Bob Tinley sent this report:

Binley Woods Village Hall was buzzing at 7.00am on Sunday morning as riders made their final preparations for the long day ahead of them. The organisers under the excellent guidance of Marina Friend had been making preparations for the last 9-months to ensure that we had riders, routes, refreshments and recovery in place. Now it was all about to happen, and we were privileged to have about 50% of the riders coming from outside of our area.

“Just a note to thank all involved for a very enjoyable day. The day went without a hitch, which is no doubt due to the excellent organisation and support of some excellent volunteers.”

“Please convey my thanks and appreciation to everyone who contributed to yesterday’s event. The village halls provided great catering, and I really appreciated the “meet and greeters” waiting for us outside. We had terrific support from our leader and tail rider, Ben and Val. From the perspective of a rider, I can’t think of anything that could have been improved. Thanks once more to all the volunteers, caterers, organisers, ride leaders and tail riders. “

The first group had a quick coffee and set off at 7.45am for the first refreshment stop at Bruntingthorpe 20-miles away over the border in Northamptonshire and, in keeping with tradition, soon found themselves off-road heading for Coombe Abbey. Vicky was managing registrations and set the 42-riders off in 5-groups at 10-minute intervals. The route took the groups along familiar lanes through Ullesthorpe and Gilmorton to arrive at Bruntisthorpe Village Hall ready for light refreshments and copious quantities of tea and coffee.

“Just wanted to show my appreciation to everyone involved in the event. The organisers, route planners, caterers, ride leaders , photographer etc. I found it challenging but also enjoyed it and met some more lovely people. Thank you all so much for giving up your time to organise this. “

The route now moved into less familiar territory taking in Smeaton Hill near Saddington and the attractive villages of Gumley and Hallerton. Once Eyebrook Reservoir came into view the riders knew that lunch would not be far at Great Easton Village Hall. The ladies of the Women’s Institute provided an excellent lunch including a notably good apple crumble.

” Many thanks for everybody’s hard work in hosting such a wonderful event last Sunday. “

Everything changed after lunch as the route now turned into the wind with over 50-miles still to go, starting with a good climb through East Carlton to Desborough. The road through Kelmarsh, Naseby and Cold Ashby is very scenic but is also the highest part of Northamptonshire and rather exposed so by the time riders arrived at the 70-mile point, Yelvertoft, they knew they had done a good cycle ride. There was an excellent selection of cakes at tea, courtesy of our many bakers whose efforts had been carefully co-ordinated to avoid duplication.

” A big thank you to the whole team for all the organising. The ride was lovely, fantastic route, perfect weather, good food stops and great company. Well done to everyone organising, helping on the day and to all the riders “

Refreshed and back on the road again there was still 30-miles to go through more familiar territory including the delightful gated lanes near Winwick and another exposed section through Grandborough and Broadwell. At last everyone was welcomed back at Binley Woods with more tea and coffee and a further selection of cakes.

“Thank you to your club and all the volunteers for organising such a great event. I really enjoyed it. “

I would like to sum up the event with a huge thank you to all the riders. It was a joy to see the camaraderie and how much pleasure they got from completing the event – something special for everyone and especially for those doing it for the first time who never believed they could really do it.

” Thank you once more for the lovely outing last Sunday. Very well organised once again: this was my fourth with you, and (at 77) likely, realistically, to be my last. Thanks to the refreshment team, and particularly to the lady at Great Easton village hall (her plum crumble was superb). “

Thanks to our Volunteers: We would not have been able to run this event without a huge group of volunteers, far too many to list here. We counted at least 30 who took part in the organisation, many in multiple roles, including route planning and recce, admin, finances, websites, catering, baking cakes, leading and back marking. 13 non-riding volunteers (not counting Great Easton staff) looked after us on The Day: this includes checking riders in/out, “broom-wagon” standby, photography, and making endless cups of tea and coffee. Special thanks go to Dave Hearn for liaising with and booking the village halls, Carla Skinner for developing the route, Brid Reeves, the baking co-ordinator, and, of course, Marina Friend, who was the main co-ordinator and spent many hours making sure everything ran smoothly.

Below is our collection of Photos from the event – Photos by Mike Jaye, Dave Hearn and Mike Thomas

BINLEY WOODS