Now I have done some stupid things in the past including running the Mumbai half marathon ( twice - gee it was hot ) climbed a bloody great telegraph pole in order to prove my courage to colleagues ( team building apparently ) deciding to adopt the mighty Oxford United as my team, marrying the wife etc, but this latest escapade takes the biscuit. At the end of a long boozy evening with an old university mate, I agreed to undertake a bike ride from Cumbria to Wearside. This involves among other things riding over the Pennines. Of course as you will know from previous missives, I take such challenges seriously and have been in strict and intensive training, watching my diet and generally treating my body as a temple. Accordingly, my bike arrived two weeks ago and I have been practising on the mountains of Cambridgeshire. I have cut back on my wine consumption to around half a bottle a day ( yea right ) and been in the gym at least five times in the last five months. I'm ready, bring it on!

And the reason for this madness? Well that's the only sensible bit. I'm trying to raise more money for the my charity Magic Bus which, as many of you know, provides sports activities for the slum kids of India to help them develop as people and equip them for what I can assure is an incredibly difficult and poverty stricken life. I am proud to be a Director and Trustee of Magic Bus and we have been expanding considerably over the last year or so and now operate in five states around India. This is great, but it also means our funding requirements have gone up proportionately. I really urge to have a look at the website using the link and get a sense of the fantastic work Magic Bus does for these wonderful kids.

Many, many of you have been very generous in the past and I know I am asking again but any donation will be very welcome. $7 dollars pays for one of the children to go through our programme and my aim is to raise around £1000.

If you any more incentive, I am delighted that my son Luke will be making his fund raising debut on the ride. He is in the middle of  very successful cricket season having just scored his maiden 100 for the county and is missing a couple of games to support the cause. So if it makes you feel better, you can pretend it's for him not me.

Many, many thanks

Mark