A special thank you

Leanne Hughes has contacted us to say a massive thank you to her brother Andrew Naylor for completing the London to Brighton Bike Ride.

Three years ago Andrew,32, vowed to do something for the BHF when his nephew (Leanne’s son) Iwan was seriously ill in intensive care. Iwan was born with two congenital heart conditions - tetralogy of fallots and absent pulmonary valve syndrome - and aged just three months old he suffered a stroke.

Fortunately Iwan pulled through and following an operation six months later has gone from strength to strength.

When Andrew, who lives in Birmingham, was given the opportunity to take part in the L2B with his work colleagues at the ISS Group he jumped at the chance of fulfilling the pledge he had made at Iwan’s bedside.

Leanne said: “The whole family is so proud of Andrew for taking part. He has raised more than £450 on Iwan’s behalf which is fantastic. I just want to say thank you so much to Andrew and well done.”

To donate to Andrew please visit: http://original.justgiving.com/andrewnaylor/

London to Brighton - The Live Blog!

8:02pm

The live blog and coverage of London to Brighton is now coming to an end, thank you to all those you read the blog, tweeted, emailed and sent us photos and video.

Has been a pleasure to be involved and well done to all those involved and of course, the riders.

Make sure you check the BHF website, Facebook fan page, Flickr page, Twitter page and this blog during the week for more updates during the week.

See you next year

London to Brighton - The Live Blog!

5:47pm

We have a flood of finishers at the Brighton end. Fantastic atmosphere at the end.

The BBC and Telegraph have both kindly written about the amazing day - read their articles here: http://bit.ly/akjeIf & http://bit.ly/bU9oBI with our very own Gemma Cloke being given a very much earned hat tip.

Congratulations all, keep an eye on the blog for even more updates

London to Brighton - The Live Blog!

3:40 pm

Wow what a view from the end point of the London to Brighton bike ride. Over 27,000 riders have taken part today, what an achievement. Some fantastic stories and photos, keep your eye on the blog for updates.

London to Brighton - The Live Blog!

1:40pm

It is almost impossible to single anyone out for doing the London to Brighton ride as every single person taking part has worked so hard and raised so much. But here are a few:

Gary Marlow who has taken part in 30 London to Brighton bike rides - amazing considering there have only ever been in existence for 35 years. Fantastic achievement.

James Crowe - finishing his first London to Brighton bike ride at the tender age of 14! Well done James, that is 54miles under the belt.

Dr Rosemary Lennard from BBC Breakfast completed the race looking as fresh as she does on the BBC breakfast sofa: http://yfrog.com/5f5lybj

Finally, these guys - just for the truthful humour: http://yfrog.com/muu68j

Well done to every single person riding, supporting and organising, we couldn’t do it without you.

London to Brighton - The Live Blog!

12:04

We have our updated London to Brighton Flickr stream ready for you all to view, right here in the live blog! How exciting.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

London to Brighton - The Live Blog!

11:50



The last riders leave the London to Brighton start point, here is a quick video. Blink and you’ll miss it, as the riders zoom by!

At the other end riders are starting to finish, some excellent times. Tony Galbraith who took part in the BHF connections campaign has just finished with his son. Congratulations Tony!

London to Brighton - The Live Blog!

10:24am

There is a really interesting piece in the Daily Mail today: “Why cycling is so close to my heart”. Journalist Sebastian O’Kelly talks about why he is doing the London to Brighton Bike ride.

Also in the article is the amazing story of Brian Unwin, who due to a heart condition couldn’t take part in any sport and barely walk. A heart transplant at 28 his life changed life completely he is now playing football and leading a active life at 48. Shows the importance of the donor register and how it can save lives.

Can’t find the story online but it is on page 30 of the Mail on Sunday today. Very moving story.

London to Brighton - The Live Blog!

8:30am

Just came across this blog on the Just Giving blog about beetroot juice - I Anyone trying something a bit different to improve performance in today’s ride?

London to Brighton - The Live Blog!

7:30am

Just thought we should mention that in the run up to the London to Brighton ride we have been inundated with stories of training on our twitter page using the hashtag #L2B - has been fantastic reading. Here are some of the comments:

“Final bit of cycling training for #L2B was not fun - 10 miles in pouring rain. Newly-purchased padded shorts are a big success though..”

“Time for a bit of #L2B shopping. New cycle jersey I reckon. Well, you need an excuse...”

“SCARED! #L2B”

“I still can;t believe the ride is this Sunday! Gonna do a mini ride tommorrow and then that is me ready for Sunday! argh! #L2B”

London to Brighton - The Live Blog!

6:55am

Any of our riders on Foursquare? Well, if you are make sure you search and check in to the “BHF London to Brighton Start Point” and the “BHF London to Brighton End Point”. We want to get you all swarm badges!

If you aren’t on foursquare, this is what it is: www.foursquare.com

London to Brighton - The Live Blog!

5:45am

So the riders are nearly ready....it really is amazing, over 27,000 people will be taking part today. Astounding.

Every single rider today is raising money for a vital cause. We cannot thank you all enough.

A “did you know moment” now...Ditching Beacon part of the ride is the highest point of the ride at 813 feet, on average it takes 15 minutes to reach the top. Bet it is worth it for the ride down though.

London to Brighton - The Live Blog!

5:05am


Morning everyone, welcome to the first ever BHF live blog! We will be blogging about the amazing London to Brighton bike ride today, it is 5:05 and the start is under an hour away! You can feel the tension and excitement....

We will be blogging; pictures, stories and tweets from the day so tune in this Father’s day and hear amazing stories from some of the fantastic riders taking part.

If you are on Twitter don’t forget to follow us @thebhf. You can also follow a live London to Brighton twitter feed here or by searching on Twitter for the hashtag #L2B.

You can also email me your stories at kusabbir@bhf.org.uk - I am looking forward to all your comments, tweets and emails! Stay with me...

London to Brighton - Doing It for Dad (Part Four)

Chris Olney (pictured right) is cycling in our 2009 London to Brighton Bike Ride this summer for the very first time, and is one of our guest bloggers for the event.

Here's his latest update on his training and fundraising progress in the run-up to the big day...

"Training has been going well! It's much easier to motivate yourself when the weather is good. I've been doing more running than cycling over the last two weeks or so, as I am finding it it building my stamina up more.

"I've done a couple of long bike rides to keep the legs working, as I find that if I dont go for a long cycle for more than six days my legs really hurt again. But if I keep I regular they are fine - what a wimp I am!

"I'm going to pick it up a bit over the next week or so and start cycling to things that I need to do anyway, like going to the shops or going into town.

"That way at least I can feel there is a purpose to the training. Strangely, I have also found the motivation of a pub lunch on a long cycle ride helps me to get to the finish!

"Until next time, Chris..."

Are you getting ready for the London to Brighton Bike Ride this year? If so, let us know how your training and preparations are going (or not!) so far by posting a comment below...

See all posts by Chris here

London to Brighton - Doing It For Dad (Part Three)

Chris Olney (pictured right) is cycling in our 2009 London to Brighton Bike Ride this summer for the very first time, and is one of our guest bloggers for the event.

Here's his latest update on his training and fundraising progress in the run-up to the big day...

"Hi everyone! It's been a bit tough going this week. No particular reason, just that I found it hard to motivate myself after a day a work to go out and cycle or run for a couple of hours - a feeling I'm sure that many of you can understand.

"Having said that, I have still done two gym sessions and two long bike rides - one of ten miles and the other a little bit less. Still using the ankle weights, which I definately recommend. They help you train when you are just going about your normal buisness.

"On the fundraising front, I've found some people being a bit tight due to the credit crunch, but it is ticking along nicely. My company britishinformation.com have said this week they will be sponsoring me to do the ride, which I'm sure will boost the pot quote a bit.

"I was getting a bit bored of cycling on the roads where I live, so I'm doing a few rides further afield than my local area Dartford, and am hoping that will give me some more inspiration.

"All in all it's going well though, and it helps knowing that you are getting fit for a goal not just for the sake of it."

London to Brighton 2009 - Doing It For Dad (Part Two)

Chris Olney (pictured right) is taking part in our 2009 London to Brighton Bike Ride this summer for the very first time, and is blogging about his training for us.

If you missed his first blog post you can read it here - meanwhile here's the second of his weekly instalments...

"Since I last wrote I have had a good week on training front. I have started wearing some ankle weights when i am not training too, and am finding that these are helping my legs to get in shape.

"The tops of my legs have been killing me after I do the long weekend cycles. Mind you, these ankle weights do look funny - when they are covered with jeans I look like I have elephant feet.

"I did a 12-mile cycle at the weekend, and did not find it too bad considering that it was mostly uphill. I purchased a new bike for this, which I got at the weekend.

"I think the new one has made it easier than my knackered old thing i was using before. Am also looking at fancy dress outfits I can do the London to Brighton in!

"I am doing it with a friend of mine, Shaun Buckle, so let me know if you have any funny ideas for the two of us. The only thing I'm ruling out is a kilt.

"I am finding that running every other day is proving to be as much help to us as the cycling practise. Talk again next week!"

If you're also taking part in the ride and would like to share your training experiences or other L2B stories with us and others, please post them in the comments area below...

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.

London to Brighton registrations opened today!

Just a quick update - today our London to Brighton bike ride opened its doors for standard registrations.

We've received over 4,000 standard entries in the first few hours. Plus a few people have already setup their fundraising pages, here are two examples....

Louise Doherty
Will Moverley

Let us know about your L2B fundraising efforts by leaving a comment here.

On your marks for London to Brighton 2009!

For the first time ever, we're pleased to announce that this year you'll be able to register online for the nation's favourite charity cycling event, our own London to Brighton Bike Ride which takes place on Sunday 21 June.

Entrants to most other BHF bike rides have enjoyed online registration facilities for several years, but with around 27,000 participants in London to Brighton it's a much bigger undertaking than our other smaller, regionally-based events.

A number of L2B entrants who have qualified for priority places in this year's ride - by raising £125 or more in last year's event - have been using the new online registration system successfully since last month.

Standard place online registration starts from 1 March and you will be able to access it then at
bhf.org.uk/london-brighton

Find out more about the ride, how you can enter offline, plus see videos, photos and reports from the 2008 event, in our London to Brighton Bike Ride section

Have you ever taken part in the ride, and would you like to recommend anyone else to do it?
Do you have any training tips or fundraising advice etc?
If so, please leave a comment below...

Check out our new BHF channels

We've been rapidly growing the number of multimedia channels through which you can get a wide range of different types of BHF content, such as video, audio, photos, podcasts, mobile texts and, of course, this blog.

So we've pulled them all together on to a single page which you can now access, and it's called BHF Multimedia

But these new channels aren't just a way for us to communicate with you, they're also your chance to talk with us, and share your own thoughts and content with your fellow users.

The recent posts on this blog about our 2008 London to Brighton Bike Ride were a great example of how you can feed back to us about how well or badly you think we are doing.

So it's worth recapping what the channels are, and we look forward to receiving your comments and your content, whether it's video, photos, audio or maybe you just want to become a fan on our BHF Facebook page. Here's how you can interact with us and fellow users...

BHF on YouTube - visit our comprehensive video channel, become a subscriber to BHF videos on Heart Health, Events, Campaigns, Research and much more, and leave comments for us and other users.

BHF on Flickr - see our great collections of photos from BHF events, campaigns and more, join our BHF Flickr group and share your photos and comments with us and fellow members.

BHF on iTunes (you need iTunes on your computer) - subscribe to our regular audio and video podcasts, and if you have anything to say about what you hear or see leave some feedback for us on iTunes.

BHF on Facebook - find out more about the work of the BHF, join our growing number of Facebook fans and leave comments for us and other visitors to our page.

And last but not least...

BHF on Blogger - get the latest updates about the BHF, subscribe to the blog by RSS or Atom feed, and post your comments on our latest news and activities.

So if you have a comment or question about any of our new multimedia channels - or if there's something you think we should be doing which we aren't - then please post a comment below...