Martinborough Charity Fun Ride

Last weekend, on Sunday 1 November, we took part in the Martinborough Charity Fun Ride. I had heard about this yearly event from a friend, Karen, who had taken part in it last year, and was doing it again this year. 

I looked up the website, and thought it looked like an interesting challenge for us. I checked the regulations, and found that electric bikes were allowed. But seeing the photos of all these impressive looking cyclists in lycra, I had a few questions, so I fired off an email to the organiser, Graham Evans, asking him “is it only for seasoned cyclists in lycra and all the flash gear, or is it OK for a couple of reasonably fit seniors, in baggy trousers, on e-bikes to take part?”.

The answer came quickly: “The ride is definitely for anyone and you would be very welcome and I am sure you would enjoy it. And there are lots of riders not in lycra although we would love to sell you one of our mcfr jerseys”.

We hummed and ha’ed for a while. John thought that since it seemed to be a race (there were time rankings of previous years’ events on the website), it wasn’t really our style of biking. We like to take our time, enjoy our surroundings, take photos and stop for a coffee somewhere along the way.

Still, the idea niggled, and with a day to go, and an excellent weather forecast, we registered as late entrants for the 48 km ride. The other options were for 67 km or 115 km. We figured we would be quite capable of doing the 48 km option, as we have done that distance, and more, on other occasions, without difficulties.