The Greater Bristol Letting Agency
0117 973 9394
Accommodation Unlimited Letting Agents

I’ve become a MAMIL

That is a middle aged man in Lycra to you.

If you are out and about the Chew Valley on a Sunday or around Long Ashton early in the morning then there is a good chance you might see my overweight frame hunched over a blue road bike huffing and puffing and generally looking on my last legs.

And for why I hear you ask.

Well let’s go back in time to August 2016.

“Let’s ride to Paris” said my soon to be ex-friend Steve Bolt. “It will be mint!”

I am nothing if not easily led.  “Yeah let’s” I said and so before we could change our mind Steve, Lee, Ade and I signed up for the Royal British Legion’s London to Paris cycle ride.

Can I also say that Lycra is not a good look on men of a certain age, I have been described as “looking like a Christmas Turkey forced into a condom” and that was the polite version, but enough of my problems let’s cut to the chase.

Why put myself (and anyone that sees me) through the trauma?

There is a very good reason that I am putting myself through this and that is to support the fantastic work the Royal British Legion does in our community, not just remembering the fallen but in the here and now.  In my day job as a letting agent I have seen first-hand how The Legion helps ex service personnel and their families make the transition to “civvy street” with practical help in obtaining a home.  It is a charity close to my heart and that is why I am getting up at the crack of dawn and donning a pair of shorts that look like I’m wearing a nappy.

I am very aware that you get emails requesting sponsorship all the time, and I am also aware that this can look like a “bit of a jolly” to those on the outside and I admit I have myself said so in the past.  And if that makes me a hypocrite then yes guilty as charged because this is one of those emails.

Can you spare a Tenner?

I have decided to try something different.

I am not going to ask you to give as much as you can.  I am asking for a tenner.  Nothing more nothing less.

A crisp ten pound note with a picture of The Queen on one side and Charles Darwin on the other. 

Well actually I don’t just want 1 tenner I want 1000!  I am hoping that one thousand “of my closest friends” will donate £10 to this very worthy cause and you are receiving this because during my 54 years on this planet we have had contact, however fleeting.  You are in my address book and now I am shamelessly using that contact to raise money for this excellent cause.

To put it into perspective….

So what does £10 get you these days?

A couple of drinks at a city centre pub?  A ticket to the cinema? Three Titleist Pro V1 golf balls?

You see a tenner doesn’t go very far but to the Legion it goes a long way.  All those tenners will mount up to make a big difference.  

So all you need to do to stop me pestering you is go to my just giving page and donate just £10 and not only will I be eternally grateful I will not email you again other than to say thank you.

PS. Don’t forget to keep an eye out for me and the other members of the Cider Riders team on the roads of Bristol and check out Facebook for more embarrassing images of our progress.