ROUGH TO RIDE 2015What is it?Another exciting Bigfoot adventure – open for Bigfoot Youth members, their accompanying parents / adult friends of the family and our adult club volunteers ….. limited spaces, so read on quickly!

A two day off road ride, with overnight accommodation in a hostel building at the Bentley Copse Scout Camp, plus use of their skittle alley that night. And our destination is Brighton! We love Brighton! The ride follows the official 78 mile British Heart Foundation London to Brighton off-road ride route from Richmond Park to Brighton (that they do in 1 day, but we will do in 2 days), a few short sections are on road – but most is off road. Our ride is split roughly in half between the two days.

If you have ridden to Brighton with us on tarmac – now is the time to give this a go! We can provide Ride Buddies if needed.

When is the ride?Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th September 2015

Where and when to start?Saturday start – at car park by Roehampton Gate, Priory Lane, Richmond Park (18 miles and 1 hour by car from Hayes) – gather 8-00, ride 8-30amSunday start – Bentley Copse, gather 9-00, ride 9-30amPlease do contact each other to share transport Details of Route:We follow the British Heart Foundation official off-road London to Brighton route – as attached - starting off across Richmond Park, then along some leafy stretches of the Thames, then south, south, south. There may be the odd section that you have to push up, but there are also miles of easy cycling on disused railways.

Suitable bikes:Mountain Bike - definitely the best all round option. Cyclocross bike - okay for 85% of the route, but you might need to get off and push on the more technical parts across the North Downs and the climb over the South Downs. On the other hand, the Downs Link Way and the few road sections would be great on a cross bike. Hybrid bike - not recommended; okay on the Thames path, Downs Link Way and road sections, but you'll be pushing on most everything else. Road bike - in a word, no.

Physical effort:40 miles of this off-road route is probably about the same as 55 miles of London to Brighton on road. A lot of the off road is not that demanding - Downs Link Way and Thames Path especially, plus the various road sections, and Shoreham-by-Sea to Brighton at the end. The most technically challenging section is the North Downs, which is also physically quite hard work. The hardest section in terms of physical effort is the climb over the South Downs - an awful lot of those on the British Heart Foundation ride were pushing up this. The reward though is a lovely off road descent down to Shoreham-by-Sea.

Who can attend?Open for all Bigfoot Youth CC members (girls and boys), their accompanying parents / adult friends of the family and our adult club volunteers (men and women) – allocation is on a first come first served basis with priority to Youth members and their accompanying adult

Young riders will need to be accompanied by a parent or adult friend of the family – however we are now able to take a young riders accompanied by the club’s Ride Buddies – for more details please contact Adam.

What is the cost?The cost will be £20.00 per person (adults and children), inclusive of accommodation costs and skittle alley hire. £12.00 per adult who is unable to stay in the overnight accommodation (see Rules at Bentley Copse)

Plus we will all contribute to cover the costs of the food and drink consumed at Bentley Copse (see below), and the costs of the person acting as support vehicle (last year this totalled an extra £10 per person)

Payment arrangements:As soon as you are allocated a place please pay us £20 per person by cheque to “Bigfoot Go-Ride” and post to Adam at 108 Pickhurst Lane, Hayes, Kent, BR2 7JD (or direct in to our account, as you do for club sessions fees, adding the names of the riders being paid for and that the payment is for the R2R ride)

Overnight accommodationBentley Copse address: Hound House Road, Shere, Guildford, Surrey, GU5 9JH. The post code via Sat Nav takes you to the wrong address. Approaching from Shere, when the Sat Nav says you have arrived you need to travel an extra ¼ mile and the turning is on the left and is clearly marked. Co-ordinates N 51deg 11.225min, W 0 deg, 27.818min.

We have the use of the Bentley Barn that can sleep up to 38 in bunk beds (in rooms of 16, 16 and 6) – we will use these to separate adults from young riders and to separate boys and girls – the accommodation includes showers and toilets

Food and drinkSaturday - everyone is to bring their own packed lunch, snacks and drinks for the first day’s ride

Saturday night – a select few of our young riders will arrange the evening meal. There will be two main course options, one will be vegetarian, one will be a “safe” option. There will also be extra meat for the carnivores! Please contact Adam if there are any special dietary requirements. We will then circulate menus for everyone to make selections from, so we are clear on food quantities

Sunday morning – we will supply a variety of breakfast options

Sunday lunch – we will supply a variety of foods, so that packed lunches can be made

Who does what – all of our young riders are charged with making all the food, and all the adults do all the washing up / clearing up. Our accommodation comes with a fitted out kitchen, incl fridge/freezer and gas cooker

Rest and relaxationWe have the use of the skittle alley from 8 till 10pm

First AidThe Ride Captain will have a first aid kit and is first aid trained

What to bring?For the ride - suitable bike in good working order, helmet, at least 2 spare inner tubes, bike lock, basic bike repair multi tool and some money (in case of café stops), please check weather forecast in advance and bring appropriate clothing

For overnight - pillows, sleeping bags, change of clothes, trainers, toothbrushes, towels etc

Rules at Bentley CopseThe important rule at the scout camp are that EVERY adult (18 or over) must be DBS / CRB cleared, this could be a DBS check via Bigfoot or a DBS check via anywhere else. If anyone can’t achieve this they will need to find their own overnight accommodation. Adam will need to see DBS evidence of those not cleared via Bigfoot

All adults must read and abide by the “Bentley Copse Scout Campsite Child Protection Code of Behaviour” (below), contravention of this could lead you being removed from the site and the Scout Association initiating it’s reporting and referral procedures.

Everyone must read and abide by the “User Guidelines” and “Rules and Guidelines” (below) – incl on alcohol and smoking etc

And of course we must leave everything as we found it

Support vehicle and food co-ordinator – HELP!We need someone + car to volunteer to act as support vehicle, car capable of carrying all items to the hostel (eg everyone’s overnight kits and overnight food and drink etc), and on standby and capable to carry 2 bikes and 2 riders if need be

The support vehicle will meet us at the start on Saturday to load up all overnight kit, they will also collect same Sunday morning, which will be available for collection back in Hayes after the ride (from whose house we will decide on the weekend)

We also need an adult food co-ordinator to work with some selected older kids, to buy all the food, drink, washing up liquid, bin bags etc etc and pass provisions to the person driving the support vehicle

The support vehicle driver and food co-ordinator can also stay overnight for free (there that’s an incentive!), subject to DBS (as Rules at Bentley Copse)

Ride CaptainAdam, with the help of the other adults

How do we get to the start and get home from Brighton?Everyone is to make their own arrangements – please contact other riders and co-operate (we all came back by train last year)

How do we apply?Spaces are limited at the Hostel – allocation is on a first come first served basis with priority to Youth members and their accompanying adult

To book your place please click on link below and complete it, then keep the weekend clear. Once we have a list of those interested we will determine if we feel the ride is suited to you. But everyone should keep riding and keep fit!http://form.jotformeu.com/form/51632355117349

Any questions?Contact Adam at adam@bigfootcc.co.uk . Adam can also be contacted on 0788 778 0542