Greetings friends, family & colleagues,

I moved back to the UK in February and was inspired by the Olympics and Paralympics this year to sign up for a charity event and an opportunity came up via work (Cisco) to raise money for a very worthy cause, British Paralympic Association (BPA).   

On Saturday 8 September I am a member of the Day 1 of Cisco team participating in the Deloitte Ride Across Britain.   Just the one day!!!  I was lucky enough to get Land’s End (at the toe of Cornwall to Okehampton (just north of Dartmoor National Park) in Devon which is 111 miles (ascending 1455 metres).  This will be REAL challenge for me as I’ve had lower back issues earlier this year and only recently got back on my bike after a long break (I didn’t get to do much cycling back in Ireland) and not a distance cyclist.

In preparation, I’ve enjoyed Sunday “social/cake” rides (ie 35-38 miles with promise of a café stop half way) and realised I had up my training by joining a couple (ie 2 in total) of mid-paced rides (~50 miles) with the speedy lads.  Certainly got my heart rate up, tested my climbing skills and endurance (not great!) and gave me an idea of how cycle unfit I am for this event!  There are some very fine cake shops on route (one of my passions/weaknesses) but sadly I won’t have time to stop and sample the delights of each of them.

I’ll let you know how I get on after the event.

It is amazing to see the ambition, talent and determination of the Paralympics Athletes.  Deloitte have partnered with the BPA for last 4 years that supports athletes through each Paralympic Game with opportunity to inspire change in the way people think, feel and behave towards disability and inspire a new generation of disabled people to get in to sport, but they need help to provide the world class support disabled athletes need. 

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