I’m seriously considering the London to Berlin ride next year..

Here’s a video shot during the ride.. notably absent are the hills (he was obviously busy trying to cycle up them).

Charlie

It was really quite useful, and informative.. I didn’t realise the scope of the foundation’s work was so wide, stretching beyond the magazine scheme. They also pointed out some of the core ethics of the charity, repeating “street trade not street aid”, and “a helping hand up, not a hand out”. Apparently many people aren’t aware of how the Big Issue works, and some are often sceptical about the magazine system, claiming that it encourages begging.

I was completely unaware of this until yesterday, so I thought I’d mention it to be really clear about why I think the Big Issue is important…

Apparently, many people don’t realise that the vendors pay for the magazines they sell. It varies regionally, between 70 and 75p per copy, which they then sell for £1.50. Vendors buy their magazines on a non-returnable basis, which means if they don’t sell them then they lose out.

This may seem a little harsh, but the point is to give people an opportunity to become self employed, budget and account for themselves, and take pride in their work – and for some it means an opportunity to develop personal and social skills which they might be lacking.

Beyond this, the Foundation which is funded by donations primarily (the London to Paris ride being the biggest yearly earner), provides a host of services to help people find safe housing, and provide educational paths and opportunities which might normally be difficult without a permanent address. These are really important things clearly, and to learn that our bike ride is the charity’s biggest earner has spurred me on further to try and raise even more money.

We also met the people who will be guiding us on our three day trip, who really seem to know their stuff.. plenty of bike training advice was given, including recommending against doing it on heavy old mountain bikes. Ahem, oh well.

In other news, I’ve done some serious maintenance to the bike.. photos to come.

This summer I’ll be cycling from London to Paris to raise money for the Big Issue Foundation. Trouble is, I don’t think I’ve been fully paying attention to how scary this might be!

It’s not the 250 miles in 3 days that’s worrying me – that’s just 3 days of my life after all. It’s more the huge amount of effort it’s going to take to train (which I haven’t started yet) and crucially raising enough money!

In the spirit of trying to get on with this, I’ve just taken my bike to be upgraded. It’s a 1991 Marin mountain bike, about which many people have said “there’s no way you’re going to Paris on that old thing”. Which has made me even more stubborn about it.

I’m not completely mental though – it’s getting new wheels, tires, chainset, gear shifters, brake levers, and I’m putting the original flat handlebars back on for a more aggressive position – which is not as nice for London traffic but much better for long journeys.

Soon enough training will have to begin, so I’ll post routes and progress up here for anyone interested. In the mean time, your support in the form of hard cash is much appreciated! Well, not just appreciated but critical to me actually being able to do this thing…

So, please please give whatever you can..

http://www.justgiving.com/riverratrecords

I’ll be doing assorted fundraising events, such as busking and anything else I can think of in the coming months.. details will also be posted here. I’d even dye my hair a funny colour if I thought people would donate for it.