This year will be the sixth Charity Bike Ride for the
Jesters ‘Care for Kids’ Charity Drive. The first idea of having a
Charity Bike Ride for charity has to be laid squarely at the door of a
certain Jester by the name of Paul Baker, who along with such mad Jesters as
Darren Rose, forewent their beautiful shiny highly powered motorbikes, and
decided to rely upon pedal power.
Paul has now left Thailand for a while, but his mantle
has been carried forward by about 300 sweating and struggling bike riders
every year as they attempt to work off some of the fat that has built up
over the last twelve months, some of it of course had been put back in
celebration after completing the ride last year and going straight to the
Jesters beer tent for sustenance.
Many of the participants are returnees, and some
wonderfully colorful characters there have been too. For the last two years
Eric Sorenson from the Scandi Bar (home of the Hash House Harriers) has
raised the most sponsorship, the first by the conventional method of riding
a bike, but last year he actually walked the 50-kilometer route overnight,
arriving just as the fair opened.
Jack Levy is about to attempt his fourth 50 kilometer
bike ride, and the Pattaya Mail’s famous Dr. Iain Corness will be
going out for the third time to sprint round the course (well, maybe sprint
is a bit of a stretch of the imagination).
But
the riders are not the only stalwarts of the ride. Kurt Farnham will be
marshaling for the fourth time, Catherine and David Foden will actually be
flying in from England to marshal the tricky cross over Sukhumvit Road. Mark
Gorda will as usual be the mobile marshal / water stop, giver of advice, and
helping hand in time of distress. Bangkok Pattaya Hospital Ambulance Unit
will again shadow the ride to deal with any mishaps along the route and then
return to the Children’s Fair and be on station all day to give any help
that may be required.
The Thai Volunteer Tourist Police will also be joining us
again this year to show us the way round, as well as another 21 marshals on
the route to make sure nobody gets lost. There are eight water stops, at
which everybody must remember to stop and take water on board to avoid
dehydration.
To join our little venture all you need is a reasonably
sturdy bike, and a lot of determination. The Charity Ride main sponsor is BT
Insurance who, like last year, have come in and covered all the costs for us
so that every baht you earn cycling the course goes straight to the kids. BT
Insurance also supply all the water for all the water stops and the start
and finish.
Sponsorship forms are now available from the Care for
Kids and Shenanigans websites, or direct from Shenanigans, the Blue Parrot
or Tahitian Queen. The map of the route is also available and shown here in
this week’s issue of Pattaya Mail.
Please bring your sponsorship forms along to Bike Ride
Registration at Shenanigans, on Saturday 13th September between 4.30 p.m.
and 11 p.m., or register on Sunday 14th September at the Diana Driving Range
Start between 6.30 a.m. and 8 a.m. when the Bike Ride sets off.
The entry charge for the ride is 300 baht for which you
will also receive a fabulous bicyclist event t-shirt kindly donated by
Baltex Industries, plus of course a plentiful supply of help and water all
the way round the routes.
There are two routes this year, a 50-kilometer Bike Ride,
plus a 30-kilometer route for those less adventurous, but probably more
sensible. The ride will clearly be marked out with bright yellow signs from
Thursday 11th September for anybody who would like a bit of a practice.
It only leaves me to wish all the riders a fun journey,
and to thank all of the people who work so hard every year to make the
Charity Bike Ride the huge success it has become.
