WHEELIE HARD WORK, BUT ALL FOR A GOOD CAUSE
Team HL joined thousands of cyclists yesterday to take place in Velo Birmingham – a 100-mile ride through Birmingham, Worcestershire and Staffordshire, in aid of a host of good causes.
Fiona Mellor and Andy Groves pulled together all the pedal power they could muster for the epic ride in aid of Edward’s Trust and Jason’s Univentricular Heart Transplant Foundation’s Stay At Jay’s appeal.
Fiona chose to support Edward’s Trust as part of her support for the upcoming Harris Lamb Ball, while Andy wanted to support the latter in Jason’s memory.
Stay At Jay’s was the final wish of Jason Bailey, who aimed to raise enough funds for buy two houses in close proximity to the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and one in Birmingham close to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital to enable the families of patients to have somewhere convenient and comfortable to stay while caring for their loved ones.
Starting on Broad Street in the heart of Birmingham, the Velo Birmingham 100 mile-route took riders from city to country, passing through Staffordshire and Worcestershire via Sandwell and Dudley. With 1,754m of climbing, it was a challenging route.
Fiona said: “This is the first time I’ve attempted anything like this and it was absolutely brilliant – we were lucky with the weather and while 100 miles is a long way, the support along the entire route was outstanding. I’m already looking forward to next year and hope we can rope a few more colleagues in to join us.”
Andy added: “While I’ve taken part in a number of cycle challenges in aid of various causes in the past, this was a very different experience- it took in a lot of scenery an epic route and was years in the planning. Despite a delayed start, the ride itself was exhilarating, and something I’ll definitely look to repeat next year. It was brilliantly organised and the camaraderie of all the riders, and support of the spectators was fantastic.”
Andy Lamb also took part, sailing through the course and completing it before 3.30pm.
The Velo Birminghamroute was years in the planning and only achieved through the important partnerships with five local authorities, emergency services and transport operators.