My thanks and gratitude.

A massive thank you.

I have a massive thank you I need to express to so many people for the support I've had over the last 9 months.   This evening I shared a thank you email with those who donated on the charities page, however I know that I've had anonymous donations and non-financial supports too who I've interacted with over all these months who I need to thank too, therefore I am also posting my email here on my blog (scroll down).

For the key figures personal thanks

Thank you to Anna.

The biggest thank you I have to say though is to my wife for putting up with this stupid idea for all this time.  Since October my time has been split between work, family life and this project.  Anna has given me support throughout this time but it has without question pushed our relationship.  As such, I can't state how much I appreciate her patience and support while I've done this.  Very few women would have stood by while their husband did this, so massive kudos to Anna.  I'm thrilled she was involved in the support car and with me on the Mall as originally, I wasn't sure if it would have worked out.

Thank you to Lynsey, Abdulla and Loughborough Uni.

A huge thank you to Lynsey and Abdulla of Loughborough University for taking me on as a test subject.  Loughborough University is a world class sporting research factory and the opportunities to explore physical ability are mind-blowing and I'm honored to have been involved in the research projects.   And possible future projects..........

Thank you to Chris and Emma, and my parents.

A massive thank you to my brother and Em for being the support crew for the ride.  I think the music and lack of sleep verged on insanity, but I literally couldn't have done this ride without support and they were there at all hours to keep me going.  Thank you.

Plus and thank you to my parents for taking care of our kids while we went on a weird road trip.  They may have come back more exhausted than us, but it allowed us the freedom to do this.  Thank you.

And a thank you to the countless hundreds to thousands who've supported me. 

Thank you to all of those on Facebook, Reddit, Cycling Forums and all the other places I've interacted with people in this project.  Even the crazy drunk dude in the Spalding 24 hour garage who thought I was a god.......  Below is the email I shared.

Dear all donors to my charity page:  Thank you.

As it's now nearly a week since I cycled from Edinburgh to London, I'd like to take this opportunity to say thank you for supporting my crazy idea and chosen charity.

My apologies for the semi-personal email.  To date over 60 groups, families and individuals have contributed along with countless others and I'll never get the chance to thank each and everyone of you.  Plus the Virgin charity page only has a generic "Thank You" bulk reply button which I didn't think matched my gratitude - so I've scalped the emails and BCC'ing the lot of you!!

The charity page is still open and activities are still ongoing, but my challenge has now been met: my legs are certainly telling me I've ridden 450 miles non-stop!  With conditions on the day, all hopes of 24 hours went out of the window but the ride was still on.  I've accomplished my crazy goal from last October and in the process with your help I've raised way in excess of £3,000 for charity.  Out of the money raised, I must credit both to Vickers Oils for their extremely generous contribution and the staff of Fisher Scientific for their huge group effort and support.

In terms of where the money will be going, 20% will be going to Sport Relief for UK aid while 80% is going to the NeuroScience Support Group at Nottingham Queens Medical Centre to aid research and support strategies for alzheimer's, dementia and MS.  Sport Relief I thought would help in bring a brand to my fundraising as the NSG is a pretty much unknown charity in the noise of all the big names, but all the support I've had and chatter I've heard has shown how much the NSG has related into people's personal lives and I'm glad than in doing this I've helped others who have families who want help in some way.  The money raised will help fund early career research projects by aiding larger funding applications leading to new and exciting discoveries, launch careers in research and help fuel the research labs of the future.  The money raised will be amplified in kind and lead to much greater impact.

Through the last 9 months of doing this, many people have shown interest in my weird eating, mid-night rides and strange tan lines as I've prepared.  During the Work Place Challenge, I was amazed by everyone's engagement, willingness to chip in and have a go and support me and my causes.  I've documented what I can on my blog as my main communication channel and last weekend, my support team took over my blog and Facebooked on my behalf while I cycled.  Over the course of the challenge they gave you updates on my progress, but they also  relayed all of your comments, responses, donations, encouragement, likes, shares, tweets and Stava kudos out the window to me while I cycled which made a huge difference.  So a massive thank you not only for the financial support but the emotional and social support you've given me.  It been a hell of a challenge!

This week, I've been off the bike and I've recovered well.  On Sunday nigh I had to crawl down the stairs where as now my kids are back to chasing me around the house.  I've another important ride this weekend:  a family parkland ride between the trees with my wife and kids which will be just as rewarding.  Next week I'll be back to my usual bike commuting self.........and trying not to have stupid ideas.

So all my thanks and gratitude to all of you.   You gave my ride purpose and together we've helped a fantastic charity.  Thank you.

Alex

Thank you from the Neuroscience Support Group.

To add to my thanks, I have had the following letter from Mr White who has been my contact at the NSG for all these months.  Mr White on behalf of the NSG would also like to express his thanks for money raised and the impact it will make.