Over the years I've been fortunate enough to work with some amazing people that have humoured me and agreed to participate in some bonkers cycle challenges for charitable causes. Whilst at East Midlands Trains we cycled from London to Paris (twice), St Pancras (London) to Sint Pancras (Holland), Edinburgh to London, Derby to Portsmouth, London to Brussels via Amsterdam, and Five countries in three days (England, France, Belgium, Holland and Germany).

On moving to West Midlands trains we added some new blood to the mix and cycled the iconic Coast2Coast ride from Whitehaven to Whitley Bay in 2022, another London2Paris route, and last year we cycled London to Brussels, incorporating Waterloo to Waterloo, raising over £40k for Birmingham, Children's Hospital and other charities close to our hearts. The crux is in total we have raised well in excess of £150k for worthy causes including Railway Children, Samaritans, the Railway Benefit Fund and Birmingham Children's Hospital - in fact those last three rides alone alone raised over £73k thanks to some amazing corporate sponsorship and the generosity of friends and family ❣

This year we have a new principal sponsor in Freightliner Group, who are kindly providing two support vehicles and some branded Lycra - everything else including travel, accommodation and food is self funded by the participants. In recognition of our new Sponsors we have given this year's ride a freight theme. Day one will see us ride from Freightliner's Midland Road depot in Leeds and head out to Hull to catch the overnight Ferry to Rotterdam. A sleep deprived ride on day two will start with a photo Opportunity at Freightliner Rail Feeding hub in Rotterdam followed by c100miles on the road before an overnight in a converted Dutch monastery. Finally, on day three we will head to Cologne via the Siemens Wildenrath test track, finishing at the iconic German Cathedral in the City centre.

Riders this year are me, Martin Ward (no relation), Paul Williams, Steve Fisher, Michael Stokes, Chris Reid, Chris Rothwell, Nick Westcott, Ange Steward, Sam Rayment, Sam Alexander, Gary Mullins Downes, Adrian Champion, Hedley Phillips, Dave Meredith, Sarah Young. Tam Giez, Anthony Miles, Marion Rayment and Guy Santos will be our awesome support team.

Having loved our relationship with Birmingham Children's Hospital they will once again be our principal charity, and the one I will be raising funds for via this page. Your support will empower them to take innovative approaches to treating some of the sickest children in the UK. Your donations enable them to make the hospital feel just like home, whilst helping them to find new ways to treat and cure childhood diseases.

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.

Thanking you in advance for clicking on the link, if only to see what we are up to and keep abreast of the pictures and updates that will be added to the team page as we progress with our training and special events. Any kind donations are a welcome bonus for which I am truly thankful 🥰

Wish us luck!

Darren JW