Oct 21 - Over £13,000 Raised By Charity Cycle Ride From Portugal To Gibraltar
Over £13,000 has been raised so far for the local charity Guardian Angel Foundation by a team of 15 amateur cyclists who rode from Portugal to Gibraltar.
The charity’s founders, together with Ocean and Atlantic Health Clubs, their biggest partners, were looking to plan an event on a huge scale and decided on the particular challenge just three months prior to the event taking place. Organising the event itself and planning all of the very detailed routes and safety measures which needed to be in place for the 15 cyclists, from food to hotels to support vehicles to drivers for those support vehicles, was never going to be an easy task with a year's worth of time ahead... let alone with just weeks ahead of the proposed dates!
Thankfully, charity Chairman Kevin Hook, Director of the Health Clubs Sarah Cortés and Atlantic Health Club General Manager Izzi Hanning had a huge helping hand in Stephen Dalmedo (Director, Hammonds Ltd), who played a key role in the organisation of the event with the clubs.
Training for weeks on end and cycling every chance they got, the individuals, which consisted of a range of ages from 24 to 71(!) and also included five complete novices who had never ridden before and had to quickly come to grips with behaving and cycling like a team.
Week after week they cycled for longer and tougher distances in preparation for the challenge, but nothing could have prepared them for the gruelling task they faced on the 14th, 15th and 16th October when they set off and rode from Portugal/Spain border to Gibraltar.
The day they set off with their bespoke bicycle rack set up inside Stephen's trusty Peugeot Boxer, courtesy of the wonderful work done by Site Trading, was not without its problems from the very start as the van carrying the 15 bicycles was abruptly stopped at Spanish Customs and not allowed through. So, there was only one thing for it: they cycled through! And after a quick re-packing of the bicycles they were off to Portugal.
Setting off at 8am on Friday, they began their long, tiring journey home.
Hills, rough and uneven roads, early injuries, bitterly cold mornings followed by blazing heat in the afternoons added to the already mountainous task. Nevertheless, what was clear from the very beginning was that the determination and inner strength and team spirit that these individuals had was going to ensure they got home.
Approximately 138km covered on a tough first day of riding.
Day two was going to prove even tougher for the team as they pushed through the pain barrier from the previous day's cycle. More hills, windy roads and an ascent of over 1,000 meters in total meant that the team finished the day with broken bodies but not broken spirits.
True grit got the team up on day three for their final and most challenging day yet. The final 90 km which separated them from their beautiful Rock and their loving families, who would all greet them with rapturous applause and celebratory cheers and what can only be described as a hero's welcome at Ocean Village.
Three countries, 360km, over £13,000 (and counting!) raised, too many bruised, aching muscles to count - one wonderful cause.
Well done Team Guardian Angels!
The Team:
(List of full names including drivers and physio)
Cyclists
Kevin Hook
Izzi Hanning
Sarah Cortés
Nick Cortés
Tyrone Vinet
Dennis Gonzalez
Joe Franco
Leanne Child
Stephen Dalmedo
Michael Caetano
Adrian Dyer
Francis Martinez
Mark Wood
Russell Hood
Robin Batchelor
Support team
Kim Young
Kerry Young
Charlene Mckinstrey
Tyreene Borg
Charlie Borge
The team would like to give a special mention and huge thank you to the two main corporate sponsors of this event; MASBRO INSURANCE and FAMOUS FOUR MEDIA. They also send a big thank you to JA Therapy and last but certainly not least, the wonderful support team, without whom none of this would have been possible.
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