Calling all Football Clubs, Academies and Sporting Charities!

I am happy to announce that i have been having some great success with a few establishments associated with football that have kindly offered their hospitality in making "A ride for their lives" a success.

My aim is to document how football culture changes and the different ways it is used throughout my journey in all walks of life. In addition to the kind offer from FC Zurich as previously posted i have confirmed to meet the kind people of SCORT a charity based in Basel (dates TBC) and a charity called Moving the Goalposts based in Kenya.

My chosen charities of the Saints Foundation and Kick 4 Life do similar work to these two charities and i just can not wait to visit as many possible. If you know of any more that are near to my route shown, then please do not hesitate to contact me. The more people i visit, the more you'll see and the more we'll learn!

Please find the links to all the charities mentioned below, and also a cheeky little picture of me looking like i'm coaching!

Cheers

http://www.mtgk.org/
http://scort-blog.ch/blog/
http://kick4life.org/
http://www.saintsfoundation.co.uk/

At last a positive response!

The last month has consisted of me e-mailing various companies, schools, radio stations, travelers and football clubs for a range of different reasons from sponsorship to advice. I know e-mails can be easily deleted and for this reason aren't the best way to get what you want but when you have so much to ask there really is no other option.

No reply is worst than a reply saying no and i have had hardly any of those either but i would like to give thanks to Jessica Wedenig from FC Zurich who has agreed a visit to the professional Swiss Football Club. This is a great step in the right direction and a further incentive to pursue my "maybe" idea of visiting professional football clubs along the way to see how the world of football changes in the 20 different countries i'm visiting.

                              

Got to love the Swiss, see you soon lads!

Spreading the word!

As hard work has changed its focus from planning the route to spreading the word i am happy to share the short but to the point video on why i'm doing this ride. In no way am i thinking i will obtain fame and fortune from this adventure as previous adventurer's have. If i were to think that then i would very much mistaken and surely i'm sacrificing far too much for a little fame!

I'm doing this for two main reasons:

1. Both charities. Kick 4 Life and the Saints foundation are both great charities that use football in great ways  to connect with a range of different people with a range of different needs. I will use this same love for football to help connect myself with all the different people that i meet so i will be travelling alone but just meeting friends to be along the way.

2. My own personal dream. I consider myself very lucky that i have realised what i want to do in life. The line of work that i love, and the things i love doing. This ride combines all of that. All the ingredients that are involved in such a ride like this, the mental challenge, the physical challenge, the dangers, the rewards the skills needed to make the ride a success have consumed me and will do until i complete it. I just can't wait to get out there!

I know a having dream can catch you unawares and planning/safety precautions can sometimes fall by the wayside but be sure this is not the case. I will be prepared for what one can prepare for and the rest, well thats the adventure!

Please spread the word and share my video, all your support really does make a difference, many thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l96KsF8VRtE

Getting the ball rolling

As twitter and facebook accounts are slowly building with followers and likes for those of you that know me well, the next step has to be a video!

Saints Foundation have kindly donated their time to help produce a great short video which will hopefully help you all realise the shear magnitude of this challenge, understand my plans alot more and lets face it, its alot more interesting to watch a video then have to read about me ramble on!

So watch this space! The video will hopefully be all sorted within the month of march and then you can send the link to all your friends and we can start raising some money together!

A Ride for their Lives

Hello my name is Chris Harding and welcome to my cycling blog. I have set this page up to hopefully give friends and family and anyone else who is interested a running commentary on my whereabouts and experiences throughout my journey.

In the summer of 2013 I will be embarking on a 10,000 mile cycle tour from Southampton UK to Lesotho in South Africa, cycling through 20 different countries.

This idea has come about after completing a length of Britain tour and still loving life on a saddle I immediately felt I had to do something bigger, more adventurous and for a cause. As lots of ideas flew through my mind I remembered a charity called Kick4Life that combine my love for football with saving lives by making people aware of HIV in a country called Lesotho in South Africa. This is where my final destination idea came from. Alongside this, as a football coach myself working for Saints Foundation, at Southampton F.C, I decided I would also like to also support their work, which in many similar ways to Kick4Life, uses football as a communication tool with local children, teenagers and young adults to improve their quality of life in the city, with this synergy I thought this would be a great next challenge for two great charities.