Hi Tanya.
At a guess, the advice would be to hunt around for a local cycle club; the benefits would be two fold as you'd find people there to a) help keep you motivated and b) maybe join in with you on such rides. It would also get you used to group cycling which would be good experience to take into an event.
Have you got a particular event in mind that you want to enter? Is it an annual thing? I only ask becasue Im in a similar situation where I've seen events that I'd like to have a go at, but I've conceeded at the moment I'm probably not best prepared for them right now, so I've set myself a target of increasing fitness levels and joining a cycle club so I will be ready when they roll around again next year. Im not saying you can't go for a specific event you've seen straight away, but if there are obstacles (like the distance or the need to have a 'team'), then those obstacles simply get transformed into being targets to beat, and then how you go about beating them becomes part of the fun of progression. If that makes sense?
In the meantime, if a specific event is out of reach, could you not do something yourself if you feel strongly about raising money for a worthy concern? If you know your limitations as they stand now (lets say 30 miles as an example), could you not say right, in July Im going to do a 50/60 miles from here to Timbucktoo or whatever, see if you can rope some friends or family in for the fun of it and then forfeit the guys at home and work who won't join in to donate instead?, Then just go from there. Most charities in my experience are more than happy to give you whatever help and advice you may want if you contact them telling them you want to do something to raise some money.
