Report - Page 1
83 miles of cycling and several kilos of mud, all for one purpose, to raise as much money as possible for two charities: Starlight Children's Foundation and the Thames Valley and Chiltern Air Ambulance. This was a challenge not for the faint hearted, especially at this time of year with the weather being so variable. Fortunately for us, there were only four punctures along the whole route.
On Thursday 16th April, Matt Landells, Tom McDonald, and Peter Barnshaw set out from Thame with the sun out and clean bikes... This however didn't last, as within five miles the sun disappeared and the rain that would haunt us for the next two days joined us. As the first day went on, the terrain grew gradually more challenging, from converted railways to what seemed like pig sties we eventually arrived in Goring, which ended the first of the three days.
After saying the night before that we would get up at the crack of dawn and make an early get away, we didn't leave until gone eleven o'clock. A good 5 miles uphill at the start of the second day was what we had to look forward to before we got back up onto the relative flat. And yes, there were yet more deeply rutted byways ideal for bikes with fully loaded panniers. We sheltered in what seemed like the only dry place on the whole of the Berkshire Downs, under the A34. After this, things took a fairly severe turn for the worse, which involved people falling off into clayey puddles and a rear puncture (which was just a pain). But there was worse to come. When we were about half a mile from the campsite, Matt got a puncture and Peter's brakes decided to stop working. Unfortunately, these seemed only minor problems as Tom had to leave because his rear derailleur bent after his back wheel fell out. Now we were down to two.
Who we support
For JOGLE 2010, we raised money for:
In Memory of Charles Landells
1933-2009
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