£1,000 raised for Sustainable Dorset at Charity Bike Race Night

For the second year running Blanchards Bailey, in partnership with Rollapaluza cycling events, ran a static cycle race night which raised over £1,000 for their charity of the year, Sustainable Dorset.

The event, held at Bryanston School in Blandford, saw men and women go head-to-head in intense 250 metre timed races in an attempt to record the quickest times on the night, while there was also a competition for the fastest team table.

The fastest team table went to the quartet of Sam Axon, Steve Edwards, Chris Kelly and our own Paul Dunlop, with Estate Agents, Vivien Horder and Humberts also thrashing it out on the bikes with Vivien Horder narrowly taking the win.

Individuals competed against each other for the fastest time. That honour went to James Horton with a time of 11.09 seconds, who also proved the fastest entrant last year, although he was unable to better his time of 10.41 twelve months prior.

In the women’s competition it was our own keen cyclist and Associate Solicitor, Emma Needham, who topped the timesheets, posting a time of 12.96 seconds, shaving 0.04 off her second-placed time from last year.

Despite their superfast times, neither James or Emma were crowned the evening's champions, with James Homer winning the men’s race-off and last year’s lady’s champ, Julia Hamlyn, finding Sophie Lawrence (Blanchards Bailey Legal Assistant) too strong in the grand finale. Congratulations to all those who took part, and especially so to our duo of Emma and Sophie for their fantastic performances.

It also needs mentioning that the night wouldn’t have been so successful without the support of all of our local business sponsors who contributed prizes, auction items and more. Just to name a few, a special thanks to:

Land and Wave, Museum Wines, Horrocks and Webb, Forum Café Blandford, HunnyBuns, BeeWrap UK, Elephant Box, Olives et Al, and Keyneston Mill Dorset, Milsted Langdon, Aztec Commercial Interiors and Aerial Motor Co.

Paul Dunlop, Principal at Blanchards Bailey and himself a keen cyclist, at least in the summer months, said:

“We had a blast running this event last year and it was just as fun this year. I wasn’t quite able to beat my time, so back to the drawing board there. I think next year I’ll have to wear some lycra! All jokes aside though, it’s great to see so many people joining in, whether they were seasoned pros, casual cyclists like me or non-cyclists who simply wanted to record a time, especially as the charity we are supporting this year is Sustainable Dorset. Getting on your bike and leaving the car in the garage if you can really does make a difference, so using this event to fundraise for such a good cause was certainly appropriate.”

Many thanks to all those who supported the event and made it such a success.