I was first introduced to this event, and of course the charity, by a good friend of mine Peter Mulqueeney.

It ticked a few boxes for me at the time.

1. It was raising awareness of prostate cancer that affects a large number of men and their families and this was something that had really been lacking over the years.
2. Invaluable funds would be raised to help in the treatment and fight against this terrible disease.
3. The ride was being run in partnership with the Football League and I would be representing Wigan Athletic, a club that I have supported for over 40 years.
4. The training and participation in the event would hopefully allow me to get fitter and lose weight which in turn would improve my own quality of life.

In June 2015 the pair of us successfully completed the ride over two days from London to Amsterdam and in doing so raising well over £6000 between us.

Over the following years Peter has built on this and year on year been joined by an increasing number of riders to join team Latics2Amsterdam.

In June 2017 the team consisted of some 25 members and raised almost £50000 for Prostate Cancer UK.

A number of the team decided to extend their ride by making the UK side a coast-to-coast event cycling from Southport to Wigan before joining up with the rest of team L2A to make the arduous trip over the Pennines from the DW Stadium to the official starting point in Barnsley.

I will be back among the cycling team for next year's ride as we hope to build on this year's success and raise even more money to help in the fight against prostate cancer.

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Prostate Cancer - The Risks

In the UK, about 1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer at some point in their lives.

Men aged 50 or over, men with a family history of prostate cancer and black men are more at risk of getting prostate cancer.

Across the UK

• Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men.
• Over 47,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year – that's 129 men every day.
• Every 45 minutes one man dies from prostate cancer – that's more than 11,000 men every year.
• 1 in 8 men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime.
• Over 330,000 men are living with and after prostate cancer.