Phase 1 – Planning, planning and more planning!

Welcome to the ChoBar blog, following the Epic Riders from Cholsey to Barcelona.

Why are we doing this?

On 9th May this year, a group of 3 cyclists from Oxfordshire, will embark on a mammoth 1,100 mile bike ride from Oxfordshire to Barcelona. Simon & David Mould and Sinéad Matthews will be cycling for 12 days through England and France to Barcelona, taking on an additional challenge of Mont Ventoux.  There are a number of local riders joining us for the 1^st day and some even making the journey over to France to join us along the way. The incredible Uncle Bazo will be providing support throughout the journey.

The purpose of this crazy undertaking is to raise lots of money for three really worthy causes: Penny Brohn Cancer Care, WaterAid and Organ Donation. 

Penny Brohn Cancer Care, based in Bristol is fantastic charity that supports cancer patients to live well with their disease.  They are charity very close to our hearts as they supported a close friend through her journey with bowel cancer.   Sadly she passed away before Christmas aged 33 leaving behind two young children.  Her courage, bravery and inspiration is the driving force to raise lots of money for this amazing charity.  They will receive 75% of our fundraising.  

WaterAid is an amazing charity which provides the most basic of needs that nobody should be without.  We support WaterAid's work wholeheartedly, and want to help their mission of providing safe access to clean water and sanitation, something that taken for granted in the western world.   They will receive 25% of our fundraising. 

In addition to financially supporting the charities above, we are also asking people to register on the Organ Donation website in memory of Sinéad’s cousin, Rachel, who suffered from Cystic Fibrosis and who passed away whilst waiting for a new pair of lungs, aged 15.

How to donate

We’re collecting financial donations through the Virgin Money Giving website, http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/Cholsey-Barcelona, all you need is a credit/debit card and they will split the money 75:25 for us. Don’t forget to tick the gift aid box if you’re eligible! You can sign up to the organ donation register at http://www.organdonation.nhs.uk/; we do recommend that in addition to signing up, you also let your next of kin know your wishes. Obviously this is a very personal issue, so we won’t be asking you to sign up to any public website to let us know that you’re going to “give us yer giblets”.

What are we doing at the moment?

At the moment we’re putting in some serious miles on the bikes, trying to get as much support for the ride as possible (more about that in later blogs) and sort out logistics for the journey. We’ll be adding more blogs before the Grand Depart on 9^th May to let you know how the build-up is going as well as blogging about our adventures once the journey starts. We will also link to a Strava account so that you can keep an eye on our daily progress.