Fundraising Diary: Wiggin London to Paris cycle

With only a few days to go until the big cycle, team Wiggin have been training in earnest to make sure they make it all to the Eiffel Tower! Whilst the ride started out as just Wiggin people, we now have a great mixture of partners, employees, clients and friends taking part in what promises to be an amazing challenge.

Training has had its ups and downs for the team…

 

Partner Ross Sylvester says, “we were spotted by a colleague at 11:30am on a Saturday morning on a leisurely pootle through Cheltenham – little did she know we had been up at 6am doing a 105km loop of the Malverns and managed to get back in to town for the pubs opening… two pints of medicinal cider each later and the aching legs, sore bums and stiff backs were anaesthetised as we wobbled the few hundred yards home.

 

I’m not sure the large sausage, egg and bacon bap (and obligatory can of Tango) at British Camp at the top of the Herefordshire Beacon would have been on the Team Sky nutritionist’s wish list…but calories are burnt much more quickly when the average weight of the cyclist exceeds 95kgs!”

But it hasn’t all been fun and games…

Cristina Schmidt from Wiggin’s accounts team has been training come rain or shine (and there has been a lot more of the former this summer)!

Poor Cristina has won the award for “worst injury so far” having fallen off her bike and ending up in A&E a few weeks ago! Whilst painful, it hasn’t stopped her dedication to the ride and making sure we raise lots of money for Winston’s Wish. She remains determined to cross the finish line near the front of the pack!

Our Londoners are involved too…

We have had fantastic support from our colleagues in London, several of whom are taking part themselves. David Cobbald from our support service team (provided by Intelligent Office), has swapped the tube for his bike, cycling everywhere he goes.

For David, the hardest part of his training (outside of cycling in central London!) has been building up his stamina. “Mustering up the energy to get across Waterloo Bridge, ahead of an angry bus trailing behind me, after already cycling 2 miles was something I have had to get used to!”

They are all looking forward to the finish line.

With all the serious training aside, the best part of the trip will be getting to know each other a little better, outside of the office. The scenery, the exercise, and the food will be a great bonus for an experience that will last a life time.

If you would like to donate to support the team, please visit their virgin money page.

If you would like to fundraise for Winston’s Wish, please visit our fundraising pages.