In November last year our colleague Christian Coles passed away and has been massively missed ever since. Colesy was awesome and shaped a huge amount of the business and team that we’re part of today.

To remember Christian, we’re keen to do something which he enjoyed that brings us together as a team and gives us the opportunity to raise a load of money for the British Heart Foundation. With that in mind, the only choice is cycling. Colesy loved cycling and racked up some massive numbers commuting all year round. If he wasn’t getting quite enough mileage from his c. 250 KM weekly commute, he’d normally hit Regents Park for some extra laps. Unfortunately, Regents Park isn't able to hold any more charitable events for the rest of 2023 so we've decided to set up two Watt Bikes in our office instead!

So there we have it, to help us remember Christian we’re going to do a 24-hour (relay) bike ride in the office. It’s a shame we’re unable to officially use Regents Park but we’re sure the new location will allow for more people to get involved and spectators can see the racers at any point rather than just when they come back around the circuit.

The ride will start on Thursday 19th October @ 15:00 and Finish on Friday 20th October at 15.00.

The plan is that we have the 2 Watt bikes always riding for 24 hours and people can do as much or as little as they like. We can stream the route onto the two screens in the room and keep a tab of the distance each bike has cycled (as this is definitely a race too), use the speakers in the room for music, and organise food and drinks throughout to keep everyone energised and in good spirits. If people want to do the equivalent of 10 laps of Regents Park (a lap is 4.43km) that is fine, equally if you just fancy one then that’s also cool, 24 hours is a long time riding so every lap will really help!

Now that the event is indoors, there's no excuse for any fair-weather cyclists, Colesy rode rain or shine, lockdown, or no lockdown. There will be some long night shifts that need to get filled so let’s get some training miles in before October.

Colesy obviously had a load of mates who he enjoyed cycling around the park with. If anyone fancies joining us in the office to ride a few laps, chew the fat, or offer some words of motivation, that would be great!