Radio 1 DJ to travel round York on giant bike for Comic Relief
A Radio 1 DJ will be cycling around York on a mad-looking ten-seater bike this weekend – all for Comic Relief.
Arielle Free is to take on the longest set of her life as she will attempt to DJ live while cycling for 50 hours across five cities in five days to raise funds for Red Nose Day.
The early breakfast host begins in York tomorrow (Sunday, 5 March).
Arielle, 34, will undertake the challenge, dubbed Tour de Dance, on a bike adapted with DJ decks and a giant red nose.
Along the way, she will be joined by some famous faces in each of the cities who will need to help her pedal to keep the music pumping.
On the first day, Free will join Radio 1 presenter Greg James for a special ‘Tour de Dance For Red Nose Day’ breakfast show to talk through the task she is about to embark on.
Free said: “I’m so nervous about the challenge, it’s something I’d never considered before, and that’s just the cycling shorts! It’s going to be a huge mental and physical challenge peddling whilst mixing live, across five cities in one week.
“I have definitely had some funny looks in the gym whilst practising DJing on the bikes!
“Looking forward to raving and pedalling across the nation, if you see us cycling past, please show some support by dancing along! And please donate if you can!”
James added: “These challenges only work when the whole station and all the listeners get behind them so I’ll be doing my very best to be the ringmaster back at base rallying everyone together to get Arielle over the finish line.
“She’s incredibly tough but this will be her biggest challenge yet.”
It all kicks off at 7am on Sunday
Full details haven’t been released, but York St John University said they were involved: “We’re proud to be hosting BBC Radio 1’s Arielle Free this Sunday as she kicks of her amazing ‘Tour de Dance’ challenge for Comic Relief.
“Arielle will attempt to cycle for 50 hours, across five cities in five days, all whilst DJing live.
“It all starts on our Lord Mayor’s Walk campus in York on Sunday morning, tune in to Radio 1 to hear how she’s getting on and donate via Comic Relief.”
Money raised for Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day will help those affected by the cost-of-living crisis and tackle issues such as homelessness, mental health problems, and food poverty in the UK and across the world.
A portion of the money raised will also go towards the emergency response to the earthquake in Turkey and Syria.