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Theresa Sholl from Milton Keynes leads the way through the ford at Twyford. Picture courtesy of “Sportive Photo”

The organisers of the Marlow Red Kite Ride are pleased to announce that more than £8,000 was raised for our three chosen charities due to a sellout event.

Next year’s event is provisionally on Sunday 31st August.  Entries will open in early 2014.

Congratulations and thankyou to all those who took part in this, only the second annual Red Kite Ride where we had around 550 participants taking part in three different routes: a 50 mile; 80 mile and 100 mile ride.

We have now updated the results to include all those riders who changed disciplines on the day. Please see the newly updated results and standards achieved:  Marlow Times-3

Photos
Photos of the event are now available from SportivePhoto 

Next Year

Watch out for the announcement of the date for next year’s Marlow Red Kite Ride, and we would welcome all of your feedback from this year’s event by going to the review section of Cyclosport.org.

 John Watson, aged 54, who coaches under 16s rugby for Marlow Rugby Club, was the lucky winner of an exclusive draw to win a Sky sponsored GB jersey signed by many of the Olympic track team including Sir Chris Hoy, Jess Varnish and Shanaze Reade.

John admitted that he had to miss the first day of the new rugby season in order to take part in this year’s Red Kite Ride. He said: “They knew where I was but I really wanted to take part in the Red Kite Ride this year. I did the 50 mile event last September and the 100 miles today. It’s been a great day. I’ve really enjoyed it.

John Watson (right) receives his autographed HB jersey from former Olympian Willi Moore

John Watson received his autographed jersey from former Olympic track cyclist Willi Moore, who designed the course for the Red Kite Ride.

Event Director Steve Tolmie labelled it a “huge success”, and added: “It’s been a great day and a huge achievement for the people of Marlow to put on this event. It’s great to feel a sense of community spirit and being so well supported by organisations such as the Marlow FM radio station.

“We’ve already had a lot of positive feedback about the quality of the ride, the organisation and the feed stations. And many have said they will be back next year.”

 

 

Highlights of the ride

Chris Hodgson from Stokenchurch, Buckinghamshire, rides the ford at Twyford. Picture courtesy of “Sportive Photo”

A new feature of this year’s ride was the opportunity to “ride the ford”. The ford in the Berkshire village of Twyford comes towards the end of all three distances and presented an unusual challenge to all entrants. The current depth is around eight inches and the length in the region of 40 feet.

Course Director Willi Moore  made some strategic changes to last year’s route including the diversion through the ford – the river Loddon.   All three routes: 50, 80 and 100 miles – were directed through the ford.

This proved quite a talking point among riders who enjoyed the challenge of “riding the ford” without getting wet.

There were almost twice the number of entrants as last year and among those taking part was a former national road race champion, Bryce Beeston from Auckland, New Zealand.

Bryce, now aged 65, was the 1977 New Zealand champion and also competed in the 1968 Olympic Games. He participated in the 50 mile Red Kite Ride.

Youngest rider

Youngest rider: 10 year-old Theo Currie completes his 50 mile ride in style

Ten year-old Theo Currie from West London was  the youngest entrant and finisher completing the 50 mile event in a highly respectable 4hrs 36 mins. Young Theo  was inspired to take up cycling by Bradley Wiggins’ efforts winning last year’s Tour de France. He rode with both his parents and it was only the second time he had cycled 50 miles . He later gave a highly articulate account of his day. “It was a fantastically organised ride but this was much harder than the last 50 mile ride. I’d definitely like to do it again. The countryside was stunning.”

Theo rides with Hillingdon Slipstreamers, trains around Richmond Park, and added: “The last 5km was beautiful. I must admit I sprinted to the finish line”

 Happy Birthday

One rider who had a big surprise when he finished was Andrew Cooke from Charvill. He completed the 100 mile ride to the tune of “Happy Birthday.” He was asked to go to the Marlow FM stand where he reported having had two punctures but his day was complete when he received a celebration birthday cake from the organisers.

Raffle prize winner

First prize in the raffle was won by Sam Calow from Tring, a member of the Leighton Buzzard Road Cycling Club. Sam was the winner of a top of the range GoPro Hero3 camera, which retails at £360.

 

Our thanks

A big thanks to all those who made the 2013 ride such a successful event most especially our friends from Marlow FM 97.5 who broadcast live from the finish for two hours and provided interviews, music and entertainment all afternoon. In addition we would like to thank the following contributors all of whom helped to make the day special:

Our charities   

The profits raised from this year’s event will be split between three local charities:

  • Skidz, who provide work training as a mechanic for children with education and learning difficulties in the High Wycombe and surrounding area
  • In-Vision who promote research into Infantile Nystagmus (IN), a permanent condition causing involuntary oscillations of the eyes that first appears within the first six months of life
  • Marlow Sports Club which is a is a community sports club, offering a home and facilities to a total of over 1,500 members, all from the Marlow area.