On Sunday 4 August this year (2013) I will be following in the tyre tracks of my cycling heroes and riding 100 miles along the route of the Olympic cycling road race.

Starting in the Olympic Park and ending on The Mall in central London, I'll be climbing the infamous Box Hill in between and hope to finish in less than 8 hours - come and cheer me on if you can!

My chosen charity is Mind, the mental health charity. This is a worthy cause very close to my heart. My Uncle Charlie sadly ended his own life 13 years ago after having depression and my boyfriend Nick also suffers from this awful, debilitating illness.

Unfortunately, there is still a huge stigma attached to mental health issues. Suffering depression is no more of a choice than having an illness like cancer. It ruins and ends lives, and it's hard to cure. Mind provide free counselling and therapy and a whole host of other services to people with depression and other mental health issues, plugging the huge void left by inadequate NHS provision.

This ride is going to be hard for me - I've never done this distance before and I'm sure by the end I'll have thighs of steel - and a very sore backside!

Please dig deep and remember to tick the box for gift aid if you are a UK taxpayer, which means the government will refund the tax on your donation at no cost to yourself.

Thank you!

Keira