On the 23rd of September I will be cycling from London to Paris with a group from my church to raise money for the incredible charity, IJM, which works to end modern slavery and violence on an international scale. I am passionate about supporting the work that they do because I feel that all humans should be free from the horrendous treatment that goes on in our world today.

Firstly, let me tell you a bit about my own cycling journey and inspiration for taking on this challenge, something which I honestly find rather scary and never thought I could do. I've always been a bit of a punter of a cyclist...I would potter about London and commute occasionally on my heavy mountain bike. The thought of riding a flimsy road bike and using cleats like a 'proper cyclist' scared the crap out of me.

In 2015, after my Dad did his first Iron Man 70.3 (at the ripe old age of 60 I might add!) he developed a real love of cycling. He joined The Grandad’s Army, a local cycling group in East London (South Africa) and went on to do the Rob Burton Memorial Ride from East London to Cape Town (a distance of over 1000km with many hills) to raise money for a local charity, the Eyabantwana Trust. He has continued to be involved with these fundraising cycles every year since then. So I thought, if my old Dad can do that maybe so can I…

In July last year, along with my friends Flora & Tom, I attempted my first long cycle (83km) from London to Brighton on my old mountain bike. Ditchling Beacon got the better of me and I began to rethink this whole cycling thing. But then in September when I saw the group from my church ride in after completing a cycle to the Isle of Wight, around it, and back, to raise money for IJM I was inspired once again and I vowed to face my fears, try become a ‘proper cyclist’ and do the ride in 2022, which would be to Paris.

However, in January this year I had an awful cycling accident. I went into the back of a bus that stopped suddenly and ended up in A&E. My face was battered and bruised and I suffered terrible soft tissue damage on my right hand which rendered it pretty useless for 6 weeks. On top of that I had completely lost my nerve for
cycling. It wasn’t until April that I finally had the courage to get back on my bike again.

Since then I have been determined to become better. I have figured out how to balance on a flimsy road bike and learnt how to use cleats. Most recently I even managed to conquer the notorious Box Hill.

So, in conclusion, I urge you to please consider donating to IJM, it would really mean a lot to me!