---json
{
  "title": "Finishing up my summer of fundraising",
  "date": "2024-10-01T20:19:04.050Z",
  "tags": [
    "cycling",
    "fundraising",
    "BikeTooter"
  ],
  "excerpt": "As I've mentioned before, I spent the summer raising money for Cyclists Fighting Cancer. This past weekend I did the final event, a 245km hilly ride."
}
---

As I've [mentioned before](/post/fundraising-for-cyclists-fighting-cancer-in-2024/), I spent the summer raising money for Cyclists Fighting Cancer. This past weekend I did the final event, a 245km hilly ride.

The event was actually ran by [Cyclists Fighting Cancer](https://cyclistsfc.org.uk/), around 20 riders RSVP'd to the event on Strava, but in the end just 8 of us were there on the day, most likely due to the weather combined with the sheer distance.

The ride was _brutal_. We covered well over twice the elevation of any ride I'd done before, with over 2300m in elevation gain, most of it front-loaded. The climbs themselves weren't so bad, most of them around 4% gradient. The one exception was the short-but-steep climb up to Macclesfield Forest, which averaged around 12%.

Mostly the ride went smoothly, thankfully we had a support car that was well-stocked with sweets, pastries, cans of coke, and spare clothes, so we were well-fed. Of course, as we approached sunset and it started to get cold, the heavens opened and we spent the last 50km getting utterly soaked.

I ended the ride at a turnoff shortly before the end of the loop to go home, at which point I got my first puncture in around a year. It was dark and rainy, so instead of repairing it I hid in a bus shelter and waiting for my Dad to come and pick me up[^1].

## The fundraising

Originally, I set out to cover 1600km over summer, and to raise £300. In the end, I actually rode well over 2500km and raised £390! So I'm really happy with that, Cyclists Fighting Cancer is a great cause, and I had a lot of fun doing it.

If you read this and feel like giving any money to them, you can either donate directly on [their website](https://cyclistsfc.org.uk/), or on [JustGiving](https://www.justgiving.com/page/teamcfc150forseptember).

[^1]: It doesn't matter how old I get, I'm always going to call my Dad when I'm in a bind