Dear All,

A big thank you to all my sponsors so far together you have raised £1,454.00 and a further £275.00 gift aid for The British Heart Foundation, your money will help research that saves lives.

It was a brilliant day, there were 9 in our group at the start with 7 finishing. I’m pleased to report that I was the first to finish although I did have a fall at around 26 miles so I took a few bruises and scratches but nothing to worry about. total mileage covered was 79 miles.

Just over 4000 people entered which makes this the biggest off road event in Europe, I’m not sure what the total amount raised on the day was but it was in excess of £400,000.00

Down hill all the young guns where flying past me but one by one I caught & passed each of them up the hills which gave me great satisfaction.

The camaraderie was brilliant and the feeling at the start, riding through the streets of London, was special. There were hundreds of people cheering us on at the finish which made it a great end to the day.

On a personal front I never thought I would be doing something like this a few years ago. I just felt stronger as the ride went on, some of the hills where very demanding but the hours of training I put in over Cannock Chase and the gym certainly paid off.

I look forward to my next challenge and will continue with my gym and biking which has certainly changed my life not only from a fitness point of view but they are both the best stress release I know and I have made a lot of new friends on the way.

Finally a big thank you to Adrian Davies who not only helped with my fitness but also gave me lots of advise on nutrition on the run up to and during the event, its a shame you couldn’t keep up with me to the end but gallant effort Ade.