CLUB RIDE 3rd July Benson Vintage Bike Rally
dave.morrison
It is a fantastic event, Ewelme is just past the Chiltern Ridge 38 miles (ish) from the Polish War Memorial, so a round trip of 76 miles with a decent break in Ewelme in the middle. I'm not sure what time the bikes are en masse at Ewelme but I can check the exact details nearer the date. I doubt it's the sort of event that would allow everyone to be back home by 1pm though.
Dave
Benson Veteran Cycle Museum
On Sunday, 245 cyclists from across the world will bring all manner of pre-1926 bikes to take part in the 50th Benson Veteran Cycle Club Rally.
The event was founded in 1960 by the club’s life president Ned Passey, now aged 89, after he saved a penny farthing being thrown out by his father.
Fifty years later, he has built up a personal collection of 450 historic bicycles.
“It had been stored in an outbuilding, the roof had collapsed, and it was going out with a lot of other stuff as scrap.
“I rescued it, restored it, and rode it in a rally in Ripley (in Derbyshire). My friends wanted to ride as well, so we decided to set a rally up here.”
He added: “It has just gone on and on. I never ever thought it would last for 50 years.”
The first rally attracted 35 riders, but every year since more have joined.
On Sunday, enthusiasts will come from as far as Australia to take part in its 50th ride, some of them riding wooden-framed Velocipedes, which in 1869 became the world’s first bicycle with pedals, soon earning the nickname “boneshakers” because they were so uncomfortable to ride.
Riders will set off from the village’s Sunnyside recreation ground at 10am, for a 13-mile cycle through the villages of Roke, Berrick Salome, Chalgrove and Ewelme.
Mr Passey said: “All of the bikes are done up and are still as good as the day they were manufactured.”
He assembled his own collection over decades, rescuing many from his family’s scrapyard and finding others abandoned in hedgerows.
Once thrown away as worthless scrap, vintage bikes can now fetch thousands of pounds at auction.
The oldest in Mr Passey’s collection is an 1818 ‘hobby horse’, one of the earliest forerunners of the modern bicycle, which was propelled by the rider’s feet on the ground.
Roland Collicott
good idea, Dave. Please pencil me in. I hope to do the slow route if I'm back to semi-fitness. It'll be like old times, as I used to ride much of that route on the way to work in Oxford once a week.
cheers, Roly
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paul broome
Paul