The time has come... I’m finally going to ride the 175 miles – the distance from London to Download Festival – on a bike! Every year I think about taking part in the HMT challenge but I always find an excuse (“it’s on my birthday” / “I’m not going to Download” / “I’m not in the country” / “the Spice Girls are playing at Wembley” to name a few), but really I’m just really scared of cycling that distance on roads when I have very little experience (I didn’t even do my cycling proficiency test way back in primary school!). 

While Covid-19 means that Download this summer is cancelled, it doesn’t mean the Heavy Metal Truants ride is. When I was told I could take part virtually I decided to jump on the saddle and get involved! I’m absolutely thrilled to be able to raise money for Nordoff Robbins, ChildLine, Save the Children and my buddies at Teenage Cancer Trust, where I once worked. I’ve seen the work that all of these amazing charities do first hand and really want to do what I can to help during a year where a lot of other fundraising events have been cancelled. It’s important that these organisations can continue to support young people during this difficult time.

I’ve got between 12 days to get my 175 miles in, so I plan to do around 15 miles on my Peloton every day, starting on Monday 01 June. I’ve never cycled more than about 20km at any one time in the real world so this is a real test of endurance for me! I’ll be updating my progress daily so that you can see how I’m doing. Words of encouragement will most definitely be welcome!