‘Bears On Bikes’ Raise £1,500 For Wildheart Animal Sanctuary Rescue

Isle of Wight visitors and residents alike may have been startled by the sight of two bears on Penny Farthings at the weekend.

The Wildheart Animal Sanctuary’s Big Bear Ride saw two intrepid cyclists, Neil Laughton and Rolf Woodward, from the London Penny Farthing Club, cycle across the Island on their bicycles – all while dressed as bears.

Such a challenge may sound intimidating for most, especially when considering the terrain on the Island, which included several steep climbs and descents, further complicated by the fact the penny farthing bikes have one gear and no brakes.

For these two this was not their first extreme adventure, especially Neil, who notoriously climbed Mount Everest with non-other than Island icon Bear Grylls.

The eye-catching event took place to raise awareness and essential funds for the rescue of two European Brown Bears, Benji and Balu, from Azerbaijan, who are in desperate need of a new home.

The pair (that's Neil and Rolf, not Benji and Balu) cycled over 20 miles and managed to raise more than £1,500 from public donations.

The Big Bear Ride set off from Albert Cottage at 9:30am.

Their first leg took them to Tesco Express in Wootton Bridge for a quick snack and drink.

Then the bears were back on the road for their next hilly leg through Havenstreet to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, where they received a warm Scottish welcome at the Island Highland Gathering and were given a tour of the platforms.

They then moved onto Quarr Abbey, where they enjoyed tea and cake while being greeted by customers at the Abbey Tearoom, and a chat with the Abbott before setting off to Ryde for a trip up and down the pier with a quick wave to the Wightlink Ferry as it left port.

The Big Kahuna Café in Ryde was next, with some of the more daring observers enjoying a supervised ride on the bikes.

The bears enjoyed a lovely flat ride along the Ryde esplanade to The Old Fort in Seaview, where they once again entertained the lunch punters.

One quick stop at the RNLI station in Bembridge was followed by a visit to Culver Parade in Sandown for the home straight down the seafront to the finish line at the Wildheart Animal Sanctuary.

The triumphant “bears on bikes” were cheered on to the finish by a crowd of Wildheart staff, volunteers and members of the public, and then serenaded by a ukulele band playing the ‘Bear Necessities’ as they completed their challenge at around 4.30pm.

Lawrence Bates, COO, from the Sanctuary had this to say about the event:

“It was great to see our Bears bringing loads of smiles to faces all along the Big Bear Ride route.

"This really helped bring the story of Benji and Balu to life and inspire more people to get involved.

"I think the whole team were humbled by the kind words and generous donations we received from start to finish – thank you to everyone who came out to see us.

"We would also like to thank our sponsors, Wightlink Ferries, Teemill and the Island Car Centre”.