Meet the support crew

Well the idea is that my Wife Rosemary and Monty our bearded nutter (err collie) will be my support crew. We are going to hire a campervan so that we can be flexible. It allows us to stop pretty much anywhere. This means if I am having a bad day I will not have to suffer to make the B&B or Youth Hostel. Same is true if I am feeling good and can cycle further. Also after seeing inside one of the vans we realised it as really comfortable. It has a shower, a toilet, a proper oven and fridge, a microwave and a TV/DVD system. We can keep all the spares and tools in the van too. This means I can cycle fairly light. with just water some food and maps, waterproof etc. It will be a long trip and great deal for Rosemary to do so we will be able to share the experience and treat it like an adventure. I am really proud of her for agreeing to do this. (More about Monty in a later post.)

I was talking to a chap near to where I live, goes by the name of Nick Craig. Now if you are into cycling or more importantly Mountainbiking or Cyclo-cross, the name Nick Craig will be very familiar to you (I'll leave the detail to my next post) anyway he was giving me some very helpful advice this weekend and the idea is to stop fairly regularly and pace myself during each days ride. So he thought the idea of a campervan was brilliant (helps that he is a VW camper nut too:))

The only problem is that it's going to cost about £1600-1700 for the 2 weeks we hire the van. Gulp! I am determined not to incur any costs that should go to the charity so the idea is to sell my motorbike to pay for the hire. It's been a bit of a garage ornament for a while now so the sacrifice will be for a good cause.

Fantastic sponsor! The Bike Factory - Whaley Bridge

As part of my training I went for a ride to Whaley Bridge on Saturday. I wanted to have a chat with Rob, who is the manager at the Bike Factory for some advice on making the bike as comfortable as possible for a 1000mile ride.
A couple of weeks ago I had mentioned to him that I was doing Lands End to John O'Groats, about Ataxia UK and my sisters. Anyway Rob had discussed this with Fred Salmon (ex - team Motorola cycling ace) who owns the shop. Guess what! They are going to donate a brand spanking Mountain Bike for the cause. How Fantastic and generous is that!
The idea is to raffle it off before Christmas. Hopefully we will get lots of donations this way. They have not asked for any advertising for this. I think it is very very good of them, especially in this difficult financial climate. So I am determined to give them as much exposure as I can anyway.

Rob (Bike Factory manager and all-round good bloke)

Just to cap things off they are going to lend me all the spares I need for the trip. So I can take spare tubes, tyres, chains, even a spare front and rear wheel and cassette. It means I won't need to buy it all in advance and can return what I don't use. So if you need a bike, road or MTB go see Rob in Whaley Bridge. His number is 01663 735020  Bike factory website

Front page news!

Front page story from this weeks Glossop Chronicle 22/9/11

Well I was surprised to get a call from a very nice reporter from the Glossop Chronicle. She wanted to  print the story of my sisters condition and to promote my charity. What I didn't expect was front page headlines!!. So thank you very much indeed Cezara. I hope a few more people will get to know about Ataxia now. Hopefully the paper is going to do a follow up story closer to May when I will be setting off on the challenge.

By the way we are up to £480.00 of donations in the first week. That's fantastic. Thank you very much to all those who have donated so far. Please sponsor me here

Just got my first donation

Well the site has been up since 4pm this afternoon (14/9/11) and I have just had my first donation. It's from a friend of mine who really deserves a mention. Chris Moore, as well as the small matter of lapping the TT circuit at over 110 miles per hour average, has also walked around the Isle of Man in under 24hours for charity (not the TT circuit) but the entire island 85+ miles. An awesome dude in my view. So thank you very much Chris.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Why am I cycling from Lands End to John O 'Groats?

My Sisters - Erika (left) and Janet (right) on my wedding day

As the question says "why am I cycling from Lands end to John O'Groats".
I would like to raise as much money as I can to help the charity Ataxia UK and I am going to explain why below. I am sorry if it is a bit graphic. I found it hard to type to be honest. However I cannot bear to think that other people have to go through what my family endured over the last 25 years without trying to help in some way. Please sponsor me here

I have lost both my beautiful sisters Janet and Erika to a rare form of Ataxia. 10,000 people in the UK suffer from Ataxia. The condition is little understood and has no cure at present. Ataxia is a neurological disorder that affects sufferers to different degrees in many ways. In most cases it affects balance, co-ordination and speech. However in my sisters case it was particularly debilitating. From the age of 14-15 in both Janet and Erika, muscles began to waste so that legs, arms, hands and feet slowly started to fail. Over a period of 10 years walking became impossible, leaving them wheelchair bound. This was followed by losing the ability to hold things such as a cup or a knife and fork. Eventually their speech began to fail and swallowing food became impossible. The simple pleasure of eating became a tube that fed directly into their stomach. This slow degeneration happened over 20+ years until it began to affect their involuntary motor functions (heart and lungs). Ataxia finally took them from us when they were in their early 40's. It is a dreadful condition that was very painful for them and for us to witness.

Ataxia has certainly shaped my family over the years. I believe my sisters determination to fight the condition was an inspiration to me. To see their beaming smiles when I visited, made me realise what really matters in life. Material wealth, all the adornments of modern society mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. What I would have given for them to to have a normal chance at life.

Ataxia UK is a small, entirely contribution based charity with no government assistance. It does an amazing job helping to support the care of sufferers, young and old. They set up and provide ataxia centres and also fund research into finding a cure, which I am sure you will agree is vital. They only have 12 staff so are not over-burdened with costs. They need all the funds they can get to continue their good work. So that is why I am cycling from Lands End to John O'Groats! 1000 miles of cycling doesn't seem that much of an effort when you put it in context. (I will probably regret saying that :))


So I would be very grateful if you could spare a couple of quid. I have set up a just giving site where you can donate. All funds go directly to the charity.  Please sponsor me here

I will be blogging on all my training up until May (exact date not finalised) when I set off and during the ride (if I have any energy and a 3G signal)