Twenty-year-old Francesca Cutts is a 3rd-year veterinary student at the Royal Veterinary College in London. As if the demands of veterinary school were not enough, Cutts is embarking on another grueling task: Riding a bicycle across the United Kingdom. Cutts, who works at Greendale Veterinary Diagnostics in Woking, began the 250,000-mile journey on Feb. 27 in John O’Groats. The goal is to raise $355,255 (£250,000) for Sport Relief, a nonprofit that “focuses amongst other things on supporting vulnerable people with mental health problems,” Cutts told Get Surrey. The cause, she says, is close to her heart. “My personal target is to raise £1,052 ($1,494.91), which is a pound for every mile,” she added. “This is a huge total for me, and with the public’s help, I hope to beat it.” Of the challenge, Cutts told Get Surrey was that, “The first few days we were lucky with the weather so we could enjoy the beautiful scenery but the biggest difficulties have been the wind. It’s very frustrating to be hit and pushed back at all sides to feel like you’re not making any progress. But we all stuck together as a team and battled it out together. We feel a great sense of achievement after a tough day.” Cutts is one of a team of 10. The cycling challenge ends on March 11 in Land’s End. To donate to Cutts’s goal, visit her JustGiving page.
