Meet the riders: Owen Lawrence, Arbitra
Owen Lawrence is Chief Executive of Arbitra and one half of the brains behind Cycle to PAW (alongside Carlos Carvalho from Opus 2). We talk to him about he got into cycling, and what he hopes to achieve with the inaugural Cycle to PAW.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what you're working on right now:
I am the Chief Exec and Founder of Arbitra International – a stable of independent arbitrators and mediators. Outside of work I am a dad to two amazing girls who love their sports, so I spend the weekends taxi-ing and getting up very early to squeeze in rides.
How long have you been cycling and how did you get into it?
While I am yet to buy a two-seater sports car, other than that, I am a stereotypical mid-life-crisis 40-something year old weekend warrior (as I think we are called). I was a broken rugby player for years, moved on to regularly playing squash, which led to a snapped achilles in 2020. In an effort to rebuild my chicken leg, after six months in a surgical boot, I bought a Peloton exercise bike. From there, I progressed to my first road bike and started to discover the countryside, nature, sunrises and a new way to keep fit and clear my head (without a day on the couch to recover!). I quickly discovered a group of like-minded people and formed the Tired Dads cycling group (follow on Strava), who ride together two to three times a week.
How did you get involved in Cycle to PAW?
I work in a social job – lots of networking, travel and conferences. As most cyclists like to do, conversations often turn to riding. I started to build an interesting international cycling network and started a Linkedin page called The Legal Cycling Group. This acts as a platform for people so that when they travel, they can reach out to the group and arrange a ride in different parts of the world. Last year, for example, we had group rides in Miami, Tel Aviv, Paris, Hong Kong, and across the UAE. So Paris was an obvious challenge and made sense. I have always admired the MIPIM ride, and hope the London to Paris Arbitration Week can build the same momentum.
What led you to come up with Cycle to PAW?
Riding in a peloton, having a chat, clearing your head and taking in an amazing route – why not! There are lots of amazing people in the legal industry. People who like a challenge. This is our first one – we already have a mixed gender peloton and good range of age and ethnicity. Anyone can cycle and it's inclusive. We also have very successful barrister who has partially impaired vision joining us. He called and said he would like to take part – within five minutes Club Peloton said why not, and started to source a tandem for us!
What are you most looking forward to?
Holding my bike above my head and getting that iconic shot with the Eiffel Tower in the background, and that feeling of achievement as you cross the finish line.
What are you dreading?
The weather… but as they say, there's no such thing as bad weather, just a bad choice of clothing (subject to hurricane winds).
How are you approaching training?
In all honestly, badly. My daughters both represent their county at different sports, so we spend a lot of weekends on the road. I have a couple of big rides pencilled in, including 100kms in Dubai next week, so will be fine… I hope!
Any top tips you’ve picked up that you’ll take with you on the ride?
Go at your own pace on the hills – it’s a ride, not a race.
What would you most like to get out of the event?
To raise lots for charity and build solid foundations for next year's ride and beyond.
Sponsor Owen and the Cycle to PAW riders here: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/cycletopaw.
