Only Fools and Donkey cyclist return home

Wednesday 27 June 2018

A group of 53 riders, the 'Only Fools and Donkeys', have returned to Guernsey having successfully completed a gruelling charity cycle ride around the Loire Valley in France.

The riders supported by ten crew cycled a total of 22,798 miles; give or take a few diversions and wrong turns that they experienced along the way. And to top it all off, each rider raised a minimum of £500 each for charity.

The ride was entitled the Mule Loire and was the third charity ride staged by Only Fools and Donkeys following Mule Bretagne in 2014 and Mule Normandie in 2016. The two rides have raised over £74,000, all of which has remained on the Island to support local charities.

The three main partner charities are Le Rondin, the Guernsey Sports Association for the Disabled and Active they are also working with Le Murier School to provide a professional catering standard kitchen for their new Village as well as Headway, Monday Club and Special Needs Gym to find more projects to support and the Rugby in Schools programme.

The 2018 ride was the biggest to date with an extra day of cycling making it a six rather than five day trip. As in previous years the cyclists will have the choice of a 55/60 or 80/85 mile route each day and for the very keen there was a 100 mile option.

Pictured: Some of the bikers in Loire Valley

Paula Taylor who completed the ride said: "It is so well organised by Natalie at Guernsey Events Company and it is my third time doing the cycle. What’s good is that we pay our food & accommodation and all the money we raise goes to local charities."

"The cycle is hard; it’s meant to be a challenge. This year I signed up for 80 miles a day and we did 40 round Jersey then between 80 and 89 for 4 days then 39 on last day as we had to be taken by bus to St Malo."

"We are split into groups depending on the distance we want to cycle 60, 80 or 100. We had 7 then 6 in our group (you can move groups if to far or to easy) It was such a great group, they got me round. We had trained a bit together before the trip and seriously, I would not have made it round without them. We named ourselves ‘Les Domestiques’ and laughed every day. It’s hard but with the right people, good fun. I had lost my voice which is quite tough but I think everyone else was quite happy!"

Pictured: Mule Loire map showing cycling route

One of the organisers Mike Marshall said:  "This is the third year myself and Ray Smart have been doing the event, we run it every other year as it will now take us a year to investigate and plan for the next trip."

"This year we did a quick stop in Jersey then it was a coach down from St Malo to start the route in the Loire Valley. I was in a group called 'the dream team' which was for more novice bikers, although it was still hard going especially in the heat with some days temperatures reaching around 34 degrees."

Pictured: A lunch stop for the cyclists

"Everyone completed the challenge even one of the ladies who came off her bike and had to have a couple of stitches got straight back on and continued the ride."

"The trip didn’t come without it’s challenges with nine trips to bike shops for repairs, countless punctures and the heat meaning that over 150 litres of water was being drunk every day but our Mules were fantastic and all kept going to complete their 65, 85 or 100 mile route each day with plenty of laughs and camaraderie along the way."

Sponsorship is still being collected in and the final total will be announced in September together with the projects that the funds will be allocated to. You can find out further details and still sponsor the team via the website.