Starting in London and cycling to Dover to catch a ferry to Calais the ride will take me to Paris before catching a train to Geneva Switzerland, where the ride will continue through the Alps to Italy and then back into France along the south coast reaching Spain and finishing in Alicante some 2810km of cycling later. 

I will be completing this challenge with my friend and flatmate from university who planned the route for the challenge. We are both keen road cyclists and graduated from Heriot-Watt this year this year.

Initially a fun idea and something to do in the summer and enjoy my passion of road cycling in some of the best scenery and roads in the world soon became an excellent opportunity to raise money for charity. Mental illness affects 1 in 4 people in the UK and I myself have had some close friends affected in various ways which has inspired my decision to raise money for Penumbra. 

Penumbra is a Scottish mental health charity who have their headquarters in Edinburgh. The charity aims to raise awareness and increase public understanding about mental illness and aims to promote mental health and well being. 

Throughout the trip I will be using my twitter account @BengerMatthew with the hash tag #London2Alicante and my instagram account MATTHEW1510 to update on how the journey is going. 

Can also donate via text by simply texting PENU15 and the amount you wish to donate (eg PENU15 £10) to 70070

http://www.penumbra.org.uk/