The following was written by Terry about his upcoming cycling challenge.
Those people that know me will be fully aware that over the last few months I have spent a lot of time on my bike, this is due to a mad moment back in October of last year. It was way back then that I entered the RideLondon 100 a cycle sportive around the lovely streets of London and Surrey. The ride takes place on the 4th August and I have to complete 100 miles. At the time I entered I thought a 100 miles on a bike isn’t that far in the grand scheme of things and it isn’t if you say it quickly. We are now 4 weeks away and suddenly that moment of madness is becoming reality, especially when I realized that my start time is 6.46 in the morning, so please think of me as you get up that morning I may already be a long way into the ride.
As you can imagine when you spend a lot of time on your bike you have plenty of thinking time. One of the things that I have contemplated a lot is should I complete the ride for charity. The decision was finally made when I contemplated a situation I have recently been involved in. Through my work I meet a lot of people and every now and again someone has a profound effect on you, and I have recently had one of those moments. Someone I have been working with asked me to help them with a problem they were having with their benefit claims. I won’t bore you with the details but just let it be said that this person was facing the full brick wall of bureaucracy that can get thrown at you when dealing with a government department. As well as trying to help him I referred him to Birmingham Settlement’s money advice team. The money advice team were great in helping them and after a lot of barriers and hurdles the situation is better. It was while reflecting on this I decided to raise money for Birmingham Settlement, without their kindness, professional support and expert knowledge a lot of vulnerable people in Birmingham would be a lot worse off.
So please when you think of the madness I have undertaken also think about those people who need our support. I know that I will go through some bad patches on the 4th August but one thing that will keep me going is the reminder of why I’m completing this ride and also the inspiration of the person I have recently been fortunate to meet. They have been through a lot and yet they can still approach life in a calm and positive way, knowing what I know I am not sure I would or could.
I am going to be updating this blog on a regular basis so please watch out for the ramblings of a mad man and if you can spare just a few pounds all donations will be gratefully received, please visit my fundraising page at http://is.gd/terryschallenge or click here to download a sponsorship form.