Martyn Hunt, (Inventory Controller), Rob Arrowsmith (Competence and Compliance Manager), Luke Mardellis (Innovation Analyst), Roman Lagowski (Universal Distillation Operator), Stephanie Hudson (Assistant Software Developer), Ken Ferguson (Health and Safety Manager), Bruce Sinclair (Engineering and Site Services Manager), Louise Barnard (Production Team Leader) and Kevin Martin (Process Development Manager) will be taking on the 100-mile Prudential RideLondon on the 4th August. Prudential RideLondon was set up by the Mayor of London, London & Partners and Transport for London in partnership with Surrey County Council. The route will be traffic-free through the roads of London and Surrey, with an expectation of around 100,000 cyclists participating over the weekend. The Treatt team are looking to raise £4,000 for Mind.
Bruce comments, “Having been involved with Mind for the last couple of years I can think of no better charity that does so much to support those facing mental health issues in our community. The support and advice I have received from Minds community fundraising team has been essential to our previous fundraising for cycling success. Their commitment and engagement with their fundraisers is astonishing. Those I’ve met that have benefited from their support can’t praise them enough for helping them to improve their mental health. So, I’m donning the lycra and pedalling with determination to take part in RideLondon.”
We spoke with Steph and Bruce about their commitment to the Prudential RideLondon.
Why did you sign up for the Prudential Ride London?
Steph - “I started running three years ago to improve my fitness. It slowly escalated from trying to run parkrun without stopping to running half marathons, biking, attending Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and wrestling classes. I believe we should all lead active lives because of the benefit to our mental and physical health. I try to lead by example to my own children, who also participate in multiple sports. As an advocate of physical and mental health, it is therefore great to be able to raise money for a mental health charity while taking care of my own mental and physical health.”
Bruce - “I’ve spent the last three years supporting my cycling colleagues in their bid to raise money for charity through endurance cycle rides. I’ve done everything: logistics, medic, mechanic, route planning, chef, driver, media relations, fundraising, training plans and even accounting; everything except the cycling itself. I decided it was finally time to get out from behind the scenes and experience exactly what it takes to push yourself beyond your own limits for a great cause. I also saw an opportunity to take all that I have learned over the last three years and use it to help others fulfil their ambition in entering RideLondon 2019.”
Have you any cycling experience? How much training have you done?
Bruce – “I only started riding a road bike in late 2017, but before that, I have years of mountain biking experience. I’ve been training since the start of the year, and so far, I have put in over 1,000 miles. I’ve been trying to get out three times a week, steadily increasing the distance up from 15 miles to 75 miles. You can’t train to ride a long distance, by riding a long distance, you have to ride shorter distances harder and faster to build the stamina for an endurance ride. I rode a couple of 100-mile routes last year, but it took me a while to recover afterwards.”
Steph – “Over the winter I got up to 28-mile mountain bike rides in the forest. However, I am currently coming back from a knee injury and did my first 90-minute cycle on a turbo trainer this weekend.”
What will be the biggest challenge?
Steph - “As I am currently on a running and martial arts ban with my knee injury this has had a significant impact on my general fitness.”
Bruce - “For me, the greatest challenge will be the hills. I’m not a particularly strong cyclist, I find I have to sit in a low gear and spin up the gradients. The RideLondon Route has nearly 6,000ft of ascent mostly crammed into a 30-mile section between mile 40 and mile 70. The thought of having to cover the final 30 miles after the hills is quite daunting.”
To keep up with their journey, you can follow their Facebook page or to help with their donations please visit Virgin Money.