From the River to the Sea Part Two

Or

#ALotOfCyclingWillBeDoneByMe

Around this time last Summer I was engaged in protests against the bombardment of Gaza in Palestine. And as part of these protests I wrote this blog.  I went on marches, signed petitions, got into arguments with people, stopped buying certain products, the same kind of things that many other people did and are still doing (and will hopefully continue while the present, unjust circumstances remain for Palestine and its people).

At the same time I tried to think of other ways how I could help.

Then earlier this year I got an unexpected answer.  I was invited by Mr Dermot Macward to take part in this challenge:

http://www.redspokes.co.uk/thebigride/

A cycle ride from Edinburgh to London.  The ride will begin on 1st August in Edinburgh and end on 9th August in London.  In between I will cycle 435 miles (average 48 miles per day). The most grueling day of this "mission" will be day 2, which will be 74 miles of cycling and a 1570 meter climb (I should probably be having feelings of dread as I type that but fortunately I'm numb to it at the moment - see the next bit for why).

Here's the full itinerary:

http://www.redspokes.co.uk/thebigride/itinerary.php

And now I'm in the middle of some hard training.

Some very hard training.

Kind of hurts to move at the minute.

Actually it hurts when I don't move.

But we're aiming to raise lots of money for the children of Gaza, we're hoping to raise the profile of the struggle of the people of Palestine for their own country, and we're hoping to bring forward the day when there will be peace and mutual recognition between Israel and Palestine.

You can't accuse us of not being ambitious!

I'm cycling very long distances during my weekends at the moment (I did 120 miles this weekend).  I'm also running, doing bikram yoga (to stop my body getting too brittle) and doing lots and lots of spin classes (much thanks to the people at Cyclebeat in London who play good music while you flog yourself).

What else can I say?  As my cycle top says "Another World Is Possible"!

Would you like to sponsor me?  Of course you would! :)

Here's the link:

https://www.justgiving.com/Jeremy-Parker

Now I've blogged about why I'm doing it I guess I should blog about what it was like doing it!  :-)