A note from Simon Rubin, Sep 2021

We hope you’re having a good summer, despite the weather not being wonderful.

Chiltern Samaritans has ploughed on through the pandemic, actually increasing its telephone hours over the previous year. The response from our volunteers has been fantastic and that’s great because, sadly and not surprisingly, the need, far from diminishing, has increased.

We’ve been having a bit of a rest from organising Cycling events but we’re back on our trusty multi-seater cycle with a couple of announcements for 2022.

Firstly, and most importantly, we announce our 2022 Chiltern Samaritan Cycling Sportive. It will take place on Saturday, June 25th. It’ll have 3 rides of 40, 80 and 130 kilometres, starting from West Wycombe. You can already register on British Cycling.

Taking heed of the feedback we had from riders on a very hot day in June 2019, we are planning to make the 80k ride just little easier by dropping out one of the hills!! We can assure you that NO ride starting from West Wycombe will manage to avoid climbs, so while a little easier, it’ll still be challenging. We’re also considering changes to the 130km ride but we’ll let you know nearer the time if there are improvements.

You may also recall that last year we ran a virtual ride. We’d like to do that again in 2022 but we’ve radically changed the format.

First of all, it’s a challenge to you to Ride 500km for Chiltern Samaritans in February 2022. However, you can tot up those kilometres any way you like – any virtual platform including FulGaz (free membership for a month if you’d like to try it out), Zwift, or on the road. The only thing you need to be able to do to announce that you’ve completed the Challenge is to record your rides on Strava and we will set up a Samaritans 2022 Challenge Group for that purpose. We’ll send out an email once we’ve sorted out registration etc and provide a link for full joining instructions at that time.

There will also be virtual ‘meet up rides’ during February to add a bit of spice for those with a competitive spirit. More to follow on this. There will be no entry fee for this event but, as always, if you’d like to donate, we would be delighted. The need for funds goes on as relentlessly as the need for our service!

There will also be a Prize Draw for those who complete the challenge, and Premium Parking at our 2022 Sportive. You will be directed to the front rows of parking to help you preserve your energy for the ride ahead.

Sorry if this is a bit long but we wanted to share our plans with you and we’d love you to join us as, hopefully, 2022 becomes a significantly more recognisable year.

Kind regards

Simon Rubin

Chiltern Samaritans