Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.

In life it's all too easy to forget how lucky we are and how certain Charities are forgotten. I've know that the Hampshire Autistic Society is a Charity which depends on the generous help of the public, so I'm looking for your support in raising funds for them.

I need to raise 80% by the end of May 2010 so please help me to reach this target in time.

The role of the Hampshire Autistic Society is to help both the people with this disability, and the families & helpers to cope and provide the care, help and assistance as and where it is required.

For further information on how your money will be used and help, please go to www.has.org.uk

My Training Blog

18/08/09

Started training with a 20 mile cycle ride. The first 10.5 miles went like a dream, then I came off my bike and spent 4 hours at the QA hospital getting cleaned, X-rayed and stitched up.

So glad that Kerry, one of the fund raising team from the Hampshire Autistic Society, took the photo before I started my training (hence the photo caption). Not the best start to my training, but I hope with your help, my fund raising will do a lot better. 

The bike is in for a check up and yes I was wearing a cycling helmet. I hope to get the bike back within the week and get back in training soon.

21 March 2010

Just waiting for the good weather so that I can get back in the saddle and train again.

So far the amount raised has reached over £600, thanks to family & friends as well as The North Camp Methodist Church who raised £132 during a coffee morning last Feb.

If you wish to donate and help me reach my target you can either do via this site or by sending a donation annotated/marked in support of Chris Furner London to Paris  Bike ride. Please send it to;

Hamshire Autistic Society,

1634 Solent Business Park,

Whiteley,

Fareham,

Hants,

PO15 7AH.

Onec again many thanks for your kind support and help.

Chris

2/4/10

Thanks to family and friends for the £235 as this has pushed my total collected both on this site and at the Hamshire Autistic Society to a new total of £849.

At last the good weather seems to be just around the corner so I will be out cycling soon.

Onec again thanks to all those who have helped me raise money.

9/4/10

Well thats a further £13.83 raised from collection tins, so a big thank you to all those kind people who donated loose change.

1/7/10

9/8/10

Well life can be strange sometimes as I found last month when I applied for and got a job and started on the 1 August out here in Greece, all in the space of 3 weeks. So I’ve had to hire a bike for 90euros until the 5 September when I fly back to take part in the bike ride London to Paris. The weather is very hot and I need to drink plenty, the hills are not easily and the bike has strange handle grip shift gears which I hate with a passion plus the bike will only go into top gear when it wants to and not when I want, so you can see it’s very hard cycling especially when the bike changes into top usually when I’ve given up on it and I’m not expecting anything. All good fun honest..............

  6 September 2010

Well today has arrived and I’m on my way home to try and do this ride.

7 September 2010

Tube are on strike so I’ve had a fun day. Collected my bike from the bike shop all serviced ready for tomorrow then travelled by rail to Crystal Palace. Met Richie the bike mechanic for the London 2 Paris trip really nice guy and so very helpful, if the rest of the staff are like him this will a very well supported event. Admitted to Richie that I having doubts about my fitness level and he has reassured me that based on what I done I’ll be here at the end, although what condition he’s not saying.

8 September 2010

What a day, woke at 5:30 ish and went for breakfast which just made me feel sick, must have been nerves. Well we left about 7am and quickly got into my pace for the ride. I had very polite young lass asked me if she could use me as her pace maker as she found my pace steady and just right for her. Vanessa and I then rode along just chatting while maintaining a speed of 10 – 12 mph, which was ok until we missed a pink arrow and added a good mile to the trip. It was at this point that Ian joined us on his bright yellow racing bike and we became the 3 amigos.

Later on we came across one of Ian’s mate and Ian stopped to help him, we met up again at Dover some 25/30 miles later but I think this was down to a miss turning again (note to self must cut back on the chatting)

At the last water hole in a place I can’t remember I used the local scout hut toilets and had the good fortune to have a back massage on my right shoulder where the muscle had knotted by the lady tidying up the hut. Well Vanessa & I made it to Dover just before 5 so we had to go over on the second ferry which meant it was gone 11pm when I fell into my bed. My roommate was Muhayman Jamil a very nice & quiet person, who ensured that I was up for the early start in the morning.

9 September 2010

All 132 riders set of about 7ish and Vanessa & I were soon told off by the local police because we were riding side by side never mind. The country side was very hilly and everyone soon spread out and I found myself on my own. Every so often one or more riders would come by and give me loads of encouragement and on some of those hills I felt every bit of my 52 years. When I arrived at the 1 stopped Richie changed my tires to the type for road use and although I was amongst the last to leave the water hole, I started to enjoy the peace and quiet and found the cycling a lot easier. Lots of encouragement along the way from Team Nathan, James, Andy and James and plenty of others which is what this is all about. You see someone in trouble and offer help because you might need it yourself although I not going to tempt fate by mention the p word or lack of it happening. Great lunch by some large ponds then back on the bike for more chafing   of my rear end and sore knees. The second day over I had a couple of well earned beers.

10 September 2010

3 day and what a killer that was. The first leg went like a dream for me so when Ian, Vanessa & not long after we all set off after the water stop I got left behind. I was surprised by how much I struggled. The wind was in your face all the time so you felt you were going nowhere, and the country side was very barren. I hit the mental wall twice on that leg  and it was thinking about why I was doing this that helped me carry on, doing this in memory of Denise my wife, all those people who sponsored me and all those who will benefit from the money raise by the kind generous sponsors, so thank you. I was really glad to make it to the lunch stop where I teamed up with Vanessa again except this time we took it slowly as we both hurting. I think we both glad to see the hotel after that day. The one funny thing for us both that day was Vanessa exchanging moo’s with a cow and me having crowing match with a cockerel in a French village, I don’t know what the French people thought of us but you have to do crazy things now and then.