UK Agile & DevOps Team Lead and Group CSR Lead Mark Mangan shares his experience of this year’s London to Brighton charity ride, where colleagues came together to take on a demanding challenge in support of the Felix Project. As part of a team of eleven riders, Mark captures what made the day special, from the early start in Clapham to the final stretch into Brighton, and the collective effort behind raising funds to fight hunger and reduce food waste across London.
Eleven cyclists from the team have already raised nearly £3,000 for the Felix Project, supporting their mission to fight hunger and reduce food waste across London. As the Felix Project themselves put it: "The fundraising by Team PG is helping ensure that good food reaches people who need it most, while also reducing unnecessary food waste." If you’d like to support this fantastic cause, you can donate here.
There is no finer sight than to see all of your colleagues turn up ready to do something really hard and take on a big challenge together. On this particular day it was 6am on Sunday 21 June, and everyone had made it to Clapham Common in various combinations of cycling paraphernalia to take on the 80 or so kilometres of mostly closed roads down to Brighton on what promised to be a lovely sunny day. What could be nicer?
There is no finer sight than to see all of your colleagues turn up ready to do something really hard and take on a big challenge together.
Despite some having very early alarm calls to have already achieved this feat of making it to the start line, everyone was in buoyant mood for the team photo. All of us proudly donning the bright green branding of the Felix Project.
Anticipation for the day of the ride was piqued with much excitement to fever pitch ever since two of the team bravely announced that they would attempt the ride on a tandem. The tandem bicycle had been residing in the office for a couple of days, drumming up donations. It is a heavy, much battered means of convoy that by all accounts is in many ways unsuitable for this kind of challenge, but the whole team was behind this bold gesture and we had plans to take turns if things got too hard for Miguel and Tom during the ride.
We had agreed in advance to ride together for the first twenty miles or so, despite the various contraptions being suitable to much varying speeds and requiring vastly different power-to-weight differentials to go uphill. We were highly distinctive in our bright green garb, cycling at most times in a respectably tight pack, and everyone made it to the checkpoint apparently unscathed within a couple of hours. Light refreshments ensued, and a plan was made to split into two groups. We bade farewell to the “fast” group of riders, promising to “see you in Brighton” one way or the other.
Sure enough, the lead group completed the journey around midday, and Debbie even found time to do an interview with the local rag, where she did a great job highlighting the wonderful work of the Felix Project. You can find what Debbie had to say in this article: Thousands take part in London to Brighton charity bike ride
Meanwhile, the rest of us were taking a much-needed second refreshments stop and exchanging stories of extreme exertion and various pains that were now starting to set in. We were aware that Ditchling Beacon was coming soon, and we had largely all confirmed our individual strategies to “beat the beacon” in our own ways. Miraculously, our tandem pair were still going.
One way or another, we all reconvened at the top of the beacon with well-flushed features and breathing heavily under the hot sun. It was great to be on top of the Downs, knowing that if you are 'up' on a bicycle, the next bit must be 'down'. The ride down to Brighton is steep and fast, so we all galvanized each other one more time to take care so that we might all meet again on the beach.
And it was so! Everyone made it in one piece and by this point we had amassed quite a fan club, and several friends and family had joined us on the beach to celebrate. After nursing a few sore muscles and rehydrating, we clambered down to the water’s edge and into the sea for the Brighton team photo. Various onlookers found this quite amusing, and it became immediately apparent that actually being in the sea was by far the best way to celebrate, and much frolicking ensued. We eventually reconvened on dry land to regather our chattels from the day and we parted company in fine cheer.
On behalf of the whole team, huge thanks to the organisers in our office who made this possible for us. Plans are already afoot to take on the challenge again in even greater numbers next year!
Projective Group is opgericht in 2006 en is een toonaangevende consultancyorganisatie binnen de financiële dienstverlening.
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