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Yorkshire MAMILS Gear Up for the Italian Job in Their Tour of Europe!

Yorkshire MAMILS Gear Up for the Italian Job in Their Tour of Europe!

Yorkshire MAMILS Gear Up for the Italian Job in Their Tour of Europe!

1 September 2011

 

Members of a charity cycle team organised by Barnsley based Dransfield Properties will be back in the saddle later this month – taking on the toughest challenge so far in their annual Tour of Europe.

The team will set off on Monday September 12th – meeting at last year’s finishing point in the Italian coastal town of Portofino. They will then cover the 340 punishing miles to Rome over just three and a half days.

The route will take the team along the Italian coast with a hard climb out of Portofino on the first day.

It’s the longest journey so far in the five years that the team have been riding together and will end with the challenge of cycling through Rome’s notoriously chaotic traffic to get to the centre of the Italian capital.

Nicknamed the MAMILS – Middle Aged Men in Lycra – the riders took their first journey from London to Paris in 2007, since then they’ve raised more than £180,000 for charity and covered a total of 1060 miles.

The charity cycle ride was founded by brothers Mark and Paul Dransfield. Mark is the Managing Director of South Yorkshire’s Dransfield Properties Ltd and Paul heads the construction firm PDR in Hull.

This year they’re also being supported by the Dransfield Properties staff who are planning to collectively cover the course on a static bike in the company’s headquarters at Tankersley, near Barnsley.

While the fundraising peloton is peddling its ways across Italy, staff will take it in turns to cover the same number of miles on a cycling machine and help to reach the £50,000 charity target.

The team is raising funds for:

·         The NSPCC – to support an initiative for the under-Ones

·         Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research – helping to fund research into the treatment of childhood leukaemia at Sheffield Children’s Hospital and Sheffield University

·         The Sheffield Children’s Hospital – to continue the refurbishment of the Ryegate Therapy Block. The cycle team transformed the centre earlier this year with a weekend makeover, now they’re hoping to contrinue that work by making much needed improvements to the hydrotherapy room.

Mark Dransfield, is recovering from a shoulder operation and has only been able to train for the challenge in the last five weeks, he’s gearing up for a tough challenge in this year’s ride.

He said: “Personally this will be the toughest year for me, I’ve spent the whole summer training hard so I can take part. We’re starting with a steep climb out of Portofino on the first day and we’ve decided to cover more miles this year so it’s going to be a long, hard route.

“I think we’re all pretty apprehensive about the traffic in Rome on the last day but we’re expecting to stand out this year as our cycling kit is going to be bright pink! I’m not quite sure who chose the colour, obviously someone with a sense of humour.”

Senior Fundraiser at The Children’s Hospital in Sheffield, Rebecca Staden said “The Children's Hospital Charity is so happy to be a chosen charity again for this year’s Dransfield bike ride; we really appreciate the ongoing support and time we receive from the Dransfield team.

“All the funds raised enable us to make a huge difference to the lives of the young patients in our care as well as their families. On behalf of the charity I would like to wish everyone taking part the best of luck.”

This year all funds raised will go to a fantastic new Arts for Health project at Ryegate. Cat Powell, Arts for Health Co-ordinator from the hospital who is managing the project which this year’s ride will help to fund, said: “Last year’s involvement by the Dransfield bike team made an amazing difference to the patients who use our Therapy Block at Ryegate.

“I am delighted that the team are back again to transform our hydrotherapy pool area and am confident this will be a huge improvement to the environment of this specialist facility.”

The team plan to cover a route every year and get back to London Bridge by 2020.

The team will be keeping in touch on facebook and twitter so please look out for TEAMDRANSFIELD on line. The Dransfield Properties webpage will also be regularly updated during the challenge.

To support the team visit the fundraising page 

Picture shows the team at the end of last year’s ride from Marseille in France to Portofino in Italy where this year’s challenge will start.

For further information or to arrange media interviews contact Amanda Holmes on 01226 350644 mobile 07747 621902 email amanda.holmes@dransfield.co.uk

Team stats and info:

This year there will be 15 cyclists taking part from Sheffield, Grimsby, Hull and Merseyside. The team’s ages range from just under 40 to a little over 60.

This is the fifth leg of the DPL and PDR Tour of Europe.

·         2007 – The team set off from London Bridge and covered the 200 miles from London to Paris.

·         2008 – Picking up at Paris the cycle team covered 285 miles to Lyon.

·         2009 – The 265 miles went from Lyon to Marseilles and included the notorious Mont Ventoux which regularly features in the Tour de France.  

·         2010 – The team picked up the route in Marseilles and headed for the Italian coastal town of Portofino where this year’s tour will start.

Meet the team: From Sheffield: Mark Dransfield, Paul Singleton, Peter Crossland, John White, Mark Yardley and Nick Rees. From Hull: Paul Dransfield, David Maughan, Alec Cammish, Michael Crooks. From Lincolnshire: Geoff Thomas, Will Downing, Tim Downing, and Dean Draper. From Merseyside: Andrew Malley.

For further information, contact:

Public Relations Department, Dransfield Properties Ltd
Tel: 01226 360644
Email: pr@dransfield.co.uk