Myself and Mike have decided to cycle approximately 300 miles from Paris to Angouleme on the west coast.

We will be starting at the the early racing circuit at Montlhery on the outskirts of Paris and cycling to Angouleme .

We have chosen this as it was most of the route of one of the pioneering French road races, the Bordeaux - Paris which started in the 1890s.

We are stopping at Angouleme, as the bicycle I am riding, a c1913 Tapon which was made in Angouleme.

The original race was done in one day, with riders riding approx 27 hrs. We plan to do this as quickly as we can, hopefully covering it in two or three days. Both myself and Mike will be wearing Edwardian wool cycling kit, and only carrying the bear essentials, with a blanket to kip under when we need to rest.

The bicycles we will be using are single speed, and in the case of the Tapon fixed wheel.

We have chosen Mind as it is a charity very close to my heart (well mind?!) . We would like to raise money, but more importantly raise awareness that mental health issues effect so many people, and that there are people out there who can help, and for people not to suffer in silence.

This is a major challenge and not going to be easy!