Last year I unexpectedly and suddenly lost my father, a wonderful father who served 26 years in the British Army.

Around the time Dad passed away, my birthday had been a week earlier. It was only several days later a box arrived on the doorstep to my flat. It was to be his last gift to me, a road bike, and I couldn't think of a better way to put it to good use.

For myself this race is a no brainer, in honour of my Dad, following the example he set for helping others and all the charity work he did in his lifetime for the Poppy Appeal. It was only after I signed up, I sat there thinking why I am I doing this without a team, and I had better start trying convince some friends to join. But I never did. Friends and friends of friends started coming forwards to join the team before I had to put the word out there. 

So now I am honoured to have Elizabeth, Suzanne, Victoria, Steve and Darren all join me to cycle into the depths of the west country for this cause in May 2021!

For my Dad, the army was his life's work and his second family. He commanded the Royal Hampshire's Regiment, following in his father's footsteps before him who commanded the same. Once you have served in this regiment, with a tiger in the emblem, you are always known as a tiger (hence the nod of the team name to this). He then amalgamated this regiment to become the First Commanding officer of the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment, the PWRR.

In his last years he served as the Chairman for the Ex-servicemens’ League of Zambia whilst living in Africa. Driving off to the far flung corners of the country with over 8 hours drive at a time to visit some of the most remote villages, all in order to track down war veterans who served in the British Army in WWII. Then every year for several long weeks, Dad would gear up for the Poppy Appeal. The house was filled with stacks of Poppy boxes, you couldn't even open the door to his office. Months were spent preparing for this as he made sure boxes were placed all over the city, with no missed opportunity to raise funds for the war veterans. 

So in a matter of mere weeks, you will find The Easy Tiger team cycling, alongside veterans, a total distance of 136km. Each and every donation would mean so much to us and The Royal British Legion. But any form of support is just as plenty and more than welcome.

Thank you