So, the turkey’s gone, finally! Work beckons, or if you’ve been unfortunate has never truly gone away. And despite the fact that the nights are slowly getting shorter it’s very much the middle of winter. Time to celebrate the New Year and ditch the whole idea of resolutions in favour of a clear and achievable goal. Something to set your sights on and motivate you through the frost and cold until spring arrives and summer beckons.It’s not going to be easy but setting a goal is a key way to make slow but hopefully steady progress towards achieving the desired outcome. We all no doubt want to do something that gets us fitter and makes a difference so a charity bike ride is a great way of achieving this. If you’ve set yourself a summer task, set smaller goals along the way. Other wise it’s going to be far too easy to put things off.
If you are fundraising, try to break your financial target into small achievable amounts. One serial charity cyclist swears by the benefit of getting other people to do small charity challenges with him in support of the overall financial target. He says that they help him raise money but also provide people to train with and to share the experience.
If you are cycling as part of a bigger group, try to make contact with people locally who are going to be part of the trip. Train with them and also try your hand at a bit of local media PR. A group picture of an activity is likely to interest your local rag. Remember, you are not the only person raising money for charity, so the more interesting and engaging you make it the better the chances are that it’ll make it into print.
Finally, get a calendar and mark out a training schedule. More importantly stick to it. Remember to vary the pattern and to build in some rewards to help you recognise the progress you are making. Again, make it fun and you are more likely to succeed.
So forget about the resolutions and set your goals – and a ‘Happy New Year” from Cycle for Charity! Remember to let us know how you are getting on. You can email us a info@cycleforcharity.org.uk
