A CLIMATE campaigner will cycle 160 miles on a bamboo bike to deliver a ball for Colchester United’s next fixture.

Kate Strong, who is also an executive coaching consultant and three-time world record-breaking cyclist, is taking on the ride on her bike – which has a bamboo frame – as part of the Green Football Weekend.

The campaign mobilises fans, clubs, leagues, and partners to take action on climate issues.

Ms Strong has the “privilege” of delivering the ball for the match between the U’s and Forest Green Rovers at the JobServe Community Stadium on Saturday.

Gazette: Cyclist - Kate Strong celebrating at Parliament Square after finishing a cycle ride around the UK to raise awareness of the climate crisisCyclist - Kate Strong celebrating at Parliament Square after finishing a cycle ride around the UK to raise awareness of the climate crisis (Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA)

“It’s a huge privilege because I’ve never been to a football match before and I would not say I’m a typical football fan,” the 44-year-old from London said.

Ms Strong will start her ride at 9am today in Gloucestershire and will cycle 100 miles (161km) before staying at a football fan’s house in Barnet, north London, overnight and then continuing to Colchester tomorrow, before presenting the ball to the players at about 9.30am on Saturday.

She will be joined along the route by various people, including a group of schoolchildren from Somerset.

“It’s always amazing to have people join me,” she said.

Gazette: Awareness - Kate Strong will cycle from Gloucestershire to ColchesterAwareness - Kate Strong will cycle from Gloucestershire to Colchester (Image: Kate Strong/PA)

“This isn’t a solo journey and it’s great to share this experience with others to show that a problem shared is a problem halved, and the cycle does feel a lot shorter when there are others on it with me.”

She added that training has been “non-existent” because her bike was being fixed over winter and she lives a nomadic lifestyle, often caring for people’s pets while they are on holiday.

She hopes the cycle ride will get people “to do something” to tackle climate change.

Referring to a statistic on the Green Football Weekend website, she said: “If the UK’s football fans had one veggie meal a day, we could save the equivalent to removing 5.5million cars from the road each year.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about other ways to get involved in the Green Football Weekend, which takes place from Friday until Monday, can visit greenfootballweekend.com.