RideLondon-Surrey100: A Tale of Two Chris's

Set up as part of the 2012 London Olympics legacy, and since becoming one of the world’s most prestigious cycling events, the RideLondon-Surrey 100 (or Ride100 as it is affectionately known), is an 100 mile amateur cycling challenge on closed roads throughout London and the Surrey countryside. The race follows the same route as the professional cyclists took in the Olympics, including the gruelling summits of Leith and Box Hill.

Chris Perry is a keen follower of our work and knows first-hand just how valuable our support can be; his family having used our service when his Dad died of cancer in November 2015. Chris has fundraised for us in the past, and set himself a substantial fundraising target of £740 on his JustGiving page before the race.  

An avid mountain biker, Chris is certainly no stranger to cycling, but he hadn’t actually ridden a road bike for about 30 years until just 5 days before the event! And he was about to ride it for 100 miles… he looks pretty relaxed about it though. Who wouldn’t be with that amazing good luck message to spur them on?

Chris had a 6:40am start time and did a fabulous job, riding through monsoon-like conditions, to cross the finish line at 12:22pm – a race time of 5 hours, 41 minutes and 33 seconds. You can see more photos of Chris riding that "curly handled road bike" here. 

Chris has raised a massive £900 (including Gift Aid) through his fundraising page and, with some matched funding from his employer, hopes to have raised over £1,500 in total. That’s enough for us to pay for one of the valuable group events that his daughter Olivia attended back at the start of her journey with Daisy’s Dream.

What an achievement!

Chris Goslar is the Managing Director of Conservatree Print and Design Ltd in Theale, who have been providing print and design services for Daisy’s Dream for the last three years. Chris has overseen many of our big literature projects including our ‘Guide to Supporting Pupils through Bereavement’ and so knows only too well the sensitivity and the value of the work that we do.

A keen member of Reading CC, Chris loves road cycling, and was really excited to take part in Ride100 for us. He set himself two targets – he wanted to raise £1,000 for Daisy’s Dream and he wanted to finish in under 4 hours and 30 minutes. Both more than achievable given his level of hard work and determination!

Cruising through his £1,000 target, Chris has raised an impressive £1,171.25 (including Gift Aid) through his JustGiving page but sadly the sub 4.5 hour finish was just not meant to be.

After what looked and sounded like an epic and exciting race up and down Leith and Box hills, disaster struck. Chris took a sharp left hand bend too hard, and his front wheel gave way; throwing him down hard on his left side and into the barriers. 70 miles in and Chris says he realised that his race was over.

Thanks to some quick work from St John’s Ambulance and the amazing team at East Surrey Hospital, Chris was given a CT scan within an hour or so of his fall. The scan confirmed a clean break to the left femur, just below the ball joint of his hip, and emergency surgery was the only way forward. Handily, the consultant drew Chris a picture on his bedding to show him (and now us!) just where the damage was.

Three 10cm long titanium screws later, and Chris’ hip joint has now been stabilised and he is safely tucked up at home to recover. Chris is in great spirits though, and despite the long road of recovery ahead of him, he has already vowed to take on the Ride100 again, saying “I definitely plan to go back to settle old scores.”

We are sure you will join us in wishing him a very safe and steady recovery!

Huge thanks to both Chris’ for taking part in this year’s RideLondon-Surrey 100. The money they have both raised is absolutely vital to us, enabling us to continue to provide therapeutic support to families at difficult and challenging times.

If you haven't been put off cycling forever reading this, why not have a go at the Ride100 yourself in 2019. Daisy's Dream places will be released soon - keep an eye on our events pages for details.