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London to Amsterdam Day 1

Day 1 of London to Amsterdam is finally here. It is currently 3:45am and I've just made myself a cup of horrendous hotel coffee to wash down the Belvita breakfast bar and banana. I do wonder if there is a 24 hour Starbucks around but then again, doubt the coffee would be much better than the swill I'm drinking now.

I have managed to get about 6 hours' sleep following an easy night last night where I had dinner with a few of the others doing the challenge. Given how bad the weather has been there is a little apprehension all round on the amount of training we've all done. I'm not sure what dragged me out of my sleep but it ended up with me repacking my bag!

What am I doing?

I guess I should start at the beginning. Back in 2017 I did a lot of "smaller" rides raising money for Meningitis Now, which were spread out across the year. Since then (and another child later) I determined that I would be better trying something a little more challenging and something that could be done in one go. With a busy job, the preschool committee and a small matter of 3 kids to look after, Lands End to John O'Groates was going to be a step too far, so I landed on London to Amsterdam. What better place to finish than the cycling capital of the World!
So over the next 4 days I will be cycling approx. 360 miles, across 4 countries to raise money for Molly Olly's Wishes.

Who are Molly Olly's Wishes?


This charity is one you may not have come across before. Based in Warwickshire, it was started by Rachel and Tim Ollerenshaw following the death of their daughter, Molly, who lost her battle against a Wilms tumour aged 8.
Now the charity go huge distances to support children between 0-18 who have terminal illnesses by granting "wishes", providing family support, supply emotional well-being material including 'Olly the Brave' for hospitals (which are donated for free on request from the hospital) as well as having completely funded a pallative care nurse at Birmingham Hospital.



I was introduced to Molly Olly's through work. REPL Group have been a strong advocate for the charity over many years and all of our social events raise money for Molly Olly's in one way or another (be that through volunteering of time, building apps for auctions or just good old fashioned donations).
You can find a load more info on Molly Olly's and the work they do on their website http://www.mollyolly.co.uk

What's in store today?

So back to today.  Following registration at 6:15am, today will be the toughest day in the saddle as we drag ourselves from Crystal Palace to Dover where we catch the ferry to Calais. 88 miles and 1,231 metres of climbing  in what looks like to be typical British summer weather of rain with spots of thunder. Joy! But here we go, kit is ready, bike is ready, let's smash this.



I'll be updating this blog with some photos and videos as we go through the next few days.
Please remember that you can still donate on my JustGiving page http://www.justgiving.com/Matt-Rose15?utm_id=121


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