Charity ride from Alvechurch to Worcester taking place.

I wondered why I was seeing so many cyclists this morning as I tried to walk the towpath between locks. Having looked at some of the t-shirts the cyclists were wearing I soon realised they were taking part in the Alvechurch to Worcester Charity Cycle Ride for Acorns Children’s Hospice. Now whilst I think the cycle ride is a great idea, I do have concerns about them cycling along the towpath and it appears I am not alone. I read a posting by Andrew on NB Granny Buttons date Tuesday, 10 April 2007, and it seems there were concerns about the charity bike ride back then. I am all in favour of people raising money for their charity, but it does have to be done safely and I can say that some of the riders on this charity ride were not riding safely. Some were a danger to other towpath users including myself, who almost got mown down a couple of times by boy racers. Since we have been moored at Tibberton, there have been several cyclists skidding on the towpath near our boat and some looking worst for wear having been in the pub. As Andrew explains on his blog the route is pretty much down hill (CLICK), which means they are going to be travelling at speed for most of the journey. It may not be so bad if they had people on the route watching what some of the cyclists are doing. Maybe they need checkpoints to make sure people are riding responsibly.