Cycling from Land's End to John O'Groats (LEJOG) in 14 days on 18 August 2010 for CoreCharity

LEJOG Route
1 (18 Aug) - Land's End to Wadebridge  
2 (19 Aug) - Wadebridge to South Molton  
3 (20 Aug) - South Molton to Cheddar  
4 (21 Aug) - Cheddar to English Bicknor  
5 (22 Aug) - English Bicknor to Much Wenlock  
6 (23 Aug) - Much Wenlock to Bucklow Hill  
7 (24 Aug) - Bucklow Hill to Slaidburn  
8 (25 Aug) - Slaidburn to Kirkoswald  
9 (26 Aug) - Kirkoswald to Ettrick  
10 (27 Aug) - Ettrick to Drum  
11 (28 Aug) - Drum to Spittal of Glenshee  
12 (29 Aug) - Spittal of Glenshee to Dava  
13 (30 Aug) - Dava to Bonar Bridge  
14 (31 Aug) - Bonar Bridge to John O'Groats

 I was diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) about 10 years ago.  At first it was frightening being told that this condition was chronic, I could spend the rest of my life with embarrassing symptoms and, worst of all, I was susceptible to colon cancer, and the condition was hereditary.   How would I cope, what impact would this have on my children, on my job and my financial security?   After experimenting with a variety of UC drugs, it became very clear to me that this condition really was chronic and the only cure was to have my colon removed.   No matter how scared I was personally, I knew that I had to put on a brave face for my children; the only thing worse than this diagnosis was seeing my children worry about me.   After living with it for about three years I decided to work with the medics to come up with a management plan.  I needed a plan to manage the daily medication, food, exercise and my social life. Firstly, I identified the drugs that would stabilise my condition and then concentrated on reducing the dosage of drugs with the worst side effects. This led me to experiment with herbal remedies, worm based treatments and even de-stressing strategies.  With food, I soon realised that the safest option was to cook from basics at home and to avoid all foods that caused a flare (aggravation of the condition).   I totally removed foods like sugar, citric drinks and tomatoes from my diet during a flare and then only consumed them in moderate portions otherwise.  I also learnt to accelerate my recovery by living on a liquid diet to rest my colon.   I used to love running but I had to replace that with walking and cycling.  As for my social life, I was never one for a night out on the town but the odd night out proved challenging and I soon replaced that with visiting family and friends at their homes.  

Ten years down the road, I have a fairly normal life. My children are grown up, and I haven’t taken a day off sick with UC for few years now.  I have learnt to manage my medication, food, work, stress and social life.  I set myself challenges within the boundaries.  I am one of the fortunate people who has been able to manage my UC rather than let the UC manage me.  Last year I did the Wainwright’s Coast to Coast, 192 miles walking the breath of the country.  This year the challenge is to cycle the length of the country, on my old mountain bike, approximately 1000 miles, Land’s End to John O’Groats.   This challenge is about making people aware of Ulcerative Colitis and those who have been diagnosed aware that there is life after the diagnosis.  In the process, I also hope to raise money for research to find a cure for UC.