Countdown to Maggie's Monster Bike & Hike 2011
Less than 6 weeks to go now until the big event! On the weekend of 30 April, teams from all over the UK will descend upon Fort William to take part in Maggie's Monster Bike & Hike 2011. The challenge is to complete the 73 miles of the Great Glen Way in under 24 hours; the first 30 miles on the bike and the remaining 43 miles on foot.
Asked last summer whether I would be interested in taking part in this year's event, I jumped at the chance. The opportunity to challenge oneself amidst one of Scotland's most scenic routes whilst raising money for Maggie's Centres, a very worthwhile cause indeed, was too big to turn down.
And so here I am. One third of team "Small foot and the Hendersons" (yep, that took quite literally 2 seconds to come up with). What about training? Well, up until a month ago, I hadn't ridden a bike in 10 years. Back in 2001, I broke my shoulder bone when I crashed my bike while careering down a hill at speed. Needless to say, that put me off getting back on a bike for a while but having had my bike serviced and been kitted out with new helmet and padded shorts (very important!), I'm enjoying being back in the saddle. I'm slowly increasing the distance of each bike run and with some long walks planned in the next few weeks I'm hoping it's all going to come together for the event at the end of April.
I'll keep you posted on how things are going here and on twitter and if you want to make a donation, my JustGiving page can be found here.
Here's a wee video of last years Monster Bike & Hike:
