Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

   What am I fundraising for?

I'm cycling from Lands End to John o'Groats next month as part of a team from Calderdale raising money to get  25 youngsters into work as part of the Governments apprenticeship scheme. Its our way of addressing the serious problem of youth unemployment locally. We hope to give their lives a real and lasting boost through our efforts. Your financial support will make it happen!

Why on earth am I cycling?

Good question! I cycled a lot in London 30 years ago but that was as transport rather than pleasure. However, last summer inspired by Bradley Wiggins and co. I decided to refurbish my rusting bike which had been unused since 1982. My aim was simply to cycle up Cragg Road which is the longest hill in England and joins the track to our farm.  After several tries I eventually made it and flushed with that modest success began longer rides around the valley. When Steve Duncan (CEO of the Community Foundation and guiding spirit of the LEJOG challenge) told me about LEJOG  and the excellent cause we would be supporting I realised that I would love to be part of the team.

About my Bike and training programme  

For old times sake I decided to use my old bike but with a better drive train and lower gearing than my younger self found necessary on the flat plains of South London. The steel frame by Youngs of Lee High Road was a good one in its day and the overall weight of the bike is similar to a modern alloy bike. Its just the frame geometry and absence of index shifting gears that show its age. Persuading my reluctant legs to adapt to uphill cycling was harder. But now that I've done over a thousand miles in outdoor training rides and far too many boring hours indoors on a turbo trainer I can begin to believe that 900 miles in 10 days is possible. My bike and I will be able to celebrate our combined age of 100 years in style.

 

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