The ‘Castle to Castle’ challenge was successfully completed on July 3rd 2009 by Rob Bailey, Paul Martin and Steve Smye. The main purpose of this 320 mile bike ride was to raise money for a gravity bike for our club. In conjunction with the sponsored bike ride, we also held numerous other events including a Raffle Prize Competition, an Easter Egg Hunt, a football memorabilia auction, a sponsored walk, demo days at mountain biking events and car boot sales!
We also received a lot of anonymous donations, both online and from meeting members of the public. All the monies raised were used to help boost the funds from the challenge, with 10% of the total being donated to The Back-Up Trust. In total we raised nearly £8000, which is £3000 over our original target!
The team started their adventure, from Muncaster Castle (in Cumbria) early on the 1st of July. During the first day the riders covered a total distance of 107 miles at an impressive average speed of 16mph. They spent nearly 7 hours on the road, climbing to a maximum altitude of 1250 metres, and finishing at Haltwhistle in Northumberland at around 4pm in the afternoon.
The second day meant covering a distance of over 95 miles in just over 6 hours, with an average speed of 15mph. The slower speeds were caused by climbing to a maximum height of 1660 metres, in the sweltering summer sun, reaching their next stopover in Berwick-upon-Tweed at around 4.30pm that day.
The final leg began in very wet conditions, and on the last day they covered a total distance of 97 miles in just over 6 hours, with another good average speed of over 15mph. They reached a maximum altitude of nearly 1150 metres before cycling triumphantly in to Edinburgh Castle at around 4pm, popping the champagne to celebrate their achievement!
With some of the money raised we bought a second hand R-One ‘Fourcross’ bike, for the club. The remainder of the cash helped pay for the safety equipment and training needed to start hosting Taster Days. So thanks again to everyone, for their support and generous donations in helping us achieve these goals.
Special thanks go to everyone who helped us over the last 12 months!
Sellafield Ltd, The Forestry Commission, Whinlatter Forest Park, Keswick Bikes, Cyclewise, The Necessary Angel, The Lakeland Pedlar, Fulwood Leisure Centre, Muncaster Castle, Barney’s Print Shop, The T-Shirt Printers Ltd, Aden Tudor Printers, Howarth Austen Solutions, Nuneaton Signs, Matrix Muscles, J McCann, Keswick Mountain Festival, Bull Beck Snack Bar, Patrons of Devil’s Bridge, Whitefield Primary School, Preston Masonic Lodge, Sellafield Snowball Committee, Sellafield Employees Charities Committee, The Holy Family Pensioner’s Club, Booths, Halfords, Leisure Lakes Cycles, Forward Magazine, Newsline Magazine, West Cumbria News & Star, Whitehaven News, Lancashire Evening Post, The Tenerife Paper and The Back-Up Trust.
