For the past four years Chris Bargate and Paul Adams have arranged an annual cricket match between ex students of St Catherine’s College Oxford (Catz) and the Bourne End Dogs to raise money for Emilie’s Charities. The Dogs beat the Catz in the final over in this year’s match to level the series at two all.
The Catz and Dogs 2012 teams
In 2007 Jon Clegg cycled with friends from St Albans coast to coast across Italy and raised money for Emilie’s Charities.
Jon Clegg, friends and trustee steeds
Every March since 1978 Cape Town, South Africa has closed its roads for a day and opened its arms to thousands of cyclist to ride the 108km around the Cape peninsula. The ride is sponsored by the local paper, the Cape Argus and is also listed as one of the Golden Bike Series of the Union of Cyclists Internationale (UCI) and attracts around 35,000 competitors!
Weary riders on the final approach into Cape Town
Though technically not a race participants are organised into groups of 200 or so riders with the fastest groups leaving first through to the “fun riders” at the end. Such is the fame of the event that riders come from all over the world to compete and there is an elite men’s and women’s race which starts of at around 6:15 in the morning. The course record is held by Robbie Hunter who achieved 2 hrs and 27 mins in 2008 and Anke Erlank-Moore rode in 2 hrs 48 mins in 2007. The fastest amateur riders will get around in under 3 hours but most will take 4 to 7 hours to complete the course.
The ride starts and finishes in Cape Town and in between it travels around the Cape hugging the coast for most of its length through some of the best cycling scenery in the world at a temperature of around 30C. At one point the riders find themselves on a motorway for several miles at speeds of up to 40 miles and hour. Though the scenery is exquisite it is nevertheless a tough course with some steep hills sprinkled at the beginning, middle and end. Just when you think it is all over comes Suikerbossie, a hill of around a kilometre but at a gradient of around 14% which is not what is needed on tired legs. From the top of the hill it is plain sailing downhill (mostly) into Cape Town and the finish.
The famous Chapman’s Peak corniche where rock falls are a constant hazard
I competed in 7 consecutive events and the last one for Emilie’s Charities. For any keen cyclist this is one for the bucket list.
Every two years a picnic, which around 200 people attend, is held in the garden of a house in Shawford. Fortunately the rain stopped in time for the 2012 event to go ahead. There was much dancing in Wellies!
The Pros!
An annual fundraising event is the ‘Emilie’s Trousers’ ride from Winchester to Oxford (or viceversa) carried out by Emilie’s father around her birthday. In June 2012 a group of ‘real cyclists’ did the event, bringing their own sponsorship. Needless to say they completed the course very much quicker than Emilie’s dad!
The amateur!
Peter Burdon is donating proceeds from his witty account of his and his wife Lindsey’s year-long backpacking honeymoon to three charities including Emilie’s Charities . For more details on the book (including Kindle version), click on the link.
A relay is being organised from Edinburgh to London to take place in May 2013 – for further details, click on the link below!
Link to Emilie’s relay
Welcome to our new look website! You can find all the latests news on our projects and fundraising.
