On 'Yer Bike: August Bank Holiday Charity Challenge

May 14, 2004 -- Action 100 Bike Ride aiming to top last year's success.

Charity Challenge: Time to Get Fit for the August Bank Holiday.

Leading charity Action Medical Research is appealing for riders to take part in its 23rd annual bike ride from Bath and Bristol, through the heart of the region, to London on Sunday 29 August, 2004. The charity aims to top last year's numbers: 323 cyclists raised over £40,000.

The Action 100 bike ride challenges ordinary cyclists who are prepared to cycle 100 miles for Action Medical Research. Starting in Bristol or Bath, cyclists have all day to complete the ride on which they are fully supported with plenty of refreshment stops, a pub lunch at Theale, and hot showers and beer available at the finish in Chobham. St John Ambulance and Avon Valley Cyclery (for bike repairs) patrol the route to support riders. Return transport to Bristol and Bath is provided for both cyclists and their bikes.

"It's a very personal event, held on the road, and attracts people wanting a personal challenge – perhaps meeting their own best time, or simply challenging themselves to see if they can do it. Because it's friendly and split into stages, there's a real sense of motivation and achievement," said Richard Westropp, Chairman of the volunteer organising group for Action Medical Research.

The ride was originally designed to persuade 100 riders to raise £100 each for the charity, which uniquely funds medical research projects at the point of breakthrough. The ride has since developed into a major annual event in the South, attracting more than three times as many riders, and the average funds raised per rider is steadily increasing too.

Marlborough is one of the first places that the ride will pass through as cyclists make their way along the A4, passing through Newbury ahead of their lunch break in Theale (Reading). Windsor is the last major landmark that the cyclists will pass through as they make their way along the A4. They will end up at the rugby club in Chobham, where the bar will be open all afternoon.

Anyone wishing to take part in the Action 100 Bike ride on Sunday August 29 should contact Roy Clarke on 0117 970 6348 or visit www.action100ride.org.uk.

A leading national charity, Action Medical Research is improving the health and quality of life of everyone through its medical breakthroughs.

The Charity was founded in 1952 as the National Fund for Poliomyelitis Research, in response to the polio epidemic that was sweeping the country at that time. In the intervening years we changed our name to Action Research and have made breakthroughs in numerous other disabling diseases and conditions. We became known as Action Medical Research in September 2003.

Our support has been crucial in the development of life-saving polio and rubella vaccines, the artificial hip operation, ultrasound scanning in pregnancy, new treatments for epilepsy, and discovering the link between taking folic acid and preventing spina bifida.

Action Medical Research is currently looking for answers to a wide range of medical problems that affect all age groups. These include research into premature birth problems, pre-eclampsia, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, stroke, dyspraxia, Parkinson's disease and osteoporosis. www.action.org.uk

For more information regarding the charity please contact Rob Orme rorme@action.org.uk the Action Medical Research press office on 01403 327404.

Please contact Jennifer Reid at Action Medical Research on 0117 9724 772 or email on jreid@action.org.uk for further information regarding the ride.






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