True: that’s not a huge challenge for me, but I have – in a moment of absurdly misplaced optimism - put down a ludicrously fast time to do it in, so I do have quite a task on my plate.

Don’t you work for CTC? Aren’t you just asking us to pay your salary?

Not for much longer! I’m leaving CTC at the end of August, so I won’t see a penny of any donation, and I’ve already had to contribute double the standard fee to enter the event.

Is CTC really a charity worth supporting? It doesn't really tug the heartstrings.

There are, of course, masses of charities that do incredible work, such as fighting diseases of all descriptions, from cancer, to heart disease and other terrible afflictions. In comparison, it’s true that there are lots of seemingly more worthwhile causes that deserve your support.

But hear me out!

Britain is in the grip of a terrible epidemic, which contributes to many of the most serious health problems that we face.

That epidemic, of course, is physical inactivity. Just 30% of women and 40% of men currently obtain enough exercise to benefit their health, and the consequences for public health are staggering.

By 2050 obesity alone could cost the UK almost £50bn per year.

Cycling is particularly good for improving health: regular cyclists live 2 years longer than non-cyclists, and have a fitness level of someone 10 years younger. People regularly cycling to work have a risk of dying from things like cardiovascular disease that is a third lower than those who get to work by other means.

That’s all because being regularly active massively reduces your risk of heart disease, hypertension, cancer, as well as improving mental health. 

Furthermore, the best way to improve health is not occasional escapades, such as 100 mile bike rides (erm?) but instead from making short journeys that add up to around 20-30 minutes of exercise per day.

The average person makes one short 5 mile trip by car EVERY DAY. 55% of all short trips are made by car. If we swapped just some of those trips from car to bike there would be huge health benefits to the individual and to society - on top of any environmental benefits from switching from car to bike.

Yet, despite these huge benefits, just 2% of trips are made by bike and only around a third of people ever cycle at the moment.

So, how would my support for CTC help make things better?

CTC does huge amounts of work protecting, inspiring and promoting cycling across a range of activities. It also helps breaks down the barriers to make Britain more like the rest of Europe, where cycling is much more commonplace.

It’s obvious what the barriers are for most people: the streets just don’t feel safe enough for the majority of the population to contemplate cycling.

As the national cycling charity, CTC campaigns nationally and locally – through a network of hundreds of local volunteers – to improve conditions on our streets and roads so that more people can cycle in safety.  

CTC has helped secure additional funding from Government to build better facilities, and has ensured that new routes will be built to better standards than previously. 

But, as anyone who has set foot on a road in this country will know, there is a huge amount more to do.

So, while I don’t have any personal stories or pictures of fluffy/injured/endangered animals to explain why you should give to CTC, I hope that, if what you want is a better, safer, cleaner, healthier, less car dependent future, you should consider donating to CTC and endorsing my idiotically optimistic attempt to meet my time!

Alternatively, if your view of RideLondon is that it is "that ghastly cycling event that closes the roads for an ENTIRE day", then I quite understand!