March 30th
From Bitton to Bath and Back.
In a desperate attempt to get some money in towards camp, the bi-annual bike ride has been brought out and dusted down for another year. Akela rang Hathi and asked if he had seen the weather, naturally the day was warm and sunny, with a gentle breeze, a lovely day.
Despite it being Mothers Day or perhaps because it was, the turn out was good
16 Cubs, and several parents and brothers and sisters and an uncle. The bike
path between Bristol and Bath is a popular route, but the Blue Peter Bike-athon
is not until May so we had the path almost to ourselves. The ride out was almost
without incident with only the twins and Mike kissing the concrete.
Bath (Victoria) Park is a lovely place, we arrived and fastened all the bikes to a fence and had our sandwiches. The Cubs then ran off to enjoy the play-area, Baloo bought the other Leaders an ice-cream, thanks Baloo. After an hour it was time to return, this was to be lead by Hathi, who set out at a reasonable speed. The speed freaks at the front managed to get far enough ahead for a rest while the back markers caught up. At this point Hathi's legs packed up on him, but he bravely carried on tears of pain blurring his path. That'll teach him to not practice riding for two years. The only incident on the way back was Mike swerving to avoid an invisible dog and falling to the ground with a clatter. Luckily Akela's first aid kit was able to get him moving again very quickly, the fear of a collar bone injury proving to be groundless.
The end at Bitton was a very welcome sight , certificates were handed out to all that took part and the bike were reloaded and taken back to Stockwood. A quick refreshment and then on to spend time with mum on her day.
Despite a complete lack of practice by one Leader the 12 mile (300km) ride was a huge success.
I would like to thank Akela for the weather and organising the day but not for giving me a push as we approached the end. Thanks to the Cubs and others that have raised a fantastic amount towards our Summer Camp, especially Peg (Mrs. Akela) for the incredible amount she managed to raise - almost 50% of the total.
I would like to say that one of the Dads has become my hero. Not only did he ride out to the station, ride the whole distance there and back but also rode back to Stockwood, arriving only shortly after the bikes had been unloaded, and this despite stopping in Keynsham for a paper!
No photos of ride as I was to busy whimpering and feeling sorry for myself to take any. Akela left his camera in the truck so he didn't take any either. Perhaps next time.
Post Script
We raised nearly £600, a fantastic amount, thanks to everybody for their support.