Hello there!

First and foremost a HUMONGOUS THANK YOU for coming and riding the 2nd ever Nelson’s Tour de Test Valley. We had over 920 registered riders which is incredible, ourselves and CALM are incredibly grateful for your support and effort! You made it another truly memorable day and provided such a friendly, special atmosphere. Heroes the lot of you!

Nelson would have had a beaming smile seeing you all cycle his favourite lanes in the Test Valley, and tucking in with gusto at the feed stations! It means a huge amount to the Pratt family that Nelson leaves behind such a positive legacy, born from such sad circumstances. The 100 mile Full Monty was Nelson’s first ever sportive and century ride, he rode it with me and I’ll never forget it. It’s truly inspirational to see you guys cycling in his honour.

It looks like the event is going to raise towards £40,000 pounds this year, an amazing total and means that combined with last years total the event has raised roughly £100,000 already. Info below on where this money goes and how it helps CALM tackle male suicide, and crucially raise awareness of the issue.

The years event would not have been possible without the generous support of our event partners. We would therefore like to say a massive thanks to VANS Footwear, Madison, Knight Frank, New Voice Media, Bold Rocket, The Snowboard Asylum, Rocket Fuel, MuleBar, Andy Cook Cycling, Gary Harris cycle mechanic, Sam from Results Base, Sportive Photo, British Cycling and Halo Sports Clothing.

The events crack team of caterers also deserve a huge high five, for us they make our event really special – So Bowtells Farm Shop for the hearty meals, Boston Tea Party for the posh coffee, Pimhill Farm for the muesli, Bowman’s Ales for the beer and Mr Whiteheads cider for the loopy juice! AND Nelson’s mum who baked 1000 brownies, starting in January!!

Without our tireless volunteers on the day we wouldn’t have a hope of pulling this event off. From the registration staff, to the feed station crews, the army guys for running the bar, Rod & Stefan on the farm, to all the people who helped bake food and hand out goodie bags (CALM founder Jane Powell did a 5 hour shift at this!), to my mum who made coffee for 3hrs – THANK YOU!

Our event ambassadors Olympic medalist Jenny Jones, and Commonwealth Gold medalist Alex Dowsett also deserve a huge thanks for their kind support.

We’s like to say a sincere apology to anyone that got caught up in the sign sabotage on the 50 mile Spag Bol route. Some barking lunatic decided it would be a great idea to take a load of signs down in a 10 mile area round Hatherden Village. A truly sad individual. We’ll make sure this doesn’t happen next year. (The Army suggested parking a tank in the village!)

We’re also really sorry for the amount of punctures that occurred on the day, the area had crazy thunderstorms on Thursday and Friday causing all the flint and gunk to be washed into the roads. We hope it didn’t spoil your ride too much! Continental 4 Seasons tyres definitely the way forward – bulletproof rubber!

SO WE HAVE AN….

******** IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!! **********

We are really pleased to announce the confirmed date for the 2015 Nelson’s Tour de Test Valley is:

SATURDAY 19TH SEPTEMBER.

We hope you’ll join us again, please put this date in your dairy now. We will be limiting online entries to 800 riders next year, places will go fast again. We will send out online entry details soon.

For now kick back and bask in the glory of your ride times and event photos.

Ride times from RESULTS BASE:
https://www.resultsbase.net/Results/IndividualResults.aspx?Id=2132

Photos from SPORTIVE PHOTO:
https://sportivephoto.thirdlight.com/home.tlx?eventid=20543

CALM news piece:
https://www.thecalmzone.net

HOW DOES YOUR MONEY HELP CALM?

CALM isn’t funded by the Government so every penny received is crucial to keep their helpline and website going. The helpline has recently been extended to 7 days a week, made possible purely by public donations like yours.

– £2000 runs the website for a month. (20,000 visits p/m)
– £4500 runs helpline for a week. (approx 400 calls a week)
– £15,000 funds the magazine for year. (circulation of 28,000 copies)
– £20,000 runs the helpline for a month. (supports 3000 callers average)
– £26,000 funds website for a year. (reaches approx 240,000 visitors across UK)
– £60,000 keeps one line staffed for a year. (Each line takes 8000+ calls a year)

If you weren’t able to raise money or give on the day, here’s CALM’s donation page:
https://www.thecalmzone.net/get-involved/donate/

THANK YOU AGAIN FROM CALM, you are really making a difference in tackling male suicide – the biggest single killer of young men in the UK.

—————-

THAT’S IT FOR NOW – SORRY FOR THE LONG RAMBLE!

If you have any feedback on the day (feel free to have a rant!!) please email us at info@nelsonstourdetestvalley.co.uk

Have a brilliant end to the year, hope you squeeze in a few more fun rides – we can’t wait to welcome you back next year. Keep a little eye on the website for news updates and info on 2015. (SAT 19TH SEPT)

Chapeau chapeau, bon chance!!!

Marcus, the Pratt Family, CALM & NTdTV Team.

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