Gruelling cycle challenge for Norwich Christians
 2010: Darren Woodward and Simon Pearce, both of Oak Grove Chapel, Norwich are gearing up for the biggest cycling challenge of their lives. On 23 -24 July this year, they will be participating in London to Paris 24 raising money for Scope, the charity for people with cerebral palsy.
Although a popular long distance route, this is the first time that it has been attempted in 24 hours, they will be joining around 180-200 other riders on the day. The event is an endurance relay for teams of two to cycle the 300 mile route, departing from Blackheath, London at 8am to arrive in Paris, under the Eiffel Tower just 24 hours later. The route is broken down into 35 mile/2 hour stages with one rider on and one off, they will continue to cycle right through the night to achieve the goal.
Although both men have participated in long distance cycle challenges before - Darren cycled London to Paris three years ago over 4 days and both he and Simon cycled coast to coast across the North of England in two days last summer - this will be their most grueling challenge yet.
 “We are well into our training, regularly pounding the tarmac of the roads of Norfolk, to both build up our base fitness, and get used to extended periods on a bike.” said Darren. “We need to raise a minimum of £1,800 for Scope, but hope to exceed that figure”
Darren and Simon need all the help they can get to reach their fundraising target – “Friends and family have already been generous and we are already 1/3 of the way towards our target, but we need to achieve our target amount by the end of May”
Aside from sponsorship donations Darren and Simon are planning a few other fundraising events, including a Quiz and Chips evening and a curry night, to get to their target. If you would like to know any further details contact Darren on the above e-mail address.
Pictured above: Darren and Simon during their coast to coast cycle ride last year.
| 