Aberdovey Bike Ride

A warm welcome to the Aberdovey bike ride website. The site will provide you with sufficient information such as entry and sponsor forms, route, FAQ’s, history and riders list for the current year.

I will cover some of the history of the event on a separate page.

This is a Police-organised charity bike ride which has developed into an annual feature in many peoples social or sporting diary. Riders start 'en masse' from Queens Square, Wolverhampton, under escort, to cycle one of two routes to the beautiful seaside resort of Aberdovey on the Welsh coast. The route favoured by most cyclists is 100 miles and those wanting more of a challenge are directed over the Cambrian Mountains, usually via Dinas Mawddwy, which is an additional 20 miles.

All riders are requested to raise a minimum of £75 which assists carefully selected local charities.  Last years event raised £30,000 which will be divided between, New Cross Hospitals League of Friends, SANDS, RNLI, CLIC Sargent, Child Victims of Crime, Help for Heroes and Newport Cottage care home.

This years charities has yet to be decided and sponsor forms will be posted on the site expected date early March so you can all begin collecting well needed cash. Whilst I mention sponsor money, we are proud to say that in all the years we have organised this event Not one penny has been taken from sponsor funds to finance the ride. We rely heavily on kind businesses like GREGGS, Little Chef,etc.

If you have a worth charity that you think we could raise money for just let us know.

The event is open to Police officers, Police Staff, friends, relatives and invited persons. The 'family' has grown over the years and continues to do so. Its success relies on word of mouth and has never really been widely advertised until now. We are limited to numbers for logistical reasons. This year we have progressed to online entries to make it easier to manage and easier for you. At the time of writing this the entry system has been closed due to the massive response we have had. It will be back online at 7pm 26th February so get your entry in soon.

The ride attracts cyclists of all abilities, from those who ride once a year, to those that use the ride to enhance their cycle racing ability. As I mentioned before, there is a mass start from Wolverhampton City Centre, along a route which quickly takes you to quieter country roads. Riders are supported by travelling motorcycle marshals provided from Wolverhampton's Police Motorcycle Club. In addition to this there are checkpoints roughly 15 miles apart, which provide you with food, drink and positive encouragement! A sweep vehicle and mini bus is available should you not make it for one reason or another. Basic spares are carried by the motorcyclists. However we cannot guarantee they are experienced mechanics but most times we get you back on the road.

Our final destination is the Aberdovey Yacht Club, who have extended their hospitality to all entrants and supporters. At the Yacht Club, riders can get a hot shower and a change of clothing (which will be transported from Wolverhampton by lorry). Following this a hot meal is provided and the usual shenanigans follow in the bar area.

The weary riders who choose to return home that night will be transported back via luxury coach, setting off at approximately 10pm.

I hope I’ve covered everything but if you have any burning questions, firstly check out the FAQ page or email me.

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Finally I would like to thank the following people who, without their unselfish help and support this event would never be as successful as it has been. I would like to add, this is not an exhaustive list and apologise if anyone feels left out. It’s not intentional but I don’t want this to turn into the Oscar’s!

• Wolverhampton Police Motorcycle Club
• All the support crews who give up their valuable time
• Aberdovey Yacht Club
• West Midlands Police
• Wolverhampton City Council Urban Traffic Control
• Gregg’s - food
• Fred Williams Cycles - food and riders support
• Leisure Lakes Bikes - food
• Redbridge Produce - fruit
• Charlie Chester & Paul Sheldon for Design & building Website
• Greg Evans- Treasurer
• Bob Nickless- Logistics
• Mark, the Chef, for your meal at Aberdovey

Gary Dorrington