Coastline cycle challenge passing through 1066 country

A 61-year-old father will be cycling through 1066 country in the second leg of his trip around the British coast on Sunday (April 3).
John Bates is cycling around the UK coast and is passing through 1066 country on Sunday (April 3)John Bates is cycling around the UK coast and is passing through 1066 country on Sunday (April 3)
John Bates is cycling around the UK coast and is passing through 1066 country on Sunday (April 3)

John Bates is taking on the mammoth 5000-mile challenge partly to test himself but also to launch his new business Cycle2Give which helps bikers to fundraise and organise events.

The father-of-two from Deal will be setting off from Camber and heading to Brighton via Rye, Hastings and Bexhill.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” he said.

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“I love biking – if I didn’t then it wouldn’t be much fun – but I love the idea of cycling around the coast and seeing it all.

“But also cycling with other enthusiasts and meeting them through social media.”

Social media will play a big part in John’s trip as he plans to use the web to engage fellow cyclists and encourage people to join him.

John said he wants to make as much of the journey as possible by writing a blog, regularly posting on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and other sites.

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The emphasis of the challenge is not to push John to the physical limit, but to experience the journey around the coastline and use it as a launch for his new website.

John will be doing the trip in 100 50-mile legs over two years, doing three or four stints at a time.

“I want to push myself but I also want to complete the journey,” he said.

So he’s taking his time and publicising it along the way as well as his new venture which he says will make biking events and fundraisers easier to organise and offers more flexibility with his ‘user-friendly’ site.

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All of the donations are handled by JustGiving who sort out the monetary side of the business.

If you want to meet up with John or see him off, meet at the Marina Cafe in Camber at 8.30am for him to leave at 10am.

To see John’s route and check out the Cycle2Give site, visit: www.cycle2give.com.

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