Sonia Marquardt
Sonia's page
Fundraising for SPEAR
Story
I am very pleased to be supporting SPEAR, a local charity, where I have been volunteering with the outreach team, for the past three years. I have witnessed how SPEAR engage with vulnerable homeless people with kindness, understanding and compassion, and help them to overcome barriers.
SPEAR, based in Twickenham, supports homeless people across South-West London, helping them to find accommodation and jobs, develop their skills, as well as helping them to address their physical and psychological needs.
Your donation can contribute towards the following:
- £20 pays for a thermal sleeping bag
- £50 pays for an outreach shift to ensure that we don't miss a rough sleeper
- £100 pays for food for all our hostel residents
- £250 pays for a new home starter kit for someone moving to permanent accommodation
You can read more about SPEAR here:
http://www.spearlondon.org/
If you fancy coming along on 2nd August and watching the ride, here is the route:
http://www.prudentialridelondon.co.uk/The_Events/100/Route.htm
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11/05/15 - First training ride - 50 mile loop to Polesden Lacey
I arrived at the Roehampton Gate Cafe in Richmond Park at 10am on Sunday 10th May to meet up with a group of cyclists organised via a Meetup group. I quickly noticed that I was the only person who had brought along a hybrid commuter bike. I pointed this out to the organiser of the ride and he said that I would have to work hard to keep up with the group, who were all on spectacularly light-weight, slick road bikes. After cycling through Richmond Park, and out through Kingston, we ventured on past Esher where we encountered some gently rolling hills. This section was great, as I know these hills pretty well and my bike was flying down the hills which gave me good momentum to get up the next hill. We continued on through Cobham and Bookham, where the uphills really started. Not quite box hill gradient, but steep enough on a heavy bike. I noticed at this point that I had made a few mistakes. In planning what to pack, I had filled water into a bottle, which was in my backpack, and which I couldn't reach when I was riding, and I had neglected to pack energy gels, which may have helped in giving me some much needed energy. Low on energy, and completely dehydrated, I was faced with the long incline towards Polesden Lacey. At this point I was wondering if I had over-estimated both my level of fitness and my ability to do a long ride. I had fleeting thoughts about getting the train home or calling someone to pick me up. Lactic acid had built up in my muscles resulting in feeling like my legs had zero power which was accompanied by a burning sensation.
I eventually made it to Polesden Lacey where I was able to re-fuel with an energy bar, and I drank 3 bottles of water. We stopped for a good 30 minute break here, which was good to give the legs a rest.
After the break we carried on through the beautiful countryside where we saw horses and cows, and plenty of very fast and very happy-looking cyclists.
The ride back was via Epsom and Ewell and I was grateful for flatter roads. This first ride was a great learning experience in terms of which bike to use for a long ride, having access to water, or energy drinks, as well as the need to eat little and often.
*****ride completed*****
Wow! Just under 7 hours. That was an epic ride and we were incredibly lucky with the weather. Despite having fewer participants than the London to Brighton bike ride the prudential ride was very busy, for most of the duration of my ride. It was a privilege to cycle through the roads of London without having to worry about cars and the route through surrey was hilly, but stunning. The ballot for next year, in case anyone is interested, opens on Monday 10th August. Get involved! It's a great experience and one of the best ways to see London and Surrey. Good opportunity to make some new friends aswell. A massive thanks for your very generous donations and thank you for reading this!
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