Do you come here often?

What, you may be wondering, is Michael Heseltine doing on this bike next to Kelli Salone? If you think that unusual juxtaposition bears all the hallmarks of a press launch for something, you’d be dead right. Obviously as a bike website, our interest is piqued by anything with a bike in it, but those mainstream media types down Fleet Street way need famous faces – along with Hezza and Kelli were sports presenters Sasha Upton and Diana Binks, plus Miss Great Britain and Page 3 model Leilani.

And what was all this in aid of? The Bike Show Ride, an enormous charity bike ride taking place next April, to coincide with The Bike Show at the NEC. The Ride will raise money for the British Heart Foundation, the UK’s leading charity in the fight against heart disease.

The organisers are expecting twenty thousand riders, setting off from six cities and converging on the NEC on April 27, 2003 (the last day of the show). Think that sounds ambitious? It doesn’t stop there. Gavin Brown, MD of Haymarket Exhibitions, organisers of The Bike Show RIDE and The Bike Show said:

Put your left leg in…

“The Bike Show RIDE is intended to become the world’s biggest charity bike ride with 60,000 riders and twelve start points by spring 2007 with a target of raising £5m per annum for the British Heart Foundation.”

That’s a lot of riders. Fancy being one of them? Head over to www.thebikeshow.com for further details and registration information. There’s a £21 entry fee, with all proceeds going to the British Heart Foundation. The six start points and ride distances are:

• Cannon Hill Park, Birmingham – 45 miles
• Markeaton Park, Derby – 65 miles
• Oxpens Meadow, Oxford – 70 miles
• Wythenshawe Park, Manchester – 106 miles
• Norfolk Heritage Park, Sheffield – 90 miles
• Gunnersbury Park, London – 120 miles