Cycling challenge looks to raise £20k for UK drinks charity

Riders including db‘s Patrick Schmitt MW have started a 350km weekend charity cycle ride through rolling English wine country – and the participants are looking for your support.

With the aim to raise £20,000 for The Drinks Trust, the cyclists are in a fundraising push now as they seek to hit their target, riding from Friday 29 to Sunday 1 October.

Including almost 3,500 metres of climbing across the counties of Surrey, Sussex and Kent, the challenge will take in major ascents such as Pitch, Whitedown and Box Hills, along with Crockham and Ide (see route, pictured bottom).

As they rack up the kilometres, the cyclists will visit many of the UK’s most famous English wine producers, including Balfour, Bolney, Chapel Down, Gusborne and Squerryes.

Dubbed The Harvest Tour, the ride will give the cyclists a taste of English wine country as producers gear up to pick this year’s vintage.

The challenge is also being conducted to celebrate the life of Philip Tuck MW, Hatch Mansfield wine director and a founder of The Harvest Tour, who, in July, tragically died in a cycling accident in France.

Conceived by The Drinks Trust and The Wine Trade Sports Club Foundation, the charity fundraising challenge is being run in association with VinLog Powered by Kuehne+Nagel – a logistics service that was established to cater for the specific needs of the wine and spirits industry.

To find out more about The Harvest Tour, and to donate, please click here.

The Harvest Tour is being conducted to support the work of The Drinks Trust through its new Cost of Living Crisis Appeal, which aims to raise £230,000 for up to 1,000 members of the industry facing hardship.