Left to right: Richard Morgan, signed up for 455km; Alastair Abrehart, media man; Orano Andrews, BVI National Champion, and designated engine; BSAFE director Chris Ghiorse.
The BSAFE 24 Hour Challenge will take place this weekend, November 12/13, starting at 12 noon on Saturday and finishing at 12 noon on Sunday. The fundraising effort is growing steadily, but with only one third of the $50,000 target raised there is a sense of urgency to get the message out to the public and businesses that believe in the mission of the BSAFE programme – to provide all children in the BVI free bicycle safety education.
Chris said: “If the multitude of people that BSAFE has touched pledged $10, the 24 Hour Challenge would be nearer $25,000 than $15,000, my only hope is that those who would like to donate actually do so.”
The course will be a loop of the Sir Francis Drake Highway between Port Purcell roundabout and the main roundabout in Road Town covering 3.602km per lap. In keeping with the principles of BSAFE, all road regulations will be observed throughout the ride. Eleven support riders have signed up to help Chris round the course. Richard Morgan and Thomas layer of St. Thomas plan to ride for at least 20 hours while Orano Andrews, Gareth Thomas and Andrew Thompson plan to ride for 12 hours starting at midnight on Saturday. Between them they plan to ride 2,290 kilometres.
Chris is confident that this is going to be a weekend to remember. The BSAFE 24 HQ is organized for the festival grounds, where there will be full 24-hour support for the riders. There will be music, food and drink for the volunteers to keep them entertained during the effort.
BSAFE supporters including Jamie Schultheiss and the Ladies of SASS, are selling raffle tickets for $2 until drawings take place at noon on Sunday the 13th, just as Chris and crew finish their ride. The grand prizes include a 2-night stay for two at Neptune’s Treasure on Anegada and a 1-night stay with breakfast for two at Biras Creek in Virgin Gorda.
CCT Global Communications, VP Bank and Caribbean Alliance Insurance are major sponsors of the event. CCT Global communications will be offering double top ups from 10am on Sunday morning.
“With a BBQ, music, a festive atmosphere and the sense of accomplishment I hope to have at the end, I can say that I am really looking forward to noon on Sunday the 13th, all of this should be enough to push me through the tough patches I expect to hit around 3 am,” said Chris.
However, the addition of the new traffic lights have thrown a spanner in the works adding to the difficulty of the task ahead. Chris rode for four hours on Sunday with an actual forward motion riding time of 3 hours and 15 minutes. The distance we managed in the 4 hours was approximately 10 minutes off-pace. “I’m hoping it was because of the many riders informally dipping in and out and stopping to talk to them,” said Chris. “The fear though is that a contributing factor is the new red lights. Four months of thinking about a manageable pace and now the new lights have thrown me a curveball. At one point we hit 11 out of a possible 12 red lights in 3 laps and there wasn’t even any traffic coming out of the side roads. What will rush hour be like on Saturday from 5pm to 9pm?
“It means the first few hours are going to be anxious to find out just how hard we will have to go. Lots of accelerations will be needed now. I’ve structured the pledging on a per kilometre basis. If I only complete 400 kilometres, I raise considerably less money. Money raised is based on meeting my target.”
