This week sees the start of the 2024 Six Nations Rugby Championship. One of the anchors for me in the sporting calendar, taking me back to the early 1970’s when I made my first trip to Twickenham as a pimply youth to watch England play Ian Kirkpatrick’s All Blacks. My father and I made the trip from Fleetwood there and back in a day. We stood because you could. I couldn’t see a thing, but I was hooked, and I have been privileged to see many games over the years which mattered to me as rugby and being a part of that community has always felt special.
My faith in that community has been repaid and highlighted in the last few weeks as Tom (a friend from my triathlon board days) reached out to me asking for some help for a ‘little’ cycle ride he’s involved in.
The Doddie Weir Foundation is doing great work in memory of the big man, funding research to find a cure for motor neuron disease and raising awareness of a disease that has affected other rugby players like Ed Slater, Paul Rendall and of course Rob Burrow in rugby league. On 28th February a caravan of 16 cyclists (including Tom), a team of 14 support (media, ops) and 6 minibuses will leave Murrayfield and head towards Dublin as the first leg of Dodd1e’5 Gr4nd S7am (doddiesgrandslam.com). The cyclists will ride in four pods of four, one hour on, 3 hours off and cycle through Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, England, and France to arrive in Rome 9 days later with the match ball for the Italy v Scotland game on March 9th. Mad if you ask me – but also hugely inspiring – my mind is willing, but the legs have had a word.
So the call from Tom comes in. “Ian we have a problem, can you help?” On March 2nd, the plan was to leave Twickenham and travel to Sussex via Sevenoaks RFC to arrive in Newhaven for the evening ferry to Dieppe (and some well-earned rest). But the night ferry has been cancelled and the team needed a bed for the night. Who did I know? What could I do?
A quick call to Gary Henderson Chair of Sussex RFU – the home of rugby in Sussex – got me the email addresses of the Chairs of Seaford RUFC and Lewes RUFC and both responded within 24 hours – ‘how can we help?’ Brilliant! This for me is arguably a better definition of ‘success’ than cups or medals – although of course they too have merit but they are denied to the many (me included) but to come together to make a difference through the sporting community is available to us all.
The plan as it stands is that the cyclists and entourage will arrive at Lewes rugby club on the 2nd March, they will have a shower and a massage – for those that need it – and their kit (washed at Sevenoaks RFC) will be hung up to dry. At about 11pm they will bed down for the night on the clubhouse floor (on mats provided by a local yoga studio) and at 5:30am on the Sunday they will ride off to Newhaven to board the morning ferry before heading off to Paris.
But the power of sport and a good network still has more to offer. The President of Crawley Wheelers Ride and Race with Crawley Wheelers Cycling Club, Sussex is another friend from my journeyman triathlon days and they are offering to advise on the route and chaperone (race?) the team across the county. And another Sussex friend of Scottish descent has offered to organise a fund-raising event and reception for the cyclists at Lewes. So, as we say goodbye to January here’s a feelgood factor story to restore your faith in humankind.
Donations are of course welcome and you can follow the riders here The Doddie Brick Road — Dodd1e’5 Gr4nd S7am (doddiesgrandslam.com)
Take and give care.
Ian