Optics shows its heart

The donations to the L2P bike ride are really beginning to roll in now with some fantastic pledges. A big thank you to all of those who have made a donations especially given the short notice.
Even Jeremy Jalie at Vision Aid Overseas has offered to make a donation despite his own heavy training programme and the recipient being the charity he works for.
 
My attention has now been turned to the more nitty gritty aspects of the trip: equipment, food, planning for the weather. I have joined a fellow optical rider for the Paris trip but the core of the trips is already organised so I don't have to worry too much about the route, on-road support, accomodation and food.

For my most recent ride ( the very hilly King of the North Downs) I swapped out my gears for some easier ones to cope with the hills. My quandry now is do I leave them on? On balance I think the idea of messing around with the bike set up at this stage outweighs to prospect of have some big gaps between gear changes.
As long as the speed stays below 35mph I should be OK!

The Editor is on the scrounge again

The Editor of Optician is cycling from London to Paris starting on July 11.

 Support his ride by donating to Vision Aid Overseas here: justgiving.com/opticianawards .

 If you are in the optical industry and have any branded cycling kit, jerseys etc. I would be more than happy to wear it in exchange for a small donation; 500kms and 3 days of expsoure plus coverage in Optician !! You can read my blog here: http://lnkd.in/NW4bw6 less

London to Paris here we come

Having resigned myself to the fact that I had no major sporting event planned for this year I suddenly find myself three weeks a way from cycling London to Paris. I'm officially excited.
Cycling through the plane tree lined roads of rural France, stopping at roadside bars for a Pastis and a croissant has always been something I wanted to do but had never really got around to. Being part of a peloton streaming through France or even Paris must be most cyclists dream.
The chosen route is via Dover so that's 550km of cycling over a three day period so it's still a challenge.

At Optrafair I had a conversation with the students putting together the Optoms Cycling for Sight project. Between August 15 to 25 this year they want to encourage people to cycle 25,000 miles sponsored at a £1 a mile to raise money for Optometry Giving Sight . They are encouraging anyone in optics to do what they can, long or short to help reach the total by cycling and raising money.

Those who wish to get involved in this year’s challenge are invited to email info@oc4s.co.uk to receive further information and sign-up forms. To follow the progress of this year’s event you can join the Facebook group ‘Optoms Cycling for Sight UK’ or follow @OptomsCyclingUK on Twitter

 

 As part of OC4S, student, Fares Hatoum is planning to cycle L2P in 24hrs starting at the OGS headquarters in London and racing through the night to be in Paris a day later. I toyed with the idea of joining him but decided my old legs are quite up to a sprint across Normandy.

It so happened that an old chum from the SBR team ( that's not him above) said he was involved in a L2P ride which might have spare places so I am in. Chapeau Mr S.