It won’t have escaped your notice that the UK weather of late has been, to put it mildly, disappointing. A number of big events have been rendered more challenging than you might expect thanks to the huge quantities of rainfall over the last few weeks. Meanwhile, the British Heart Foundation’s South Downs Randonnée Challenge ride, due to take place on 30 June, had to be postponed thanks to flooding on the South Downs Way.

The revised date is Saturday 28 July, and the BHF hopes that the second event will be a great success and help the charity recover both lost sponsorship and funds from setting up the first event. It’s urging all of those who registered for the first event to transfer FREE to the second event on 28 July by calling 0800 100 2109. It would also like any keen cyclists who have not yet registered to get signed up.

Tacye Bless, Regional Events Organiser for the BHF said: “Please help us save lives by taking part in the Randonnée on 28 July. We were very disappointed that we had to cancel the first of our two planned events due to bad weather. The loss of the first event could mean as much as &ecaute;100,000 to the BHF, which will obviously mean that we will be unable to use this money for heart research and other services that we hoped to fund. We really need people to get in the saddle for the second event to help us raise funds to beat heart disease. If you have registered to take part in the first event you can still get involved by transferring free to the second event on 28 July, but will need to call us on 0800 100 2109 to do this, as we are unable to take transfers on the day. Our need is even more urgent now due to lost funds from the first event. Over 600 people a day in the UK lose their lives to heart disease, by signing up now you will be helping us to keep even more hearts beating.”

There are three routes along the South Downs Way to choose from, with distances of 35, 65 or 100 miles. The 100 mile route runs from Winchester to Eastbourne, while the 65 miler finishes at Devil’s Dyke near Brighton. That’s also the start point for the 35 mile route, which runs the rest of the way to Eastbourne. The BHF advises that all three distances provide a big challenge and are only suitable fo experienced off-road riders.

Want to get involved? Call 0800 100 2109 or visit bhf.org.uk/randonnee.