Reach for the sky’s (sorry about the photo).

As some of you are aware, out cycling over Easter I ran into the
back of a car while cycling at 30km/h. I have decided to pick myself up, dust myself down and straighten out the bike in order to sign onto Team BURGESS and take part in the yachting industry cycling cavalcade form London to Monaco 18 – 27 September 2016 and raising money for the Blue Marine Foundation.

The Blue Marine Foundation (BLUE) is working to solve the crisis of overfishing by creating marine reserves –parts of the ocean that are protected so that fish and biodiversity can recover.

Funds raised from the event will go towards two projects that will contribute significantly to ocean protection:

1. The beautiful Aeolian Islands to the north of Sicily are being threatened by overfishing and irresponsible tourism. Funds
   raised from the cycle ride will go towards projects which will:

·       Build eco-moorings for sailing vessels so they don’t damage the sea grass beds when they anchor;

·       Monitor and protect endangered marine species such as sperm whales and dolphins;

·       Enhance fish reproduction through site-specific protection/zoning;

·       Reduce the number of ‘ghost’ nets (discarded nets which trap species such as loggerhead turtles).

2.     The remote island of Ascension in the tropical Atlantic is home to some of the biggest fish in the world, sharks, turtles and rare sea birds, but was being plundered by long-line fishing. The UK government has just declared half Ascension’s waters protected from fishing, but the Ascension islanders rely on income from fishing licences. 

Funds raised from the cycle ride will support BLUE’s work to open up other sources of income on the island, particularly science and eco-tourism so that 100% of the island’s waters (nearly twice the size of the UK) can become a marine protected area.

We will be part of a larger group of 40 riders throughout the yachting industry who have undertaken the challenge to cycle from London to
Monaco in 10 days over 3 phases:

Julie Burgess - day 1-4 from London to Dijon

Charles Stephenson - day 5-7 Dijon to Gap

Kevin Renshaw - day 8-10 Gap to Monaco

Between us, we will cover over 1500km through 3 countries with
terrain ranging from the rolling hills of Kent to the Majestic Rhone Alps.

Thank you for your support.