18.09.2018

London to Brussels by bike

Brian Parker of UK rental company AFI has completed his charity ride from London to Brussels in three and a half days to raise money for Action Medical Research.

This is the second time he has participated in the annual Ziggurat bike ride event which is growing year by year. Last year he rode 280 miles to Paris and raised £5,000.
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Brian Parker of AFI on the road to Brussels to raise money for Action Medical Research

This year it was London to Brussels by way of Amsterdam – 320 miles in three and a half days with strong head and cross winds. He is hoping to raise even more money than last year for this highly worthy charity that supports hundreds of thousands of babies and children who are devastated by illnesses and disabilities, including the pioneering work on a polio vaccine.

The 55 participants in his group – two of which ended the ride in hospital - have raised £110,000 so far - with the donations links open until October 10th, so its not too late to give. www.action.org.uk/sponsor/bparker

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Steaming through town

The following are from his daily updates during last weeks ride:

Day 1. Cold start out of London and actually cold all the way, wind was cheeky in places. Great support and feed stop from Action Medical Research. Just over 3,000 feet climbed and 3,000 calories burned. Don’t forget you can still sponsor me, it all helps for little lives.

Day 2: - Hook of Holland, The Hague to Haarlem. 67 miles and 1,000 ft of climbing. Breezy day, warm. Averaged 16.4 mph. Today was mostly Coastal cycleways, quite narrow with two way traffic (bikes, pushchairs, runners) definitely had to keep your wits about you. Quick dash through The Hague which was interesting and onto Haarlem. Nice final stop for some much needed carbs (sat in square in the sun. Tomorrow’s the big day, 90 Miles, fairly flat into headwind all day. Dig in and a bit of resilience needed I reckon. Thanks for all sponsorship so far, it means a lot.

Day 3 - Haarlem to Breda. Set off refreshed but soon hit by the brutal headwinds and crosswinds which stayed with us for most of the 89 miles today. Really tough! Again great support and encouragement from everyone on the ride. The last two days are without incident with a few hospitalisations - thankfully only a broken and a fractured finger (for different people) again great support and banter.
Tomorrow sees us riding around 74 miles to the finish line in Brussels. One thing I would say is we need more construction contractors / principle contractors on this next year. If you are interested get in touch with Sarah Stevenson at Action Research Medical - We suffer so they don’t!

Day 4: -74 miles Breda to Brussels. Averaged 16.2 mph. Today was again a story of headwind and crosswinds - time to dig in and head down. Holland and Belgium is a beautiful area. Brilliant support and banter with awesome teamwork and encouragement from everyone. Now time for a bit of carb reloading. 320 miles done and completed for Action Research Medical
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Celebrating the arrival in Brussels

If you would like to support and help Brian raise money for Action Medical Research for Children please visit his sponsor page: www.action.org.uk/sponsor/bparker