I am really happy to be taking part in this event, inspired and organised by my friend Kat Macaulay. Kat is a member of the choir I sing in. Last year she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She confronted this with a wonderfully positive and inspirational attitude, recording the ups and downs of her treatment in video diaries. Happily she is now in remission and undertaking this Bikeathon challenge. I feel very priviliged to be taking part in this fundraising bike ride with her.

I will also be doing the bike ride in memory of my little brother Peter, who was diagnosed with leukaemia 32 years ago and, after a short but very courageous battle with the disease, died less than a year later, just before his 14th birthday.

So please, dig deep and help fund the research that is needed to get rid of leukaemia and lymphoma forever.

If you fancy joinging Kat's team, please contact her on: katmac79@yahoo.com

Please feel free to sponsor any of the other members of 'Up the Thames without a Pedal': http://www.justgiving.com/teams/upthethameswithoutapedal

Richard xx

This is the blurb from JustGiving:

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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.