London to Manchester Charity Bike Ride. 230 miles. Overnight.

Ambitious about Autism

For the last two years, I’ve cycled from Manchester to London, a total of 230 miles (and climbing over 3,000m/10,000ft) in one day.

This year, deciding that wasn’t hard enough, the organisers have reversed the direction – so the hills are during the last 50 miles….and making us set off from central London at midnight to make it just that little bit harder.

The first year it took me 16hrs 48mins (and made me try to sit on my own testicles for the last 3 hours to ease the pain caused by sitting on my backside…and leaving me unable to sit comfortably for 4 days afterwards, with eschar/scabs in unmentionable places for a week after that).

Last year I took an hour and a half off that time, giving me a Top 10 place (out of 300)….and fewer scabs.

The Manchester to London ride has been the hardest day of cycling I have ever done. This year will be significantly harder.

But…..it’s for an equally huge cause. The ride is to raise awareness, and money for the Charity ‘Ambitious about Autism‘.

The day is designed to be the toughest day imaginable as an insight into how difficult Autism is to live with. Every day. Over 11% of children in the UK suffer with Autism, often seen as the silent disability. Social exclusion and greatly diminished academic achievement are only two of the issues children with Autism face.

Ambitious about Autism is charity supporting Children and Young People with Autism, helping them, providing life changing services as well as raising awareness and understanding. Their aim is to significantly reverse the negative life impact children with Autism suffer, and prepare them to live fulfilled, independent lives.

I have several friends with Autistic children, and my brother in law is likewise Autistic. We have seen first-hand how great the impact of this condition can be, and even more so, how much misunderstanding and ignorance there is.

I’m tackling this task of spending 16 hours in the saddle to share that hardship for just one day, all I ask is that you make it worth it by making even a small donation towards this amazing, life changing charity.

This is the first charity ride that I am truly nervous about. Around 16 hours of riding, the first half of which will be in the dark, with no sleep (unless I get an hour on the train on the way down) is a daunting task…before I even think about the 230miles/370km of riding (significantly longer than any Tour de France stage this year).

Please support me in my efforts to support this amazing charity – my fundraising page goes live on 21st August here: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/gary-chaplin-ldn2mcr. Thank you.

My 2018 time of 15hrs 19mins gave me a top 10 time (out of over 200 people), and 4th quickest on the King of the Mountains climb. I detailed my training and nutrition schedule here: http://www.garyM2L.com. It saw me drop from 64kg to 61kg, body fat to 5% and power-to weight go to 4.5w/kg.