As most of us tuck into our roast dinner this Easter Sunday, maybe after rampaging over the countryside with the family on an Easter Egg hunt or just simply visiting family and friends, just spare a thought and maybe a £1 for Islander, Ian Gregory, who hopes to be at least halfway through his attempt to cycle around the M25 orbital motorway.
Nope, don’t panic, he is not cycling on the motorway, but as close to it as possible. As many of you might be aware, Ian and his wife Jacky fundraise on behalf of Prostate Cancer UK.
11,680 miles pedalled by Christmas
Going into their fourth year of fundraising Ian set himself a massive target of hitting 11,680 miles pedalled by Christmas.
This figure represents the number of men who will die of prostate cancer this year and Ian wants to pedal 1 mile for each and every guy.
On Good Friday, Ian will set off from his home in Carisbrooke and will cycle up to Heathrow where he is staying for the Easter Break. Saturday is mainly a rest day while final preparations and adjustments are made for this mammoth ride.
On the road at 4am
Easter Sunday morning will be a very early start, on the road around 4-4.30am and cycling out past Heathrow Airport heading for the M25 motorway, before turning south towards Staines-upon-Thames and the Surrey Hills.
Bank Holiday Monday might be a further rest day depending what time Sunday’s ride finishes or it might be the homeward bound ride back to the Isle of Wight.
140+ miles
Cycling in an anti-clockwise direction and staying as close to the motorway as he can, Ian expects to cover around 140-150 miles and some 5,500ft of climbing, before he finally gets back to where he begun the day at Heathrow.
Ian expects to be out on the road for around 18-20 hrs and hopes to have a moving time of less than 15hrs.
Training ride
This is not a race for Ian but more of a training ride in preparation for other rides he is taking on during the year to raise money and awareness for Prostate Cancer UK.
Why spend Easter this way? Well with the 11,680 mile target for the year, Ian has a rather full diary of cycling ahead of him this year.
Velo Birmingham and Midlands
The Easter break ride not only helps to clock up the miles but it is also a bit of a training ride ahead of the Velo Birmingham and Midlands on 12th May.
Ian is taking part in this 100 mile closed road event through the midlands and will be cycling from the Island up to Birmingham and then home again for this ride.
On 5th May Ian will be riding the Isle of Wight Randonnee ahead of his worst nightmare over the 7th-10th June.
London and Brighton naked bike rides
Ian has, rather regrettably, decided to take part in both London’s and Brighton’s naked bike rides over the second weekend in June.
Ian will be leaving the Island on 7th June for London where during Saturday afternoon he will join over 1,500 other cyclists to ride around the capital stark naked, well he might wear a smile.
That evening Ian will head south, fully clothed, for Brighton where he will once again strip off for charity and ride around the town naked before riding home again the next day.
Grand Depart Classic
Then in late June, Ian heads for Brussels to take on the Grand Depart Classic, the first stage of the tour de France, with the Prostate Cancer UK Cycling Team.
Cycling out to Dover he will then cross the channel to Dunkirk and ride through to Brussels only to cycle the route in reverse to get back home again.
And those are only the rides planned before the Summer.
Follow progress
If you would like to follow Ian on his rides you can do so via the social media platforms.
Show your support
If you would like to support Ian and Prostate Cancer UK then you can make a donation via his JustGiving page, or you can make a debit/credit card donation direct over the phone, please email [email protected] for details, or you can catch Jacky and Ian at a number of events around the Isle of Wight during 2019.
Alternatively you can make a donation direct to Prostate Cancer UK using Ian’s special reference number, this will ensure your donation is accredited to the Isle of Wight.
- Account name: Prostate Cancer UK
- Account No: 53472586
- Sort Code: 50-41-10
- Prostate Cancer UK IOW Fundraising Reference Number: 661101-GDCF18
If you donate direct to Prostate Cancer UK using the above reference number please notify Jacky or Ian via email so we can ensure this donation is added to our JustGiving page.
Tel: (01983) 533516 / 07557 525 620 / 07917 032 001
Email: [email protected]
