So...at the start of the year, I decided that I wanted to do some kind of charity challenge to raise money for a worthy cause. It's something I'd been thinking about for quite some time but never got around to doing, so this year in the spirit of New Year's Resolutions, I decided to JFDI and booked a spot on the 2013 Nightrider London, a 100 km cycle around London at night and chose the charity WaterAid. If you'd like to sponsor me, you can do so by clicking here. Thank you for your support, every penny makes a difference!
Why WaterAid? Last year I spent some time in a township in South Africa where the people living there had to walk every day to a dam to fetch water. Although the water was clean, collecting water was hard work, time consuming and inevitably meant that standards of hygiene were often poor and instances of disease were high. I saw first hand the impact that this had on the people living there and these weren't even the poorest people on the planet so imagine what it's like when the only water available is not only far away but also dirty. WaterAid works with local partners in some of the world's poorest communities to help them access safe water and sanitation. This not only brings obvious health benefits but means that children can go to school and women can go out to work instead of collecting water, giving them a chance at creating better lives for themselves and breaking the cycle of poverty. Seems like a good idea to me, so this is my chosen charity. You can find out more about WaterAid here www.wateraid.org/uk/
Why London Nightrider? I struggle to motivate myself to do anything without some kind of goal or target so I wanted a physical challenge that would encourage or indeed require me to get fit. I hate running so that rules out marathons, walking is ok but seems more about endurance than fitness so that just left cycling which the fit the bill and seemed like the best idea. After a bit of searching I settled on the Nightrider which is 100 km cycle around London at night - seems like a challenging yet achievable distance given that I don't really cycle much. More about Nightrider here www.nightrider.org.uk
Training so far...Well, I have a bike and some padded pants (essential, even for girls I can assure you!) and have been increasing my general fitness levels over the last couple of months by going to the gym, playing badminton and dancing. I've been putting off going for long bike rides because of the bad weather but now, with just over 2 months to go I fear it's time to brave the cold and actually get on my bike. Check back regularly for updates on how training is going and if you feel you want to sponsor me, you can donate easily and securely online at my Virgin Money Giving page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JoSouthernwood
