The final event, the Acorn 100k Bike Ride, organised by the Acorn Charity was held recently with 878 cyclists registered for the annual event. The Bike Ride is in its 10th year and the total raised including entry and sponsorship for this year’s event is in excess of £60,000.
The Bike Ride began as a fun event for cyclists of all abilities and has grown in popularity over the years, becoming an important event in local cyclists’ calendars. The field of 878 cyclists for the 2016 event was the largest ever and although not a race, the fastest cyclist home was Ben Wimpory at 2 hours 45 minutes and the first lady was Lynda Wilson who finished in 3 hours 34 minutes.
The event is run by 100 volunteers who include car park attendants, registration teams, marshals, lunch stop and water stop teams, tea and cake providers at Bishop Monkton, sign makers and other helpers. The Bike Ride has been sponsored throughout its ten year history by Lights4Fun with the support of other businesses including Greencore who kindly supplied the sandwiches for the riders, Fyffes Bananas and Ultimate English Fudge. HACS provided the signage for the event and Chevin Cycles technical support en route.
The Bike Ride will now be taken over by Ripon Rotary who will be running next year’s Bike Ride on Saturday 13th May 2017. All monies raised will continue to support Dementia Forward, Scleroderma Research and charities supported by Ripon Rotary Club. Riders who are interested in continuing to support the event should go to www.riponrotarybikeride.org.
Louise Hanen, chairman of Acorn said:
I would like to thank everyone involved in the event and particularly acknowledge Maria Dawson and all my past and present committee members for their boundless energy and commitment in making my vision become a reality. It has been a wonderful journey and I never imagined we would be here today having raised a total of £1.25 million, which has enabled so many services to be set up to support families with Dementia and make such advances in research for Scleroderma.
