On August 10th 2014, we will be aiming to cycle 100 miles (161km) in around 7 hours in order to raise as much money as possible for the Bone Cancer Research Trust. The route begins at the Olympic Park in East London and continues west across central London, down through Richmond Park and into Surrey. From there we will tackle the dreaded box hill and leith hill, before coming up through our homeland of Putney and eventually finishing on the mall! Ouch. 

This is a fantastic charity which we both support and which is particularly close to Emily's heart, and here is why:

In February 2011, I lost my best friend Alex Lewis to osteosarcoma; a form of bone cancer. After being diagnosed at 17, Al endured 4 years of gruelling chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery to remove his entire humerus, and yet his consistently positive and mature approach to his illness was astonishing. He started university, sky dived in New Zealand, joined me for 6 weeks in Australia, and finally topped it off with the most amazing wedding to Ali, just 5 days before he died. Cancer just didn't suit someone with so much energy and ambition, and so he tried his best to not let it take away his experiences.

Alex was quite simply the most wonderful friend you could wish to have, and I count myself so lucky to have enjoyed 18 years of his friendship. He absolutely adored life and threw himself into every opportunity with enthusiasm, curiosity and the cheekiest of grins! His ability to brighten a room full of people was like no other - being in his company was always a complete pleasure; full of fun and silliness. The BBC made a film of Alex's story as part of their 'Extraordinary People' series on BBC3 in the hope of inspiring others and it has now been shown around the world, from Australia to South Africa (plus a casual 38,000 views on youtube...). Please check it out if you can and meet Alex for yourself - it's great! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW7DXGArYZU 

Something that was very important to Alex was continuing to raise awareness and funds for BCRT. Bone cancer is a relatively rare cancer and therefore isn't granted as much funding or time in the spotlight as other forms. Yet around 450 people are diagnosed each year, most of them being between the ages of 10 and 24, and almost half are not expected to survive for longer than 5 years. Critically there has been no improvement in survival rates for bone cancer in almost 30 years. 

So please donate whatever you can for an incredibly worthy cause and absolute bloody legend! 

Thank you. Em and Mark