Johnny’s 209-Mile Cycling Challenge For Charity

It wouldn’t be the first time a member of the Saturn Visual Solutions team has done something ridiculous in the name of charity, but our Head Of Design is taking it to a whole new level, literally.

Johnny Coates will be doing two one-day, long-distance bike challenges, and covering 209 miles within a week to raise money for two small charities.

Nello Century Cycle Challenge

To start with, Johnny will be taking part in the 100-mile Nello Century Cycle Challenge on Sunday 25^th June, which will begin in Exeter and will see him furiously pedalling around North Devon’s hills and valleys. The hills Johnny will by cycling when combined together, equate to a 6000 ft elevation gain, higher than the height of Ben Nevis (4,411 ft).

Dartmoor Classic

A week later, he’ll be heading to the Teign Estuary for the Dartmoor Classic cycling challenge, an even longer 109-mile route across the national park. Not only will it be further, but it’ll also have an elevation gain of 9200ft and punishing uphill gradients of as much as 20%.

Combined distance and elevation

The combined hill climbs for both one-day challenges will be 15,766 ft, almost the same height of Mont Blanc (15,780 ft), the highest mountain in Western Europe.

The combined distance will be further than the distance (by road) between Manchester and London, and the calories burned will be around 10,000 the equivalent of 25 x 12” pizzas.

The charities

Johnny is hoping to raise at least a total of £500 for Saturn Visual Solutions’ two charity partners.

Medicinema runs six cinemas in hospitals across the UK, giving patients (children and adults) and their families a brief respite from the clinical environment. The second charity, Better Things, is a smaller charity which helps people with learning disabilities and autism.

Johnny explained: “I’m a keen cyclist and have done shorter distance cycling challenges in the past, but this year I thought I’d really like to challenge myself.

“I’d love it if we could raise a sizeable chunk of money because, for the teams at Better Things and Medicinema, every penny counts so it’ll make a world of difference.”

If you’d like to support his efforts you can donate via his Medicinema fundraising page here

Or you can donate to Better Things directly on the charity’s website. If you do donate directly, please leave the comment ‘Johnny’s Cycling Challenge’ so that the charity can let Johnny know how much he’s raised for them.