Riding for Barncancerfonden

Cycling from Italy to North Macedonia

This July, Kat (my wife) and I are heading off on a month-long cycling adventure.

We'll be cycling more than 2,000km from Italy to North Macedonia, crossing eight countries and climbing over 30,000 meters of elevation—the equivalent of climbing Everest more than three times.

To make things a little more challenging, we'll be completely self-supported. Everything we need for the journey will be carried on our bikes: tents, sleeping bags, clothes, tools, and, of course, coffee-making equipment (arguably the most important item of all).

While we're looking forward to the incredible places, people and experiences we'll encounter along the way, we're under no illusions about the challenge ahead: Long days in the saddle, steep climbs and Mediterranean summer temperatures will undoubtedly test us at times.

With that in mind, we'd love to use this adventure to raise money for two charities that mean a great deal to us.

Barncancerfonden funds vital research into childhood cancer, helping to develop treatments that are more effective against cancer while being kinder to children. They also provide invaluable support to affected families and childhood cancer survivors across Sweden. This charity was chosen by an inspirational colleague of mine who is currently facing his own battle with cancer, making this cause especially close to our hearts. He chose this charity, because as he put it, having faced this grueling treatment myself, no child should ever have to go through this.

Transaid is a charity I previously worked for and continue to admire. They provide sustainable transport solutions that help save lives in some of the world's most underserved communities. Our specific goal is to raise enough money to fund a bicycle ambulance—an innovation that can mean the difference between life and death when healthcare facilities are many miles away. In a recent example from Zambia, a volunteer rider used a bicycle ambulance to transport a mother and her daughter to urgent medical care when the child developed severe malaria symptoms, helping to save her life. Our Transaid target is £600, which reflects the cost of a bicycle ambulance, but of course if we could raise enough for two even better.

If you're able to support either of these causes, we would be incredibly grateful. Please donate to whichever charity resonates most with you. Every pound, krone, euro, dollar, etc will go directly to the charities—we are funding the trip entirely ourselves.

Whether you choose to donate, share the page, or simply cheer us on from afar, thank you for your support. Knowing that this challenge is helping make a difference will provide plenty of motivation when we're grinding our way up the next gravel ascent. Or ran out of coffee and need to cycle without it.

Please Note: You can only donate to Barncancerfonden via this page, but please let me know if you need the donation link for Transaid.