Pubcycle 2018

[StreetCowboy]

Those of you with calendars will know that it's more or less time for the annual Pubcycle - Le Tour de Sid's, to raise money for a local orphanage.  I'm guessing your waiting with bated breath accounts for why the forum has been so quiet. 

 

I don't think that the UCI need to know about my little experiment earlier in the year with corticosteroids - let's keep that as our little secret.  Besides, there was a valid therapeutic justification from a proper doctor and everything.  Anyway, least said, soonest mended, eh?

 

Last week, we went out on a route check, as I've explained elsewhere, that was a delightful ride, bar a little inattentiveness possibly brought on by over-enthusiasm in Beer Shack, but the wounds are healing up nicely, and it should only be a short course of antibiotics.

 

As well as raising cash to keep the orphanage running for a week or so every year, we're also looking this year to give them a bike or two, so we are hoping to get sponsorship in the form of parts from the local bike shops; today we went round several of the many bike shops within range, and got a surprisingly positive response - from "That's a good idea, I'll pass it on to the boss / marketing manager"  to "Excellent, we're looking to set up a trade-in scheme but we don't know what to do with the bikes that we get".  So if you see a chap on a drop-handle unicycle with two chains and a sturmey-archer / derailleur combination, you can blame us.

[StreetCowboy]

One shop has offered us three bikes already - one new and two needing a bit of a clean-up...

[StreetCowboy]

My cycling buddy has fettled up the two old bikes a treat, and we’re planning delivery the week after the pub ride.  The Safety Car driver will pick them up outside the pub, then we’ll proceed en processione via My Bicycle Shop, the donor, to the orphanage for their fund-raising banana leaf lunch

[StreetCowboy]

We did a quick route check this morning.  48.8 km, five pubs.  We stopped for breakfast (bacon and egg butties and a pint of Guinness) at pub no. 3; I was surprised they were open before 11 am.  Anyway, I enjoyed it so much I had the same for lunch two pubs later.

 

[StreetCowboy]

We went in to town today for a ride with Mr Christian, who is on the road to recovery after being wheelchaired with a broken leg.  It’s a rocky road to recovery, and he had to get off and walk a few times.  He can’t have been that slow, since we arrived at the pub before it opened, and had to eat breakfast next door.

On the way out, we checked if the new highway junction on Stage 2 is open (it’s not - but I’m still considering hopping the barriers for the sake of some new route) and on the way back, we checked the climb on Stage 3 and concurred it’s too much for some of our riders, so I kindly offered to lead a gentler detour. 

 

The big big day is tomorrow, I’ve bought a first aid kit and everything; I’m just doing some last minute training in Sid’s for the big day ahead

Edited September 29, 2018 by StreetCowboy

[StreetCowboy]

The big ride went better than expected, with fifteen participants, and in line to raise 80,000 baht or more.

The white van was there to support us en route as usual,

and as usual The New Boy got lost on his way home, and as usual, I had to lend The Young Lad lights for his ride home.

Our project director had loosened his pedal crank as an excuse, but M was having none of it, and five minutes with a screw driver and the heel of a boot and all was good to go.  "To be honest," I said to one of the overseas contingent (sadly, Simon Yates had claimed other priorities) "To be honest", I said, "This gives me more confidence in M's ability to ride home to London than in The Director's ability to lead a multi-billion dollar technical project".

But everyone completed the route, and the only people that got lost knew where they were going.  I was beginning to doubt my leadership abilities when I discovered we were short of ten people on the last stage, though.

[StreetCowboy]

I banked the last contribution from one of our riders today - RM 700 from one of my colleagues; so that raises the total to somewhere in the region of RM 15,000 this year, our biggest total to date, from the most riders, and probably the most successful and enjoyable ride to date.

 

Plus the four bikes for the boys, of course.

 

About ten months to go to Pubcycle 2019, if you want to put your name down...

[StreetCowboy]

One of our international participants was asking after the date for Pubcycle 2019.

 

St Andrew's Night, this year, with a visit to the orphanage the following day, if anyone wants to join us.

 

I think Sid's will be willing to take the key beer sponsor role again, but they've closed or sold two of their pubs in KL (as well as selling the pub in Malacca) so we might need to go to the Golf Club for the first time this year.

 

I'm struggling to come up with a new route that is not too challenging, though