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The Challenge This year the Nexus RAG week is focussing on a single challenge: to get the whole school involved in cycling to Amsterdam and back. The aim is to travel 1km for every past student who has graduated from the school over the past 14 years. This total comes to 771 students and we have a team of about 60 cyclists who will be attempting the journey which equates to about 500 miles. We will cycle 150 miles from Coventry to Harwich, catch the ferry across to the Hook of Holland and then cycle a 200 mile loop in Holland taking in Amsterdam and Rotterdam before returning to the Hook to catch the ferry back to Harwich and cycling back to Coventry. We will depart Coventry on Saturday 19 May and return on Saturday 26 May. We are praying for fair weather. Cycling in the wind and rain isn’t pleasant but a rough crossing would be even worse and that trip is 8 hours each way! Cyclists Support We have an amazing support team who have been working tirelessly organising the route, sorting out spares and bike maintenance, obtaining corporate sponsorship for some of the equipment we need, contacting churches and past students who may be able to help provide accommodation on the way. Most if not every night will be spent sleeping in sleeping bags on roll mats which will add to the physical challenge of the week. There will be a mobile support team looking after us on the road as well as a base team in Coventry who will continue fund raising as well as making sure all the technology works for us so that you can track our progress and receive updates throughout the week. Training Training has been building over the last few months. Time has always been an issue as it has had to fit in around normal life so many of my rides have been early in the morning before work. The students had a week of intense training in teams during the week of good weather during March whilst the staff had to stop training and prepare for the Staff Concert. Over Easter training was resumed but by then we were into the higher mileage training rides. I remember the days when 20 miles seemed like a challenge. Last weekend I did my first major ride of 73miles. This is roughly the kind of distance we will be aiming for each day depending on where our accommodation is located. The rest of the training rides will be in the 40 – 50 miles region with one last major team ride next weekend. Sponsorship This is looking to be a great event. We will be cycling in teams of up to 10 cyclists with staggered starts to avoid traffic congestion. It will be a great opportunity to get to know this year’s students and continue building into lives in a way that cannot be achieved by normal curricular activities as well as raise valuable funds for the growth and development of Nexus. Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. If you have got this far then you are considering sponsoring me. You can sponsor me a fixed amount by clicking “donate” immediately. Alternatively, if you would prefer to sponsor me per mile or per kilometre, then drop me a line to <a href="mailto:peter.merrylees@nexustrust.co.uk">peter.merrylees@nexustrust.co.uk</a> and I’ll make an off line record of your sponsorship. When I get back I’ll e-mail you to let you know how far I actually cycled. You will then be able to come back and make your donation through the Just Giving page or send me a cheque in the post. 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 Nexus and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. It’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for Nexus. So please dig deep and donate now.

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