Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Many of you have been very generous in supporting me in the past when I have undertaken challenges for charity and in particular for Sports Leaders UK.  The London Marathon 2007 and the exploits running as a blue smartie have remained memorable for me too.  There is however no transfer whatsoever between running a marathon and cycling even half a marathon and joining the Extra Mile Challenge 2009 has been my most difficult challenge yet.  My experience of cycling prior to this event was that I had fallen off a racing bike some 15 years ago – I would love to say this is an exaggeration but it isn’t.

So why did I sign up? The Extra Mile Charity is based in , Sports Leaders UK’s home city which every year supports an international, a based and a local charity as well as the nominated charities of some 40 plus teams that enter the event. The impact of the event is enormous supporting a wide number of different charitable causes and making people’s lives better.  In 2008, Sports Leaders UK were made the beneficiaries of our solicitor’s team “Heald” Wheelers.  Our solicitor had for a couple of years asked why Sports Leaders had not put in their own team but a trawl of the MK-based staff team did not reveal a team of four 500-miler cyclists – I now understand why!  Then in June this year Nick called to say that Healds Solicitors were one female rider short this year – the rest as they say is history and Sports Leaders UK is again benefiting as a nominated charity.  Having signed up Carolyn Cant our QA Manager as my training partner and substitute should I be incapable of reaching the start line, I started to learn how to cycle.  Carolyn has maintained an almost unhealthy enthusiasm for my training – and now she is substituting for another team so we are both on the starting blocks and she is also riding for Sports Leaders UK.

The reason I was happy to be lured into the event however is because of the tremendous enthusiasm and commitment of the business community in MK who have made this event such a success.  The Extra Mile Charity has been built from the support of businesses and commerce across MK and the region committed to supporting others and is an inspiration.

The journey to becoming a cyclist has been more painful than I anticipated.  There have been moments of real desolation as I mangled the gears once again to come to a halt and always at the bottom of a hill.  I was persuaded to change from the security of my ‘fat wheels’ for the most improbably thin racing bike wheels and the mountain bike remains in the shed! I can’t yet use the ‘drop down’ handle position – the clue why is in the title of the handle bars.  Signalling, slowing down and staying upright all at once at junctions is still impossible and just showing off so would drivers in the MK area please take direction from the bike in front of me. I point blank refuse to strap my feet in the pedals – that’s how I fell over last time and the indignity of being watched by three 6 year old neighbours as I inspected grazed knees and elbows still runs deep. Carolyn and I are currently training at least three times a week and progress is slow. However, the stiff neck is easing each week, the pins and needles in the hands from manically grasping the brakes and rattling along uneven roadsides are beginning to subside with the new gloves.  The toes are still going numb but the thought of attaching myself to the pedals is a step too far. 

Whether you wish to donate to show you are enjoying my suffering or whether to simply make it all worthwhile, any contribution you make will go to make very positive differences to people’s lives.  You can read about the work of Sports Leaders UK on our website www.sportsleaders.org and also follow the links for all Extra Mile ‘s charities via this web 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 - thank you

Linda

:-)