Nov 6, 2009
Well, it’s finally upon us. Tomorrow (7th Nov) Jon, Stu and me will be cycling from Peterborough to Cambridge in an attempt to raise some money for the childrens’ charity Unicef. We’re aiming to raise £1,000 between the three of us and already have around £400 pledged.
We’d love it if you could sponsor us to do the 40 mile bike ride, even if it’s just £1 – it all adds up.
You can donate online at JustGiving.com/helpusraise
So if you are able to donate then we would really appreciate it, but if you can’t then feel free to post a supportive message on the website!
Posted by Sean on Nov 6, 2009 |
Sep 25, 2009
Hello all!
So I’m the newest member of the team, and this is my very first post. For a quick recap: Sean and Jon arranged a challenge to cycle around the Snaefell Mountain Course of the Isle of Man TT race and subsequently explained their exciting plan to the rest of the office. Our boss at e4education then suggests we should join in the Tour of Rockingham Forest as a team. Whilst peddling furiously up a (small) hill I turn to Sean and say:
“Hell, why not. I’ll join you in the Isle of Man cycle!”
And just like that I, Stuart Elmore, became the third racer!
Since then I’ve been trying to prize training into my already busy schedule and prepare myself for the course. As part of that training I realised the quickest way to boost my stamina would be to start cycling the 18 miles from my house to work in the morning. That’s when things took a turn for the worst…
On only my second full cycle-commute I was struggling against a galing head-wind when I discovered a nagging pain in my lumbar region. As the jouney continued and I made my way through the city the pain multiplied and increased. It wasn’t until I made it into work that I realised what damage I had just inflicted on myself. After struggling to get changed into more suitable work attire I hobbled to my desk, finding the pain was becoming inexplicably excruciating.
I struggled through the rest of the day, taking pain killers when I could and trying to relax my back muscles, believing I had probably pulled my muscles and should be taking it easier for a little while. The next day I was ‘carried’ to the local Hospital Walk-in Centre by a caring colleague where they diagnosed ‘ripped lumbar muscles’.
Hearing of my foolish injury was, of course, devastating news as it dawned on Sean, Jon and I that I would not be participating in the Snaefell Mountain trip. Since that point I’ve been limping around the office like an old man, cradling heat patches and keeping topped up with pain killers whilst I wait for my ‘wounds’ to heal. I’ve been so dissapointed recently because of my inability to join the boys on the trip, so upon discussing changing our plans my excitement has begun building again!
I really cannot wait to join the lads on our City to City adventure in November! And please please please help us by donating some money through our JustGiving page (http://www.justgiving.com/helpusraise/), even if it’s only a couple of pounds – it really does help!
For all of you who have supported us so far: a huge thank you for your encouragement and understanding for the change of plans!
:)
Stuart.
Posted by Stuart on Sep 25, 2009 |
Sep 25, 2009
Hi all,
We’ve had to change our plans a little for our Unicef fundraising event that was planned for this weekend.
Firstly it was going to cost around £500 for transport and accommodation for the Isle Of Man and we all felt that money would be better donated to our cause. Instead we’ve chosen a route of similar distance locally to help give a better idea of the distance we plan to cover and to save on unnecessary costs.
Secondly, Stuart has ‘developed’ a problem with his back and would be out of action for this weekend, so we’re postponing until the end of October to allow Stuart to take part and hopefully give us time to raise a some more cash.
We will announce the rescheduled date and route in the next few days.
We would like to thank all those who have been so kind to donate so far. We understand money is extremely tight for everyone at the moment and with that in mind we’ve chosen to lower our original target to £1000. Please do donate something if you can afford to, no matter how little you may think it is – Every little helps!
You can donate via our website – www.helpusraise.co.uk and click the big orange button!
Sean, Jon and Stu.
Posted by Sean on Sep 25, 2009 |
Jun 28, 2009
I’m sitting writing this with a small amount of anxiety. It’s just gone 8am and I’m about to get myself ready for a bike ride around the villages of Rockingham Forest. The event has been organised to raise awareness and money for The British Heart Foundation. Jon and I are using it as our first big training session together, as there are some nice rolling hills over the 25 mile course.
We’ve managed to persuade some of our colleagues to join us to try and raise a bit of cash for The British Heart Foundation, as Jon and I want to focus our fundraising efforts on our Isle of Man event in September.
I’m anxious because, since starting my training a couple of weeks ago, I’ve only completed short rides of around 4-6 miles! However, I’m sure that with the support of some friendly faces from work, we’ll get round the course, eventually!
We’ll have a full report, with photos, up in the week.
Posted by Sean on Jun 28, 2009 |
Jun 4, 2009
It’s taken me a while to get my first post on the site as I had some issues uploading images, but I thought I’d share how my first official day of training for the TT bike ride went.
I’ve been cycling into work every day for the past 4 weeks, but today was the first time I’ve been out on my bike when I haven’t been commuting to/from the office. I started over the weekend by servicing my bike and getting rid of a few niggles that have been annoying me over the past few weeks, and I also bought a cycle computer which will help me to monitor my progress (mainly by tracking distance and time taken etc).
So I set out and headed towards one of the large local parks before heading north into some of the villages.
All in all I covered 18.9 miles in 1:40, giving me an average speed of 11.3 mph, and a maximum speed of 24 mph which wasn’t bad for my first go at a meaningful distance.
Posted by Jon on Jun 4, 2009 |
May 26, 2009
Hello. My name is Sean Johnson and on Saturday 26th September, Jon Burney, Stuart Elmore and I will be cycling the route of the Snaefell Mountain Course of the Isle of Man TT race. It’s a total of 37.73 miles and at its highest point is 430m above sea level.
We’ve decided to raise some money for Unicef UK and we’ve set up a donations page on JustGiving.com. We’ve set ourselves an ambitious target of £1000 and it would be fantastic if you can help us raise money for such a good cause. We know money is tight in this current economic climate, but please do give as much as you can afford, no matter how little you may think it is – every penny helps.
Our boss has very kindly offered to cover the cost of us getting to and from the Isle of Man and a bed for the night. We’re also offering a small number of sponsorship slots on our website to help raise money for any additional expenses that we may incur. Any surplus funds will be added to the total given to Unicef.
Even if you can’t afford to make a donation you can still support us by leaving a comment on our website.
Thank you for your help and support – it’s very much appreciated. :)
Posted by Sean on May 26, 2009 |
May 25, 2009
We’ve setup a donations page at JustGiving.com to make it easy for you to donate. The money goes straight to UNICEF and JustGiving.com can claim an extra 28% in Gift Aid if you’re a UK taxpayer. Please give as much as you can afford no matter how little you think it is – every penny helps!
Posted by Sean on May 25, 2009 |
May 23, 2009
This year, we’ve decided to raise money for UNICEF UK.
For 60 years UNICEF has been the world’s leader for children, working on the ground in 156 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS.
UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. UNICEF UK is a registered charity – Registration No 1072612
Posted by Sean on May 23, 2009 |
