Page 8 - GRFC_NEWS_AUTUMN_2017

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North to South Cycle Ride coordinator Geraint Skyrme looks back with great pride on a wonderful achievement...
GWERNYFED RFC
THE GREAT NORTH TO SOUTH RIDE
On a cold, dark winters evening last November a meeting took place and the wheels of our bike ride were put into motion. After realising the mountainous challenge required to raise the large sum of money needed to buy the pitches at the Club, it was only a mammoth challenge that seemed appropriate.
I had discussed it with my fellow ex colleague of the front row Dylan “Big Dyl” Thomas. He agreed it was a huge challenge, but achievable. The jobs were allocated and things started to be put in place. I really didn’t realise it was going to turn out the way it did though. 10-15 riders and maybe £5,000 to £8,000 raised would help and mean we could do our bit as ex-players of the club. With the ever-expanding and thriving Gwernyfed junior section it was vital that this was dealt with as soon as possible and that the pitches were secured at the foot of the Black Mountains for their future. To this day, I’ve never played under a better vista.
The Welsh Rugby Union replied “Dear Mr Skyrme many thanks for your letter, in answer to your question, the most Northern registered club with the Welsh Rugby Union is Holyhead, the most Southern being Llantwit Major.” There it was in black and white - the challenge was set.
I reached for the map, looked at it and thought “Oh”. I spoke with Steve Harley, Simon Rose, Graham Williams, Danny Skyrme and others,
transport, accommodation, logistics, feeding stations, briefing sheets for the 8-10 of us would be needed.
We made it public on social media and local sponsors were sought (these can be found proudly displayed on the great North to South cycle ride banner displayed at the Club).
A date was set at the Club for final registration. Never in a month of Sundays did I think it would grow the size it did! 63 riders signing up on the night and days before the cut off point!
Now the work began. How on earth are we going to ship all these people up North, feed them, accommodate them, insure them, collect any broken bikes, get them home - list goes on. As with the everything in the Club, surrounding yourself with good people brings great results. Teams were set up and everyone doing their jobs. It wasn’t unusual for me to be in work 4am on the side of the road emailing Des Parry or Rob Stephens because something coming into my mind needed addressing. As ever, a response was never far away - always ending in a positive manner - which was forever comforting when my back was well and truly against the wall.
Everything was in place, Steve Harley had the digs sorted, Helen Meredith, Shan Thomas and their ladies had sorted the food, my ever faithful pillar of support Dylan Thomas and Simon Rose had nailed down the route. Now it was time to tie it all up.
Our tremendous friend and chief banter distributor Neil Morris stepped into the fray and assisted no end with all required documents and presented all the riders with a step by step guide - fool proof, to make the ride function. Club kit was designed and supplied by Oli Greenow - it looked the business!
It was a sterling job done and it all became very real for the riders and participants. Training rides all winter long were to follow. Cold mornings, dark evenings - it was often that you could be returning from shopping or work seeing Robbie Hardy, Mark Alder, Pete Webb on the roads with many others.
Personally, I found it very inspiring. Since I hung up my boots I’ve taken a stab at a few triathlons, duathlons - although I will not be troubling the Brownlees anytime soon! My inspiration came from certain people who shall remain nameless, but seeing both genders, all ages, all abilities supporting and encouraging eachother is exactly what our Club is, and always will be. Hearing riders losing big weight from training, people saying they have never felt better, it then started to hit home that it’s more than a fund raiser, it’s bringing people unconnected together, creating personal pride in lifestyle changes and this made all the late nights seem even more worth while.
So the May soon came. We all met early, the buses from Geraint James Talybont were loaded
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