This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Gruelling 500-mile cycle ride completes friends’ twin towns challenge
21/09/2023
Friends, family and Brackley Mayor welcomed back the fund-raising cyclists
A group of friends last week completed a long-distance cycle ride from Brackley’s twin town of Montabaur in Germany back to Brackley Town Hall, raising money for local charities.
The idea for the cycle ride was born a few years ago when Josh Jenner and his friend Stuart Gregory decided to complete a couple of challenges, cycling between Brackley and its two twin towns.
The first ride from Les Pavillons-sous-Bois in France to Brackley was completed in 2016, but work commitments, injuries and the pandemic delayed the ride from Montabaur until this year.
Josh and Stuart were joined on the 500-mile ride by Jean Marc Agache and Chris Goodall, with support from Anthony Smith.
After a lot of planning they set off from Montabaur Town Hall last Tuesday (September 12) and cycled the first 105 miles. Wednesday’s journey saw them progress from Düsseldorf over the border into Holland ahead of a 5am start on Thursday to catch a lunchtime ferry to the UK. Once in this country they set off from Harwich on Friday and cycled back into Brackley on Saturday lunchtime. Here, a crowd of friends, family and Brackley’s Town Mayor, Councillor Sue Sharps, were all waiting to welcome them, with a party lined up at the Red Lion.
So far the ride has raised around £9,700 for Katharine House Hospice, Medical Detection Dogs and Do It For Defib. Donations can still be made here.
Josh said: “I am extremely proud of my team members, Stuart Gregory, Jean Marc Agache, Chris Goodall and Antony Smith, who went above and beyond to achieve cycling from Montabaur to Brackley.”
He added: “Saddle soreness was primarily the hardest thing to get through. I had a really bad shooting pain going through my knee which was excruciating. The boys helped me through in an amazing way. I picked a good team, complementing each other when we were low on energy or in pain.”
In completing the ride Josh has achieved a personal goal. He said: “I made a pact with myself when I was 30 that I would raise £50,000 for local charities before I turn 50, I’ve done Brackley’s got talent, charity golf days, 2 cycle rides and have now just surpassed my £50,000 target, so I’m feeling very proud.”
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam