Jonathan Parker will be attempting to break the World Record for the fastest time ride on a bicycle from London to Paris. Jonathan is a National class time triallist with National titles under his belt and has wanted to compete in this challenge for a while. We are aware of an unofficial record of 21hrs and 30 mins and Jonathan will be attempting to do the same route in under 8 hours. This is the
current record attempt that we are aware of - http://www.donaldhirsch.com/records.html
To be directly comparable the same route will be used and that includes 190 miles of cycling, plus a 5hr ferry crossing. Jonathan has chosen C.F.C Cyclists Fighting Cancer to raise money for during his record attempt. By 33 Jonathan had lost his Mum and two Uncle's to cancer. This year his Dad died of cancer too. Cancer has hit Jonathan's family hard and he want's to help prevent others having to go through the same. CFC is an important charity doing a lot of good work. Here is some information on this great cause:
Cyclists Fighting Cancer (CFC) is a registered charity (1140017) founded in 2005 which provides a unique and highly effective way of helping kids with cancer through activity and exercise. We give new bikes, tandems and specially adapted trikes to children and young people who have been affected by cancer throughout the UK. The effects of the disease and its treatments in children are numerous; amputations, balance issues, physical weakness, coordination difficulties and lack of self esteem are just a few of the most common side effects seen in many patients. Exercise has been shown in numerous adult studies to be the single most effective way of improving both physical and mental wellness for people surviving cancer. We encourage cycling as the best form of exercise based rehabilitation especially for children because it provides all these benefits in a low impact, fun, sociable and exciting way. Cancer also causes massive disruption in families, therefore we also give bikes to their siblings, and in many cases their parents, in order that they can take part in an activity as a family once again after what can be years of hospitalisation and upheaval. We plan to supply another 500 awards this year which will take our total since we started in 2005 to over 2000 cases. In addition we are funding a dedicated research study with the University of Leeds to clearly illustrate the relationship between physical and mental well being and physical activity in children surviving cancer. Our main focus is raising awareness and providing a bespoke service to each individual applicant where possible. We operate totally on the kind support of the public and cyclists doing bike rides around Britain and across the world. All monies donated make a huge difference to our total fundraising effort and ultimately to the number of children affected by cancer we support. http://www.cyclistsfc.org.uk/about-cfc/
It will be particularly challenging for Jonathan who was involved in an accident a few years ago and broke all his limbs and lost 8 pints of blood. He was told he might not walk again and would definitely never participate in sports. Still pinned together with metal and suffering a lot of pain in training during the cold or wet Jonathan pushes his body to achieve his goals and this challenge will be the most significant yet!
