Iron Maiden Memorabilia for Sale in Children’s Charity Auction

Longtime Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood is by no means a newbie to fundraising bicycle rides. He's ridden them in Peru, Kenya, Russia, China and Vietnam; but now he is organizing one himself in Egypt -- another place he's ridden before -- in what will be a 100-mile ride to take place near the end of this month. It will be done in only 48 hours, following a path along the Nile River and run between Aswan and Luxor.

According to Smallwood in a press statement, this two-wheel trek for 40 close friends has come together rather fast due to the busy year he has ahead of him. "This may not be ideal timing," Smallwood explained. "With all the snow recently making it tough to train, but it will be a busy Maiden year after this with a new album later this year and some big shows in the summer."

The charities to benefit from this are Childline, a U.K.-based, 24-hour phone counseling service for those 18 and under, and Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy, which for 50 years now has used music and art to help with the health and well-being of those in need. The goal of this ride is to raise £175,000-200,000, and to help with that goal the stellar guys in Maiden have joined with Smallwood to auction off some rare and signed swag from the band.

Three items are up for bid: A Gibson Epiphone Les Paul Custom guitar -- the same kind Adrian Smith is known to play -- signed by the band, a signed poster for the DVD 'Flight 666' and a platinum disc for the U.S. sales of 'Flight 666' that has been engraved to Smallwood.

Iron Maiden is much bigger than eBay, so these items are up for bid until Feb. 2 on the band's Web site.