Two very special charities Paul Sartori Hospice At Home and The Wales Air Ambulance are set to benefit from a grand total of £6,300.00 raised from The 2021 Kilgetty Bike It 100 Charity Sportive Cycle held on Sunday, July 18.

Despite soaring temperatures that reportedly reached over 30c on parts of the routes, 170 brave cyclists (many individual entries) besides representatives from 20 clubs from all over South and West Wales and beyond including - (A T A C: Army Cycling Union; Bynea CC; Cannon Hill CC; Cardiff Ajax Club; Carmarthen Tri Club; Coedcae Crew; Haverfordwest Hornets; Milford Tritons CC; Narberth Dynamos; Pembrokeshire Dragons; Pum Heol Peddlers; Royal Navy and Royal Marines AC; Taf Valley CC; Team NBCC; Tenby Aces; Tenby CC; Towy Riders; Wenvoe Wheelers; West Wales Wheelers) took part.

The event registered as a Sportive with British Cycling had three different route options 100 mile, 75 mile and 50 mile and was run under strict Covid restrictions including staggered signing on and start times with the riders tackling the challenging 100 miler setting off from Kilgetty Community Centre Car Park at 7 am with the last of the starters leaving shortly after 8.30 am.

Amongst the registered entries, the organisers were honoured that Mandy Draper (Pembroke) had chosen The Kilgetty Bike

It for her was her first official cycling event since her horrific cycling accident nearly five years ago, when she was told she would probably never walk again, but has since gone on to amazingly run over 40 marathons raising thousands of pounds for The Wales Air Ambulance who helped save her life that day.

Despite the difficult conditions Mandy completed the 75 mile route in very good time and later thanked the organisers and everyone involved in making this event happen in aid of two amazing and vital charities, adding her first cycling event despite the soaring heat and melting tarmac certainly didn’t disappoint and it is one of the most friendly cycle events that she has ever participated in.

Other outstanding achievements on the day included 71 year old Des Rees from Saundersfoot who planned to make his Ironman debut last year to celebrate his 70th birthday, and with last year’s and now this year’s event cancelled, Des proved that he was ready for the big challenge as he finished the gruelling 100 mile route as strong as he started.

The sportive also proved that cycling is for all ages as Alan Bain at eighty-years-old and Cindy Walker at just 11 (both representatives of Haverfordwest Hornets) were the eldest and youngest entries as both completed the 50 miler, with 13 year old Huw Cressey-Rogers (Llanboidy) and 15 year old Rogan Cox (Whitland) who impressively finished the 75 mile route, and 12 year old Caio Jones (Clarbeston Road) and Pembroke’s James Harris (13) also finished the 50 miler in fine form.

The event finished at the Kingsmoor Sports and Social Club opposite the start of the event and the recent lifting of covid regulations allowed entrants to enjoy an outdoor socially distanced barbecue and welcome refreshments which were gratefully provided by the club.

Organiser Norman Mason thanked all volunteer helpers and marshals provided by the two charities, with special thanks to Toni Dorkings and Katie Macro from the two charities for their help and guidance throughout the planning of the event as well as on the day.

He added that it had been difficult planning an event of this size with all the uncertainty that seemed to be constantly changing over the nine months since the event was planned but he was pleased that the event had gone ahead smoothly and was delighted with the money raised as well as the positive feedback throughout social media for the organisation, signage of all routes, and all were very impressed with their Welsh Slate Commemorative Medals.