A DETERMINED cyclist is pedaling from Paris to London on a Boris Bike to raise cash for British soldiers wounded in conflicts across the world.
It will be the third time Michael Jardine, of Graham Avenue, Northfields, has taken part in the Big Battlefield Bike Ride run by Help for Heroes so he decided to make the 400 trip harder by using the heavy bike not designed for long distance trips.
The 54-year-old IT projects manager, said: “Having done it before it’s not getting easier to raise money. I wanted to do something that would create a bit more interest and give me a bit more of a challenge.”
The idea came to him when he spotted a Boris Bike while out cycling and wondered if it was possible to use one to complete the course which takes riders across significant battlefields in the first and second world wars.
After a lot of arm twisting of bureaucrats in Transport for London he was allowed to borrow a cycle hire bike after agreeing to pay the £150 late charge.
Mr Jardine said: “The bike has got three gears, slow, slower and slowest. With the low gears you can prance uphill quite quickly and I’m a big bloke so can build a lot of momentum downhill. It’s when I’m on a level that I’m going to have to pedal like billio.”
The married father-of-two has raised about two thirds of his £10,000 target.
It will be hard work on the sluggish bike but Mr Jardine says for motivation he just has to glance at the Battle Back team made up of injured servicemen who will be joining the six-day ride starting on May 28.
He said: “It’s absolutely unbelievable what they’ve been through. When I think about that I think: ‘what am I complaining about?’
“This isn’t political. It’s not about supporting a particular war or another. It’s for the boys.
“We might moan about battling to work on the tube, that the coffee machine’s broken when we get there, that sort of thing. They go out to work and might get blown up.”
Help for Heroes is hoping to raise £1million with the ride which cyclists are still able to join on its final leg from Blackheath on June 2.
Visit www.helpforheroes.org.uk to find out more and www.bmycharity.com/michaelj to donate to Mr Jardine’s cause.
