Hello and thank you to each and every one of you for visiting my Crisis Cycle Challenge sponsorship page. In an effort to transform the lives of homeless people through www.crisis.org.uk I shall be cycling from London (England, UK) to Geneva in Switzerland via Paris in France, a distance of a 'mere' 625 miles (1000 Kms) from 17 to 27 June 2009. For this to happen, as well as training, I need lots and lots of kind and generous people who will sponsor me. I would therefore like to ask you to please dig deep and sponsor me online. Yeeehaa Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Crisis will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you. Please remember to check or tick the 'Gift Aid' box. Crisis is the UK national charity for homeless people and relies almost entirely on donations from non governmental organisations and the public to fund its vital work.So please dig deep and sponsor me now! Sooner than later would be better, as it helps me know where I am in my fundraising and more importantly, it means Crisis receives the money sooner. Many thanks for your support. May God truly bless you indeed. John Now for the fun! Training Updates and (fun)d raising events: 08 November 2008 Yippee! At long last, I finally have a new bicycle, which, although I have not done any serious long distance rides yet, what I have done so far more than assures me that I have a great bike, which is more than capable of long rides. So training is starting again, although I have been on some fun rides of about 30 miles (48 Kms) since receiving it. So far, my distance on the new bike is 200 miles (320 Kms). That figure won't stay for long, mind. Watch this space for more adventures of The Cyclist - aka me.  8 August 2008: This event took a long time to happen. Since February, in fact, which is when I hit on the idea of holding an auction haircut. That meant that my hair had to grow thick and long first. Eventually, when I could no longer stand the length of my hair any longer, the auction haircut took place. Thanks to all the kind and exceedingly generous bidders, a magnificient total of £75 was raised for Crisis. Congratulations to my very generous hairdresser on winning the bid. You earned every bit of the auction. You were (are) a wonderful star. Thank you again to all my teriffic supporters. You were all absolutely wonderful. 24 April 2008 Update: YES! YeeHaa! My webpage has been updated to accept donations until the end of 2008, at which time I shall apply to have it extended yet again to allow for next years' ride. Happy sponsoring. 22 April 2008 Update:
It is with deep dismay, a very heavy heart and a huge sense of disappointment that I have very reluctantly had to withdraw from the ride for 2008. This is owing to a knee injury which I sustained some months ago. While this has not stopped me from training, I have now been told by doctors that it is highly likely that I will need surgery on my knee in the near future. I have also just had an MRI Scan. I shall be entering for the ride for next year, at which time I shall be making myself known to you all once again and coming with the pleas for more money. Quite unashamedly too!  Hopefully, I shall be able to extend the life of this webpage. Watch this space. March 15 2008 Training Update:
Karen and I went on another bike ride today. We decided to change the route slightly this time to make it a bit more interesting. By the time we got back,
we had ridden some 40 miles, although Karen decided to 'push the boat' - OK, bicycle then - out a bit more and cycle home - another 30 miles. We had initially decided to have a break underneath a bridge at some point, but when we got to it, it looked so dark, dank, gloomy and noisy (from all the traffic) that we decided instead to cycle for about another 25 minutes or so and enjoy a much needed (for me, anyway) break on the banks of the River Thames at Marlow (in Buckinghamshire). And some brilliant hills there were too. I must admit though, I did enjoy the downhill 'training' more than the uphill training. The hill climbing training was mean stuff. If we keep this up, hopefully, we shall be ready to take on all the hills and passes in France & Switzerland. We did have some fun along the way though, taking photos of each other on our trusty 'steeds'. I am still without a bike of my own. Money and all that, you know. Still, time and lots of prayers to God will take care of that issue, I am convinced. That's about it for this week. Watch this space next week for more of the adventures of John & Karen. Why not read about Karen's experiences of the ride on her website at www.justgiving.com/KarenKing2 ?
05 March 2008: Ride update:
For those who are wondering about progress, Crisis has postponed the ride itself to 18 thru 27 June 2008. 01 February 2008 Update:
My friend, Karen King www.justgiving.com/KarenKing2 has decided to challenge me and join in the ride. If you would like to sponsor Karen too, you can do so at the above address. We have so far enjoyed a ride around the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire. It was an interesting ride, as I had to borrow an old bike from a friend. My own bicycle was stolen in London a couple of weeks ago. Watch this space for more updates.
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