Reed fitness enthusiasts have embarked on a 3,000km virtual cycling tour of our European offices to raise money for the mental health charity Mind.

 The ‘Tour de Reed’ is the brainchild of Dan Cordock and Laura Williams from our UK international sales office, who both purchased indoor bikes to help them keep fit during lockdown. During the first few weeks, Dan cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats to keep his mind focused and de-stress. Inspired by Dan, Laura decided to cycle to ‘Amsterdam’ to keep herself fit, and came up with the idea of a charity challenge.

“During one of our team calls, we realised that several colleagues were keen to join us on our virtual ride. Dan found the ‘My Virtual Mission’ app and we decided to make it a European tour so we could ‘visit’ our friends and colleagues from across Reed Europe and raise money for a good cause along the way.”

Since setting off from Richmond for Bratislava on 21 April, Dan and Laura have been joined by a growing band of cycling buddies – not to mention some runners and a rower! “It has been brilliant to see more and more people joining the virtual map from all over the RX world and donating to MIND” says Dan.

The 3,132km route via Dusseldorf, Paris, Milan and Vienna is expected to take each cyclist 80 days, but there is absolutely no need to complete it says Laura. “The aim is to see how far we get and to enjoy the ride. There is an option to do the journey on Google street view, so it’s a great way to have a virtual holiday and see the world!”

The team have already raced beyond their initial fundraising target of £1,000. If you would like make a donation please visit the Tour de Reed charity page.  

 Go team!