TechBikers 2016

When I'm not making stupid jokes on Twitter, or in a bar, or making stupid jokes on Twitter from a bar, I'm usually riding bikes. I do this because exploring is a hobby, and the adrenaline of going life-threateningly fast is addictive. Sometimes, I ride much farther for charities.

Two weeks ago was Bike to the Beach: New York again, as it is an amazing ride. Long and flat, with great support. Most importantly the charity Autism Speaks is a great one. Autism is a disorder that has effected the lives of my family, and my friends families, and these folks are doing amazing work.

I was involved with a minor part of the ride planning one year and can tell you the charity gets a huge wedge of money out of this, not like some rides where the riders are essentially getting their friends to pay for their cycling holiday...

It's times like these rides when I'm really grateful for the awesomeness of many of my followers. Folks dug in and helped me raise $1,000 for Autism Speaks, and the Bike to the Beach event raised $150k in total, $25k more than it aimed to do!

Well, now I have another ride. Earlier today I arrived in Paris, to cycle to London with TechBikers. The charity is Room to Read, who help build schools, distribute books, and educate girls to promote gender equality in some really poor parts of the world.

They built a school in Nepal a few years back, and a bloody earthquake knocked it down. Some of this money will go to fixing that back up.

The transatlantic red-eye was death, but thankfully freeish with some of those conference miles I've built up. I wandered off to la piscine to swim a mile amongst an army of budgie-smuggling Frenchmen, and I'll be doing the same tomorrow to make sure I'm ready to ride on Friday.

One friend joked he needed to set up a slush fund to afford all these charity rides. I know that two in one month is a lot - trust me, my credit cards prove it - but after this I'll leave you alone until September. Help me get to £800, and maybe even past that. £1,000 would be really cool.

Donating is really easy, and only takes a few minutes thanks to JustGiving.

If you're in London on Sunday 26th of June, come say hi to the TechBikers as they show up. I'm not sure where or what the finishing line is right this moment, but I'll be smashing down some scrumpy cider somewhere regardless.

As usual, if you donate and get in touch I'll be happy to give you an ebook copy of Build APIs You Won't Hate.