Starting as an email from Ben Thompson, this seemed like a 'great idea' and a 'cool challenge' a few months ago. While the gravity of the challenge has now sunk in (utterances of 'what were we thinking?' etc), this 75 mile off road route still looks exciting and will be a staggeringly stretching challenge for me to get into shape for, making any donations received properly deserved (I hope).

While the challenge was the original hook, this event has extra poignancy for me as Mick Mannveille, a very close family friend and role model to me as I grew up, passed away following a sudden heart attack last December. The British Heart Foundation's work on heart diseases does, in a significant part, focus on preventing such sudden and shocking losses so I am also riding this in Mick's memory.

I'll be training hard this month to get ready for the challenge and will give the ride everything I can. If you have any spare pennies (or pounds), I (and the BHF) would be extremely grateful for your support.

Thank you very much.