A while back we brought you news of the RUSS Appeal, a fundraising campaign inspired by BM member and contributor Russ Pinder. Russ suffered a huge crash in the Brecon Beacons and is currently in Stoke Mandeville hospital, permanently paralysed. But it could have been worse, and it was the Air Ambulance service that saved him.

Amazingly, air ambulances are funded solely by charitable donations, and increasing those is the first goal of the RUSS Appeal. To get off to a flying start, so to speak, Trailbreak are organising Ride for a Flight at Checkendon on 17 August. It’s a simple format – enter, pledge money, ride. The Appeal is asking for a £10 donation for each lap of the course you do – it doesn’t matter where the money comes from, whether it’s out of your pocket or you get other people to sponsor you.

The organisers are also asking everyone to encourage other people to take part too, to get the maximum possible number of people riding the course. In particular, they suggest using it as an opportunity to get people with little-used bikes out of the shed and on to the trails – if they need further encouragement, Russ’s wife Heather, a self-confessed bike novice, will be turning out to ride… And they’re asking everyone to enter as soon as possible to get things off the ground – there’s an on-line entry form on the RUSS Appeal site.

There’s a Trailbreak Evans ride from the same site the previous day, too, so you can make a weekend of it. And there’ll be all the essential facilities on site, including toilets, barbecues and beer. More details on the Evans ride at www.trailbreak.co.uk.