🚴 I’ve pledged to do back to back (consecutive days) 100km rides when £1,000 is donated by 31 May – we’re less than £250 short of that so if you want to put me to the wheel, pls donate via the JustGiving page !today!
🚴 Did you know £3,000 could pay to support 1 woman in an Unseen safe house for 1 month? Donate via the JustGiving page and every penny you give goes directly to Unseen to help survivors of Modern Slavery.
🚴 We’ve nailed down the route that takes in 10 cities in 10 days. If you’re located in one of the cities or on a route between, why not ride a stage (and get your colleagues involved too), or invite us to drop in to your workplace for a photo call?
🚴 University of Wales in Cardiff is the latest to engage with us when we roll into/ through their city. We’re visiting BRE (Watford), GLAA and Nottingham Uni (Nottingham), Marshalls (Huddersfield), Unseen (Bristol), Hope for Justice (Manchester), and Lola Baroness Young of Hornsey OBE is welcoming us at Victoria Tower Gardens, beside the Houses of Parliament (London), on the final stage on 18 October, Anti-Slavery Day.
🚴 Why not get involved as a rider or as a supporter? You can ride one or as many stages as you like. World record holder Dean Stott and Miles Watkins of Tufeco have pledged to join a stage or two.
🚴 How about joining a sociable “all abilities” training ride for its own sake or as a precursor to riding a stage of the RideForFreedom2019? The next ride is on Sunday 30 June. We’ll start around 9am from North London/ Herts border and cycle a ~80km round trip through Hertfordshire. There will be several points where you can join / exit the ride so don’t feel you have to cycle the whole route. We’ll stop for brunch/lunch too. Get in touch to find out more.
🚴 We’re having some jerseys made up by high performance and sustainable kit manufacturer Presca Teamwear. in the next few weeks so we can raise awareness and encourage donations while we train in the run up to the Tour. They’re £69 each and 20% is donated to #RideForFreedom2019. This is the current Jersey design – if you can see yourself in one, get in touch as we’re going to print in June. Thanks to the designer, Phil.
🚴 Confirmed corporate sponsors are BRE Group/BREEAM, Marshalls, Smarter Technologies and Sustain Worldwide. Thank you one and all. There’s still a little jersey space left for a few more logos. So, if you let us know before 7 June we’ll add your logo to the first run of jerseys we’re having printed.
🚴 If you consider yourself an ethical consumer, when you buy a responsibly sourced, very cool and practical – I’ve put one to the test and it’s extremely functional and stylishly designed – #CityBrix backpack, £50 is donated to #RideForFreedom2019. It works as a weekend bag and a daily office/gym ‘locker’. Use the code RideForFreedom2019 at the KitBrix checkout & you’ll receive a £25 discount too. Win! Win! KitBrix – No Fuss, Just Organised Kit. #Kitbrix
🚴 Last but not least, training is going well. I’m putting in an ~80km/50m ride (which is the average daily stage length I’ll be riding each day for 10 days on #RideForFreedom2019) each weekend. That’s followed by 2-3 rides of ~30/40km and a couple of sessions on the trainer for an hour each week. So, an average 5-6 days a week. Obviously, finding time (I’m running a business too) is the biggest challenge, and I need to increase the daily rides to 60-80km. Thank goodness the long evenings are here.
P.S. for the cycling stato’s my watts output is now averaging 130 over 2 hour-plus rides (looking at historical Strava data it used to be ~100), and my average cycling speed is 23km/ph (used to be ~20km/ph). So, suffice to say, it’s all headed in the right direction.
Please get in touch if you want to get involved, cycle, support, donate, sponsor or know someone who you think might.
To recap, the ride is to support the rehabilitation of survivors of modern slavery via the work of charities Unseen and Hope for Justice.