Thanks for taking the time to read this.

With my friend and cycling buddy Giles Fisher we were planning a ride along the famous South Downs Way for some time, purely for the riding pleasure and huge physical challenge. We've decided to do it on May 4th this year. Without a doubt this will be the hardest cycle ride I have ever done, and perhaps the hardest ride I ever will do: 160 kilometres OFF ROAD from Winchester to Eastbourne. The distance on its own is quite daunting, but along that way there is 3550m of climbing to do....thats 11500ft. This is more climbing than I usually do in one month of cycling, but Giles and I plan to do this event in one day.....

 

Much as I love cycling off road, it is much harder than cycling on the road. Am of course training a lot for this event, and also doing a lot of 'reliability testing' for the equipment (my Boardman mountain bike, tools, nutrition and so on). Must make sure everything works well on the day and we know how to deal with likely problems along the way.

 

Here's the route: South Downs Way.

 

Am doing a few organised cycling events this year for charity, so it seemed odd that the most arduous event (this one) wouldn't involve any kind of fund raising. So, for this ride I decided to raise funds for Wheels for Wellbeing, a charity that supports cycling for those with disabilities. At the Paralympics in 2012, my daughter Ariana and I saw first hand, and were astounded by, what can be achieved on a bike by those with various severe physical impairments. See the photo gallery on this page. Heroes, all of them. I think exercise is essential for a good quality of life for anyone, and cycling or something close to it is a clearly an excellent way for people with disabilities to get and keep fit. I think the achievements of those we saw at the Paralympics will be a huge boost and motivation for me when climbing all those hills all the way to Eastbourne from Winchester.