Bigfoot CC was approached by Catford Rotary Club to assist them with organising their North Kent Bikeathon on July 3rd, an event that some Bigfooters have completed in previous years. With superb assistance from Hugh Webb, we have altered the routings of the 15 and 30 mile rides and added a new 65 mile ride.
Bigfoot CC is going to assist Catford Rotary Club in providing support for the ride and is also hoping to have a great turn out of members across all three routes; the shorter rides are specifically designed for families and younger riders:-)
Further details can be found here:Bigfoot Bikeathon
Keep an eye on the forum as more details become available.
Mike 15mile route 30 mile route 65 mile route
(We will be looking for members who can assist with marshalling, putting out signage, etc. Please contact Andy Ivy, Mike Ward or Dave North if you can help out.)
Hi mike - great news - I have emailed Sandra Eder to get this on Bigfoot go ride next meeting agenda.- I will endeavour to make this a go ride must do event - so with parents as well we could get quite a few!!!!
Cheers Spencer
Spencer. I sent you a note about 2 weeks ago about getting your help to do a risk assessment of the 15 mile route. Could you let me know when you are available?
Ta
Mike
Just a reminder to all members that Bigfoot is running it's own bikeathon on July 3rd starting from Norman Park. With over 200 members in the club it would be great to see a big turnout, either participating in one of the rides or helping out on the day.
Mike
Thanks to all those who have put their names forward to help out on the Bigfoot Sportive.
We really could do with more help though:-) Please clear your diaries for July 3rd and come along and assist. We need marshals, people to man the feed station, guides, etc. Don't be shy!
Mike
Having a shoulder operation on Wednesday so not able to ride now. Should be able to help out somehow providing it doesn't involve using my right arm!! Got any left turns that need marshalling?
"No citizen has a right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training … what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.” -Socrates
I will be pirating the 100k route!!!.........Just kidding, I have entered the 100k route, hoping to get on the road early and will be happy to help out if needed at the finish area.
Somewhere in the world someone is training when you are not. When you race him, he will win
Mike also has opp on shoulder so left hand turns good for him too!!
you may have heard about it:)
we will be at Highams if you still planning to use farm as a stop.
Yes indeed we will, Michelle will be working hard to support this event and I will be inside watching TV with my feet up recovering from my Operation!! ..."Michelle, one Cappuccino every hour please" :-)
Thanks to everyone who helped on Sunday at the Bromley Festival of Sport. I'm sad to say I missed the Zoomba dancers in the High Street but we should sign them up as entertainment for the start of the ride.
Final arrangements for the day are being made and we'll email everyone who's offered to help asap and post details here. There'll be a briefing at 8am on Sunday 3rd July at the Hayes Lane car park in Norman Park.
Everyone who's offered to help so far will have had the details below but if you did volunteer and haven't seen this, please let me know.
Catford Rotary Club has around 20 volunteers and their plan is to provide marshals/feed stations on the 25km and 50km route which means Bigfoot is looking after the stretch from the 50/100 split (junction of Pilgrim's way & Brasted Hill) to Clark's Lane.
We plan to have feed stops at Ide Hill (car park with the tiolets) and at Chiddingstone Castle, as well as marshals at:
Towards the bottom of Hubbard's Hill
T Junction of Moat and Hartfield Road - B2026
At Edenbridge, Hever Road turn right off B2026
We'll have 2 people at each of these locations. If you have a preference please me, Mike Ward and David North know.
In addition Simon is available to provide mechanical assistance and it's best if he's based at Chiddingstone Castle.
Catford will sign the route and provide food. On the day we'll drive the route when we know the last rider has gone through so we know when to go home/to the pub.
At this stage around 65 people have signed up for the event and they normally get about 130 in total but we hope for more this year. Catford has never done a 100km ride so we don't know how popular this option will be so if you can spread the word on Facebook etc please direct people to: http://www.rotaryclubofcatford.org/bikeathon.php
I haven't allocated specfic marshalling points yet but I'll have my car and we'll need at least one other so we can drop people off on the route.
There is a briefing at 8/8.15am on Sunday at Norman Park, Hayes Lane entrance so please be there for that time. Note there is a car boot sale at Hayes Farm so there will some traffic congestion on Hayes Lane.
Please get in touch if you have any questions at this stage.
Here I am, sitting on the junction of Mill Hill & Hever Rd waiting for the first riders to appear over the horizon, the people of Edenbridge are very friendly, offering me water, food etc and even said I could set up camp in the front garden where there is shade from this blistering heat also one lady offered to open her living room window for me to listen to commentary of Wimbldon or the TDF :) how cool is that !
Anyway, expecting Kevsey & crew to be racing through at any time now so I better not blink or I'll miss them
Just wanted to say a sincere thank you to all those who helped me when I crashed on Moat Lane after having hit a pot hole. I hope you managed to enjoy the rest of the ride, and still set a good time. I am now the proud owner of holes in my right forearm and thigh, and I'm sitting in Minor Injuries at Tunbridge Wells hospital waiting to be seen to. The good news is that nothing appears to be broken - all appendages still seem to work. The bad news is that I protected my bike when I fell, so there's still no excuse to get a new bike. Must try harder next time. Thank you all once again for an otherwise enjoyable day in such good spirits. Hope to see you on a club ride soon. -Vince
At last I got to use my first aid kit. Get well soon Vince.
Thanks to all Bigfoot marshalls - great to see familiar faces at the checkpoints.
Bromley Bikeathon should apply for UCI Gold Status as it was ten times better organised than the Dragon Ride.
We're milling through the grinder, grinding through the mill. This is not an exercise, could it be a ... drill.
A huge thanks to everyone who helped out today with marshalling and at the feeds stops. 170 riders took part with around 40 doing the 100km.
I was at Ide Hill where Bigfoot won friends with several other clubs who happened to be passing by dishing out spare water on a hot day. David and Phillippa helped with checking out the signs and taking them down later on. Sandra and Steve stopped riders flying off in the wrong direction down Hubbards Hill, while Nick came to the rescue when Vince had his unfortunate accident. Dan and Den made sure riders were safe on the Edenbridge road and Dom and Lisa had the plumb job of running the Chiddingstone Castle stop where Simon had a broken chain, a puncture and a loose headset to keep him busy. Lots of Bigfoot CC members were riding too looking resplendent in the kit. Catford Rotary Club were impressed by the 3 (Kev and his companions?) who finished the ride then ran 5 laps of Norman Park. We helped several motorists with directions with the best inquiry to the marshal at the start of Beddlestead Lane. Someone stopped to ask directions for... Cornwall!
It was a German tourist in a hire car who'd hit the dead spot on the gps.
Photos to follow in a couple of days.
A few mobile photos taken at the start, including one of Andy giving his interview.
I can't say thank you enough to everyone who helped after my crash, and to everyone who has offered kind words. I'm a relatively new member of the club, but have been treated like I've been with you forever - it's a real privilege to be a Bigfoot CC member.
At the scene, things ran like clockwork: picking me and my bike up off the road, washing my grazes out with bottles of water, first aid kits appearing from nowhere, working out where we were (middle of nowhere) and calling an ambulance that arrived in under 10 minutes. Nick and Hugh were stars at the scene, as was Mike (not from our club) and a number of other riders whose names I didn't catch.
Brian the ambulance driver kept my spirits up on the way to Tunbridge Wells hospital, and Linda and Fiona the nurses had the unenviable task of cleaning out the wounds with a toothbrush and alcohol! Their patience was incredible. Sitting there in the bed, covered with a blanket, and sipping sweet tea, I couldn't help thinking I should probably have started Sunday like that instead... :)
Anyhow, all patched up now, sore but recovering. Thanks to Nick and Dave for looking after my bike. Hope to see you all on a ride very soon.
Vince,
Glad to hear you are ok. I went to see Chris @ Compton Cycles yesterday to see if he had heard anything from you. He told me you posted on this forum.
A big well done to the marshalls who were on the case when I told them what happened, very quick and organised. Thanks to BF CC, Compton Cycles and the Rotary club for putting on a very well organised ride for a very worthy cause.
Hope your back on the bike Vince, and hope to see you on a ride soon.
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