The icing on Moonglu Cycling Club's tenth anniversary birthday cake will come on Sunday (March 1st), when it has the honour of organising Yorkshire's eighth Reliability Ride of the year.
Starting opposite the Moonglu cycle shop in Blossomgate at 9.30am, it is anticipated that more than 100 riders will take part in the event.
It features a 54-mile course taking in Bedale, Catterick, Leyburn, Middleham and Masham and a circuit of approximately 33 miles for junior and less experienced cyclists.
As well as being a day of celebration the club, established in February 2016 by Neil Dunkley and David Fell, will be raising money for the suicide prevention charity CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably).
Neil, who is the owner of Ripon BID member Moonglu, said:
“We lost one of our members to suicide a few years ago and after lots of consideration decided this was a way to help raise some money for the charity, while increasing awareness of its vital work.”
Sunday’s ride starts from The Storehouse Bar – across the road from Moonglu’s shop – and refreshments will be available from 8.30am.
Moonglu Cycling Club, which has more than 200 members and caters for people of all ages, from newcomers to the sport to competitive riders, has come a long way since 2009, when Neil and Dave started going on Thursday evening rides after a day of working together in the shop.
In 2016, the club became an affiliated member of British Cycling and with a well-structured organisation that has a committee chaired by Simon Beeson, it has gone from strength to strength, offering facilities including a covered road, offroad (gravel, cyclo-cross racing and mountain bike) as well as an indoor racing league on static bikes.
The popular Thursday evening rides starting and finishing at The Storehouse remain a standing dish, and Neil pointed out:
“For any club dinners we try to use facilities in Ripon. I was born and bred here and it’s really important to me that we support local businesses.”
Ripon BID manager Lilla Bathurst said:
“Moonglu are a shining example of the independent community-focused businesses that make Ripon such a special place to live, work and play.
"It’s almost a dozen years since the Tour de France thrilled and enthused large crowds as it swept through our city as part of the Grand Depart of 2014, which put Yorkshire forever on the world cycling map.
"Thanks to people like Neil and fellow committee members at Moonglu Cycling Club, local people continue to benefit from that legacy.”
Further information on Moonglu Cycling Club can be found on www.moonglucc.club
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