It's almost time for Phase 2.....

In just over 36 hours 'Team Tahola' will execute phase 2 of our cycling for Bloodwise mission. This Sunday is Prudential RideLondon: the worlds greatest festival of cycling, 100 miles on closed roads with approximately 28,000 cyclists taking part. I spoke with a few of my team mates to see how they were feeling about the event on Sunday and this is what they had to say.......

Jason, is MD at Tahola and a self confessed data geek...'He just loves Data'

"With the Prudential Ride London 100 on Sunday I thought I should write a few words. For those that know me know that I am a bit of a data geek, therefore my preparation for the various cycling challenges we are undertaking this summer has been and will continue to be driven by data. EVERY ride I do I use a heart rate monitor and a GPS bike computer to capture the data which I then load into various applications. The main app for me is Trainingpeaks but I also share with Strava. The magic is in Trainingpeaks, it takes the data that my various devices. automatically upload to it and calculates various metrics. Below is a chart of my effort for this year:

I know there is a lot going on and I won’t bore you by attempting to explain all of it. The important bit is the shaded blue area. That represents my fitness.

So, what? I hear you shout! Well this chart actually gives me some confidence for the 100 miles I am to ride on Sunday.

Here is why:

• The red circle represents my fitness the day before to did Day 1 of London Revolution which was my first 100 mile ride. The score was 51.
• The Blue circle represents my fitness now. The score is 51.

So I can go into my challenge on Sunday with some confidence that the training I have done since May has maintained my fitness at a level I know will take me 100 miles".

I think one of the many great things about 'Team Tahola' and what we are doing is that we are all very different in our approach and as such have learnt a lot from each other along the way. I am certainly not a data geek, but I really admire Jason's attention to detail and that he is taking comfort from the evidence before him. The data speaks for itself and he knows he has maintained his fitness levels over the last few months and that is giving him the confidence he needs to go and smash the event on Sunday.

You can't argue with 'FACTS'....Go Jas, you're allllrigghhht!

Alex Hopkins, 'Speed Demon'

I also spoke to Alex, our youngest and probably speediest team member, who we recently cajoled into shaving all his hair off - he was rather reluctant at first, but we reassured him it would be ok and as a consequence he had a great donation response from his friends & colleagues who were very keen to see him without any hair, so he took the plunge and Alex, Nigel, Gareth and 'got bald' together and will continue to do so until our last event in September - London to Paris.

Alex commented, "I’ve always wanted to take on new challenges whilst raising money and spreading awareness for amazing charities such as Bloodwise. Doing these three events with 'Team Tahola' is the best possible way of doing this. We’ve had the opportunity to share experiences, good and bad, and now are doing everything we can to support this incredible charity, that means a lot to us all. With London Revolution complete and Prudential Ride 100 approaching we still have lots of work to smash our goal of £14000".

We all have different motivations for supporting Bloodwise and taking on these events this year, but we are doing it as a 'Team' and whilst we are raising money for an amazing cause it is also strengthening our relationships and bringing us closer together, everyone has got each other backs. It makes me feel rather emotional and I'm so glad I suggested the idea, it really does make all the hard work that has gone into it worthwhile.....so please keep donating, the support has been amazing, but we still have a way to go yet.

Please help us to make a difference and donate now

Thank you

Leigh