On September 2017 I completed a ride from London to Paris on an original, unmodified 1972 Raleigh Chopper Sprint GT. I was honoured to be part of the fifth annual Bloodwise L2P ride. It's not the first time I've completed a Raleigh Chopper challenge but, over 500km in four days, it was the toughest to date. 

The story starts here...

I first raised money for leukaemia research as a participant on the eight-day Fireflies Ride across the Alps from Geneva to Cannes in 2006 and 2007 (using a normal racing bicycle!). I lost my father to cancer in 1999 and this gave me huge motivation to ride hard and raise money even harder. After becoming a father I preferred not to take long cycling trips and sought alternative, more efficiant ways to raise awareness and contribute. On 9 May 2014 I rode an unmodified 1975 Raleigh Chopper right up Mont Ventoux and the video clip of me overtaking racing cyclists was shared many millions of times over the Internet, resulting in over £3,000 of donations to fight blood cancer. Here is the clip: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNaqRgGOuQQ

Buoyed by the fundraising success of the Raleigh Chopper vs Mont Ventoux, I devised a new challenge. On 23 May 2015 I set the World Hour Record for the distance travelled on an unmodified 1969 Mk1 Raleigh Chopper unassisted, in a velodrome. The record was covered by BBC Radio, TV and Internet, Cycling Weekly, Road.cc, and many other sources. The record received attention and donations from all over the world exceeding £5,000. Because of this ride, I was sent a Team Wiggins shirt signed by Bradley Wiggins and, in early 2016, invited to participate in James Cracknell's Chopper ride on BBC Sport Relief. As a result, I am part of the current Guinness World Record holding team for the one hour track cycling relay. Here is the story of Raleigh Chopper vs the Hour:

http://raleigh-chopper-the-hour.blogspot.co.uk

On 9 August 2016 rode my unmodified 1975 Raleigh Chopper right up Passo dello Stelvio from the Swiss side climbing 48 hairpin bends and riding the 18kg bike to 2,758m above sea level over 24km in just under three hours. Although the ride was organised at very short notice and with minimal publicity, donations exceeded £3,500. The facebook page about this ride is here:

https://www.facebook.com/raleighchoppervsstelvio/

Thank you to everyone who has donated to Bloodwise having heard about any of these challenges. Having completed London to Paris I'm still thinking about possibilities for 2018.