Plan B!

Due to COVID-19 my planned challenges have either been cancelled or postponed. I did manage to complete the Eroica in South Africa before lock down in March and a few virtual and independent challenges that replicate the Peaks Tour, Malvern Mad Hatter and NHS with Geraint Thomas. The real bad news is my main charity challenge, the Patagonia Challenge has been cancelled. My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of South America now struggling to contain the pandemic. 

Even before this pandemic, people with cancer already had many challenges and unmet needs. Let's not forget them! The potential to cause harm by COVID-19 is at least three-fold in cancer patients. Firstly the vulnerability to infection, secondly due to resource rationing for early detection and surgery and finally the challenge of limited critical care. It must be like living with a gun to your head with thoughts about risks and survival odds.  

My Plan B is to keep going with my challenges and will now cycle from Lands End to John O' Groats - LEJOG - the entire length of the UK, but with a twist. I will do this on a gravel bike so that I can take in major parts of the Great North Trial where 65% is unpaved. I will do this independently late September 2020.

During lock down I was able to do a bit of consulting and donated the fees to my charity.

Please follow my updates and please help these most vulnerable people exposed to a higher risk than the general population. We need to pay attention to them and why I am cycling for Velindre Cancer Center, a wonderful organisation that is working hard towards their ultimate goal of Victory over Cancer.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

I have kept my original story below - Plan A - as I will now aim to complete this in 2021.

Plan A

Thanks for supporting my fundraising. As a little reminder I have been raising money for Cancer Charities since 2013. So far, I have raised over £43,000 for my chosen Cancer Charities and one very special little girl in need of a stem cell transplant. 

Words can't express the thanks I send to you on behalf of those charities. It is greatly appreciated, and I can't thank you enough. 

Among others, I have completed numerous cycle challenges and stage races including Mt. Kilimanjaro to Ngorongoro Crater in Tanzania (400km) for Bloodline, London to Paris (507km) for Children with Cancer, the Mongolia MTB (650km) for Friends of Cancer Patients and Rumble in the Jungle in Sri Lanka (250km) also for Friends of Cancer Patients and most recently the Rift Valley Odyssey in Kenya (500km) for Macmillan.

Always striving to better myself, I am now taking on a much more serious physical challenge than ever before. As previous years my aim in 2020 is to complete 12 global sportives starting with the Eroica in South Africa in March but come, the end of December my pledge is to complete the Patagonia Adventure which includes the legendary Carretera Austral and Ruta 40, one of the worlds ultimate cycling routes in South America.

Setting off with TDA Global Cycling in early November from Santiago in Chile, the plan is to reach Ushuaia in Argentina late December, famous for its acclaim as the worlds southernmost city at the “End of the World”. At 3,880km its without doubt the longest challenge I have ever done. I am told to prepare to cycle in some of the most scenic and desolate areas on earth with long days in the saddle, harsh environments (mountain passes, temperature, winds, frequent rain) and terrain (rough dirt, gravel roads and significant climbing). En route I will be hitting hot spots like Concepcion, Puerto Montt, El Chalten and Puerto Natales. Maybe even a wine estate or two!! 

The difficult route also includes taking multiple ferries across fjords, spinning through icy cold rivers, crossing borders, remote communities, enormous glaciers, smoking volcanoes, snowy peaks, impenetrable forests and the notorious Patagonian winds to test my will and skill. Oh, and be prepared for the awe and expect the unexpected!!

If you don’t already know Argentina has a Welsh link. In 1865, 153 pioneers went in search of “little Wales beyond Wales”. It is thought there are about 50,000 people with Welsh heritage in Patagonia, around 5,000 of whom are Welsh speakers. As I cycle through Argentina, I am hoping my Welsh flag will attract the attention of some of my fellow countrymen and women. Some Bara Brith (Welsh Tea Bread) to keep my energy levels up will be most welcome.

Keeping with this Welsh theme and now back home in Wales, this year I’m supporting Velindre, the premier cancer centre in Wales, providing care, support and treatment to cancer patients and their families. More people than ever are living with cancer – survival rates have doubled in the last 40 years through better treatments and earlier detection.

Well known for providing high quality radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments, care and support to patients, Velindre also funds ground-breaking research programmes into many areas of cancer. Please support Velindre a wonderful organisation that is working hard towards their ultimate goal of Victory over Cancer. Velindre Cancer Centre is a division of Velindre NHS Trust http://www.velindre-tr.wales.nhs.uk (external web link)

One of the Patron’s of Velindre is Geraint Thomas OBE the first and only Welshman to win the Tour De France among many other accolades. Hopefully Geraint will give me a few tips before I embark on my trip.

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.