By Lucy Chipperfield
Thousands of cyclists took to the streets of London on Sunday 19th July to take part in either the 13, 26 or 52 mile bikeathons; all in aid of Leukemia Research. And I went along to enjoy the ride!
Being a novice cyclist, your probably wondering why on earth I decided to voluntarily join the 13 mile bikeathon. Well, like yourselves, I suffered one of those ‘Miserable Mondays’. You know the ones. The weekend has just gone by far to fast, and the next one seems like light-years away, you have to face the brain-aching emails you left the Friday before, and each hour ticks by painfully slower than the last.
As soon as 5.30pm arrived I headed straight to the exciting portal of amazing opportunities that is Google and typed in a few challenge related words, desperately hoping something would jazz up my gloomy day. Enthusiastically I clickedy clicked and as if by magic, up popped the London Bikeathon. It said ‘Join’. I said ‘Yes’! and I clicked.
It wasn’t until after I received the confirmation email did I suddenly realise I didn’t actually own a bike and I hadn’t ridden once since I was about 10 years old. However, being an Anti-Mood Hoover, I decided to remain completely oblivious to those technicalities, and instead considered it to be a great excuse to visit Decathlon. It is an amazing place, you should go!
One month later, I had adopted Bertie the Bike, attached a flowery basket with a bubble machine to him, stuck a flower to my helmet, and I even managed to squeeze in 10 minutes of riding practice. How more prepared could I be?!
Eventually, we arrived at Ham House, and off I set on a 13 mile cycle around the ‘Scenic Route’ of London. Being the ‘Scenic Route’ I was expecting to see many woodland creatures, lots of trees and plenty of flowers. So, you can imagine my dismay when I was stuck on a roundabout dodging cars. I would have indicated with my arm to go right, but I hadn’t quite grasped the ability to let go of my handle bars. Soon enough, a few other bikers turned up and I poodled alongside them. Perhaps the only “scenic” part of the route were the “gentle inclines” that surprised me occasionally! Then again, I won’t complain about the hilliness, because the downhill parts were rather exciting and made me feel slightly like Superman in flight!
One hour and thirty five minutes later I dashed for the finish line and I even got a shiny medal to prove my bikeathon victory! Who would have thought a non-cyclist, who hadn’t ridden a bike for 11 years could complete a 13 mile bikeathon!
I want to say a very big THANK YOU to everyone who has sponsored me! You are truly awesome! Also, a big thumbs up has to go to the organisers of the London Bikeathon 2009. It was a truly amazing day and one I was glad to be a part of. No doubt a lot of money has been raised for Leukemia Research!
If you have been impressed by our bikeathon-tastic story and you want to join Lucy’s List of Legends, then it is not too late to sponsor us! Just clickedy click over to www.justgiving.com/lucychipperfield and donate freely.
On that note, I will see you next time for Challenge Number 7!
