Hello everyone
The main reason for this Newsletter is to confirm the details of the White Horse Cycle Challenge, our re-invented Covid-safe alternative to the Mince Pie Ride this year. As you will see in the details give below, we are challenging folk to cycle up the Hill in line with the current social distancing guidelines any time between Saturday 28 November and Sunday 13 December. In the last couple of days we have publicised this to all the local cycling clubs and also put an announcement on the club Facebook page. I must say that the response is already very positive and we are already seeing generous donations appearing on the JustGiving page, including from one member who has committed to doing the climb every day during the period! Many thanks are due to Steve Swanton for kicking off the idea and also for creating the new route sheet. Jon and Karen Townsin also created a wonderful logo for the event (which you can see on the Facebook page and the JustGiving page). The details are given below and I really encourage as many of you as possible to take part.
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For nearly 20 years, Cycling UK Wantage has organised a festive fund-raising event supporting Whizz-Kidz, the children’s mobility charity: the Annual Mince Pie Ride to White Horse Hill. As the name suggests, the event involves cycling up one of the most iconic hills in Southern England – White Horse Hill, just south of Uffington. As well as enjoying spectacular views, those making it to the top are rewarded with a mince pie and a warm cup of home-made mulled wine kindly supplied (in epically large quantities) through the generosity of club members. We simply ask for cash donations, and in a typical year we would see 130-150 riders pass through, raising hundreds of pounds for Whizz-Kidz.
Sadly this year, the normal arrangements will not be possible, but the urge to challenge ourselves before Christmas and support Whizz-Kidz remains. So, we are pleased to present the White Horse Cycle Challenge:
We challenge individual riders to climb the great Hill at a time of their choosing between 28 November and 13 December (on their own, in a household group or with one friend or small group in line with social distancing guidelines in place at the time), take a selfie or photo at the top for proof, get extra respect for taking their own mince pie up there and raise money for Whizz-Kids. Our target is to see 100 riders complete the challenge and to raise £500 for Whizz-Kidz.
We have set up a donations page, here:
www.justgiving.com/fundraising/whitehorsecyclechallenge
and would welcome donations to support the efforts of all riders, whether from riders themselves, their family or friends.
The event is open to all to who enjoy a cycling challenge. To help non‑regular or non-local cyclists give it a go, we have put together a route sheet from Grove and Wantage to White Horse Hill and back. It can be found here (as Route 8):
www.cyclingukwantage.org.uk/routesheets
We ask participants to post their photos on the club Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/cyclingukwantage
or to send by email to: info@cyclingukwantage.org.uk
This address can also be used for enquires about the event.
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Apart from this big news, I should just add that we now have three WhatsApp groups up and running to assist members to find ride buddies during the lockdown period: one for general use, one for off-road riding and one already in use for the Thursday morning group. Please let me know if you would like to join one of these (although for safety we are restricting it to regular riders known to us).
We now await the news of what restrictions we will see post-lockdown from 3rd December and I will be back in touch once we have clarity on that.
Best regards
John
