It was a sunny, shimmering Sunday morning in June 2004 when Marc and I cycled from London to Brighton for the first (and up to now, only) time. It was a different world then. No Eve and Abel. No house. Tony Blair was PM and George W. Bush was president. All our parents were still alive. Brexit seemed like a remote folly. We went to a wine tasting the night before cycling. I biked to work every day from Belsize Park to Farringdon.

I'm not sure I could have anticipated what life would be like 15 years later, and what we would have lived through in that time. It's contained some of the highest but also some of the lowest points of my life.

On the bike front, I will say that Marc now cycles every day to work, and I don't. I'm a little panicked about what that will mean in two weeks, as we attempt to cycle 54 miles -- more if you count the ride to the starting line from our house. (That I'm even counting that is probably a bad sign...)

Today's my birthday, and while I don't use Facebook much these days, I'm coming on today to see if we can raise a little funding for this here ride Marc and I are taking in two weeks. 

Cycling on the 16th of June means a couple of things for me. I want to see if I can do it, despite being a lot less fit than I was 15 years ago. I also think it's about those riding collectively raising some money for a group that's doing great work to raise awareness of heart problems, and to help those who do have them with new treatments and more. 

Please support us, and support the BHF.