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GET HIM TO THE CHURCH ON TIME!

LONDONER CYCLES TO HIS WEDDING VENUE IN NORTHERN IRELAND ON PRE-WEDDING FITNESS MISSION

A special needs teacher from West London has embarked upon a virtual cycling mission prior to his wedding in Northern Ireland in a bid to get in shape.

 Ben Ryan, 31, who works at Lindon Bennett in Hanworth, is cycling the 552.7 miles from his home in Isleworth, West London to his wedding venue in the village of Ballydugan in Northern Ireland by using the virtual fitness app My Virtual Mission which maps his entire cycle route.

Ben will be marrying fiancée, Norma Cromie, 32, a Business Studies teacher at The Heathland School in Hounslow, on July 28^thin Downpatrick, County Down, Northern Ireland. The couple, who met in 2008, have been engaged since Christmas 2014. Ben, who set up wlondoncycling, which shares cycling routes and advice for cyclists in the area, is charting his virtual cycle mission via a blog on the site.

Ben undertook the cycling challenge with My Virtual Mission with the aim of getting in shape prior to his wedding. He says: "I'm quite a 'stat'o' and like tracking my data. My Virtual Mission offers a unique format where you can virtually tour anywhere and another way of tracking your mileage. It is also good motivation to get trim for the wedding, whilst working out if the mileage I do each week would get me on time to my wedding!"

Ben has to average 25 miles each weekend with his My Virtual Mission journey, and is aiming to hit 50-100 miles on his weekend rides to ensure he gets to his wedding even earlier with cycle rides taking place in the Surrey and Berkshire hills. Virtually, though, he is cycling the route to his wedding venue thanks to the My Virtual Mission app. Ben adds: "I am just behind thanks to missing a weekend ride due to my stag do! It's been really enjoyable uploading the data and seeing whereabouts in the world I actually am. My Virtual Mission is a nifty fitness tracking site (also available through app) which allows you to create a journey virtually anywhere in the world to motivate you to get out on the bike, or throw the running shoes on, or jump in the nearest pond and swim, or even row."

Ben is currently 168miles in to his virtual journey and is, at this time, somewhere near the Welsh border. He says of his mission: ‘With My Virtual Mission you can manually adapt your route so you avoid motorways and highways to make it 'realistic'. Adding in Google street view in allows you to check out places that you probably would never visit and if you plan to, you know what's coming!"

His fiancée is supportive of his pre-wedding mission, which Ben says she finds preferable to him actually cycling to Ireland for real. Ben says: "My friends were discussing my next cycling challenge in front of my fiancée and came up with the idea about actually cycling to my wedding a few days before the ceremony. My eyes lit up with the idea, but I soon knocked that on the head by the look Norma gave me! She is much more conformable with this virtual mission and this way I can race to my wedding and not worry about not getting to the church on time!"

Ben's Mission can be viewed at: http://www.myvirtualmission.com/missions/12477/get-me-to-the-church-on-time

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Contact

For more information, to speak to Ben or receive images, please contact Claire McGill viaclaire@garfunkelcommunications.co.ukor 07734 702653.

About wlondoncycling: www.wlondoncycling.co.uk

About My Virtual Mission:www.myvirtualmission.com

As a goal-setting and motivational tool, My Virtual Mission is amazing fun as you get to visualize your progress and check out your new virtual location as you work your way along your mission path. You can also use it to set up a long-distance ride, run or walk to fundraise for a charity or cause, since the app includes a function to receive sponsorships and track how much you've raised.

One of the really fun things about My Virtual Mission is that your mission can take you on a virtual adventure anywhere in the world. Heading somewhere exciting, somewhere famous or somewhere that holds personal significance could be your new fitness challenge for 2016!  You could aim to run the length of the UK or Africa - or if you're feeling really ambitious, the circumference of the earth! With every run you get to see your progress.

You can also set up two types of group missions so you can either challenge friends/colleagues to a virtual race or you can work as a team to complete an outrageously long mission together.

About Adam, MVM founder

Adam El-Agez, is a 36 year entrepreneur from New Zealand who has a wide variety of business interests and experiences spanning 15 years. With a knack for technology and a degree in physical education, it's not surprising that he combined the two together in order to start My Virtual Mission. Outside of business Adam is a regular surfer, fisherman and diver with the ocean being his great passion in life.