2009 is the year I have decided to set myself a couple of challenges - so I have entered two cycling events for which I have been training hard.   

 

The first is on 17 May and is called www.etapecaledonia.co.uk and is a road biking event covering 81 road miles in the stunning scenery of the highlands, Perthshire. This is likely to take between 5 and 6 hours.  I am doing this challenge for Macmillan Cancer (www.macmillan.org.uk), which I hope you will agree is a very worthy cause.

 

The second event is a little more gruelling and is called www.artemishighland100.com, taking place on the 12th of September. This is a mountain biking event covering 82 miles (the gold route for those of you who bother to look at the website!), once again, in the stunning scenery of the highlands, Perthshire.  For those of you who do some biking, mountain biking is much slower than road biking plus there are more hills involved on this route.  This is likely to take between 8 and 9 hours.  It also means that I have to stay cycle fit all summer. I am doing this event on behalf of Artemis Charitable Foundation which donates to Cancer Research UK, the world's leading charity dedicated to Cancer Research (www.cancerresearchuk.org), The Childrens Hospice Association Scotland (CHAS), a Scottish Charity established to provide hospice services in Scotland for children with Life-Limiting conditions (www.chas.org.uk), and Mercy Corps, a charity which exists to alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities around the globe (www.mercycorps.org.uk) - again, all very worthy causes.