Buffalo’s spotted in Girona!



We are days away from our big night: Our first (hopefully of many) Girona Gala dinners! That means we are of course, running around like crazy, learning all the things about planning events we didn’t think about beforehand. And of course, collecting amazing auction and raffle prizes.

Our venue has been absolutely fantastic, super supportive and flexible with all our somewhat odd requests. Like bottomless Patatas Bravas at midnight. It’s hidden within the cobbled backstreets of Girona’s old town, doesn’t look like much from the outside, but the Restaurant Els Jardins de la Merce has delivered us a menu of classic catalan cuisine, local music and the best of local wine. Maybe we need some help learning to dance the rumba, but you get the idea.

Whilst writing this, just want to shout out to a few friends that have helped us, Of course all our sponsors, Dimension Data, Ceramic Speed, Enve, Speedplay, Fizik, Nederburg, Deloitte, and EVERYONE who has sent us jerseys and other prizes ( I mean, seriously, we have all the jerseys) but also Bike Breaks Girona, who have graciously taken delivery of all of our stuff, and Ashley House from Eurosport emcee-ing the night, and the countless volunteers and helpers (Kelly, Loren, Carlee, Molly, the battle is on to sell the most raffle tickets.)

As much as I can write this and take all the credit, Matt has been nailing down details as well, like arranging our special guest and teammate Adrien Niyonshuti to come attend the night.

So of course, the idea of the night is firstly, for everybody to have a blast. But secondly, and most importantly, to raise as much money as we can for the brilliant cause that is Qhubeka.

Donated by our incredible sponsors and riders we have an immense list of auction items, and an ever growing raffle prize draw, where at this point, it seems prizes outnumber seats on the night!

Our host Ashley (see above) has promised a kick ass auction, and our raffle pile is INSANE! everything on the night will run smoothly, or so we hope, but we wanted to just run you all through some of the items we have, so we can all get excited before the night and warm those wallets up for a super competitive auction!

Auction and raffle list:

Mark Cavendish 2016 jersey with World Champion stripes, signed and framed Geraint Thomas Speed Suit, with race numbers from Eneco Tour, signed and framed Karl Kopinski, Steve Cummings painting Michael Matthews signed jersey Robert Gesink jersey, signed and framed 2016 Tour of Britain team for Di-data signed jersey, including Winner Steve Cummings and Cav 3D printed Titanium ceramic Speed Jockey Wheels, RRP 899 euro Ryder Hesjedal Giro D’Italia winners jersey, 2012, signed and framed Dan Martin, Signed Speed Suit, Framed Australian World Championship jersey signed by elite mens team, framed Enve, bars, stem and seat post Nederburg, Auction list Cabernet sauvignon 2011, limited edition Edvald Boasson Hagen Norwegian National Championship jersey, signed and framed Speed Play, Titanium Axle pedals and various other soft goods High 5 nutrition products Defeet Dimension Data team socks Fizik saddles (plural) POC Sunglasses (plural) buffalo bike, qhubeka edition A day riding with Loren Rowney and Carlee Taylor!

Just a quick note: we understand for a few people they cant make it on the night, if there is something you have your eye on, email info@thepelotonbrief.com and we can arrange a proxy bidder for you on the night. Please note: giant sunglasses, a large hat and a Sotheby’s style phone call will be involved.

What Matt and I have been blown away by is, this being the first time we’ve run an event like this is how everybody we’ve approached have been overwhelming generous, and how so many people have come to us offering support. It’s been heartwarming and we are really proud to be putting on such a community oriented night, for Qhubeka, but with the help of so, so many. We are really excited for Saturday and I hope that everybody who makes it on the night, helps us really make it a night!

Look out for the reports next week!