Beginner cyclists tackle London to Paris ride in aid of melanoma charity

Tuesday 09 May 2017

Four newbie cyclists will be cycling from London to Paris this summer in a bid to raise awareness, and at least £5,000, for the Donna Annand Melanoma Charity.

Lucy Falle (34) convinced Alice Ibitson (28), Gemma Carre (28) and Carly Ball (34) to take part in the cycling challenge, even though none of them had ridden a mountain bike before they started training for the 278 miles they will have to cover in four days.

Lucy had the initial thought for the challenge back in October last year. After setting up the K9 Wellness Centre, which just celebrated its first year, with the help of the girls, she didn't want to "get bored with her time." It took a lot of convincing, "...weeks if not months" says Lucy, to get all three of them on board as they are all novice cyclists. However, they quickly rallied when it was decided they would cycle for the Donna Annand Melanoma Charity.

Lucy explains: "My father had a cancerous melanoma removed in January. He built the centre and he gets on very well with all my friends so it hit us all a little bit. All of the girls have had family members or friends that went through similar things so the Donna Annand Melanoma Charity is a cause that is really close to us all." 

Gemma adds: "It is such a relevant charity to Jersey and it is a good one to support as absolutely everyone can use it. We wanted to support a local charity to benefit our Island in what we are doing and so that people could get behind us. Skin cancer is on such an increase and we all know people that have been affected and Alice was a next-door neighbour to Donna." 

The girls originally thought about a running challenge but quickly gave up the idea as it wasn't really for them. They settled on cycling and have recently started training, without any professional help. Lucy says: "The training has only just begun,  we are on the very early days and it’s been quite amusing. That was the whole point, to have a bit of fun as a group of friends while doing something for a really worthwhile charity."

"We are making progress," shares Gemma. "We have done a few rides together and then by ourselves, after work. We all have turbo trainers at home and we have planned to have a movie night and bring all of them to one of our houses to cycle in front of the TV. We are slowly building up the miles but we are nowhere near what we need to be doing. We still have a long way to go, especially to get used to sitting on the saddle for so long and also to the clip-on shoes. That has been a challenge in itself!"  

The quartet will leave London on 23 August. They will have to cycle between 68 and 100 miles a day to cover the 278 miles separating them from Paris where their partners will be waiting for them - "I haven't ridden 278 miles yet this year!" confesses Gemma. Lucy adds: "I hope there are a lot of straight roads in France. People have offered us their dogs to pull us, we will be taking them up on that!."

They will not be cycling on their own though. They have signed up with an organised company that will provide mechanical support and should be accompanied with about 100 other cyclists from all over the UK, which is an exciting perspective for Gemma. "I am looking forward to meeting all those different people who are on their own journey doing it."

Even if the challenge feels very daunting to all of them, the girls have decided to adopt a positive attitude on the experience. Gemma explains: "We are looking at it as an adventure. It will be such a great achievement, even though getting up the second day will be hard. So far I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would. It helps balancing the nerves of what I am actually doing!"

Lucy adds: "I have friends in the UK that have died of different types of cancer before they were even 32. They suffered for years and they went through so many types of treatment. What is it if I am in a bit of pain on a bike and struggling to get from here to there? That’s nothing compared to what they are going through."

On top of the physical challenge, the girls have aimed to raise at least £5,000 for the charity. So far, they have raised 25% of the amount but to hit their target, they have planned a series of events in the coming weeks with the help of the Donna Annand Melanoma Charity. They were recently at the boat show and have organised a pub quiz on 19 May as well as a sponsored dog walk on 4 June. They will also be at the Milbrook car boot sale on 11 June and will hold a raffle in the weeks leading to their departure.

Lucy explains: "The more we raise, the better because the charity does so much. As they are quite small, they don’t get a lot of the funding some of the better-known charities get. We also hope to raise awareness. We are all from Jersey except for one and there are so many people around us that we would like to tell about the mole clinics. We want them to know it is there. It's all about catching things early."