I was in two minds about going today because of the weather. But then I started U2Uing a few people and before I knew it I had too many offers of sponsorship not to show up. I was doing it all on a flat rate, although I did originally try to entice people to sponsor me by suggesting that I would be cheaper to sponsor than some of the riders because I would do fewer laps.
I had a great evening. It was very wet and I took it very easy. Because getting to Brands took me 1hr 45 minutes, filtering on the M25 most of the way, I only just made it for signing on, followed by the briefing, which then meant I wasn't ready to go out with the first group because I had to take off mirrors, number plate, tape stuff up etc. although Electricsheep (Rob) and Flanks (Mark) helped with that. Thanks guys. So I got out with an instructor for a couple of laps at the end of the first session then did the whole of the second session. My Dunlop 208RRs were not providing any discernible grip and people were getting faster, overtaking me and hanging off their bikes. I completed that session very cautiously and then bought my way out of the rest of the evening by purchasing a further bunch of raffle tickets. Still didn't win any prizes but felt I'd done enough to collect my sponsorship money. People's generosity is overwhelming. I don't know who donated all the fantastic raffle prizes but they were superb and well worth putting your hand in your pocket for, as lots of people clearly did.
It was a superb DSC supported event. It's amazing how generous people in this club are. I've still got a few confirmations to come in but so far I've had cash from Rob (Electricsheep), Lisa (Kwikbitch), Eric (thered) and promises from Loz, Mark (Beancounter), Shaun (BDG) John (WJB), Bubbles (Van - splitting his sponsorship between me and Dibs), Keefer, Martin (urban 996) Lee, Marko, my daughter Jo and my boyfriend (who is a non biker and who didn't know what 'filtering for an hour and 45 minutes on the M25' meant). So far I've raised £160. How fantastic is that?
Well done Annette. You did Dave proud.
[Edited on 22-8-2005 by Redruth]