At the tender age of 50 something years, this is acually the first charity event I am "driving". About time!

Two fit colleagues and friends, Rob Bothe and Jonny Azern will be taking part in an epic 700km cycle ride with me from Madrid to Malaga over four days in aid of Deutsche Bank's UK Charity of the Year, MQ Mental Health Research. I think this charity is relevant for all of us, not least in the financial industry where the pressure and intensity is high. Knowing more about mental health, and where to go for help, is a great first step on the road to recovery and repair. MQ is on the leading edge of research into this important, and perhaps somewhat ignored field. This is our way of helping them out.

There is no doubt we will be TWO-TYRED at times but we will remember the amazing cause we are doing it for. We are in training mode, there is lots of TORQUE the talk, and it will come down to an aggressive training program to combat the four days climbing 6000m where we need to make sure our ARMS-STRONG

There might well be PUNC(H)TURES being thrown as we combat this challenge, but we will not give up

We will not take many BRAKES, of course there will be drinks in the evening, but as we know Jonny can't HANDLE BARS so your money will not go to waste

We will be sharing hotel rooms and no doubt, there will be bonking most days

There will be many more jokes like this along the way but we hope not to reCYCLE too many

OK enough now

PLEASE DONATE ANYTHING YOU CAN

thank you for all of your support

The Bond Boys

=> MQ is the UK's leading mental health charity. Mental illness affects up to 1 in 4 of us, yet funding for this health crisis falls woefully short, with only £9 spent on research per person affected. This is 25 times less what is spent on cancer research.

Your donation will help fund the most cutting-edge mental health research projects across the globe to create a world where mental illness is better understood, effectively treated and one day prevented.