Mayors Prepare for Bike Ride to Montesson

Thame Mayor, Cllr Andy Gilbert, and former Mayor, Cllr Adrian Dite will be donning the lycra on Wednesday 11 September for their charity cycle ride to Montesson, Thame’s twin town in France.

The Mayor’s Just Giving page has already raised over £500 for his two charities – Sharing Life Trust and Lord Williams’s School Young Carers. 

BBC Radio Oxford’s Tim Smith, will interview the current and former Mayors on Wednesday morning before they set-off from Gail’s Bakery, along with around a dozen Thame cyclists. 

The group will depart from Gail’s Bakery at 8.00am on Wednesday 11 September. They are expected to arrive in Montesson on Friday 13 September ahead of a “twinning weekend”. Along the way, they plan to lay a wreath at Pegasus Bridge to mark the key contribution by Oxfordshire’s troops on D-Day.

Twinning arrangements between UK and French towns began after World War II. The desire for reconciliation forging bonds between local authorities. Montesson and Thame have been twinned since 2001.
 
Montesson is a city of Yvelines, in the region of Ile-de-France, about nine miles north-west of Paris. The city has around 15,000 residents, slightly more than its Thame twin.

Over the years, Thame has welcomed guests from Montesson including families, cultural and sports associations, and student exchanges.