On the weekend of 15th and 16th October 2011, four intrepid souls from Williams Rochdale MINI took part in a not so MINI adventure.
Paul DiClemente, MINI Manager at Williams Rochdale with three of his MINI team organised a coast to coast cycle challenge in aid of WheelPower, a charity that supports Wheelchair Sport in Britain. The team of four set off from Morecombe, Lancashire mid-morning on Saturday 15th and pedalled through the night over the Pennines following the Way of the Roses cycle route arriving in Bridlington, Yorkshire around lunchtime on Sunday 16th October.
Originally the plan was that five Williams Rochdale MINI staff would be taking to two wheels, but unfortunately Gavin came off his bike on a steep decent during training breaking his collar bone. Rather than give up on the challenge Gavin cheered the team on from one of the MINI Countryman support cars as the rest of the team pedalled across the Pennines.
The team were supported with two MINI Countryman vehicles, one of which was driven by MINI rally driving legend, Paddy Hopkirk. Paddy is a WheelPower patron and is famous for his rally driving success in the MINI Cooper throughout the 1950s and 60s, winning the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964.
Paddy has given the Williams Rochdale team a lot of support and his weekend to help raise funds for WheelPower. As MINI fans themselves, the cycle team is still in shock to have had a legend such as Paddy Hopkirk help them on their 170 mile Coast to Coast Challenge. Thank you Paddy!
Finally the team from Williams Rochdale MINI would like to say a massive thank you to all of those who supported them and donated your hard earned cash to WheelPower. The team have raised an amazing £1,719.00 for WheelPower so far! But please, if you haven’t donated, you can still donate on the team’s Virgin money page by giving whatever you can for one big last push.