For ten whole days in June, my friend Sharon and I will be cycling almost 1000 miles from London, half way round France and then back again to raise awareness and funds for Women in Sport. We are taking this on with a group of 14 other riders, brought together by the Gill Family Foundation, who are equally passionate about the work that Women in Sport are doing.

Women in Sport is a charity doing such important work, to raise awareness of the issues and barriers girls and women face to take part in sport and exercise throughout their lives. Whilst sport is a normal part of life for most boys, the same is not always true for girls and they often grow up feeling less confident to take part, enjoy it less and feel that they are not good enough and start to dislike physical activity. They miss out on the benefits that sport and being active can bring. Women in Sport are determined to challenge and change this.

We have both had our own unique journeys with sport and exercise and want to make sure more women and girls can experience the joy and benefits it brings:

Clare - I'm doing this challenge because in all honesty it really scares me! I've never rode a bike for this distance (around 100 miles daily) day after day - it will be a mental and physical challenge like no other. Like many girls I enjoyed some sport when I was young but gradually dropped out of any formal activities in my teens and didn't really get involved in anything properly again until my 30s. I've often wondered how my life would have been different if I'd had sport to help me through those difficult teenage years and beyond. Now I can't imagine my life without sport and exercise and life is good. It has helped me through some of my darkest moments and continues to shape me as a person and helps me be a role model to others, including my five year old son. 

I learned to ride a bike as a child but it wasn't until I took on my first triathlon three years ago aged 41 that I bought an actual road bike and worked up the courage to go out on it. It's been a slow process and still is. I get scared every time I go out for a ride! BUT I also get an incredible sense of freedom, joy and achievement too and my confidence has grown so much in these last few years. So I can't wait to take on this challenging journey whilst supporting this important cause. Sport really can and does change lives.

Sharon -  I’m proud to be offered this opportunity by Women in Sport and to have it made possible by the Gill Foundation, and want to try and raise as much money as possible for them because the work they do to engage young girls, and women of all ages in sport is phenomenal.  Like many women I drifted away from sport in my late teens and early twenties, but I re-discovered it in my thirties when I got back into climbing and running.  In my forties I discovered endurance running, and during a period of running injury, I taught myself to swim and got myself a bike and had a go at my first triathlon – from which my interest in cycling grew.  Sport is now a very major part of my life, and helps me to manage work stress, and keeping me sane in a sometimes insane world.  It has provided me with a rich social network, I have made some amazing friends and met many, many incredibly inspiring people through sport. 

I’m mostly an endurance runner and have a go triathlete, so
in terms of the challenge ahead, I think it will be the toughest I have ever taken on, fear and excitement are competing for dominance at the moment.  I do have a bit of a love/hate relationship with my bike and one single day of this challenge matches my previous longest ever rides, so to repeat that every day, day after day, for 10 days, over some challengingly hilly terrain in all weathers is going to push me to new limits
and is a scary thought.  I’m delighted to be doing it with Clare who is an inspiration in her own right as she manages to juggle working, being an amazing mother to a five year old son and supportive wife with all of her training. 

I hope that by taking part in this challenge it will help to show that really anything is possible and women really can do anything if they are brave enough to take the first steps.

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