Pete Falls from his Bicycle

June 27th was a clear and clement day, fifty miles around Oxfordshire came as a pleasure, and we raised over £200 for the Antony Nolan Trust.

My Brother and I, riding under the name "Team Huggins", set out at 8:30am and we were back in Oxford by 02:00pm. This is record time for us and we both pleased to clock a new personal best. However it was only our first time doing the ride, so it doesn't count as a record in the true sense.

I actually fell off my bike in the first 200 metres, badly twisting the handlebars, unfixing the break and giving myself a bit of a dose of "the willies". Strictly my fault for not taking due care, the accident was in fact blamed squarely on Oxfordshire County Council for leaving a 2 inch shelf in the tarmac between the kerb and the road surface. I fell in the gutter, and you can imagine how funny my brother would have thought it; for his little brother to fall into the gutter, only he careened into the backl of me, so he wasn't exactly laughing. After this less-than-perfect begining we went on to enjoy a thoroughly beautiful day and a strikingly well organised bike cycle trip. There were water stops here and there, red green and blue arrows for the different distance routes, everything required, and that's not to mention the mechanic standing by to fix my handlebars.

Thanks to the staff at the Oxford Cycle Workshop for helping us to get our bikes in shape, thanks also to the scandinavian cyclists who leant us a pump and also to the Antony Nolan Trust for orgainising such an excellent day out. I particularly enjoyed the jazz big band waiting for our return to South Parks. Roll on Oxford Bike Ride 2005.

P.s. Just so you aren't put off, I didn't see one other accident all day, even from the toddlers with stabilisers.

Pete Huggins