Christoph Strasser smashes records in 3rd RAAM win; GB's Mike Hall leads Trans Am Bike Race

Sad to see that Shu Pillinger is out of RAAM after breaking her collarbone near checkpoint 37.

I've never done a charity ride but last weekend I was able to take a vacated spot on a 300km ride with a group of riders who were supporting a charity (Cyclists Fighting Cancer, CFC). I was really impressed by what CFC do, the way they went about doing it, what the riders had done to add a fundraising nature to their passion for cycling and how they coped with a big-mile ride - a good number of them weren't regular riders.
I don't see how there can be anything but positives for anyone doing anything similar. You could easily accuse a celeb of ulterior motives but if money or publicity is raised for a good cause doesn't that stand well above any ego-related accusations that may be a long way from the reality? Should only unknown riders ride for charity and never promote the charity? Of course not.

Sarayer's blog is quite a read. I relate to riding for nothing but the love of it but I don't think that post has anything to do with someone doing a bike ride as a vehicle to promote giving to a cause close to them. eg here -
http://www.michaelmatthewsfoundation.com/index.php/home
I wasn't aware of them until recently and I know someone who has given a lot of his life to doing similar work, so score 1 for the team doing RAAM and the MMF.

Charity giving should be a private thing as your motives are then purely altruistic and not for any sense of personal gain, moral or financial. All this "hey, look at me, aren't I great in giving something of myself for less fortunate others" stuff undermines any purer motives. I accept it's all part of the wider celebrity culture as we're bombarded by it from pretty much every form of media. It would just be nice to be spared when I'm perusing a cycling website.

And don't get me started on Soccer Aid; 38 multi millionaires having a kick about, and we're emotionally blackmailled to pay to watch them? Just pay your taxes, or perhaps go and do some local volunteer work.

'Oh, and if you weren't aware, charity should be a private thing'

Not sure why charity should be a private thing, surely the more people who are aware of it the more they're likely to support the charity.
If Pippa wants to take part and raise money then it's certainly doing more than a lot of celebrities do to get in a newspaper so I say why not.

Does anyone know how much/little sleep Strasser actually gets when he's doing this? He's some kind of machine.

Strasser is incredible. His average speed is difficult to comprehend over such a distance.

Everyone competing has my full admiration.

Quote:

I couldn't give a flying feck about Pippa Middleton.

Clearly you give enough of a flying feck to post on here telling everyone you don't give a flying feck... Some sort of logic fail there I feel...

So a minor celebrity is out there doing something amazing - riding across a continent, raising money for charity and, just possibly, inspiring a few people along the way to actually get on a bike. Generating a few column inches about the event and about the charity.

Do feel free to inform the good people of road.cc of your contributions to the world of endurance cycle events and charity fundraising while you're at it.

Meanwhile, Christoph Strasser - WOW!

"Pippa Middleton's team nearly two thirds of the way"

I couldn't give a flying feck about Pippa Middleton.

Don't forget about RAW (Race Across the West)

Marko Baloh, Multiple RAAM finisher, he had issues surrounding funding to get to RAAM this year, so took on RAW for the first time, with only a 2 man crew to back him up.

He finished the 878.70 miles in 2 days and 33 minutes.

Just to give you an idea, that is Lands End to John O'Groats