I love my bike riding, normally in three mile bursts through the city in London or the occasional jaunt along the South Downs. And once, recently, 80 miles on my (lovely) Brompton visiting Age UK offices in Hull and Lincolnshire.

Dianne and her fantastic team at Age UK West Sussex got wind of this and, as they are a major partner in this inaugural "Velo South" 100 mile closed roads event in the wonderful countryside near my home, they thought I should get out and enjoy the long ride, helping raise very necessary and important funds for all the great work they do for older inhabitants of this beautiful part of the country.

The very unflattering picture I have used here (I'm in the yellow jersey!) gives you some idea of the challenge this will be for me! I wear my "Tunnock's Tea Cake" jersey with great pride because I'm way too much of a fan!

Please, if you can, help me by sponsoring me - Age UK West Sussex tells me that funds help in these ways:

• £5 funds a home cooked 2-course lunch at one of our lunch clubs in Crawley, Bognor, Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill, Shoreham or Littlehampton or a weekly trip to one of our social events across the county
• £40 funds an activity day in Littlehampton, Crawley, Burgess Hill or Haywards Heath for someone with dementia - giving much needed respite to their often older carer and stimulating and warm support to those living with this dreadful condition
• £95 funds a six week course of support for someone just home from St Richards Hospital in Chichester – they can be discharged sooner knowing there is help at hand to get them back onto their feet and into the community

Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Please sponsor me - and WISH ME LUCK!

Doug

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.