Ride 300 miles in November to raise money for Alzheimer's Research UK

 Alzheimer’s Research UK wants cyclists to help it raise funding to support its vital research and has set a challenge to riders to cover 300 miles in November.

To sign up to help, join the Alzheimer’s Research UK (ARUK) Treble Challenge, with rides both outdoors and indoors counting towards the 300 mile total. You can sign up as a team as well as to ride the 300 miles as an individual.

ARUK is looking for support from sponsorship for your riding, setting the objective for riders to raise at least £150. You can sign up via its Treble Challenge website, with the challenge supported by Garmin.

Why is it called the Treble Challenge? ARUK says that your riding is helping keep your body fit and your brain healthy and is also helping to find a cure for dementia. It points out that not only is cycling great for your physical fitness, regular exercise also improves your brain health and reduces the risk of dementia. Money raised is used by ARUK to fund research into causes, diagnosis, prevention, treatment and finding a cure for dementia.

Plan your riding 

Keeping active through the winter is a great way to ensure that you’re in the best shape for riding in 2023. To cover 300 miles in November, you’re going to need to cover an average of 75 miles a week. That’s not so easy now that the hour has gone back. Although it does mean more daylight in the morning, the sun will be setting well before 5pm.

So if you’re planning to ride outdoors, make sure you’re properly prepared, with lights, mudguards and suitable clothing. Weather in November can be fickle and a winter storm over a weekend could easily put you behind target. It’s a good idea to try to get ahead if you’ve got time earlier in the month.

The good news is that you can count time spent on the turbo trainer towards your total. Many riders prefer to mix time riding indoors with outdoor riding at this time of year, as it allows them to get in a ride in the evening or if it’s really not the weather to head out for a long ride. It’s a good way to spread out your ride time, so that you don’t have to rely on being able to put in a long weekend ride.

To help you keep track of your rides and see how your progress compares to other riders, ARUK also has a TeamARUK Strava club. Sign up and you’ll get leaderboards and weekly progress and can share your experience riding. You can invite other cyclists you know to join the challenge either via Strava or the Cycling Down Dementia Facebook group. You might even find other riders who live close to you you can team up with to share your rides.

If you’ve not got a cycling computer, Strava includes a ride logging function for smartphones that feeds directly into the app.

There’s a league table of distance cycled each week and top fundraisers, both individuals and teams, on the Treble Challenge site too.

Rewards for meeting funding targets 

ARUK is making its Treble Challenge rewarding for participants too, with free gifts. Raise £100, and you’ll get a free ARUK neckwarmer. Riders who raise £200 will be offered a free ARUK Cycling Down Dementia jersey, which is made from 100 per cent recycled water bottles. You can also buy the headband and jersey directly from the Treble Challenge website if you want to ride in them during the challenge. 

Sign up now for the ARUK Treble Challenge 

Signing up is easy, via the Treble Challenge website, which links into JustGiving.