A quick word from John Thorpe....

January 18, 2017

This is by way of a huge 'Thank You' to everyone who donated to the Three Owls Blackpool Bike Ride total of £957.00. Quite honesty I am blown away by the total and the level of interest in my humble cycling efforts, which only came to light today when I received a certificate of achievement from my old friend Nigel at Three Owls .When last I heard we had, I think, either equalled or just exceeded last year's total, and I was proud enough of having achieved that.


Unknown to me, there has been a huge surge in people looking at the report on the Three Owls website, and subsequently feeling moved to make donations. Whenever I write the report of the Bike Ride to Blackpool from Manchester, I hope that it interests and amuses people, and of course if it prompts a donation we're very grateful, but that isn't the prime motivation. Nigel tells me that people have left messages of support and admiration for the number of years I've been taking part in the ride, and while I'm  hugely grateful, I'm also very surprised that people find it interesting. We all like to feel useful or to have some purpose beyond our own day to day lives, and the ride is my way of giving something back for all that I learned during my years of volunteering at Three Owls, both with Nigel and with Mrs.Watkinson. In the past couple of years I've questioned my usefulness a great deal, and while I still don't have an over inflated opinion of this, I do thank you all for taking the time and trouble to support my efforts on behalf of Three Owls. I'm hoping that my friend from Blackpool, Jon, is going to join me on the ride in 2017, since I've been trying to persuade him it would be good for his mental and spiritual health for about twenty years! Being of sound mind he's so far resisted the invitation on the grounds that he's so far avoided a heart attack and total physical collapse and he'd like to keep it that way! He assures me he's been in serious training by watching films of the ride on You Tube and walking briskly to the shops, so we'll see later in the year.


Thank you all once again and I hope that I can complete the ride again this year and regail you all with another tale of embrocation, perspiration and rehydration on the road to Blackpool!


 


John Thorpe

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