A Paris adventure for City cycling teams
SO MUCH for a relaxing weekend. That was the last thing on offer for the team of 17 Nomura employees who set off last Thursday to spend three days cycling 450km from London to Paris to raise money for the Rainbow Trust.
Leaving Nomura’s London headquarters at One Angel Lane, the intrepid cyclists were warmly welcomed on Saturday afternoon at a reception at the Eiffel Tower, which was organised by the Japanese firm’s Paris office as part of its 40th anniversary celebration.
If Parisian hospitality at the end wasn’t quite enough to take the team’s minds off burning thighs and saddle sores, then the knowledge that they’ve raised more than £36,000 so far for the Rainbow Trust, which provides emotional and practical support to families who have a child with a life threatening or terminal illness, should certainly help.
Not to be outdone, this week will see another London to Paris cycle challenge get underway, heading from London to Paris via Dover and Amiens.
Stockbroking firm Killik & Co is sending its well-prepared team to master a 550km route to raise money for the War Child.
Mike Savage, Fred Robinson, Dan Dowding, Jan Wood and Jer O’Mahony have left nothing to chance during training for the event, spinning throughout the winter and attending warm weather camps in Lanzarote.
O’Mahony in particular should find the task ahead a breeze, having completed the gruelling Marathon des Sables (six marathons run across in the Sahara desert over six days) in preparation for the event.
WHAT goes together better than a City location, steak, and fast cars?
Nothing, according to Italian supercar maker Lamborghini, which will be parading a retrospective of its finest luxury vehicles outside Gaucho Broadgate behind Liverpool Street Station this week.
Classic models from the 1960s to the present day will be on show from Wednesday this week, before moving south of the river on Friday to take up residence outside Gaucho Tower Bridge.
To celebrate the pop-up exhibition, champagne receptions will be held outside the chain of steak restaurants, while well-fed speedfreaks browse models including the 350GT, first produced in 1964, right up to the Aventador LP700-4, a 700-horsepower behemoth unveiled at last year’s Geneva Motor Show. Enthusiasts will also recognise the iconic Diablo – famously thrown out of a plane at the end of Bond film Die Another Day.
All the cars on show have been specially flown in from the Lamborghini museum in Bologna, and are making their way around London this week – also making appearances at Duke of York Square in Chelsea and at Marble Arch.