Charity bike ride from the Bowness in Windermere to Ashville College, Harrogate
Sometime, in the depths of winter, a strange idea mutated into a charity bike ride to celebrate the school’s 75th anniversary move to the Lake District and a way to raise money for Open Arms.
In a deserted car park in Bowness, at 5.30am on Saturday 28th March 2015, with the rain pouring down and still dark outside, the group (a highly trained unit of pupils, staff and Old Ashvillians!!) huddled within the minibus wishing that they hadn’t agreed to this hare brained scheme of nearly 100miles in less than 12 cycling hours across the backbone of Northern England.
With a little cajoling however the group set forth, knowing the weather forecast did not bode well. As dawn broke, spirits lifted and arriving in the small Cumbrian market town of Milnthorpe, two hours later, the rain stopped.
Our excellent support team of Sara, Fiona and Paul awaited our arrival with hot drinks and flapjack.
Refreshed we set forth for Hornby, only to be ambushed by the worst weather any of the group had every experienced when cycling – high winds and rain that found its way into any and every breach in our waterproofs. Again the support team did wonders, finding us a warm and welcoming local cafe, never has a sausage and egg bap tasted so good.
A longer than planned stop and feeling slightly drier and warmer, the peloton slowly made its way out of Hornby in Lancashire to weave our way back into Yorkshire. The weather began to abate and the thought of Settle as our lunchtime stop and a point more than half way into the ride proved a big incentive.
Cycling into Settle just before midday with just drizzle to contend with now, was a much needed stop – more so for some of the bikes – the local cycle shop did some brisk trade in repairs. Nearly an hour later, the group, some fortified by fish and chips, tackled the dreaded 1 in 5 hill out of Settle, not a challenge that one takes lightly before being able to free wheel for about 2 miles into Airton.
Now on the latter half of the ride and the strong wind mainly behind us, the weary legs responded with enthusiasm, even up the hill out of Appletreewick!!! A brief stop at Stump Cross Caverns and then a brisk return over the back roads from Greenhow, Menwith and Pennypot saw the group return to Ashville College by 6pm. Weary but elated and proud of their achievement, knowing that they had raised about £3,000 from their efforts.
Thank you to my fellow cyclists and to everyone who supported us with food, transport, banners, words of encouragement and sponsorship – it made for a truly memorable achievement for a very worthy cause.
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