My Passion With Mark Dundon

Mark Dundon, newly appointed chief information officer of Sheffield-based home phone and broadband company, Plusnet, on his passion for cycling.

I HAVE been cycling regularly for the last 10 years, largely to give myself a more enjoyable commute to and from the office.

My journey takes me from the south-east of Sheffield right into the city centre; a round trip of 20 miles. I find it a fantastic way to keep fit, arriving at work feeling fresh in the mornings and clearing the mind after a busy day on the way home.

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The beauty of living in Sheffield is that it is rich with possible cycle routes with many Transpennine Trails being publicised and maintained by the council. It means that my commute only takes in roads at the start and end of my journey and I can have a lot of fun, especially on wet and muddy days, out on the dirt and gravel tracks.

This cycle time is important to me, it relieves the pressures of a busy working day and gives me some personal time before I arrive home. I am married with five children and as I work long hours, when I arrive home I want to provide quality time to my family. Cycling allows me to relax and refresh my mind despite a hectic day.

While I started cycling for very practical reasons, it quickly became a pursuit I became rather passionate about and over the last eight years I have taken on a host of crazy challenges for the sake of charity with friends and work colleagues. Amongst other challenges, in 2010, I cycled the 175-mile route of Hadrian’s Wall in less than 24 hours. I have also completed the 150-mile coast-to-coast (C2C) challenge between Whitehaven and Tynemouth in 2007 and again in 2009.

The last time we completed the coast-to-coast challenge we did so in just over 16 hours of cycling, raising a lot of cash for Sheffield Children’s Hospital. In my short time at Plusnet, I’ve managed to gather a rather willing team of the company’s directors to join me in September to complete the challenge again but hopefully in a shorter time. We’ll be raising money for the children’s hospital this time too and have set up a fundraising website at www.justgiving.com/Plusnet-C2C

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Although these challenges are hard work, it’s a fantastic feeling of personal achievement once complete, especially when you’re doing so for such a worthy cause.

We’ve introduced a BikeBoost scheme at Plusnet which gives staff the chance to trial cycling to work over a four-week period. With the free loan of a bicycle, staff get assistance from a cyclist trainer who’ll even accompany them on their route to work and at the end of the trial, they have the option to purchase the bike at a heavily discounted price.

Despite my experience, I decided to enlist the help of the cycle trainer to master the problems of tram tracks in Sheffield. I’ve had a number of accidents on them getting my wheels caught but thankfully I’m alive to tell the tale!