It’s that time of the year again where I get ready to ride across Britain at the side of a rickshaw. The One Show’s Rickshaw Challenge 2017 will start on November 9, following a route that – for the first time since it started in 2011 – will finish in Scotland.
This year the route will start in the south and head north, with two full days in Scotland before finishing in Glasgow on November 17. On its way the rickshaw convoy will travel over 500 miles and hopefully raise a lot of money for Children in Need. In the last seven years the challenge has raised over £16 million and aims to take that total over £20 million this year.
This is the fifth year I’ve been involved and I’m so excited to take part again; as well as being great fun, it’s a very humbling and emotional experience. My first involvement was in 2013 when a colleague and I rode the Rickshaw route, from the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland to London, prior to the event itself. Since then I have done a recce of each year’s route before the event, but in 2015 I was asked to also be part of the live event – obviously I jumped at the opportunity.
The route for 2017 is tough, perhaps one of the toughest yet. It heads from London up towards Banbury, Manchester, Morecambe and if that isn’t enough, it then heads through the heart of the Lake District passing Windermere and Ullswater on its way. From there we will spend one last night in Penrith before heading into Scotland and stopping in Hawick. The last two stages see us turning west and travelling to Glasgow through the central belt.
Throw in some November weather and the young people who will be riding the rickshaw have a tough challenge ahead of them. Each of the six members of Team Rickshaw have benefited from the support of Children in Need over the past few years and each has a particular personal challenge to face as well as the obvious physical challenge that awaits them on the road.
In previous years the riders have had the whole support team in tears as they describe the adversities and challenges they face in their daily lives. It is no exaggeration to say that these stories capture the imagination of the public and thousands of supporters now line the roads to cheer them along on their journey.
I’m particularly excited about heading through the Borders and up towards Edinburgh and then Glasgow and expect to see crowds cheering us along the way. If you want to follow the route of the Rickshaw or come out and support us on the road you can find out where we are using live GPS tracking.
If you aren’t able to come along and see us, then don’t forget to watch on the One Show every night from November 9-17. You can also get involved by riding a Virtual Rickshaw Route, clocking up the miles you have done and trying to match the Rickshaw with as many miles as you can ride.
Join the Blazing Saddles Strava Club at: www.strava.com/clubs/BlazingSaddlesWeekendCourier
Where to Find the Rickshaw 2017 Visit Pudsey.viewranger.com/ to follow a live GPS track of where the Rickshaw is.
Take part in the Virtual Rickshaw Challenge: set your target, clock up your miles and raise money by visiting rickshaw.bbcchildreninneed.co.uk/
