Ride for Judy
Sunday 7th July 2002 to Saturday 13th July 2002
Funds raised: £70,000
Number of riders: 156
The 2002 Ride was dedicated to Judy Dyer and husband Fred decided to raise money for Cancer Research, in her memory. He raised over £8000, by far the record to date. At the annual Charities Evening the following March Fred was presented with the new Paul Fisher Scroll of Honour award, which was to be presented each year to the top fund raiser.
Fred's unparalleled accomplishment apart, perhaps the most touching story of The Ride concerned George and Ernie. George 'Wurzle' Spratt had cycled the ride on a number of occasions in the past, as had Ernie. With George's sight failing, Ernie agreed to ride with him on a tandem. Apart from getting used to the bike, they had to deal with the fact that, while George's sight was not very good, the sighted Ernie could not really follow route notes! They were spotted at the bottom of a hill just outside Rouen, having a heated argument about which way they should go, with one pulling the bike one way and one the other. Ernie won but George turned out to be right!
This was also the year when we shared our Rouen hotel and evening with the Tour de France: they had decided to gatecrash our party and stay in town on the same evening!