In 2020, with your support we raised (with Gift Aid) over £12,000 for Mental Health Charity Solent Mind.

You watched me battle through Storm Floyd, shuffle in my saddle whilst I endured saddle sores, you fed me, you were there at the roadside, and you saw me through the wee hours when I was at my lowest. But with your encouragement I became the first woman to set a record time on the journey from Lands End to John O'Groats and back again - LEJOGLE (11 days, 13 hours and 13 minutes).

In 2021, I am not trying to do anything quite so mad, partly due to the continuing pandemic and suffering with my own mental health issues through the 20/21 winter. But instead, I have challenged myself to try new things, move out of my road cycling comfort zone, and still do things that are a little bit bonkers

Exercise is seen as a great leveller, and cycling is known to be a life saver for some mental health suffers. It seems natural to pair my challenges with Mental Health awareness.

So in 2021, these are the challenges that will aid my own sanity, raising funds for Solent Mind, and hopefully inspire you to try your own challenges.

✨17th June - The Great British Escapade. An off-road 300 mile ultra ride, looping from Canterbury along the North Downs, the South Downs and numerous trails in between. I have 3 days to complete, but I'm attempting to do it in 2. Until April this year, I hadn't done ANY off road riding for around 15 years....it's been a steep learning curve!

For dotwatchers, here's the tracking link

https://www.mapmytracks.com/events/great-british-escapades-north--south-downs-june-2021/race/great-british-escapade-north-and-south-downs-june-2021

✨12th September - The Blenheim Triathlon. For most triathletes this may be just another straightforward Tri, but, I only learned to swim front crawl just before 1st Lockdown, and I have very little swim strength, I have yet to swim anything other than a very slow breast stroke in open water (this Tri is a lake swim), and of course I'm not a massive fan of running. I've got a lot of work to do.

✨Starting 17th June - The Great British County Challenge (GBCC). As it's my birthday, and I'll be 55, I've decided to spend the next 365 days exploring our wonderful country, and to cycle in every single county in England, raising awareness of the benefits of cycling for mental health as I go. I will blog, vlog and photograph something about each county as I go, and you'll be able to follow along on my blog.

Please support my fundraising efforts by donating to Solent Mind.

100% (-just giving fees) will be going to the charity, and you can donate on my Just Giving page below

If you are a business that would like to get involved, or are interested in me speaking at your events then please get in touch. I love to highlight the amazing businesses that our country has to offer.

I have a blog where I will share more in depth posts about my progress and planning. You can find this here
https://mawonavelo.com/blog

My YouTube channel is
https://youtube.com/channel/UC5hvc6CjssTCEdqXQhFitPQ

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.