Jon Sleightholme

I took up cycling at the end of my rugby career as a means of keeping fit due to the fact that most of my body was falling to bits after 13 years of injuries and knocking the living daylights out of it every week! I started mountain biking first but was always more a 'roadie' at heart and after a couple of trips to watch the Tour de France I was inspired to follow in their footsteps or should that be wheels! My first mad trip came in 2006 as I rode my bike across the Pyrenees over all the mountains that the Pro's tackle: it was an awesome experience which has inspired me to do something crazy every year since... which leads me on to the Twin Towns Challenge.

I have been involved with Autism Concern, formerly NSA (Northamptonshire Society for Autism), for almost 7 years. When the trustees informed me of the financial challenges facing the charity going into 2009, I was again inspired to do whatever I could to help. Our challenge this year is massive and daunting and I would like to thank my good mates for getting involved also... you can blame me afterwards, what's life without a little adventure now and again!

I have lived in Northampton now for 11 years, my wife (Julie) and two sons (Ollie and Frankie) all now consider the town as home. My spare time is spent on my bike or coaching at Northampton Old Scouts RFC which gives me a huge amount of pleasure and helps me sober up on a Sunday morning!

Jon is sponsored by...

Paul Manning

Paul has represented Team GB in the team pursuit at both Athens and Sydney and has been a medallist on both occasions; taking bronze in 2000 and silver in 2004.

In the run up to Beijing 2008 his recent results have also been impressive; he was a gold medallist at the 2007 World Championships.

On 17 August, Manning was a member of the Olympic team pursuit squad which broke the world record in the heats with a time of 3:55:202, beating their Russian opponents comfortably to go through to the final ride-off for silver and gold The following day, on their way to winning the gold medal, the British Team pursuit broke their own world record in a time of 3:53:314, beating their Danish competitors by 6.7 seconds.

Chris Marshall

A keen cyclist for a number of years, Chris Marshall has 'conquered' (or certainly ticked the boxes anyway!) some of the most famous peaks in the French Alps including Mont Ventoux, Galibier and Alpe d'Huez and in 2006 rode from John O'Groats to Lands End with Pete D'Amery - raising more than £8000 for Autism Concern.

Chris moved from Northampton last year and after spending 6 months living in Shanghai rattling around the bustling city and crowded streets on his trusty shopper bike (yes, complete with basket) is now currently living in Singapore. The cycling scene in Singapore is particularly vibrant and the Saturday and Sunday rides often see pelotons of over 100 bikes. Chris belongs to a couple of cycling clubs in Singapore (ANZA and Joyriders) and is enjoying the new found challenges of cycling in the tropics including 5.30am starts in order to avoid the worst of the heat and monsoon downpours.

Chris looks forward to dusting off the thermals for a summer cycling challenge in Europe and is particularly pleased to be assisting Autism Concern once more.

Chris is sponsored by...

Richard Sturt

I started cycling in 2007 to help recover from knee surgery. This soon escalated to more than exercise for my knee and I have taken part in a number of increasingly challenging sportives leading up to the 2008 L'Étape du Tour. I was looking for a challenge to keep me motivated through the winter, when Jon announced that he was planning to cycle to Northampton's twin towns to raise money for Autism Concern. A quick check of the map to find out where Poitiers and Marburg actually were, revealed this was certainly a major challenge (probably a little more than I was planning!). I am now back in training and looking forward to the Twin Towns challenge and raising money for Autism Concern.

Peter D'Amery

I had not really ridden a bike for over 20 years when Chris Marshall suggested in October of 2005 that we should ride from John O'Groats to Lands End in just 8 days. Having tried all sorts of sports and been fairly useless at most of them, memories of riding my trusty Raleigh Grifter as a kid eventually got the better of me. Deciding to ride for a local charity, we settled on the NSA. Having friends with autistic children was a big motivator for me to complete the ride and with Chris to help me on the way the rest, as they say, is history. Now a veteran of the road after seeing off the hills of Scotland, England, Wales, The French Alps as well as a trip on a bus during this year's L'Étape du Tour in the Pyrenees. I am delighted to be joining Jon and the rest of the team to raise funds for Autism Concern.

Peter is sponsored by...

Jamie Lee

Nearly two years ago now I was drinking with Mr Marshall in our (then) local when, at some point between last orders and hangover, he'd convinced me that the best thing I could do with my recent bonus was to purchase a road bike. Following further reassurance from Dave, Jon and Pete that they would take it easy on me for the first few outings, I invested and became a 'roadie'.

After the pain of getting fit again (they didn't take it that easy) I've found cycling to be a fantastic pastime although I still need a nudge from the others to get me out on colder mornings. Cycling definitely came along at the right time for me though as pies were starting to feature a little too highly on my day to day agenda and I needed a new challenge. I'm still a few miles in the saddle away from being the most accomplished cyclist on the team but Autism Concern is a fantastic charity and I'm more than willing to raise my game to support the guys on this.

I moved from Lincolnshire to Northampton over 10 years ago where I live with my fiancée Becky, whom I met a few months after arriving. Thankfully she is equally supportive of the charity as shortly after she becomes Mrs Lee next year, she will be a member of our support team!

Dave Williams

I am a keen but often lapsed cyclist. I started my interest with the bike in my teens riding in 10 mile and 25 mile time trials for my local club in South Yorkshire. I had a great time doing these rides and races but did not in all honesty trouble the record books at the club at all. This activity soon went by the wayside as I went through university and started work until I moved to the Peak District where I became very interested in Mountain Biking with routes over the Dark Peak most weekends. Again this stopped when I moved to Northampton a dozen or so years ago (no mountains!) until a couple of years ago when I became a roadie again having been inspired by the efforts of Chris and Pete who rode from John O'Groats to Land's End. Since then I have enjoyed rides with the guys most weekends with the occasional challenge thrown in for longer rides and steeper hills to ride up - but nothing quite as daunting as this challenge.

Away from the saddle I am married with two children both at school. I am a keen Saints fan and am involved in coaching a team at Northampton Old Scouts. I work in sales for a large American IT/Engineering company in Milton Keynes although I have also spent some time running my own business making garden ornaments (no hint of a mid-life crisis there at all then).

Dave is sponsored by...

Wayne Buttrick

I took up cycling 4 years ago and triathlons 2 years ago. Each year I have tried to look for a new challenge to keep me motivated, whether it is cycling or triathlons.

I have done many Cycle Sportives, including the L'Étape du Tour Mondovélo 2008, which was my toughest challenge yet. The group had been trying to think of a new challenge for 2009, when Jon announced on a cold Saturday ride that he wanted to help the Autism Concern raise much needed funds and put forward his idea. Most of us agreed to the challenge not knowing exactly what Jon had in mind!!!!! But needless to say, I am delighted to be joining Jon and the rest of the team to raise funds for Autism Concern.

I will also be using the challenge to help me complete the UK Ironman in 2009.

Wayne is sponsored by...

Stuart Roberts

I have only recently taken up road riding (since summer '08) as another way to keep fit without spending loads on Gym memberships. I am a 36 year old, serving Police Officer in Northamptonshire and have been so for 14 years.

Jon and I met last year when my son began playing Rugby at the Old Scouts Club in town with his son, Oliver. Since then I have begun to help out with some of the coaching, when my shifts allow.

I am married to Emma-Jane and we have two children, Jessica (5) and Ewan (9).

There have been several 'fitness' challenges (most notably the 'Tough Guy Challenge') in my past, but nothing like this event which will be my toughest one by far.

I want to thank all those who are backing the event, those who have done so much of the organising already and my bosses at work who are allowing some flexibility in my work time so that I can complete the ride.

I am sure it will be the chance of a lifetime for someone like me to help make a real difference to those affected by Autism and I can't wait to get started.

Chris Bigsby

Jon and the team at Autism Concern have worked hard to provide an essential service for many families with autistic children and I felt I should do my part so stepped up to the Twin Towns Challenge.

My previous cycling experiences have been mainly of the mountain variety. I am hoping this will be a little bit flatter given the distance. I also enjoy snowboarding – starting to wonder now why I live in the middle of the UK far from any mountains.

I will be leaving behind my wife Jo and two boys Lochlan and Killian which will be tough. I know they will be behind me all the way. Pushing I hope.

This will be a big ask of physical and mental stamina but I am confident that with the training programme Jon has lined up for us we will do it.

Have to go shave my legs now and slip in to some tight lycra and wiggle my backside at a load of French and Germans...that should make me ride faster...wish me luck.

Chris is sponsored by...

Murli Ravi

I've gone from monkeying around on a BMX as a kid to monkeying around on a road bike now. I really don't think I'm qualified to take on the Twin Towns Challenge! But considering I've been to every continent bar Europe and Antarctica, I couldn't resist signing up for this when Chris mentioned it to me - can you blame me?!

I did a few Audax rides in Singapore and Malaysia last year, with a 300+ km ride being my personal best. This year I intend to break the 400 km barrier, in the hope that this will be sufficient preparation for this 1900 km monster ride I've let myself in for! It's for charity so I'm sure we will all be able to dig deep and find the legs, lungs and hearts to finish the ride in style.

Murli is sponsored by...

David Everett

Eighteen months ago I happened to mention to my neighbour (Jon Sleightholme) that I might get into cycling. 2 hours later Jon was showing me bikes on the web, within a week I had a bike and 12 months later I was doing the Etape du Tour in France. I did the duathlon version of the Etape where you do two thirds of the distance on your bike and the rest on the 'broom wagon' bus!

I originally planned to just do the opening day of the Twin Town Challenge. However, following the traditional New Year fitness resolution, I have committed to do the full tour. It’s amazing to see how much has already been organised and my thanks go out to all those involved.

Having spent 14 years working for Argos I am having a career change and in September I will start a 1 year course to become a teacher. So, before all my free time is taken up with studying and in future years marking and lesson planning it is an ideal time to train for such an endurance event.

I'm married to Claire and we have three boys, Matthew, James and Daniel. I have lived in Northampton for 25 years and as a parent it is great to be able to support a locally based charity, Autism Concern, which does such great work for many families with autistic children.

David is sponsored by...

James Drury

James started cycling as a means to keep fit. His first challenge was to ride from Dieppe to Montpellier and back covering 1,600 miles in 24 days with panniers, sleeping bag and tent on the back of the bike. This experience failed to put him off cycling and he has returned to France on five occasions completing rides of between 500 and 1000 miles. He has cycled to Poitiers and back before but on a more circuitous route than that proposed for this ride! In the last two years James has raised money for local charities by cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats twice.

James is pleased to be supporting Autism Concern in their excellent work.

Gary Haynes

I've had a fascination with anything with two wheels from an early age which has developed over the last few years into more of an obsession. Cycling is part of my daily commute and when I'm feeling brave I throw my bike on the train and ride through London. The fun bit comes on my days off when I simply jump on the bike and enjoy rural Northamptonshire and its surrounding counties. When I'm in a lazier mood I'll get the motorbike out instead!

Together with a few friends I have completed a number of sponsored rides over 80 or so miles and in 2007 rode the Coast to Coast on a mountain bike. The Twin Towns Challenge will be by far the longest route I have ever undertaken and by raising much needed money for Autism Concern it will make the ride twice as satisfying.

At home I'm supported by my wife Mair and our two boys, Connor (14) and Ollie (5).

Gary is sponsored by...