tour of the Roses from St Malo to Avignon, as well as several runway rides at Guernsey Airport.
Co-organiser Gary Hooks introduced plans for the new ride with a presentation at the The Lion’s Den in St Peter Port and said the company was hoping to get 60 riders to take part alongside 15 support staff.
The ride, La Vuelta a Barca, is planned for September 2026, and will take 10 days, starting with a boat journey to St Malo before a 10-stage ride through France and across the Pyrenees to its destination, a journey of some 1,470km with riders reaching a cumulative elevation gain of 21,000m. Riders will then be flown home.
Some of the climbs highlighted by Mr Hooks would be well-known to followers of the Tour de France.
There will be three pelotons, or groups of riders – advanced, intermediate and leisurely – but he said that nobody would have to do absolutely everything on each leg.
Having not long returned from a reconnaissance trip along the route he said he had enjoyed it.
‘I think it’s the best ride I’ve ever done in my life.’
His presentation took the audience through each leg of the trip and he spoke of the spectacular views and climbs that they would encounter.
Unlike previous events, the charity to benefit from this ride had not yet been chosen. Mr Hooks said that riders would be asked to name their preferred beneficiary and the top three selected would each receive a share of the funds. Riders will need to find £2,600 to take part and can also raise additional funds for charity if they wish.
Training will be provided by the ride organisers over the next two years.
n More information is available at www.wemoveasonecycling.com.
