Colleagues from Harrogate-based in-home display manufacturer Chameleon Technology are preparing to cycle Stage 1 of the Grand Départ for charity this Friday 20 June 2014.
Managing director and ‘tour leader’ Mike Woodall will guide a team of nine on the two-day, 191km journey from Leeds to Harrogate via Harewood, Otley, Ilkley, Skipton, Hawes, Leyburn, Masham and Ripon.
The group are hoping to raise £2,000 for Yorkshire Cancer Research, which aims to improve cancer outcomes across the county.
Jennifer Woodhall, Marketing Communications Manager at Chameleon Technology, said: We decided to cycle Stage 1 of the Grand Depart because we’re all very excited about the Tour coming to Yorkshire, especially as the Grand Départ will come so close to our office in Harrogate.
While we’re not all keen cyclists, several of the team are quite good at cycling and fairly fit, but everyone will find it difficult, especially tackling the four biggest climbs and riding so far on two consecutive days.
The team have been preparing by cycling in the Yorkshire Dales and cycling to the office as part of the Government’s Cycle to Work Scheme.
While the rest of the group are planning to take on the challenge riding traditional single-seater bikes, software engineer Ian Lovatt will travel the whole way on a tandem with his wife Jess.
Jennifer will support the team by driving a support vehicle, and the group will stay at a Youth Hostel in Hawes overnight.
Jennifer continued: We voted on which charity to support and felt that raising money for a Yorkshire-based charity was important. We have all been touched by cancer in some way and decided we wanted to support the great work Yorkshire Cancer Research does.
We were taken aback by the statistics that 249 people die of cancer in Yorkshire every week, and that survival rates are below the national average. It’s also great to know that the work carried out by Yorkshire Cancer Research benefits those in the rest of the UK and internationally too.
To sponsor the team, please visit www.justgiving.com/chameleontechnology.
For more information on Yorkshire Cancer Research, see www.ycr.org.uk
