100 Hills for George

As most of you who read this blog will know, my wife (Em) and I (Mark) lost our little boy George in 2009. He was 14 months old. We were and still are absolutely devastated not to have him with us, but we are determined to honour and treasure his memory in the best way we can. The outstanding generosity of our friends and family, of acquaintances and strangers has meant that we have been able to raise money for charities and to set up our own charity - The George Oliver Foundation http://www.georgesfoundation.org/ in his memory.

We raise money and look to support children's charities to help children that do not receive the love and affection that our son received. We raise money in a number of ways, through direct donations made by ourselves and others, through an annual fundraising event and through sponsored events/challenges.

Last year, I (supported ably by Emily) rode from John O'Groats to Lands End - 1000 miles in 9 days. My account of my ride can be read here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-George-Oliver-Foundation/130990756917819#!/note.php?note_id=131442496879055 and Emily's account of it can be read here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-George-Oliver-Foundation/130990756917819#!/note.php?note_id=134350513254920.

People said that they enjoyed reading about my challenge - so I thought I would set up a blog to update people about this year's challenge.

A very nice man called Simon Warren has written a book called "100 Greatest Cycling Climbs" - http://www.amazon.co.uk/100-Greatest-Cycling-Climbs-Cyclists/dp/0711231206. Basically, it is a lovely little book setting out 100 of the steepest, toughest, hardest cycling climbs around the UK. I am going to ride (or try to ride) all 100 of these climbs in a fundraising year - 1 April 2011 to 1 April 2012. I will update this blog and let you know how I'm getting on, tell you which climbs I'm doing and how things are progressing. I really hope that it will appeal not only to the cycling geeks amongst you, but also to people who enjoy projects, who enjoy people doing daft things, who enjoy challenges and who hopefully will be inspired to do something themselves - for George, for someone else or just for the hell of it.

Please - leave me comments, visit http://www.georgesfoundation.org/, visit the site we set up in memory of our son at http://www.georgernoliver.co.uk/. You can support me on this endeavour here: http://www.justgiving.com/100climbs. Thank you for your time, your generosity and your support.

M