Those of you who've read more than one or two of my posts, will now rightly be expecting a personal twist in this narrative and will not be disappointed, or dismayed, to find it coming now. Getting sponsored to do something that's clearly fun and brings no obvious wider social benefit simply feels like a way of offsetting an indulgence. Not only will we be absenting ourselves from domestic responsibilities for the four days of the ride itself but we've already been doing this when we've been out training. Not only will we get the personal buzz from completing a physical challenge but we'll get the bragging rights that go with it; in particular those that come from being on the limited edition inaugural ride of what we hope, and I fully expect, will be a well used cycle route for years to come.
Whilst I couldn't possibly say that raising money for any of the charities involved is anything other than a good thing, I can't help thinking that if it was such a good thing why couldn't you just ask your sponsors for the money anyway. Why link it to the completion of a self indulgent task ? (It probably has something to do with the way people find it easier to identify with another individual rather than the abstraction of a charitable cause, but please allow me the rhetorical indulgence)
Now what's this got to do with the Rugby Club?
Well, a few years ago Scarborough Rugby Club relocated itself onto a green field site to the north of the town and adjacent to the Cinder Track. Before they'd even got their plans off the drawing board we, the then Renaissance Walking and Cycling Action Group and the Friends of the Old Railway, suggested that it would be a really good idea to give the site a quality access route off the Cinder Track. Not only would they make it easier for club members, young and old, to get to the Club under their own steam, with all the health and fitness benefits that come from routine everyday physical activity, but they might also reduce demand on their car park.
It's likely that the Club were so preoccupied with the important matters of building buildings and beginning to generate income off them that they didn't really give this issue the attention it deserved. So, instead of a high quality access route what we got was a bumpy ditch.
Narrow bumpy ditch with barbed wire edging
I did speak to the Club about this apparently wasted opportunity but it would be fair to say that I received a frosty response and, without giving a probably unhelpful account of the details, the path remains as inadequate as the day it was put in.
However, the Rugby Club have been extremely helpful in providing the use of its facilities for the organisation of the Tour de Borough and as far as I can tell I'm the only one of the participants in the ride who've used the path to get to the club for any of the many meetings involved - and then only to get an up to date photo - . So. it occurred to me one day that one way in which I might a) deal with my own feelings about sponsorship and b) to be perfectly frank, tease the Rugby Club into doing something about the path, would be to announce that I was seeking sponsorship to raise money for the Rugby Club with the specific purpose of establishing a fund to go towards the cost of making a decent cycle-able entrance to the Club from the Cinder Track.
Now I fully appreciate that the Club may not wish to accept any funds that I raise in this way so I have decided that if they're unwilling to accept money for this purpose then I will instead devote 3/4 of any money I might be pledged to Sustrans with the remaining 1/4 going to the Mayor's chosen charities.
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