We had a blast on the 24th edition of Fletcher’s Flapjack 109km Audax on Sunday 3rd March. 131 riders audaciously braved the icy start for the promise of vast quantities of cake, flapjack and the traditional beans on toast lunch, in what turned out to be a lovely sunny day.
Eric Fletcher would have been delighted to see so many happy, smiley faces taking on his challenge “to go home heavier than you came”.
Riders came to Chippenham from far and wide across the country. One rider, for the second year running, started his day at 6.00am riding in from Andover (on a spiked front ice tyre), then riding back home afterwards. Probably 230km for his round trip!
We had at least 3 tandems riding, one stoked by our youngest rider on the day, Sasha Bradbury and piloted by dad, James. There were a few single speeders and at least one fixed wheeler hauling himself up Wick Hill.
Warnings given at the start briefing were heeded with riders exercising caution on the first stage and many taking the alternative route on the main road through Lyneham, avoiding what turned out to be an icy stretch through Tockenham. Despite this we had reports of at least 4 people taking a fall on the first stage, though thankfully only minor cuts and bruises, and all made it to Brinkworth, after which the sun had fried off the mist and frost for a perfect blue sky day.
We ended up with 127 finishers on the day. This equaled but didn’t quite beat Eric’s record for the event set in 2010. We were expecting 152 to start but had 21 no-shows, most likely put off by the icy conditions. A few sent their apologies later in the day. 2 of our members started 2 hours late to avoid the frost but still finished 2 minutes inside the cut-off time, but sadly missed their beans and cakes! 5 of our helpers test-rode the route in the preceding week, meaning we should have 132 validated finishers when the results are approved by AUK.
We also had what we think was a record 40 women finishing the ride too. One young woman was overjoyed to finish, having completed her first 100km+ ride only 12 weeks after an operation on her elbow, raising over £850 for Dementia UK.
We raised £500 for Doorway Wiltshire, our local homelessness charity, thanks to the donations from the happy riders and the surplus we made on the event.
Feedback from the riders has been nothing but positive for the great show that Chippenham Wheelers laid on. We’ve put a few quotes for you further below to read and enjoy.
And here’s a little video of the day (click link to play) showing our helpers and riders in action. And in case you’re wondering, the slide was one of the information controls, although video evidence was not actually needed!
Thank you to all our riders for helping make it such a fun event, but above all thank you to our little army of amazing volunteers from Chippenham and District Wheelers without whom we couldn’t do this every year. We’ll see you again for the Flapjack’s 25th anniversary next year!
I would just like to say thank you so much for a wonderfully organised event yesterday. Although my husband and myself have taken part in the Flapjack about 5 times you and everyone involved never disappoint with your enthusiasm and hard work.
We got a few of our club members to take part this year and they all thoroughly enjoyed it and commented on how well organised and well looked after they all felt.
Hats off to you all! Now you can take a well deserved rest!!!
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Ridiculous amounts of fun, perfect dose of sunshine and the best Sunday social on the calendar. Thank you Sheni and your merry band.
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Fantastic day out yesterday for us Wotton-under-Edge cyclists – thanks so much to you and the team for making it happen.
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What an amazing day today at the flapjack ride. Thank you all for organising a fantastic ride with the most amazing cakes and of course Beans on Toast. All the helpers were amazing and so friendly.
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This was an excellent event and the team from Cowley Road Condors Cycling Club were delighted to be part of it. Something to aspire to for sure. Thanks for all your club and volunteers for summoning great weather, baking good cake, serving many cups of tea and coffee and doing round after round of beans on toast.
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Well done, great effort by Chippenham and District Wheelers.
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………………and that’s why we still run Eric Fletcher’s Flapjack every year!