Hi Guys!

Ok, so a few months ago I watched a Discovery Channel series following Big Lawrence Dalaglio and Freddie Flintoff cycle an epic journey from Mount Olympus in Greece to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford. A few days later I also started watching a little known bike race called Le Tour de France. The British riders were doing pretty well and ITV4 showed some great coverage.

By the end of the 3rd day I was hooked and these sporting giants inspired me to order my first bike since being 10 years old.

We all now know the amazing success story of Wiggo, Cav and the rest of Team Sky, but then the London Olympics happened and cycling, both on the track and road, jumped to an even higher and more inspirational level.

Before I knew it I was itching to get on my new toy, and in the three or so months since have almost reached 1000 kilometers, according to my extremely accurate Halfords trip computer.

So, I have now decided to put my new found hobby/obsession to good use and ask all you lovely people to support me in my first cycling challenge, namely O's Children in Need 1000 km. Kimberly and I are expecting our first little one next year and it pains me that we still have 1000s and 1000s of kids in this great country living (or in some horrendous circumstances, simply existing), in such appalling conditions.

The plan - I will double my first 1000 km (that took me over 3 months), and ride my second 1000 km in under 3 weeks. That means riding an average of at least 50 km every day for 19 days, no matter my working hours, tiredness, the weather, temperature or darkness. I'll be kicking off one month before my birthday on Monday 29th October and finishing on the day of BBC Children in Need, Friday 16th November.

I'll be logging all my rides on a great little tool called Strava so you can check on my distances and ensure that I'm not driving around in my car! And I'll inevitably be updating my Twitter (@owenjallan) and Facebook (facebook.com/owenjallan) pages so check them out for regular ride/health updates.

It would also be awesome if some of you want to join me on one/a few of the rides, as I head into the Shire, through Richmond Park or up Box Hill on the dark, cold and inevitably wet autumnal evenings ahead.

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. I have set an optimistic target of £1000 or £1 for each kilometer I cycle, but even if you can't donate, your verbal/electronic support is still greatly received!

O x

 

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