1,100 miles, 11 riders, two weeks – this year’s epic Life Cycle challenge gets underway on Monday (19 August).
The ride starts on the University’s Jubilee Campus – fittingly, the former home of Raleigh Cycles – and finishes in style at University Park on Sunday 1 September, taking in Edinburgh, Belfast, Dublin, Cardiff and London along the way.
And everyone can get involved in the challenge – whatever their age or fitness – with a range of fun events, including a celebratory community open day and the chance to join the riders for the final leg on 1 September.
Join in
There are three ways to join in the Life Cycle challenge and help to raise funds for stroke rehabilitation research:
- Nottingham Leg Ride: keen cyclists can join the final 55 miles of the ride alongside the team from Nevill Holt in Leicestershire through to University Park
- Community Life Cycle: a family-friendly route along Nottingham’s Big Track, starting and ending at Lakeside Arts Centre on University Park
- Community day: come along to cheer the riders over the finish line and enjoy a barbecue, bike-related challenges and live music
For more information about all of the ways you can get involved, visit http://nott.ac.uk/cycle.
Nevill Holt to University Park
Vice Chancellor Professor David Greenaway – a veteran of two previous Life Cycles – and three of his fellow riders have used the final leg from Nevill Holt to University Park in their training.
He said: “Together with Karen Cox, Marion Walker and Steve Wright, I have also tried out the final leg of Life Cycle 3 from Nevill Holt to Nottingham. For those leg riders who will join us on that day, it will be a good challenge, but on a very scenic route.”
Stroke rehabilitation research
But the hard work and saddle soreness is all in aid of a good cause – stroke rehabilitation research.
Prof Greenaway said: “Stroke mortality rates are high; it is the third biggest cause of death in the UK. That said, earlier intervention means more people are surviving a stroke, which is obviously a good thing. But it brings a challenge, more demands for rehabilitation to deal with deficits and disabilities. So we need more research to help improve the quality of life of stroke survivors and their carers.”
And this year’s cause has already struck a chord as the riders have combined to raise over £200,000 towards their £300,000 target. The team can be sponsored online.
Back in the saddle
Even though he’s a veteran of two previous Life Cycles, Prof Greenaway says the challenges don’t get any easier.
He said: “Psychologically, it does help to have cycled over 1,000 miles , in that you have some sense of what is coming. But physically it most certainly does not get any easier; partly because 14 consecutive days in the saddle, with most days being 80-90 miles, takes its toll. And partly because I’m not getting any younger!”
Meet the riders
Prof Greenaway is joined by 10 other volunteer cyclists from across the University’s three campuses:
- Karen Cox (Deputy Vice-Chancellor)
- Penelope Griffin (Head of Widening Participation)
- Nick Miles (University of Nottingham Ningbo China)
- Andy Noyes (School of Education)
- Kate Robertson (Campaign and Alumni Relations Office)
- Chris Rudd (Pro-Vice Chancellor)
- Marion Walker (Stroke Rehabilitation)
- Steve Walton (University Council Member)
- Steve Wright (University Chauffer)
- Neville Wylie (University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus)
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Notes to editors: The University of Nottinghamhas 42,000 students at award-winning campuses in the United Kingdom, China and Malaysia. It was ‘one of the first to embrace a truly international approach to higher education’, according to the Sunday Times University Guide 2013. It is also one of the most popular universities among graduate employers, one of the world’s greenest universities, and winner of the Times Higher Education Award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development’. It is ranked in the UK’s Top 10 and the World’s Top 75 universities by the Shanghai Jiao Tong and the QS World Rankings.
More than 90 per cent of research at The University of Nottingham is of international quality, according to the most recent Research Assessment Exercise. The University aims to be recognised around the world for its signature contributions, especially in global food security, energy & sustainability, and health. The University won a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education for its research into global food security.
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