Capital gain for charity riders

FIVE miles from the end of an epic bike ride from Oldham to London over the bank holiday weekend, Mujib Rahman suffered a puncture.

This was the only mechanical problem of the four-day, 219-mile drag to Tower Hamlets but it was gut-wrenching for the young man from Chadderton. His ride was over. After battling through a heatwave, rolling hills and, on the last day, torrential rain all the way from Milton Keynes to London, he had to climb aboard one of the support buses.

The puncture was on one of the city’s red routes in Kilburn, and stopping to repair the tyre could have resulted in a heavy fine for a group cycling to raise money for Action Oldham, a community fund established by Voluntary Action Oldham.

The last 10 miles, into the heart of congested London roads, were a nightmare for everyone with atrocious weather adding to the volume of traffic - which meant the cyclists were unable to keep in contact with their two support vans.

All ended well when the whole group met in Tower Hamlets, but the civic party had long since departed since the weather and conditionshad put the Oldham group two hours behind schedule.

Leader and organiser Muzahid Khan said: “Yes, we were late, but everyone who took part deserves praise.

“The ride was great fun, we saw some fabulous places and met some wonderful people, when the sun was shining in Cheshire on Friday and in Hertfordshire and on Sunday. But the other days were hard and everyone had to grit their teeth.

The group is hoping the ride has raised around £2,000 - and donations are still welcome at www.mydonate.bt.com/ott.