Sunday 2 March 2014

Public Service Announcement - Crazy New Developments

I can't believe that it's March already - 2014 is already a third of the way over and you guys are no doubt wondering what's going on. Don't worry, more updates on our Panama & Costa Rica trip are coming soon, but in the meantime there's something else you should know. . .

Darling husband and I have perhaps lost our minds. Why? Because someone had the grand idea to sign up to cycle (as in bicycle) from London to Paris.

Paris, as anyone keeping up with this blog will know, one of my favourite places on the planet. And the landscape between here and there is really quite lovely, so why not, I said? Let's do it! July is a beautiful time of year and a new goal never really goes amiss!

And then, you know, I looked at
a) the distance, 480km - that's just shy of 300 miles - to be done over the course of four days. Eep
b) the terrain, not too shabby once you get across the channel, but there is a little thing in England called The South Downs, which contrary to their name are really rather more "up" than "down". Double Eep.

Seems a little crazy no? Well perhaps we are, but it's going to be a great couple of days and here's the real kicker. . .

This is all going to be done for charity. And not just any charity, but the rather fabulous Macmillan Cancer Support. And that's what really sold me.

I think most of you know that my immediate family has been through rather more than it's fair share of cancer fights and then there's all the family friends with their own struggles with this myriad of diseases. I know first hand how important, nay, critical solid support can be through such a difficult time. And in the UK none do it better than Macmillan. So it just seemed right that if we were going to be doing this crazy thing anyway, we might as well do it in honour something near and dear to my heart.

I'll be cycling in memory of my father, who passed away from Leukaemia in 2007, and in celebration of my mother, who survived her bout with breast cancer and is a frequent travel companion of mine to this day. Love you, mom! Miss you more than I can ever say, dad.

So if you are so inclined, feel free to support one or both of us with whatever amount you can (any and all donations welcome!). You can do this through our just giving.com pages.

I'll be updating the blog with stories as we progress in our training (let's just say that trying to ride a Boris bike up Highgate Hill was not one of my better training ideas) and some of the mini-trips we have planned to make that training a little more fun. And then of course there will be the trip itself to look forward to in July!