MoD Information

Pedal to Lausanne (UPDATE 4/4/03)

Tue, March 25, 2003

Source: Paul Harding

The Royal British Legion’s Bike Ride to Lausanne - May 2003

 

I usually ride my bike in The Royal British Legion’s Bike to Brussels in June, and their Pedal to Paris in September. B2B is 300 km; P2P is 450. This year however, with much assistance (and no doubt, some strong persuasion) from the Swiss Tourist Board, they’ve arranged a slightly more arduous adventure; London to Lausanne, in May - 1,006 km over 8 days - for 60 cyclists. Always looking for a challenge, I’ve signed up, and have some serious training to do – and a £1,000 sponsorship target to beat.

 

One of the good things about training for a cycle ride is you get to appreciate a lot more scenery than say, when you’re jogging. Especially with a bike like mine – a recumbent; almost a deck chair with wheels. Not that I have an easy ride – I’ll fly a Union Flag on my bike which tops 9 feet from the ground - a drag factor of about 5 to 10%. It’s just one of those things I do, with the fond hope it’ll help me reach that sponsorship target - it’s for The Royal British Legion’s Poppy Appeal, after all. The small picture above shows me more or less at the front of 2001’s ride into Paris. Notice that the Gendarme had stopped the traffic at the Arc de Triumphe especially for us. No telling what we’ll be met with, in Lausanne.

 

Anyway, whilst on a training ride recently, I wondered how I could reach the generous hearts and minds of my neighbours (and those not so near) that I pass whilst training on my bike – or indeed, that I meet in the street. There’d be no way I’d manage to get a telly slot; I doubt if radio would get the message across, and I’ve tried the local papers before, and got zip. I could do some doorstop canvassing, but I’ve never done it before and I imagine it must be worse than doing one of those charity envelope collections. So I’m trying the hand delivered, letter-what-I-wrote method, and am even sending it over the Internet! I hope you don’t mind, and are feeling generous at the moment. If you have ever raised sponsorship like this yourself – marathon running for example, or mud wrestling – you would know that actually getting the money in always makes the event itself seem like a piece of cake. So, assuming you think the Poppy Appeal is a worthy cause, I will really appreciate your pledging as much – or as little - as you can for my entry in the ‘London to Lausanne’. If you would like to place a sponsorship pledge, please email me at paul.harding@multiplex-uk.com. I hope you feel, as I do, that a £1,000 sponsorship target is a bit of a monster. 
 

Please feel assured that I will not bother you again if you simply ignore this letter. I get enough of the professionally produced variety myself, and realise one’s hard earned cash is - well, hard earned. So I ought to know better, you may think; this isn’t going to work, this house-to-house letter malarkey. But if you don’t ask, you certainly never get. And sometimes there’s a need that stirs one’s soul; being an ex-serviceman myself, I appreciate that I was lucky not to ever have need of The RBL. But, like every UK ex-serviceman – or woman - before (and indeed, after) me, if I ever did need them, I know I could call on the resources they have to help. So please dig deep, and help Britain’s primary ex-service charity to continue its work. Please visit www.britishlegion.org.uk if you’d like to know more.

 

UPDATE:

Dear Mike,

The Swiss have cancelled the ride to Lausanne!!! They say they wish to remain neutral in the current international situation! I'll paste in an email I've reeived from Russel Thomson, TRBL's main man, here;

Dear Cyclist
I very much regret to have to tell you that, after recent assessments of the current international situation, the decision has been taken, in conjunction with the Swiss Embassy, to postpone our London to Lausanne cycle rally this May.

I assure you it is with the greatest reluctance that this decision has been made. Please accept my sincere apologies for any personal disappointment, disruption and inconvenience caused by this. I am well aware of the extensive preparation and training many of you have already made.

Support for the event is strong and we, with the support of the Swiss Embassy, fully intend to run the event in its entirety over the same period in May 2004 and very much hope that you will join us then. We would be pleased to transfer your registration fee/deposit over to next year's ride. I would be grateful if you could let us know if this option is of interest.

However, if you prefer, we can offer you a full refund of your entry fee and, of course, any sums or deposits you have spent on additional flights and hotels for family and friends travelling to Lausanne.

Regarding any sponsorship funds you may have raised, these should be offered back to your sponsors. However, it may be that if you elect to take part in the event in 2004, your sponsors might be happy to transfer their donation.

Please contact either Rebecca Pride on 020 7973 7255 (email:rpride@britishlegion.org.uk) or Matt Taylor on 020 7973 7350 (email: mjtaylor@britishlegion.org.uk) to discuss your future plans for the ride or to request a refund.

Please be assured that much debate and discussion has taken place to enable us to come to this decision. Rebecca, Matt and I are very sorry to give you this news but assure you that your overall wellbeing was uppermost in our minds.

Yours sincerely
RUSSELL THOMPSON
Director of Fundraising and Marketing
So, I thought I'd best switch my plans to Bike to Brussels and Pedal to Paris, as I'm used to doing them and they're great fun, too. I will, of course, be doing L2L next year.

Would you please update my letter as attached?
Kind regards,
Paul Harding