Midlothian cycling event for charity

On Saturday the 4th of June Lasswade High School Centre hosted the Bethany Sportive; a mass participation cycling event organised by Edinburgh based charity Bethany Christian Trust.

MVS Riders pictured left-right at Lasswade Centre Richie Bell, Martin Graham, Gary Baigrie, Kenny Valentine, Salim Muhammed, Adrian Hart, Jonas Anderson

Bethany Christian Trust work to prevent homelessness and improve the lives of homeless people across Scotland.

Their sportive is made up of three routes of varying difficulty, which take in some of the best scenery and toughest climbs Midlothian and The Scottish Borders has to offer.

The Bethany Sportive is the local sportive for Bonnyrigg based cycling club Midlothian Velo Sportif (MVS). With seven riders from MVS taking part they were keen to make an impact on the field of over 250 riders. Four of the seven riders chose to take on the 72 mile “Challenge Route”, whilst the remaining three opted for the longer 102 mile “Super Challenge Route”. All the MVS riders started together and set off from Lasswade High School Centre, heading South over the Moorfoot Hills to Innerleithen, where the two routes parted. The super challenge heads down through ettrick valley and back through Selkirk up to Clovenfords and along the back roads to Heriot, then over the Moorfoot hills again before finally finishing back at Lasswade High School Centre.

MVS rider Martin Grahams turn of speed and endurance secured him the 3rd fastest time of over one hundred riders on the Super Challenge route and more impressively competing on his mountain bike whilst Adrian Hart took an impressive 8th fastest overall. The MVS riders who rode the Challenge Route did extremely well too; all finishing within the top ten fastest times also in a field of over a hundred riders. All-in-all it was a great day for Midlothian Velo Sportif, with an impressive set of results.

Martin Grahame said of the event: “In fact the whole event was fantastic. The camaraderie between fellow riders made the atmosphere friendly and welcoming.

“The marshals and volunteers on the road and at feed stations were organised and friendly with big smiles on their faces. And despite a damp, foggy start to the day, by mid-afternoon the sun came out and warmed the backs of the riders on the road and lifted the spirits of those with tired legs.

“Best of all is that the all the money raised by entry fees from the riders who took part go to a fantastic and worthy charity who are doing great work to help alleviate homelessness and improve the lives of people living on the streets.”