Bikes to Billund team reunites to raise funds for Fairy Bricks
Posted by Huw,
You may recall that in 2018 I participated in Bikes for Billund when four of us cycled from London to the LEGO House in Billund to raise funds for Fairy Bricks.
We talked about doing something similar this year but, for obvious reasons, that won't be possible. However, following the callous and devastating theft from the Fairy Bricks warehouse at the weekend we still wanted to do something to help.
So, instead of going for a long ride together we are each going for shorter ride on the same day, Saturday 15th August, in our local areas, and aim to cover the same distance as London to Billund -- around 1000Km -- between us.
The four of us -- myself, Ed Diment, James Pegrum and Ralph Döring -- will be joined by Caspar Bennedsen and Jesper Vilstrup, who cycled part of the way with us last time, and three other AFOL cyclists, one of whom only took up cycling during lockdown. So, with 9 riders, that's an average of just over 100Km each to cover.
We're calling it Dash in a Day 2020 and we really hope you'll sponsor us to raise much-needed funds for the charity. You can do so at GoFundMe and find out more about the work Fairy Bricks does on Facebook.
After the break you can read more about the riders and what motivates us to support the charity.
Ed Diment is a lifelong LEGO fan who joined the LEGO community in 2003. Ed became a professional LEGO builder in 2011 with his business partner, UK LEGO Certified Professional Duncan Titmarsh through the company Bright Bricks.
Ed has been a keen cyclist for many years and was one of the original Bikes to Billund riders. Ed is also chairman of the board of trustees of Fairy Bricks.
"Being involved in Fairy Bricks has been an immensely rewarding experience. Seeing the charity's growth the past few years has meant seeing it help an increasing number of children bringing happiness and thereby health to very deserving recipients of the LEGO sets we distribute. This is only possible with the fantastic help of the charity's supporters. Thank you all.“
Huw Millington lives in the south of England and has been an AFOL since 1995. He runs the popular LEGO fan website Brickset.com.
He's a regular cyclist in the rolling hills of Hampshire but 100Km is more than he usually cycles at the moment, so it will be a challenge.
"It's always heartwarming to see the feedback Fairy Bricks receives from the children that are on the receiving end of the charity's work. It's clear that the simple act of giving a sick child LEGO makes a huge difference to their wellbeing. I'm therefore keen to help raise funds again to enable it to continue its good work.“
Ralph ’dö’ Döring has been an AFOL for over 30 years. His passion for LEGO started with the arrival of Classic Space and has not left him since.
With a fully packed bike and a tent Ralph has been travelling the St. Jacobs trail for over 2500 km, been to Canada, survived a Transalp and visited the rolling hills of southern England countless times. In 2018 he had the honour to join the Bikes to Billund riders for Fairy Bricks.
"I remember my Mother giving me 6801 Moon Buggy as a gift while I was in hospital getting my appendix removed. It is still such a vivid and wonderful memory. What can be more awesome than Fairy Bricks bringing this joy to sick children in hospitals?“
James Pegrum currently lives in hilly south west of England. His hobbies include cycling, LEGO and history. Having combined the later two hobbies he was part of the formation of Brick to the Past in 2013.
He's a keen cyclist and enjoys the physical challenge of long, hilly, rides along with the opportunity to support charities. He was part of Bikes to Billund tour in 2018.
Jesper Vilstrup has always been fascinated by LEGO bricks and the LEGO mission to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow. His passion started as a boy with the LEGO Technic Tractor set (851).
In 2001 a dream came true when he was offered to join the LEGO Group. Over the years he has worked in several positions within marketing, communication and digital. In 2015 he became CEO of the LEGO House which according to him is the best job in the world.
“My job offers me the possibility to work with LEGO fans from all over the world. I am always up for a great challenge - especially when it’s about doing something good. Therefore, I was honoured to join the last leg of the Fairy Bricks Charity race from London to Billund in 2018 and really proud to be able to help the Fairy Bricks again this year.”
Caspar Bennedsen is a long time AFOL. He joined the fan community in 2005, and has since made his hobby to his full time job, as a LEGO Certified Professional.
Together with LEGO, cycling is another big hobby - 3 years in a row, he has joined the charity race "Team Rynkeby" where he collects money for the Danish Children's Cancer Foundation. In 2018 and 2019 he cycled from Denmark to Paris (1400 km in 8 days) this year the tours was from Jutland to Copenhagen (600 km in 4 days).
Next year he'll join the team again and bike to Paris!
In 2018 Caspar joined the last leg of the Fairy Bricks Charity race from London to Billund.
"I'm proud to help Fairy Bricks through both of my big hobbies! Let's all join in, and help Kevin and the rest of the team at Fairy Bricks give fantastic experiences to sick children!“
Joe Perez is a Chartered Surveyor from Bristol, England. He has been a lifelong LEGO fan and an active member of the fan community since 2007. From 2013 – 2019 he was a professional LEGO builder working for Bright Bricks.
In recent years Joe has rekindled his interest in cycling and now regularly goes mountain biking and road riding as much as he can.
“Fairy Bricks do so much to improve the wellbeing of children in hospitals, the joy of playing with LEGO is universal and always puts a smile on your face. I am delighted and very proud to part of this charity ride, and what better way to support this wonderful cause by combining two of my favourite hobbies.”
Gary Davis is a human factors consultant and a trained LEGO Serious Play facilitator. He has been a fan of LEGO since about 1965 but became more deeply engaged in the LEGO Community around 2000 when LEGO Star Wars was launched. Gary is an enthusiastic Fairy Bricks supporter because of the joy they bring to children in hospital and elsewhere.
He helps in many Fairy Bricks fund-raising activities and participates in play-day events in hospitals. He also builds LEGO models for Fairy Bricks, including the ridable LEGO bike for the original Bikes-to-Billund trip in 2018, and a 2m-long LEGO model of the Evelina Children’s’ Hospital in London. He wasn’t a regular cyclist until COVID-19 prevented his usual sport of swimming, so he faces this fund-raising bike ride with some trepidation.
Jonathon Goldsworthy recalls playing with Lego as a child, but his enjoyment of the hobby really started in his mid 20s, when he discovered Technic. It then extended to all themes when his daughter was born. Again, while he cycled a lot as a child, he only started cycling “properly” about 7 years ago. Jonathon enjoys the challenge of cycling further, faster or both.
“Helping the wonderful Fairy Bricks, is making me want to try for my longest ride yet.”
Elspeth De Montes is a late entry to the Dash in a Day Team after noticing a lack of female representation in the team (although plenty of shaved legs were already present). As a regular cyclist of shorter distances, she will complete her 100km as a non-stop ride from her home in the Yorkshire Dales on a single speed bike. No Gears = More Sweat. The oversized LEGO shopping bag will probably not be taken on the challenge....
Elspeth is a long term supporter of Fairy Bricks and welcomed the opportunity to fundraise by sweating on a bike!!
Martin Clarke lives in France and is the ambassador for RLUG LUG’est. He has played an active role with the French AFOL Community, participating in several Lego exhibitions each year and displaying his MOCs.
His other passion is cycling, regularly clocking up 100km a week in the Jura mountains. He is more than happy to ride 100km plus in a day in support of Fairy Bricks.
Please sponsor us at GoFundMe and help keep the charity afloat in these challenging times.
93 likes
20 comments on this article
Well, I offer the very best of luck to you all.
Good luck to you all, especially Gary Davies! A 100 km on a bike can be a long day for someone fairly new to the bike seat:)
@Huw - 100km you say? Well if the ferries are running.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Wight_Randonn%C3%A9e :D
Did it in about 8 hours on a recumbent trike, expect to see you whizz round a lot faster than that!
Best of luck to all participants, don't forget the Vaseline!
I will bike with you... sitting in my armchair.
https://youtu.be/3TRukEurKaE
@RikTheVeggie said:
" @Huw - 100km you say? Well if the ferries are running.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isle_of_Wight_Randonn%C3%A9e :D"
I've done that. It's a hilly ride. I'll be going for something flatter this time!
Donated! Great challenge guys. 100km is amazing! I`ve done a similar distance, and I distinctly remember very well the literal pain in the butt that cycling that long in a day is. Good luck!
Donated, @huw Well done, hope it’s a dry day!
Is there a way to donate from the U.S.?
I would hope the GoFundMe site lets you. Is that not the case?
@Huw said:
"I would hope the GoFundMe site lets you. Is that not the case?"
It's set up for British pounds.
@CKulk44 said:
" @Huw said:
"I would hope the GoFundMe site lets you. Is that not the case?"
It's set up for British pounds."
I had no problem donating from the US just now. I received receipts from PayPal, PayPal.uk, and GoFundMe. You just need to choose an amount in pounds that corresponds to your intended dollars. PayPal used an exchange rate of 1 USD = .76 GBP, and I believe PayPal makes money on that conversion.
The one thing that was odd was it gave you the option to choose a referring team member, but Ralph Doring's name was the only one available to choose.
Best wishes to all. Thanks for doing this and for letting us participate.
^ I'll ask Ralph to change that. It's because he set the page up a few weeks ago for some other rides he did.
@parsom said:
"I will bike with you... sitting in my armchair.
https://youtu.be/3TRukEurKaE"
That is a fun build!
It was fine from Canada.
Great cause - shame it's being done for such awful reasons.
Best of luck to the whole team - stay upright and safe!
Good luck dashing on the bikes!
Best of luck to you all, it’s a wonderful charity & brilliant to see the community coming together as always xx
Good luck to you all. Special mention to Elspeth, 100km on a single speed bike (even if she would ride on quite flat roads! ) is a really big challenge. Bravo a tous !
Good luck! I hope the charity does good and glad this is happening. Stay safe!
Hope all went well with the weather. Can't find the article posted on the 15th anymore, so thought I'd come cask to this one.