Trio raise £20K with Scotland cycle in honour of friend

Kate Jones, Rachel Bradbury and Tabitha Worsley biked over 500 miles, including 32,000ft of climbing, when they took on the North West 500 last week. The girls, joined by another friend Meg Thomas for a few days along the route, took on around 80-100 miles of cycling per day after starting on July 31 – tackling miles of road, mountains and the northern elements before crossing the finish line last Thursday, August 6, feeling battered, bruised and broken.

But, even though they had to adjust their plan and compete the journey in six days rather than seven, they were ultimately rewarded for their arduous efforts with the news their fundraising had smashed the £20K mark – the total so far stands at £20,358.

The girls will split the money between two charities – the Injured Jockeys Fund and Retraining of Racehorses. The challenge was completed as a tribute to their friend, Lorna Brooke, an amateur jockey with ties to Powys, who died after falling from her horse at a race earlier this year.

“We did it,” a groggy but grateful Kate posted on the Ride for Lorna Facebook page the trio set up to keep people updated with their progress on Tuesday.

“We have officially smashed that £20k barrier. Muscles are still feeling the burn from last week's pedalling and 32,000ft of climbing.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you to each and every person that has donated, it really does mean an awful lot to all of us to see how much people have got behind this wonderful cause.

“All the money has been heading over to these incredible charities each week and doing the good it is meant to be doing.

“Hitting this milestone is huge, but if you still haven't donated please do, every little helps. Seeing this money being donated makes all these [tough] moments worth it.”

After crossing the finishing line on day six, Rachel posted: “The last day, well over 100 miles.

“After a wet start the sun came out, leaving some interesting tan lines on all our legs (or burn in Tabitha’s case)

“Following some arrogance and thinking we were all elite cyclists a mid-bike stretch, Kate decided she was actually an Olympic gymnast and attempted a 360 over the side of a verge, the landing left room for improvement.

“Unfortunately, the hysterical laughter led to Tabitha ending up head first in the same ditch after tripping over her bike.

“In order to complete our challenge in the new shortened 6-day timeframe we had to clock up some extra mileage so came up with an extra wiggly route home, passing numerous shorter routes. It was a very nice feeling to come round the bend a mile from home to see a car to escort us and cheer us on for the last big push.”

Lorna, 37, fell at the third fence at the Pontispool Equine Sports Centre Handicap Chase in Taunton on April 8. She was airlifted to hospital but died 11 days later. She often trained in Dolau, near Llandrindod Wells, and was riding Orchestrated for her mother, Lady Susan Brooke, who is based in the Radnorshire village, at the race.

The North West 500 was chosen because Lorna’s father, Alastair, is Scottish, while Kate said it would be a fitting tribute to the “crazy things” Lorna liked to do.

She rode from Lands End to John O’Groats for a friend who previously fell from a horse and suffered a head injury. Rachel also rode the bike that Lorna used for that challenge, and all the girls had photos of Lorna adorned on the front of their bikes for extra motivation.

All four knew Lorna through their involvement with horses. Rachel, from Craven Arms, worked for years in the racing industry with Lorna, while Bromyard duo Tabitha and Meg went to school with her and Kate, from Glasbury, had met her via one of the charities.

You can still make a donation to either of the charities via the group’s JustGiving fundraising page; just visit the Ride for Lorna page here.