Story
Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. In August I'll be cycling 100 miles raising money for the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) and need your kind donations!
100 miles. Yeah it's a lot, I'm guessing it's the cycling equivalent of a marathon and so obviously a bit of a challenge and will feel it! Apart from that I've heard I'll have to wake up at some god forsaken time to get to the start. For those interested here's the route:
http://bit.ly/1IokOtlWhy the LCC you ask? Well their aims for London as a cycling city very much mirror my own. This is the way they describe their vision: '...to transform our city into a healthier, cleaner and happier place to live, where cycling is a choice for any Londoner who wants to ride the streets conveniently and without fear' who could argue with that? (well apart from only the most militant anti-cyclist driver!).
What do the LCC do with their cash? They tell key decision makers like the Major and TfL what they can do to make the streets safer for cycling and lobby for better infrastructure. Local groups work with local boroughs to do the same and community groups encourage people to get out on their bikes and support projects aimed at harder to reach groups. Extra funding means that they can do more of this and avoid the very avoidable accidents that happen.
This cause has particular salience for me. A few months ago my brother was cycling and had his leg run over by a coach. Some how he 'only' sustained a broken leg (femur) and is now pretty much walking about unaided but at the time it happened we were all obviously shaken up by it. If more London roads had segregated cycle lanes, if large vehicles had better mirrors, and if junctions were better designed then fewer of these accidents and deaths would occur.