Stars saddle up for Cycle4Cynthia!
Northamptonshire’s favourite annual bike ride is gearing up for its biggest year yet with stars from the worlds of sport and entertainment lining up to ensure its tenth anniversary is another record breaker!
Cycle 4 Cynthia, which has raised around £250,000 for the Friends of Cynthia Spencer Hospice and Macmillan Cancer Support in the county since it began nine years ago, is back at Althorp on Sunday 22nd September and among those joining the hundreds of cyclists taking part are former England cricketer Allan Lamb, former Generation Game hostess Isla St. Clair, Saints coach, Jim Mallinder and Radio 2 DJ Jo Whiley.
For Jim, Allan and Jo, who’ve all taken part before, signing up again was an easy decision, as Jim explained; “The Saints are always keen to get involved in local community events and those of us from the club who rode last year had such a great time, we were really keen to pedal again this year in support of these two deserving causes.
“I also hope to bring some of the players with me who’ll now doubt be keen to show off their early season fitness on two wheels, especially as Lamby has challenged us to do 50 miles this year!” he added.
Allan has indeed also pledged to take the longest of the three routes of 5, 25 and 50 miles, a distance which he says is just a little further than his regular rides; “I can’t really run these days because of my calves so cycling is a fantastic way of keeping up my fitness and I love clocking up the miles across Northamptonshire” he explained.
“I normally do around 35 miles but with Althorp as a backdrop to the start of the ride and the west of the county being so picturesque, I’m sure the extra effort will be worth it. It promises to be a really special day” he enthused.
Those sentiments were echoed by Sue Bownass from the Friends of Cynthia Spencer Hospice who is hoping that more riders will join the quartet of celebrities by registering over the next fortnight; “Every year I can’t imagine that it could get any better, but it really does and I’m sure that we’ll get a boost of pedallers who’ll be keen to join us to cycle alongside their heroes” explained Sue.
“So, to help us break our record of almost eleven hundred riders who cycled last year, I would urge anyone whose ridden before, and newcomers like Isla, of whatever age or ability, to dig out their wheels and come and join us and help make this tenth anniversary ride the best yet!” she added.
Cycle 4 Cynthia is taking place at Althorp, by kind permission of The Earl and Countess Spencer, on Sunday 22nd September, with riders again being able to choose from 5, 25 or 50 mile routes. Entry is £15 for adults, £7.50 for children and £35 for families (rising after 6th September) and participants are then encouraged to raise as much money as possible in sponsorship. Entry and sponsorship forms are available by visiting www.cycle4cynthia.com
Meanwhile, if you would like to enter a business team or would like to offer your support as a sponsor, marshal or volunteer on the day, please call Sue at the Friends on 01604 678088.