Elsie Partridge
Jonathan Parker's London to Paris World Record Attempt
Fundraising for Cyclists Fighting Cancer
Story
On the 28th August 2016, Jonathan Parker will be attempting to break the World Record for the fastest bicycle ride from London to Paris in the hope of raising £10,000 for Cyclist Fighting Cancer (CfC).
By 33 Jonathan had lost his Mum and two Uncles to cancer. This year his Dad died of cancer too.
Cancer has hit Jonathan's family hard, and he wants to try and help other families affected by the disease.
THE CHALLENGE
The aim is to leave Greenwich early in the morning to cycle around 60 miles to Newhaven, then board the ferry to Dieppe. Once the ferry docks, Jonathan will have to cycle a distance of around 110 miles to the Eiffel Tower.
The total time for the record will be measured from start to finish and so will include checking in, boarding, a five hour ferry crossing and so on. Not to mention the toilet stops!
To achieve the target time, Jonathan will need to cycle approx. 170 miles in around 6.5 hours, at an average speed of 26mph.If you are wondering what this is like, try riding at 26mph for one mile. It’s tough!
We understand that there is an unofficial record of 21 hours 30 minutes for completing this ride, and a similar route will be used to make the challenge comparable. Jonathan is aiming to complete the challenge within 15 hours.
To put the challenge in context; whilst most people will burn around 3,000 calories running a marathon, Jonathan will burn something in the region of 7,000 – the equivalent of around 80 bananas. Would you fancy running more than two marathons back to back at national level competition speed? I wouldn’t!
ABOUT THE RIDER
Jonathan was involved in a serious accident a few years ago. He broke all his limbs and lost 8 pints of blood, and was told he might not walk again and would definitely never be able to participate in sports.
Jonathan is particularly passionate about CfC because, as well as the impact that cancer has had on his family, he has been through a rehabilitation process which includes learning to balance and to walk again, similar to the type of situation that the charity helps young cancer sufferers to address.
Still pinned together with metal, and suffering a lot of pain in training during cold or wet weather, Jonathan pushes his body to achieve his goals and has achieved some small success at national champion time trialling riding for Team Bottrill. However, this challenge will be his most significant yet!
Many families are hurt by cancer in the same way as Jonathan’s every year. Please donate what you can to help them
ABOUT THE CHARITY
Cyclists Fighting Cancer (CFC) is a registered charity (1140017) founded in 2005, which provides a unique and highly effective way of helping kids with cancer through activity and exercise.
We give new bikes, tandems and specially adapted trikes to children and young people who have been affected by cancer throughout the UK.
The effects of the disease and its treatments in children are numerous; amputations, balance issues, physical weakness, coordination difficulties and lack of self-esteem are just a few of the most common side effects seen in many patients.
Exercise has been shown in numerous adult studies to be the single most effective way of improving both physical and mental wellness for people surviving cancer. We encourage cycling as the best form of exercise-based rehabilitation, especially for children, because it provides all these benefits in a low impact, fun, sociable and exciting way.
Cancer also causes massive disruption in families, therefore we also give bikes to their siblings, and in many cases their parents, in order that they can take part in an activity as a family once again after what can be years of hospitalisation and upheaval.
We plan to supply another 500 awards this year which will take our total since we started in 2005 to over 2,000 cases. In addition we are funding a dedicated research study with the University of Leeds to clearly illustrate the relationship between physical and mental well-being and physical activity in children surviving cancer. Our main focus is raising awareness and providing a bespoke service to each individual applicant where possible.
We operate totally on the kind support of the public and cyclists doing bike rides around Britain and across the world. All monies donated make a huge difference to our total fundraising effort and ultimately to the number of children affected by cancer we support. Please visit http://www.cyclistsfc.org.uk for more information.