Team Auditel take on the Great British Bike Ride

Press release date: 17-Jun-2011

The Great British Bike Ride in 2011 will be staged from Land’s End to Twickenham Stadium in early July. This five-day ride is designed for all cycling enthusiasts, sportsmen and women who want to take on a real challenge and at the same time, raise some much-appreciated funds for highly deserving charities.

Team Auditel, consisting of six intrepid Auditel consultants plus their Recruitment Director, will be taking part in this year’s gruelling ride. All six team members will be cycling the 350 miles from Land’s End to Twickenham Stadium over 5 days and, hopefully, raising at least £10,000 for Auditel’s chosen charity, Help for Heroes. With an average of 70 miles to cover on each day of the ride, Team Auditel started training in October last year and the team has already covered thousands of miles. Any donation small or large will be much appreciated and a step closer to their target. http://www.justgiving.com/teams/team-auditel.

Team member Adrian Burton says: “Nearing the landmark of 50 years old, I was spurred on to take part by my old boss, who did his first marathon at this age. Firstly, it has given me the motivation to get fit, and as the old saying goes,’ healthy body – healthy mind’ or something like that! It is also for a great cause - Help for Heroes charity. I purchased my first road bike in November of last year to begin the training. I am now up to 100 miles a week with many hours of training still ahead. We have a target to raise £10,000 this year and this is just one way by which we hope to achieve our goal.”

Another team member, Steve Ray comments: "Prior to my training, the last time I had ridden a bike was when I delivered a Sunday newspaper. My first session was the walk from the car park to the bike shop - I lost over 800 pounds! The second was a 5-mile ride during which I thought that this is never going to happen! Now I see little point on getting the bike out unless I'm going to ride 25/30 miles.”

“It has been a pleasure to be part of Team Auditel in this year’s GBBR 2011”, says another member Laurence Fitch. “Our team is made up of some of the brightest lights in the Auditel network. I am confident that we will achieve our target of raising in excess of £5k for Help for Heroes. When I completed last year’s GBBR I vowed never to cycle again.  Ten minutes later, I had the privilege to meet some of the guys who have benefited from Help for Heroes. I understood just how much this wonderful charity helps those who need it most – needless to say my mindset was changed forever.”
 
“At the start, I never thought we would make it this far. Our team riders fell off their bikes whilst still in sight of the cycle shop and most hadn’t ridden a bike since they owned a Raleigh Chopper in the 1970’s. Six months and nearly 8,000 training miles later we have seven riders who through dogged determination are capable of taking on this challenge and raising several thousand pounds for Help for Heroes at the same time – go Team Auditel”

Finally, a word of warning from the organisers: The GBBR is a 'Real Challenge', so be warned. Only the best survive Day One!  We trust that Team Auditel survives…!