Tag Archives: cycling

More photos from The Waterberg Trust Cycle Challenge Ride 2025

May 13, 2025Uncategorizedbike, biking, cyclingSophie Neville

Blue skies and a well-planned route made The Waterberg Trust Challenge Ride on 10th May 2025 an unforgettable charity fundraising event, which so far has raised a total of £10,681.

It was our 10th challenge ride, laid on to raise funds for the amazing projects we founded and supported in the Waterberg, South Africa.

It is great if supporters set up a monthly gift by standing order to The Waterberg Trust bank account when they first sign up. Here are the details:

Account Name: Waterberg Welfare Society Trust
Sort Code: 40-52-40
Account Number: 00017512

You can sent CAF cheques direct to:
CAF Bank Ltd, 25 Kings Hill Avenue, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4JQ

Organised by TWT trustee William Orme and Chariman Barry Burles, a great group of nearly 50 cyclists completed the 75-mile round trip with ease, raising sponsorship or making donations via The Waterberg Trust’s Justgiving page.

Justgiving accept money in 8 different currencies and collect UK Gift Aid with ease.

Everyone had a great time. “It’s like no other bike ride I have been on. Classically English. The boys couldn’t quite believe how wonderful it was.” Greg Glass (Australia)

“Thank you so much for all your hard work in arranging the bike ride and associated activities. Jesse and I had a wonderful day.” David Saunderson

“It was really fun, whatever my bum says.” Tom B-G

“Many thanks go to Elaine Franklin for providing home made refreshments, including Scotch eggs and flapjacks. New friends spent the morning chatting non stop as they cycled along were still equally engaged at lunch! “

“The Franklin’s Scotch Eggs fuel the last 10 miles at the end of the day when the body’s reserves have run out. A critical part of the nutritional planning! Good feeding at every stop is a strong theme of the ride.”

“A great group – We loved the 1908 Lutyens house at the start of the day.” Aidan Prior

TWT Trustee William Orme reports:

We were truly blessed with some great May weather, lots of sunshine, slight breeze, not too hot and we plan for another May date next year. Save the date Saturday 30th May 2026. Due to a late surge, we were almost 50 riders gathered in Sherry’s beautiful garden near Shelford spending probably longer than intended preparing bikes, finding spare helmets, chatting and consuming bacon butties, tea & coffee (thanks to all the helpers) before departing across the front lawn and down through Stapleford.

‘After Duxford it was a steady but gentle climb up to the North Hertfordshire villages. Sadly one rider had a breakdown that required bike shop gear to fix and due to a slight administrative error (my fault) led to the much sought after Franklin’s home-made scotch eggs making a late appearance at our first break at Reed village hall.

The new route to lunch at Southill Park proved popular, even if not entirely tarmac’ed. As ever, we had a diverse range of bike types and people too! It was some hours after the first arrivals that Barry in his traditional sweeper role hove into sight. This year MAMIL’s were in a clear minority!

After a very sociable, sunny and scrumptious buffet lunch, about two thirds of the riders set off in small teams on the route home. It certainly did feel a little harder, the slight breeze now against us. The track from Cockayne Hatley to Hatley St George being particularly testing. The words of William Earnest Henley (buried there) seemed most appropriate “It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll…”.

Tea and ice creams at Wimpole Hall gave a much needed and welcome relief. Without major incident, we did have a couple of unseated riders with nasty road grazes requiring first aid as well as several flat tyres. The remainder made it back to Middlefield for a very enjoyable sunlit evening by the koi pond with mounds of absolutely scrumptious slow-cooked beef, Bill’s signature dish, and a ton of various salads.’

Thank you again to all our hosts and helpers for making it such an enjoyable day and all our supporters for helping The Waterberg Trust continue its most valuable work for the education of young people and conservation of their environment.

“Really enjoyed yesterday’s ride. Looking forward to next time.” Mareeni

“Thanks for another fabulous ride – it’s fast becoming one of my favourite days of the year.” Ben Glass

“Age will not weary them,” says the Chairman of TWT looking much the worse for wear at lunch after 46 miles with the Darbys who hosted the mid morning stop.

You can sign up for next year’s ride here. We have more photos of the 2025 cycle ride on the previous post here.

Thanks to all who supported The Waterberg Trust Cycle Challenge 2024

May 13, 2024Charity fundraising event, Community projects, Nonprofit, The Waterberg Trust, Uncategorizedbicycle, bike, bikes, biking, charity cycle ride, Charity fundraising, charity fundraising bike ride, Charity fundraising event, Cycle challenge Cambridgeshire Hertfordshire Befdfordshire, cycling, Long distance riding, Travel, Waterberg Charity RideSophie Neville

A massive thank you to all who have donated to The Waterberg Trust so generously this year. It really is most appreciated. The Waterberg a small part of Africa where we really can make a big difference.

For anyone who hasn’t quite got around to making their donation yet, it’s easiest on the JustGiving site where +25% GiftAid is easy to add:

https://www.justgiving.com/waterbergtrust/donate

It was a beautiful May morning when around 60 riders gathered in Fen Ditton to take part in this year’s amazing 80-mile TWT charity cycle ride around Cambs, Herts and Beds. Riders made a sterling effort to overcome the dreaded Rail Replacement Bus service by staying locally or joining us from Royston.

After greetings and reunions of TWT ride old-timers over coffee and pastries, the cyclists set of in their groups heading south along the cycle ways of Cambridge, past Addenbrokes’ biomedical campus and out through the Shelfords in the cool of the early morning. Turning west at Duxford, we wound our way up the hills (yes there are some!) of South Cambridgeshire, past Chrishall and Chishill.

Barry acting as sweeper, collecting TWT ride signs, lost his group who had taken a scenic detour via Newton and Thriplow. But all was well as teams arrived for the now world-renown Franklin’s hand-made scotch eggs and flapjacks, heartily consumed with much needed drinks at Reed village hall.

From here we crossed the rolling North Hertfordshire countryside, with spectacular views dotted with chromium yellow rape fields, before heading north where all made it safely back over the A505 to Ashwell. Here we overlapped with a seemingly never ending stream of classic MG cars on a rally as we wound our way through the more pastoral Bedfordshire with a notable uptick in village greens hosting cricket matches, an idyllic English summer’s day!

And indeed the temperature was rising fast, it was baking by the time we made it to our amazing lunch stop and the welcoming hospitality of the Whitbread’s at Southill Park and much needed drinks and sustenance.

Boerewors in rolls with sautéed onions and Mrs Balls chutney gave a very Waterberg, South African touch to a delicious lunch with quiches, salads and lemon drizzle cake from Elaine Franklin.

Such was the enthusiasm of the riders that all but about a dozen decided to continue on the full 80-mile course. We had such an incredible range of cyclist from first comers, who had never cycled more than a couple of miles, to those using the day as a training for upcoming 300km rides. The way home was shorter but somehow didn’t feel it and a rest and tea & cake was enjoyed by many at Wimpole Hall NT cafe.

Coming back in to Cambridge along Grantchester meadows was somewhat tricky for us as half of Cambridge had decided that it was a beautiful warm sunny evening for a stroll! Many of the faster cyclists decided this would be a good time to stop for a beer, and bit by bit everyone made it back home, most to Fen Ditton where, after hot showers and cold beers, vast quantities of rice and chilli-con-carne and bean chilli were consumed to restore tired bodies: a perfect end to a very enjoyable day. Thanks also to Charles and John for great support. Thankfully, and surprisingly for so many riders, they were never called on!

For all those that sadly couldn’t make it this year, there’s always 2025!

Please do save the date: 10th May 2025, the Saturday after the May Day Bank Holiday.

All funds raised go direct to The Waterberg Trust who detail various ways you can make a donation on their website here.

TWT Cambs-Herts-Beds Cycle Ride 2024

April 13, 2024Charity fundraising event, Ending period poverty, Limpopo Province, Nonprofit, The Waterberg Trust, Trustees, Uncategorized, Waterberg, Youthbicycle, bike, Charity, Charity fundraising event, Cycle challenge Cambridgeshire Hertfordshire Befdfordshire, cycling, Fundraising, Long distance riding, sponsored cycle ride through Cambridgeshire, Sponsored ride, What to do in Cambridge May 2024Sophie Neville

Dear Friends, TWT supporters and fellow cyclists,

We are back and cycling again for The Waterberg Trust on Saturday 11^th May 2024. TWT continues its great work helping the people of the Waterberg, enabling all children to attend school regularly and to learn about their environment, the plants and animals, helping to improve their life opportunities and conserve their amazing ecosystem.

For this year’s ride we’ve decided again to stay local to Cambridge and offer something for everybody. The planned route takes the cycle-paths and by-ways of Cambs, Herts and Beds with an 80-mile, all tarmac, circular loop from Fen Ditton to Southill Park and back. Or a 45-mile option to end at Southill for lunch. All bike types are encouraged: electric, town, hybrid or road bike, whatever you have. We expect to be about fifty riders.

We all meet 8am at the Orme’s Fen Ditton, very close to Cambridge North for those coming by train.

After greetings with tea/coffee/croissant/pumps we head south down the cycleways though Cambridge, the Shelfords and up to the rolling hills, villages and back lanes of North Herts for our mid-morning stop. Refreshed we head west and descend to Ashwell before reaching Southill Park for some Whitbread family hospitality for lunch at their beautiful home. This is where the 45-mile route ends, 4 miles from Biggleswade station.

For the keener cyclist, we head North, skirt Sandy through Gamlingay and west for a tea stop at Wimpole Hall. From there we rejoin last year’s route at Barrington and via Grantchester take the cycle lanes of historic Cambridge along the river Cam to finish back in Fen Ditton for the riders and supporters after party chez Orme.

Please let us know if you’d like to join in, commit to the date and start training. And why not persuade your family and friends to come too, or organize a team? We’re hoping to better 2023’s amazing fund-raising total of over £10,000, so the more the merrier. Everyone should raise or donate at least £100 (£50 for the young). For those on the 45-mile trip we can help with returning you and your bike back to Fen Ditton.

barrington.burles@gmail.com williamorme@btinternet.com andrew.tusa@btinternet.com

TWT North Norfolk Cycle Ride 2022 — TWT’s Fundraising Cycle Ride, 2022

The Waterberg Trust Challenge Cycle Ride

July 7, 2016Charity, Charity fundraising event, Community projects, The Waterberg Trust, Trustees, Uncategorized, Waterbergbike ride through the Fenlands, Cambridge to Norfolk, Charity, charity bike ride, Charity fundraising, Charity fundraising event, cycling, Fundraising event, Long distance bike ride, MAMIL, men's bike ride, sponsored bike ride, Sponsored rideSophie Neville

TWT Truste Barry Burles reports:

The delights of many adventures are the unintended benefits. The thought of 84 relentless miles to North Norfolk was daunting. My first outing recceing the 20 miles of the route to Ely resulted in me peddling through the flood waters alongside the River Cam with frozen and wet feet. However, it forced me to find an alternative that resulted in us taking National Cycle Route 11 to Ely through Wicken Fen. The benefits were great because Route 11 was on mostly hard cycle path surfaces suitable for the road bikes. And it took us across some fabulous open Fen wetlands with great bird watching, wild-looking highland cattle and rare breads of horse. The natural distractions and frequent punctures during our training rides meant that we missed many trains back from Ely, where we invariably stopped for a scrumptious poached egg and hollandaise sauce breakfast, doubling whatever calories that we might have burnt.

The next 20 miles was a straight sprint along 10 Mile Bank to Downham Market after which we were noticeably in the Brecklands navigating our way down rutted and puddly farm tracks and through numerous hamlets with extraordinary names such as Totenhill, Wormegay and Blackborough. This was a long haul through the 55 mile stage when energy simply ran out and the banter stopped as the determination to simply keep going switched on.

To add insult to aching muscles, we encountered our first hills. Never has the support team been such a welcome sight with their broad grins and stupid questions asking us what took us so long? Our condition was quickly remedied by their freshly brewed coffee and tea and the wonderful consommé soup, flap jacks and scotch eggs to die for. But our cause to complete the distance was more pressing. After warming up in the Paddling Duck pub, we slowly recovered and were ready for the final 20 miles that went surprisingly easily as we all seemed to find our second wind.

It was not long before we were in front of another pub crossing a river (picture above) where cars can no longer go. Refusing to be distracted, we peddled on along the pilgrim route through the Walsinghams, cycling past black caped churchmen walking towards us along the Holy Mile to the slipper chapel. Knowing that Langham was now close, the hills to Binham and then on up to Langham were easily managed.

We arrived to the welcoming cheers of wives and girlfriends. We knew from the church clock chiming four that we were just in time to watch England beating Wales that added to our glee. A few beers, a great rugby match and delicious dinner and wine all provided a delightful end to a happy day.

A bunch of men playing hard together engenders the best of camaraderie. The highlight of the adventure was the good spirits that everyone brought with them and kept sharing throughout.

We have since organised a second bike ride along the same route with a riders from the Cambidge Rugby Club. Together we have raised just short of £7,000 for The Waterberg Trust which was a rewarding effort in itself. Many thanks to all our sponsors.

The Waterberg Trust Challenge Cycle Ride – plans and preparations

February 22, 2016Charity, Charity fundraising event, Education, Limpopo Province, Nonprofit, The Waterberg Trust, Uncategorized, Waterberg, YouthAchievement, activity holiday, Barry Burles, Cambridge to Norfolk, Charity, charity cycle ride, Charity fundraising, Charity fundraising event, cycling, fun cycle ride, Fundraising event, Long distance riding, make a difference, Making a Difference, Nigel Hall cycle ride, Sponsored ride, Williams OrmeSophie Neville

18 adult riders and one 14 year-old boy have committed to take part in The Waterberg Trust Challenge Cycle Ride 2016. “One or two are having to juggle work and family commitments, but we have great expectations!”

Two brave volunteers – Sam Franklin and Charles Whitbread will be driving the support vehicles, keeping the riders fed and watered at the predetermined stoppage points spaced at roughly two-hour intervals. Only short stretches of the ride are not on a tar road. These are from Fen Ditton in North Cambridge to Ely. “It is a great delight to discover how lovely it can be cycling towards Ely Cathedral at 8.00am. It’s the only building you can see on the skyline.”

“So far, we have had four practice recce rides, which have helped to determine the route. The number of punctures on each ride has been alarming, but it is all part of the practice in keeping everybody going. Being equipped to mend a puncture rapidly or change an inner tube no matter where you are is important. It is like a motor-racing event with everybody helping out by providing the different bits of kit and expertise to speed the puncture repair. We have certainly become practiced at it.”

Mending a puncture on the TWT cycle ride

“Will used the puddle alongside the track to determine where the hole was. He had to do a puncture repair because he had used his spare inner tube already as this was his second puncture of the morning!”

“At this stage were are still about one hour’s ride from Ely, having just peddled across Wicken Fen. That was a marvellous experience if you are interested in birds and rare horse breads like me. On this occasion, we had breakfast in Ely and then cycled on to Littleport, half way to Downham Market.”

A previous outing had been another really fun ride from Ely to Downham Market (the second phase of the ride) across the Fens and the many bird sanctuaries. “We hardly saw a car and it felt very remote. Punctures were again a challenge for the racing bikes on this ride. My steel framed 25-year old tank of a bicycle has the distinction of not yet having suffered from punctures. The racers were much quicker though. I felt like the tortoise in the hare and the tortoise race of Aesop’s Fables because I did not have to stop.”

The practice ride last weekend explored the third phase of the ride from Downham Market to the Dabbling Duck pub in Gt Massingham for lunch along quiet country lanes, far from anywhere in particular.

The cyclists are raising funds to send to the Waterberg in South Africa. 50% will go to the Lapalala Wilderness School, with the aim of sending 100 dis-advantaged children on a residential week’s course on wildlife conservation. 50% will go to ‘Save the Waterberg Rhino’ and help them fight poaching.

If you are able to sponsor the riders, TWT has a Justgiving page here.

Nigel Hall, who is taking part, has a Justgiving.com page for the cycle ride here

William Orme has a Justgiving.com page here

Barry Burles, the leader, has a Justgiving.com page here

“The stop press bit of news is that I have been lucky enough to have been offered by my wonderful wife a new hybrid bicycle for my birthday present. In case you didn’t know, it’s as exciting being given a new bicycle as a grown man as it is when you are a young boy. The 84 miles might seem somewhat shorter for me now on the 12th March!”

There will be three more weekend practice rides between now and then.

The Waterberg Trust Challenge Cycle Ride 2016

February 13, 2016Charity, Charity fundraising event, Education, Nature Conservation, South Africa, The Waterberg Trust, UncategorizedCambridge to Norfolk, Charity fundraising event, cycling, fun cycle ride, long distance cycle ride, Norfolk, sponsored cycle rideSophie Neville

TWT Trustee Barry Burles is leading a bunch of good men and true who are endeavouring to complete a sponsored 84 mile cycle ride from Milton Park in North Cambridge to Langham in North Norfolk in a day on the 12th March 2016 in aid of The Waterberg Trust.

It is a fairly flat ride, so simply an endurance test, but they will be peddling on for about 8 hours, whatever the weather. “Most of us will be using a well used touring bike where the challenge will be to keep going all the way to the finish, still smiling!”

If you are able to sponsor them, TWT has a Justgiving page here.

Nigel Hall, who is taking part, has a Justgiving.com page for the cycle ride here

Barry Burles has a Justgiving.com page here

Please let Barry Burles know by email b.burles@ukbfas.co.uk if you are interested in joining the ride. He has about 16 riders signed up so far. It is a good day out for couples with whoever is not riding driving to Langham to have a fun day enjoying walking and being by the sea before cheering their riding champion across the finish line. A truck will be in support of the riders with refreshments and bicycles to swap with any punctured or broken ones.

This long distance cycle ride is on the same day as The Waterberg Trust Challenge Ride 2016 when 14 riders will be setting off across the Waterberg on horseback for six days when they expect to spend about 32 hours in the saddle and hope to cover about 200kms through the African bush. To read more click here.