This Monday, the Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) Country 2 Country 4 Cancer (C2C4C) bike ride set off for another year. It's a pan-European bike ride involving six country teams across Europe, and the last stretch from Tours in France back to the BMS London offices will comprise eight members from the UK team. Their efforts in this final stage will raise funds on behalf of Cancer52 for people with rare and less common cancers. We're very excited that this important event is beginning again as last year’s successful ride raised a grand total of £14,000 for Cancer52.
This year, the ride will cover more than 3,000km in total, with each of the six teams passing the baton on after their leg of the journey. Each stage covers at least 400km, requiring all the riders to pedal at least 100km each day. The entire route stretches from Germany, through Switzerland, Italy, Spain and France to end in the UK on 27 September. Over 80 riders will be taking part in the race altogether.
Meet some of the UK team
As the UK riders spend their last few weeks before their leg of the race squeezing in some final training, we meet two of the BMS employees who form part of the team.
Dan Levine says he is a new convert to Lycra and skinny wheels but has loved his time getting into the training and also had the pleasure of undertaking it in beautiful West Cornwall where he is from. He is embracing the new challenge with open arms and enthusiasm but will be taking care on the downhills following a recent collision with a pothole at 40mph!
Joanne McCoubrey is excited to be rising to the challenge and, as a lover of the Loire Valley, can’t wait for this section of the ride in particular. While she is looking forward to working as a team and completing the challenge, the tiredness and sore legs are something she isn’t so excited about!
Neither rider has ridden a road bike nor done a charity bike ride before but both are relishing the chance to challenge themselves. From speaking with them we know they will be excellent additions to the UK team and wish them all the luck with their rides!
To pledge your support to help people with rare and less common cancers, please visit the C2C4C FundRazr page.
We hope you will join us in wishing good luck to all the riders taking part and if you want to keep up to date with their progress, make sure you follow us on Twitter.
Finally, huge thanks from the Cancer52 team to all riders in the BMS UK team, and the teams at BMS who organised a great Family Day on 31 August to help raise funds for us.