Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/GC ImagesRide, Pippa, ride!
Wearing adorable red, white and blue Union Jack-patterned cycling jackets and tight blue shorts, Kate Middleton's little sister Pippa Middleton, 30, and their 27-year-old brother James, the youngest in the family, recently began a 3,000-mile, 12-state Race Across America charity bicycle race from the East Coast to the West Coast.
"On 14th June, my brother and I, along with six friends will be setting off on a West to East Coast Race Across America (RAAM)." she said in a statement posted on her fundraising page on Saturday. "This relay cycling event spans 3,000 miles, 12 states and 88 counties. We are aiming to complete this non-stop challenge in eight days, riding between 350 and 500 miles a day."
The two siblings of the UK's Duchess of Cambridge are riding with six other cyclists and are taking part in the challenge to help benefit the British Heart Foundation, of which Pippa serves as an ambassador, and the Michael Matthews Foundation, a children's charity that is named after a 22-year-old man who became the first Briton to reach the summit of Mount Everest and then died on the way down in 1999. His brother, also named James, is one of the Middletons' team mates.
Participants have a maximum number of nine days to complete the Race Across America and some parts are pretty rough—they will end up climbing more than 100,000 feet during the journey. The route starts in Oceanside, California, near San Diego, and goes through states such as Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio and West Virginia before ending in Annapolis, Maryland, located about 30 miles south of Baltimore. Pippa's team reached Congress, Arizona at Sunday, June 15, around noon, according to the official website.
After completing the Race Across America challenge, Pippa's bike is set to be auctioned on eBay, according to the British Heart Foundation website. Pippa also plans to fly to Istanbul, Turkey, to compete in the 4-mile Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swimming Race, swimming from Europe to Asia, on behalf of the charity.