Tuesday 24 March 2009

London to Brighton 2009 - Doing It For Dad

Chris Olney (that's him on the right) is doing our London to Brighton Bike Ride this summer for the very first time. He's now one month into his training, so we've asked him to post regularly to this blog in the run-up to the event.

If you are also taking part in the ride and would like to share your training experiences or other L2B stories with us and others, please include them in the comments area below this post. Here's Chris's story so far...

"Hi! My name's Chris, I am 24, from Dartford in Essex, and am doing the London to Brighton Bike Ride this June.

"I am interested in raising money for the BHF because I have lost many family members, including my Dad nearly four years ago, through heart problems of one form or another.

"My Dad was a healthly man and never smoked or drank to excess, and so I want to help raise awareness that it can affect anyone, not just the danger groups you always hear about.

"I, like most of the country, find it difficult to do make sure I am exercising at least three times a week, so I have had to be extra disciplined with my training for this ride.

"Don't get me wrong, I am not hoping to win it! But just to finish I have realised will be quite some achievement.

"I started training for this about one month ago, and my general week consists of two gym sessions during the week with lots of work on the cycling machine and a bit of running.

"Then I do one cycle on a Saturday or Sunday. The big ride I do at the weekend I have been increasing the distance each week. I did ten miles last weekend, and I could really feel it on Monday morning on the front of my legs - there was a lot of uphill involved though!

"So as 10 miles is still a long way off the length of London to Brighton, I still have a long way to go. I am doing 12-15 miles this weekend and will let you know how it goes this week - as long as i can reach my computer!"

More from Chris here next week. If you are also taking part in the ride and would like to share your training experiences or other L2B stories with us and others, please include them in the comments area below.

2 comments:

Paul Douglas said...

Hi Chris - I at doing the L2B ride for the 3rd year in a row, a couple of workmates convinced me to try it in 2007 and I really loved it, the L2B is something I would recommend to anyone, I know its 54 Miles but in reality If you can do 20/30 miles then you'll easily make the big day, and you get a wonderful sense of achievement plus reising money for a superb cause, I am 44 year old type 1 diabetic who rarely exercised and hadn't ridden a bike in 20 years so the benefits to me are enormous, I now cycle 7 miles morning and evening to/from work and feel a lot better for it ....hope you have a great day and enjoy it .. Well Done !

Anonymous said...

Hi Chris

I know just the thing to do to spice up your training. How about changing your daily boring route's to something brand new.Come to South Africa on one of my mountain bike tours. I was in a serious cycling accident a few years ago and have recovered so well that I now take people on cycling tours through our wonderful countryside.
check out my website. www.mountainbikingsouthafrica.com

Regards and may you always have the wind behind your back