Former Hull Thursday rider and multiple national championship medalist Joel Wainman was recently diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease after being ill for some time.
The news sent shock waves through the local and national racing scene and in response, former teammate and good friend Jon Surtees set up a crowd funding campaign to help raise funds to ease Joel's time and help support him and his two young sons.
It was felt by many old and new HTRC members that the club would also like to help so a working group of current and former members was formed and a ride for Joel organized in the form of a sportive, The Big J!
Enter the event here - The Big J Sportive - The Entry Point
The Big J is inspired by Joel's love for the East Yorkshire countryside and the roads where he trained, and we hope you would appreciate the opportunity to ride in support of Joel.
The date is set for the 21st August 2022 so time enough to dust off your wheels and get training!
The distances you can choose are 30 km, 60 km, 100 km, or 150 km and the ride will be supported by a richly experienced group of Hull Thursday members, friends and supporters, with the usual level of ride support expected on professionally run sportives
Joel's riding career
Joel started his racing career like many others by going on Sunday club runs with the Hull Thursday Road Club when he was 16 on a Raleigh Sensor bought by his father from Cliff Pratt Cycles. Joel followed the traditional path of competing in club time trials and then open events and road races. Joel won the East Yorkshire Junior Divisional Road Race twice and then; following back issues after a crash, concentrated on time trials. He quickly became a leading rider locally and nationally with twenty wins in 2013 including four course records, 4th in the National British Best All Rounder (BBAR) competition and being part of the record breaking national ten mile team. In 2014 Joel was 3rd in the BBAR and was part of the winning team, 3rd in the National 12 hour TT and again was part of the team that broke the national ten mile team record. Joel went on to have many more successes and too many to list here but his list of personal best times speak for themselves; 10 Miles 18.41, 25 Miles 48.48, 50 Miles 1Hr 39 Mins and 30 Secs, 100 Miles 3Hrs 28 Mins 13 Secs, 12Hours 288 Miles.
Come and join us on the day, all are welcome.
Enter here - The Big J Sportive - The Entry Point
To contribute to the crowdfunding campaign click here - Crowdfunding to My good friend, Joel Wainman has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease. I hope to raise funds to help him during this terminal illness. on JustGiving
All images courtesy of Jim Sampson.