Uphill challenge awaits Brooke’s mates on IJF and ROR fund-raiser

More than 500 miles and 32,000 feet of hill-climbing awaits a doughty group of cyclists who aim to raise money in memory of Lorna Brooke for the Injured Jockeys’ Fund and Retraining of Racehorses.

They are all mates of amateur rider Brooke, who died earlier this year following a fall in a race at Taunton. A bicycle ride is an apt fund-raiser, for in 2011 Brooke and fellow amateur rider Jane Williams cycled from John O’Groats to Land’s End to raise money for injured colleague Isabel Tompsett, and the bike Brooke used on that journey is back in action for the upcoming fund-raiser, which gets underway this weekend.

Lorna Brooke (left) and Jane Williams during their fund-raising cycle ride in 2011

Brooke had little or no training for the ride, and nor will the group who set off on Saturday to tackle 516 miles along the Scottish coastline – they are former amateur rider Tabitha Worsley, who is now a conditional jockey, Rachel Bradbury who will ride Brooke’s bicycle, Kate James, who next season hopes to make her debut in point-to-points on a horse found for her by Brooke, and Meg Thomas who went to school with Brooke.

The group are all based in the West Midlands and Welsh Borders, and will be travelling to Scotland on Friday with their bikes in a two-horse box.

Worsley, who is recovering from an arm injury she sustained recently in a fall at Uttoxeter, says: “Lorna did little or no training for her bike ride, but she winged it, and that’s how we are viewing this challenge. I’ve not been on my push bike since July 1 because of my injury, but I’ve been working out on a static bike at Oaksey House while recovering.

“A group of us wanted to do something challenging in memory of Lorna and to raise money for charity, and the idea of a bike ride came up. We chose Scotland as the destination as a lot of Lorna’s family live there, and they have helped us with accommodation on the route. We’re hoping to complete it in six or seven days. Lorna would have jumped in head first – she was that sort of person.

“We know it is going to be painful at times, but Lorna will be pushing us all the way. It would have been her [38^th] birthday on Sunday, so we’ll be stopping to remember her and perhaps raise a toast to her memory.”

Tabitha Worsley – ‘We know it is going to be painful at times’

A Facebook page, ‘Ride for Lorna Brooke’, has been set up to provide updates of the cyclists’ progress, and donations to the fund-raising can be made here: https://www.justgiving.com/team/LornaBrooke

Worsley says: “When the idea of a bike ride came up I was advised to get a road bike, so I bought one on eBay – it’s probably going back on eBay after this.”