As most of you will probably know a group of us from the club will be attending the Megavalanche in l’Alpe d’Huez, France this summer. This is a mass downhill race held high up in the Alps competing against hundreds of other riders – sounds like fun!
If that wasn’t enough I thought that it would be a fantastic opportunity to raise money for charity as well. The charity that I – and we as a club – have chosen to raise money for is Re~Cycle who ship unwanted, second-hand bicycles to Africa for the people there to use.
The reason I feel strongly about this is that the work that Re~Cycle does helps to empower people by providing them with transport that is low-cost and easy to maintain, and this gives them the chance to raise themselves out of poverty – all through something as simple as a bicycle.
It goes without saying that all of you reading this love your bikes (maybe a little bit too much!) and the sense of freedom that they can give us, so by competing in the Megavalanche we are using the thing that we get so much enjoyment from to give something back and make a difference to someone’s life. We get to use our bikes for fun but for some people what a bike actually means to them is the difference between spending half a day collecting water going by foot – or – a considerably reduced journey by two wheels. Or it can mean the difference between not going to school – or – being able to go and get an education with all the benefits that entails. I think you get the idea!
So how can you help? Well I have set up a JustGiving page, this is a really easy way to donate money to Re~Cycle and they give a 100% of the money to the charity plus Gift Aid. Please take the time to visit the page and make a donation.
http://www.justgiving.com/megavalanche2010
I’ve set the bar high with a target of £1000! However I think that you will all agree that this is a worthy cause and there should be no limit set on ambition. So dig deep, raid the piggy bank, look behind the sofa for those pounds and pence, make a donation and do something amazing!
Thank you for your support and generosity.
