Did you know that there are over 400 places within a 50 km radius of Cheltenham that end in the letters ‘ton’? Well, now you do, and this summer as a club we’d like to try and visit as many of them as possible.
Why? Well, the suffix “-ton” typically signifies an old village with a church, a manor or at some old buildings: just the sort of features that make riding in the English countryside so rewarding. So hopefully this is a fun little challenge that will motivate us all to do something a bit different this summer, to visit places we haven’t been or just to mix up a regular training route.
Taking part is easy as 1-2-3: Plan your route, ride it and then upload your photos. We’ll take care of the rest.
1) Plan your route.
The route you choose is entirely up to you. You might want to see if you can achieve the mythical ‘ton of tons’, knocking off 100 in one ride. You might choose the classic ‘Toddington, Teddington, Taddington’ combo. Or perhaps the romance of names like Compton Wynyates or Preston Bagot rock your boat? The choice is yours.
Here are the resources you’ll need:
- Click on this link to the map with all the ‘tons’ on it.
- Click on this link to the list in spreadsheet form
2) Ride your route
This goes without saying. Ride on your own or with friends – the choice is yours.
The ride window will be open from 1st May to the 30th September.
3) Upload your photos
We don’t have the time (or the programming skills) to scan through hundred of GPX files for ‘proof’ of visit: make sure you get photographic evidence instead. Most camera phones have geolocation tagging enabled, and we will use this to validate members’ claims.
When you get home, save your photos onto the Club’s shared Google album here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/BQCWT3wV6JyPYrqB9.
It won’t hurt to upload your photos to Strava as well – after all, if it ain’t on Strava, it didn’t happen. But we will use the Google album to resolve all arguments.
Apart from that, there’s no rules. This is NOT a competition, although that won’t put off some of you from turning it into one. As a club we’d like to be able to use some of the photos to help publicise our activities and for use on our website, but we’ll only do this with your permission.
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