London to Brighton bike ride 2011

Well, the bike ride was Sunday, and it all went well - despite it lashing down with rain as we set off from Rye! We had a generally dry ride, with quite a bit of sunshine, and completed it with no major problems. It was just under 52 miles in total, and Rob and I did it in just over 4.5 hours of actual cycling, or a bit over 5.5 hours if you include lunch, and other short breaks like stopping to help someone fix a broken chain. Many thanks to Tracy and Ros for driving us there and helping us back as well. And thanks to everyone who sponsored us to raise money for CAP.

I've made a video of the ride using my GoPro camera. The full version is 13 mins and is probably more suited to people who've done the ride themselves, or are going to, and there's also a shorter 6 min version for those who don't want to watch the long one.

Full version:

Short version:

Mike

Click here to read the rest of this post.

42mph cycling down Battery Hill, Fairlight, East Sussex

I've been busy training for the London to Brighton bike ride that I'm doing in Sept, and yesterday I rode along the coats from Rye to Pett Level (about 9 miles) and from there through Fairlight and up Battery Hill to the coastguard station in Hastings Country Park. The main bit of the hill took me about 13 mins to cycle up - it's a similar size to to the Ditchling Beacon hill on the London-Brighton ride, which is why I'm training on it.

Of course the really fun bit is riding back down it at high speed, which is what this video is all about. I've filmed is using a GoPro camera attached to the forks. Enjoy:

and if you liked that, here's another video of different parts of the route, including other camera angles and some cygnets!

I also have a whole load of pictures from the wood from the past two weeks, hoping to catch up and blog them soon....

Mike

Click here to read the rest of this post.

I'm doing the London - Brighton bike ride to raise money for charity

In September 2011 I'll be cycling from London to Brighton, along with hundreds of other people raising money for charity. I'll be doing it for Christians Against Poverty, who provide free debt counselling. They say:

"Christians Against Poverty is a national debt counselling charity working through a network of centres based in local churches. CAP offers hope and a solution to anyone in debt through its unique, in-depth service."

Their services are provided free of charge with no restriction on who is helped. They have helped literally thousands of people through one-to-one debt counselling and also money management courses, saving lives, marriages and homes and giving people hope. I've been volunteering with them to support the debt counselling work in our area, but I know they need to raise more money to expand their services to meet the pressing need as more people fall into debt. So that's why I'm going to cycle 54 miles - please sponsor me if you can!

You can do this at my JustGiving page, or in person if you're nearby.

Thanks, Mike

Click here to read the rest of this post.