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Over the last 3-years I have had an absolutely wonderful bike riding journey. With tremendous support from Diane, it first started as an outlet to benefit mind and body and as I became more involved I learned of friends in Pitshanger (Ealing) who were also into biking. They were just a bit more serious.

Spurred on by our spiritual leader, Coxy, and our wives who were thrilled we were doing this instead of drinking ourselves silly (less often), we found ourselves becoming fitter, healthier and, frankly, border line out-of-control bike riding nutters. We now ride whenever we can, the rides becoming ever longer, hillier, steeper, competitive, elaborate and further away from home. 

Also, recently, I was lucky enough to recruit some slightly less nutty (for now) South Ealing neighbours, bringing us ever greater safety in numbers. 

And yes, we are MAMIL's (Middle-Aged Men In Lycra).

The Prudential RideLondon-Surrey 100 is part of that journey. Having ridden most of the Pru100 course over various weekend Surrey Hills rides with the gang, The Dirty Bikers, I made the decision that this year's event would be perfect for my first ever proper bicycle race. I am under no illusion, unlike the many sportive's we have entered, this one is a real race. No messing around on this one.

That would mean regimented training and, without a rare lottery draw, linking to a charity. 

Diane and I donate directly to charities in which we believe and in this case, the brilliant and ever growing biking culture offers another opportunity to raise funds. The Pru100 is probably the showcase bike riding charity challenge event and as fellow Dirty Biker Dave says, whatever you believe about charity challenges, the growth in biking and the link to charities can only be a good thing. He is right.

Having committed to quite a brutal training regime, the only remaining question I had to answer was: which charity?

For me, I always knew it was going to have something to do with cancer. The number of people we know who have suffered from cancer, either directly or through a loved one, is just unbelievable. Diane's and my experiences of loved ones, family, friends and colleagues who have died, suffered and continue to suffer from cancer is depressingly impressive and we know of many friends who have had similar experiences. 

And then Diane wondered if The Sara Lee Trust had a link to the race. 

You see, Diane and her brother Phil went to school with Sara and were friends for nearly 20-years. On the face of it, Sara's story is that same touching heartfelt one where a beautiful young person's life is ended too soon. Dig deeper and it's a story of courage, strength and character.

As it turns out, though not widely known, TSLT does indeed have a connection to the Pru100. This year it is featuring six riders in the Pru100 and I am proud to be one of them.

So, there it is  -  biking is my thing, it's good for mind and body; bike riding challenge charities are good for biking and good for charities; the affects of cancer are all around us and the suffering is something we would like to see reduced; and, Sara was a teenage friend of my wife's and her brother who, in the face of known terminal illness, lived life to it's fullest with the hope of helping others. 

That is why I am supporting The Sara Lee Trust. I hope you will too.

Mike

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