Marshalling at Hovis Freewheel
Saturday 29 September 2007
What a brilliant day I had at the Hovis Freewheel on Sunday. I helped to marshall a feeder ride for the Richmond branch of the LCC. I had been to the marshall’s training and also had marshalled on the tour de France feeder ride, so had an idea of what to expect. We met at Richmond Green at 9.30 and about 61 people turned up for the ride. Jonathan gave an inspiring introduction to everyone, ensuring that they all knew what was happening.
The ride went very well, we managed to stick together pretty much as a group, and arrived at Ravenscourt Park after about 45 minutes. From there people went in their own time to St. James’s Park following the route which was patrolled by Freewheel marshalls. We helped a few families along the way who were having trouble with tired children.
At St James’s Park we stopped for the free sandwiches which were much appreciated, and then did the Freewheel itself. It was amazing to see so many cyclists of all different types. At some points it was so crowded that we had to get off and wait, but the atmosphere was terrific. The underpass on upper Thames Street was great with everyone whooping and shouting and generally making as much noise as possible. It was also wonderful to see so many families and children.
Finally we got back to St. James’s park where we browsed the stalls, and made some lovely badges out of the old TfL maps at the LCC stall. We then had a much needed cup of tea and a piece of cake and a sit down on the thoughtfully provided blankets. I thought that the whole event was very well organised, people were all in a very good mood, and some wonderful tales of how well people, especially young ones, had done.
After sufficient restoration, we managed to pedal our way back to Richmond and a much needed pint.
Posted bysue at 14:45
