Story
<p>During my first trip to Newcastle before we moved, I was suprised to see so many people out and about and being active; there were cyclists and runners everywhere. Then I figured: it's April and the weather is amazing, surely it's not like this during the dreary English winters everyone has told me I should be dreading. So when I came back in November I was a bit surprised to still see lots of people biking and running. I was very excited to live in a place where there were so many other cyclists and I wouldn't get so many strange looks when I tell people that I like to spend my weekends riding for miles and miles. I was so excited I even brought two bikes with me. Then we moved in December and were staying out in the countryside until our house was ready. The weather was pretty much what I had been told to expect: cold, wet and windy. Really windy. Even by British standards, really windy. So imagine my surprise when, while driving in cricles trying to find the nearest town with a grocery store, we saw loads of people cycling through the countryside. My first thought was: "Wow, I can't wait to get on my bike." Well maybe that's not entirely true, it was probably more like: "Wow, those people are nuts", then "I can't wait to get on my bike." I guess that makes me nuts too.</p>
<p>So people here don't just like to ride in foul weather, they ride all the time. In the States I'm pretty sure I was the only person at Sage to ever use the lone bike rack and it always generated strange looks and comments like "Why are you wearing spandex lederhosen?" Here, even in winter, the multiple large bike racks fill up. They also like to do rides of a much grander scale for charities. In the States I had done a number of charity rides, they generally consist of a Metric Century (62 miles) or Century (100 miles) at the most. After being here less than a month, I'd already signed up for two charity rides well beyond the scope of anything I've ever done.</p>
<p>The first is in mid-May. It is a ride from the west coast to the east coast (of England). A two day trip totaling 140 miles. It should be a great way to see the countryside, which will hopefully distract me from what I'm sure will be a good deal of pain. That, however, is just the warmup. In June I will be riding from Purley (just outside of London) to Paris (yes, the one in France); 275 miles in three days.</p>
<p>Many of you might ask: "Why would you do such a thing?" Well, there are plenty of reasons, but only one that will probably make sense to most people. It is a chance to raise money for a great cause. All donations are going to Cancer Research UK which is one of the largest cancer fighting charities in the world. Plus, I really like riding my bike. At least I think I do, we'll see how much I like it when we roll into Paris. So please donate to this outstanding cause and help support me in these events.</p>
<p>For those of you in the US, all donations are in Pounds Sterling (£ GBP) so you might want to use a currency converter before you donate, there is a useful one here: <a href="http://www.xe.com/ucc/">http://www.xe.com/ucc/</a>. Also, most credit cards charge a foreign transaction fee of 3% or more; for this reason, you may want to use PayPal instead of a credit card (although PayPal's exchange rates do seem to be a bit higher).</p>
<p>Now, on to the boilerplate:</p>
<p>Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>So please dig deep and donate now.</p>