Assembly 2 Assembly - London to Bristol in 10 hours

Last Friday 12th September, six members of the Assembly teams left Assembly London for the 224kms cycle to Assembly Bristol. It was a day not without its challenges; the first one being a delay to the riders’ departure from Assembly London when the support van developed a mechanical fault.

Leaving the vehicle to wait for the RAC, the group headed out at 7:40am into busy traffic caused by London’s tube strikes. In Hampton, the peloton lost each other and thus headed in two groups to the first stop in Ascot. After regrouping in Ascot, there was still no update on the support van so the group forged onwards, making good progress through the Berkshire countryside, aiming for Hungerford.

At Greenham Common, Phil ‘Mighty’ Morton suffered a ripped tyre so the riders headed to Banjo Cycles for a replacement. Banjo not only provided a new tyre but also superb coffees all round.

Now well behind schedule, the group headed down to Hungerford, where they were reunited with the van and had time for a quick lunch. Still running well behind time, the next challenge was a monster headwind as the riders headed up and over Pewsey Hill, past the Pewsey White Horse. Amazingly, the group had avoided the September showers all day!

There was some chat about their good friend, Will Monk, a member of the inaugural Assembly 2 Assembly, who passed away in 2021.

After being up split again, the peloton regrouped at Bath’s Two Tunnels Greenway, one of the West Country’s unique cycling and walking experiences.

With the return train time to London adding additional pressure, the group hit the Bath to Bristol cycle path for the final push. Missing the 7.30pm train didn’t matter, however, as the group received an amazing welcome at Assembly Bristol when they arrived at 8pm, with a warm cycle store, hot showers and fresh towels, and some very welcome food provided by the Lexington Café in Building A.

It was an amazing day’s riding for a superb cause - the Sam Polledri Foundation - which will be used to purchase a new publicly accessible defibrillator at Assembly, and which we are sure Will Monk would have fully supported.

Congratulations and thanks to the efforts of the riders who braved such a long day: Iain Painting and Jenni Montgomery, Stantec; Matt Heaman, Hoare Lea; Phil Morton, Morton Associates; Simon Potts, Martin Grant Homes; and Patrick Davis, Bell Hammer.

Huge thanks to all those that make the day another great success. The group are over halfway to their fundraising target - any money you can donate here will make a huge difference!