Cricket-mad cyclist Oli Broom set off for his 14-month charity trek to the Ashes in Brisbane, Australia on Saturday – and he has already been hit for six. Having been cycling in Northern France, a bike thief has already struck.
Broom’s last tweet on social networking site Twitter said: “confronted with my pretty valuable bike, an overnight robber thieved my chuffing front and rear bike lights. what a loser.bit annoying mind.”
The bike in question is a steel framed 26" wheel, baby blue Santos Travelmaster, made and assembled in Holland. It is a similar bike to the one that round-the-world cyclist James Bowthorpe used for his recent charity ride.
Oli set off from Lord's cricket ground on Saturday morning and is currently in Loon-Plage, France.
The 15,600 mile journey across 20 countries by bicycle to Brisbane to arrive in time for the First Test at the city’s famous ground, The Gabba, takes Broom across Europe to Istanbul, then through Syria to Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia. After a sea crossing to India, Broom then aims to catch some Indian Premier League action, before heading to Australia via Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The 29-year-old chartered surveyor, from Cookham, Maidenhead, hopes to raise £100,000 for the British Neurological Research Trust, as well as for the cricket-focused charity, The Lord’s Taverners, and teach the locals a thing or two about cricket on the way. He will carry a tent on his bike but will also stay with dozens of cricket players and fans along the way.
Broom’s quest has the support of England captain, Andrew Strauss. Both attended Radley College, Oxfordshire, and Strauss says, “I've known Oli since our school days and can vouch for his sanity.
His journey can be followed through Twitter at http://twitter.com/cyclingtoashes and www.cyclingtotheashes.co.uk.
I like how drivers make the case for making monitoring covert, not overt.
She seemed a bit upset about a minor misjudgement that could have killed someone and is going to cause months of stress and inconvenience.
No we don't agree, personally I would take primary, even if only for a short period although I can understand why some riders might not want to...
And which looks very like the bag produced by indy bag manufacturer Wizard Works…...
If it was a 'no vehicles' sign (all white circle centre), it would mean cyclists could ride in the hours that HGVs and disabled drivers are allowed...
The tyre wear for (car shaped) EVs has to be more due to the heavier weights and the increased torque.
The bit at the start and end looks like a cycle lane, but the bit they drive on looks just like a patched filter lane for traffic lights.
Hey, you 4 execs helped run a company into the ground and have no jobs anymore... Come work for us because you have great experience in the...
£11.5k for a bike weighing over 8kg that's 2 fingers to customers let alone UCI
I'm going to show my bike a picture of this shed and tell it, "If you don't behave..."