Today I led a very different, but very special ride. I was asked if I could lead a ride for staff at the Foreign & Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) at Hanslope Park.
They are celebrating 80 years of Alan Turing, who first visited Hanslope Park, 80 years ago this month.
Turing was an avid cyclist and regularly cycled to Hanslope Park by bike, he also very famously worked at Bletchley Park. Today, we celebrated him by cycling from Hanslope Park to Bletchley Park and back.
Alan Turing should be more famous than he is! He is historically significant. He invented the first programmable computer at Bletchley Park as part of the efforts to crack the enigma code which massively contributed to ending WWII. He is considered the father of modern computing.
He was also prosecuted for homosexuality in 1952. He was eventually granted a posthumous pardon in 2013. Today, I wore my rainbow jersey in solidarity with Turing and others who were persecuted for being gay. š
We had a fantastic 28 mile ride in glorious sunshine, through the Ouse Valley down to Bletchley where we were greeted by the CEO of Bletchley Park (National Museum of Computing). After our refreshment break we headed back up to Hanslope via the Grand Union Canal. One of the riders recorded the ride by pro-cam so others can enjoy it virtually in spin classes.
A great ride for a great occasion.
Campbell Marina on way back