Hundreds gear up for Brighton cancer charity ride

Hundreds of cyclists are expected to ride thousands of miles at the weekend – all without leaving the Brighton Centre.

They will be taking part in the Ride of Hope 3, a charity cycling and rowing event organised by a personal trainer from Hove.

The aim is for about a thousand people to take part over 12 hours of riding 125 indoor bikes, 25 krankcycles – arm-driven exercise bikes – and 25 rowing machines.

The event, on Saturday (10 August), has been organised by Rick Goodchild, 40, from Hangleton.

Mr Goodchild works as a personal trainer for Metabolic Solution in Portslade but his reason for organising Saturday’s event are personal – he lost his father to a brain tumour in 1990.

He hopes that those taking part will raise £25,000 for Cancer Research UK. His previous events raised £18,000 for the charity.

Those taking part include the able-bodied, wheelchair users and people with prosthetic limbs and spinal disabilities. It is believed to be the first time that such an event has been held in Britain.

Mr Goodchild said: “After seeing so many people around me affected by cancer, I felt I needed to do something.

“In 2011, a good friend, Erik Mulder, asked me to donate to an event he was organising for cancer research.

“I offered to either donate £50 or take that £50 and turn it into £5,000. The inaugural Ride of Hope raised £6,500. Ride of Hope 2 was set up to raise £10,000 and we managed £11,500.

“This is only the beginning as the plans I have for this event are to take it global and raise enough money so the scientists, who work tirelessly searching for cures for the various forms of the disease, can make a difference.”

The ride will take the form of 12 individual 50-minute rides led by qualified, experienced and motivating fitness professionals, including Graham Burns, Britain’s first wheelchair-based indoor cycle instructor.

He said that each ride would be to an eclectic mix of music and film to inspire and motivate those taking part.

Videos ranging from the mountains of Maui to images of real-life heroes will be shown on a huge screen while other screens will show the heart rates of people taking part.

The Ride of Hope 3 will run from 9am to 9pm and is open to all. Participants can ride for as long as they want, from one ride to all 12. There is a sliding scale of entrance fees.

Businesses are being encouraged to advertise on closed circuit screens at the ride. All fees from the advertising will go to CRUK.

For more details visit www.therideofhope.com or email therideofhope@gmail.com.