This Paddy Mcguiness cycle challenge….

As someone who did a whole ride once with a broken reverb (stuck down and not up) I can vouch that any decent distance spent riding in a less than optimal position is not going to be very comfortable at all.

He actually rides a mountain bike quite a bit and can be found up Rivvy.

Probably puts him miles ahead in cycling terms than most people posting on this thread.

60 miles a day for 5 days, on a Chopper, that’s hard. There is not a single person on this forum that could do that with ease, and if you think you can, prove it. Jeez, some people.

They do but should be provided by the state but that’s another rabbit hole altogether………

This I’m inclined to agree with

Anyone up for jumping him?

A la tour de france

bikesandbootsFull Member
Anyone up for jumping him?

A la tour de france

like.

That would be spectacular. I propose Jedi.

I’ll do it.

I mean, I can’t jump at all but. It is for charity.

Anyone up for jumping him?

Does he go down any canal towpaths?

I thought he was quite a keen mountain biker.

A guy did John O Groats to Lands End on a chopper in 15 days. Unsupported I think.

http://jogleonachopper.blogspot.com/2010/05/

I would struggle with it as I only tend to ride 10-20 miles 3 or 4 times a week so repeated 60 would be harder. I suppose the difference is that I am going at a good speed whereas if I have all day and could ride at say 12mph then I guess I could actually do it a lot more easily that I think?

I don’t care about the stunt, I really can’t bear to watch him.

Then don’t. It’s entirely optional.

A guy did John O Groats to Lands End on a chopper

I know of a couple of lads that did it on BMXs! Can’t even sit down on them!

The fundraising team at Children in Need must be really excited that there’s so many people here willing to give up days of their time to raise money for them and who want to do even higher profile / more impressive stunts too.

I like Paddy

And good on him

a chopper with diddy wheels will be some effort..

I really hope he training hard … on pulling a massive long wheelie over the the finish line.

Proving he really is just a townie, ned, oik made good … and there is nothing wrong in that !!

A guy did John O Groats to Lands End on a chopper in 15 days.

Looking at the stats on his page he says he did 892 miles in the 15 days which works out at just over 59 miles a day…

When you stop thinking about the daily or overall mileage and really consider the bike he’s chosen, it really is quite a challenge, I think the key part of any long distance ride is comfort and efficiency, and a chopper is neither of those things, even if he’s changed the saddle. I’d not like to ride half that daily mileage on a bike designed for kids with not nearly enough gear range or proper wheel size. He’ll be doing an average of what? Maybe 8-9 mph if he’s lucky, that’s seven or eight hours a day cramped up on a stupid kid’s bike over that geography in November?…No thanks.

I don’t think the bike choice is as bad as some are making out. Look at the picture above of the man who did the 900 miles, that saddle is pretty high (much higher than would normally be seen on a Chopper), the bars are higher than the saddle and the reach looks long too so not a case of being cramped onto a kids bike is it – after all he is hardly riding a Budgie is he!
I would happily ride it as a bike – it even has gears and a freewheel.

I consider myself to do a fair amount of cycling, and in 2023 to fundraise for a pumptrack completed the Cumbrian Cracker on a Raleigh Shopper.

I had to walk red bank as the gearing wasn’t low enough, but managed to ride everything else, it was about 60 miles and a similar unsuitable tool for the job.

It was bloody hard work, good luck to Paddy, I hope he raises more than the £5k i managed.

@jwt that’s impressive, nice one. I very much like the SIS bottle perched neatly in your front cage.

@jwt = I would rather ride a modified Chopper than that shopper.

My sister had one when I was a kid and it weighed about the same as a Land Rover.

Worst, most overpriced bike ever.

There is not a single person on this forum that could do that with ease

I know of several folk on this forum that would do it easily.

This, charity should be for nice-to-haves not essentials.

This, charity should be for nice-to-haves not essentials.

I have a lot of sympathy for that argument, although it suggests it’s a simple black and white line to define when it is not.  But, take an example, the RNLI provide an “essential” service – they are a charity and proudly independent of government.  They don’t want to be tax payer funded and a political pawn so choose not to go down that route.   Every charity is likely funding some element of their area of work that others would either say is not essential or would cost more to deliver through a state provided model.

regardless of who should be funding services, if the reality is nobody else is, then you have a choice stand by and complain hoping government increases taxation to do the essential work or step in and do something yourself.

arguing on a bike forum against celebrities supporting charity because the state should be doing the task the charity does and taxing everyone more is just an excuse to aswage your own guilt for not doing more, or the usual “increase taxes” rhetoric when what you mean is “increase taxes on everyone else”.

the RNLI provide an “essential” service – they are a charity and proudly independent of government.

Mountain Rescue would be another, example, perhaps even more relevant to most readers of this forum.

Anyone up for jumping him?

Why? Do you think he’s got the charity cash on him?

Probably got security and a support crew handy. :)

ust an excuse to aswage your own guilt for not doing more, or the usual “increase taxes” rhetoric when what you mean is “increase taxes on everyone else”.

Similar to Muppets who say “charity begins at home”. What they actually mean, is it ends “at home”.

I know of a couple of lads that did it on BMXs! Can’t even sit down on them!

My brother did the Kidderminster killer (200km + audax) on a BMX many years ago, he put a massive long seat post on it & also mudguards to comply with audax rules :-)

Mountain Rescue would be another, example, perhaps even more relevant to most readers of this forum

I don’t think they specialise in STW-related injuries

I’m not sure RNLI, Mountain Rescue, Air Ambulance etc are that keen on being a charity, but I can see there are advantages to not being subject to the whims of government.

They don’t want to be tax payer funded and a political pawn so choose not to go down that route.

RNLI are a very well funded charity, which is probably their biggest reason for not wanting to be tax payer funded. For which you can hardly blame them.

RNLI definitely wants to be an independent charity.

It allows it to exist in grey area regarding qualifications and regulations. It’s allowed to write it’s own rulebook to avoid having to follow the requirements of the MCA.

However, it could not function without be completely embedded in the Government organisations.

It does have some issues, can be incredibly slow to change and is quite inefficient but they do manage to do the job.

Regarding charity, my company gives an annual donations to the local food bank.

I wish I didn’t have to but due to the last few years of austerity I think it’s necessary.

Sadly the use of slebs to encourage the general public to dig deep into their pockets, is the only way that some public will donate.

I suppose it’s the same when a favourite sleb endorses a certain product, then their fans go out and buy.

Paddy Mcguiness does have 3 autistic children, so he’s used to doing things for charity and raising awareness.

So Globuchul – why do you think “Children in Need” is that different?  They get to define their own rules for distributing support – not driven by politics, linking to benefits etc.  Much of their delivery is linked to government organisations and other charities or voluntary groups.  Yes some of their work probably shouldn’t be needed because its shoring up gaps in state provision but a big chunk of what they support is stuff that even in the most socialy generous countries probably wouldn’t be provided by the state.  I suspect 100 years ago a lot of what they do would have been covered by churches – but as we become increasingly secular the “media” has replaced the church and so “media charity” seems an appropriate solution…

I don’t have a problem with Children in Need!

Where did I say that?

My original point was that the challenge isn’t going to be that much of challenge compared to what has been done before.

If Paddy Mc was a riding an unmodified Chopper it would be an almost impossible task and would probably cause some serious chronic injuries if it was completed.

As it is, he will be riding a relatively heavy bike with reasonable geometry, which is fair enough, I don’t think anyone should wreck their back/knees/hips etc doing something like this. He will also have proper brakes and a decent saddle.

My point about charity still stands, if they could the Tories would have us like the US in a heartbeat, everything privatised and lots of stuff being provided by philanthropist’s, so we can all tug our forelocks to our kind and generous overlords.

If he’s riding a chopper modified or not,  he should be made to ride wearing platform shoes and 9-button high-waisters with huge flares; as archaeological evidence of the 1970’s seems to suggest.

RNLI and MRT are definitely in my nice-to-have class. A lot of people will have no interaction with either unless their hobby takes them into peril.

Foodbanks, care homes and child welfare are areas where charity should have no remit.

Sadly the use of slebs to encourage the general public to dig deep into their pockets, is the only way that some public will donate.

Strange but true. Personally I run the other way or turn it off at the mention of celebs as I assume there is something in it for them.

on another note the air ambulance service do receive substantial donations from the NHS ever year