Many of you will know that for some years now No5 has been a sponsor of the Spinal Injuries Association. Not only has this proved to be a successful business link for chambers but equally as important our involvement with the SIA has made a significant difference on many levels to those affected by spinal injury.

Working with SIA has involved not simply business networking to the benefit of chambers  but also seeing up close the stories of those affected by spinal injury. At last summer’s SIA Awards dinner Martin Hulbert and I were moved by some of those stories and  in addition I had had the unenviable task of being on the awards committee that sought to reward  one persons efforts post injury above that of another. It was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. The nominees ranged from those sent to foreign lands in the name of Queen and Country to innocent bystanders hit by vehicles careering out of control. Lives changed forever in the blink of an eye.

It was at this evening , admittedly after more than our fair share of grape juice, that Martin signed not only himself but also me up for a bicycle challenge from Tunbridge Wells to Amsterdam and although the next day neither of us recalled the moment at which the blubbering wreck did so we agreed that we should give it a go even if the odds are stacked against us succeeding.

I need to tell you at this point that until last Sunday I had not been on a bicycle since I had a paper round aged thirteen. The bicycle was called a “ Chopper” and it had three gears which you changed for fun more than any real effect. That bike lasted two years until it eventually gave in to the weight of my paper round bag whilst I was speeding down Maple Bank at Birmingham University leaving me minus the handlebars trying to control the bike with my hip movements. Anyone who has seen me try and salsa will know all did not end well and thirty minutes later I was in A and E.

My “new bike” is called an “elite sirrus” and at £500 I am told is at the lower end of the price range ! This bike like the chopper before it has three gears but that is only on the left side of the handlebar. On the right side it has a further nine ! I reckon anyone who can develop an automatic gear change for these things would corner the market. Being a traditionalist I stayed in third gear on the left and just played with gears one to nine on the right in a bid to try and catch up with speedy Hulbert !! I kid you not .........................he was trouncing me and off in to the distance . It is only the third time in my twenty years working with Martin when his turn of speed had visibly shocked me. The first time was when I first saw him swim. He is like Orca the killer whale when in water. The second which has been repeated several times since is when the bar and buffet opens at any event you care to imagine but on this occasion I was seriously thinking of having him dope tested. No amount of praying , cussing , interval bursts could get me close enough to feel the benefit of his frame shielding me from the biting winds. To his credit after 15 miles and me suffering from hallucinations only previously brought on by 200mg Tramadol he told me to let go of the nostalgia for gear three and that  freewheeling like Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is not recommended when there is a hill on the horizon.

We completed 25miles which was not bad for my first experience of gel shorts , an outfit that included a garment only previously seen being sported by Victorian wrestlers and a helmet that was fastened at the back so tightly my eyes nearly popped. 

So...................................the upshot of this is that we would very much like those of you who feel able to do so to make a small contribution to our fighting fund by clicking on the attached just giving page. We are some distance off being able to be fit and ready for this event but watching the funds flood in will I am sure inspire us to get up early morning and get on our bikes in aid of SIA. Martin has been training for some months now but like me he too had not been cycling since he was a  Hovis and cake delivery boy in Burton who went missing along with 36 cream donuts and four loaves of bread. Fortunately for his parents both Martin and his bike returned home later in the evening but no one ever discovered the mystery of the missing cakes ............

Thank you for your time.

Tony and Martin aka Little and Large

Tony and Martin will be cycling from Tunbridge Wells to the Amsterdam Canals from 15th - 18th May.