OK, so I've gone and done it again. I've signed up for a ridiculous bike ride. So why this time?

Well, this time I'm doing it to raise much needed money to support the great work of CORD in areas of conflict in Africa and Asia.

Violent conflict is a reality affecting millions of people across the globe.

Conflict forces people to flee their homes, to seek refuge. It breaks up families and communities, disrupts and destroys lives, livelihoods, societies and economies.

Cord is an international organisation working to build lasting peace in partnership with people living and working in conflict, or post-conflict situations.

Because of this, on September 9th 2012 I'll head off to Paris in the last bit of comfort I'll have for 5 days, for those I shall spend upon my bike for silly hours as I ride through France and into Switzerland (apparently there's a hill or two in the way) to finish in Geneva some 300+ miles later.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

The (not so) small print:

JustGiving retain 5% of the donations, recovered from gift aid, to pay for its services, plus any paypal/credit/debit card fees and surcharges. In addition, Discover Adventure will charge CORD a fee to cover the costs of the event that will not exceed 40% of the total donations - the more I raise, the lower the percentage.

So please dig deep and donate now.