Hello everyone!
Can you believe it has been over a year since the 2021 Ride?! I hope the year has treated you well, and let me be the first to say welcome back!
Once again I will be your eyes and ears behind the scenes of the Ride4Life, and let me tell you the preparation for this year’s event hasn’t been the smoothest road to traverse! Drastic route changes, rail and mail strikes, website migrations and even the unexpected passing of a monarch (Rest in Peace your Majesty!) have all led to uncertainty around if and when the 2022 ride would take place.
But the route is locked in, trains are running and the majority of the team have already descended upon Cheltenham ready for tomorrow, the website is working and London is back to ‘normal’, and we’re ready to saddle up and ride!
Rather fittingly, that’s me using the ‘Royal We’, as I won’t be going near a saddle. Instead I will be sat in the relative comfort of the support van bringing you updates, pictures, videos and (if I can catch one of the team when they aren’t out of breath) hopefully a couple of interviews along the way.
Supporting ‘Roll’
Speaking of the van… firstly let me say a huge thank-you to AutoNet (Atlanta) for providing us with a vehicle again this year! I’d also like to thank our Spotlight Award Winning driver Adam Marlow (or as I’ll be referring to him over the next 24 hours; my own personal chauffeur) in advance for once again taking on arguably the more stressful challenge of traversing the traffic in London.
We have Ride4Life logos on the van this year too, so if you should happen to spot us driving by please give us a wave, a shout or a beep as we pass by.
Likewise for the riders themselves, they will all be kitted out in custom-made Lycra courtesy of the fantastic people at Scimitar Sports (Design by ‘House of Burrows’) and should be easy to spot. Maybe refrain from beeping at them though, they will get plenty of that once they hit London anyway, and it’s very unlikely it will be a show of support.
Pre-Ride Preparation
You may be wondering what kind of preparation takes place in the hours before the ride begins, and I can reveal that other than a good night’s sleep the pre-ride ritual has become carb-loading at Pizza Express.
Why? Well, Cycling Weekly can explain a lot better than I can:
The premise behind carb-loading is to maximise the stored carbohydrate (glycogen) in your muscle and liver before the race, since these stores will steadily deplete with continued exercise. It’s analogous to beginning a long drive with a full petrol tank — you’ll get further on a full tank before running out of fuel.
– Cycling Weekly
So there you go, it might seem like the team are just stuffing their faces, but actually there’s a scientific reason behind it! Who would have guessed!
The Serious Bit
If you followed along with the ride last year then you’ll probably know that I like to keep these blog posts light, but I just want to take a second to talk about one of the reasons we do this whole thing every year; the charity.
Just like last year we are riding for Samaritans, and as someone who has experienced it first-hand, I can’t stress how important the work that they do can be to someone who is struggling. Depression, low mood, anxiety and the feeling of hopelessness can creep up on you without you even realising, and just having someone to talk at such a critical time to can make a huge difference.
Samaritans are on hand around the clock to help people who feel like they don’t have anyone else to turn to, and every penny we raise helps them to keep doing what they do best.
To put it into perspective, just £5 can help fund a call to Samaritans and potentially turn someone’s life around when they feel like all hope is lost.
Which is why I’m asking, if you can afford it, please throw some cash into our Just Giving fundraiser, not only to support the Ride4Life team, but also to support Samaritans, and that person on the other end of the line.
Bring the Noise
Not only will donating to the ride help out our charity, but you can also pick a song for our Ride4Life Playlist, which is shaping up phenomenally if I do say so myself!
If you want to add your own track, just mention it in the comments when donating on Just Giving and we’ll get it on there for you!
Right, I think that’s everything covered off for today! Be sure to check back from around 6am tomorrow when the ride begins to follow along with our live updates!
Until then…
– Jay