Mark Woodward, commercial director of Wetherby wind turbine business, Earthmill, and a team of eight colleagues saddled up to take part in the annual 100km Acorn bike ride on 9 May, raising more than £2,200 for the Acorn charity, which supports people with dementia and their carers in the Harrogate and Ripon area.
Mark said: “I’d done little or no training and my longest ever cycle ride had been a measly 30km jaunt, so I wasn’t exactly well prepared. In fact on the day itself I sailed through the first half of the ride, but then we turned back into what felt like a force 10 gale which didn’t give up for the next 50km and it became quite gruelling.”
Mark added: “My legs were killing me and we passed 18 nice pubs which my companions refused to let me stop in! At one point I even considered attending the open gardens in Newton-upon-Ouse just to give my legs a rest, and I knew things weren’t going all that well when a couple of pensioners on a tandem overtook me going up a hill.”
Nevertheless the Earthmill team battled on and completed the course. “It was well worth the pain to raise money for such a worthwhile cause. These days it seems most people’s lives have been touched in some way by dementia and sponsored events like the Acorn ride are a brilliant way for everyone to get involved in fundraising.”
This year 620 cyclists took part in the Acorn Bike Ride, raising around £35,000 for the charity.
Mark’s Just Giving page is still open for sponsorship at www.justgiving.com/Mark-Woodward4
