Hi,

Thanks for visiting my JustGiving page. I rather rashly signed up to attempt the Montane Kielder 100 on the 4th September 2010. Could I ride 100 miles off-road in one day? My biggest training ride was 85 miles... One thing was for sure it was a huge challenge! 

In the event I didn't quite make it! I arrived at the last cut off (at 80 miles, after 9,000ft of climbing) just a shade under 5 minutes past 5pm - meaning I was forced to retire - doh! I started strongly making the first cut off (55 miles) and the second (65 miles) with a buffer of 30 minutes. What really killed me was riding the Newcastleton Red. I hit the wall at 75 miles - only to be revived by chaining energy gels. I realised that it was going to be touch and go to make the 5pm deadline and found a 3rd wind at 10 to - but I couldn't quite make it. My total riding time was 10 hours 34 minutes 55 seconds.

The winner of the race put in a time of 7 hours 56 minutes 55 seconds - an amazing feat! Of the 534 starters 347 (65%) finished. Of the 187 non-finishers only 30 made it to the 80 mile cut off - I had the distinction of being the first rider to be timed out!

Thanks to all my supporters I've raised some much needed funds for a very special charity - Community Action Nepal - CAN (www.canepal.org.uk) - CAN is a mountaineers' charity which helps Nepali mountain people to help themselves raise their standard of living and strengthen indigenous, community-based culture. CAN operates mainly in the Middle Hill Regions of Neal from where the majority of the porters originate. It is the porters who make it possible for walkers and climbers to enjoy the Peaks and Passes of Nepal. CAN sets up and maintains village schools, medical posts, porter shelters and clean water facilities.

CAN emerged out of Community Action Treks, a trekking cooperative set up by Doug Scott to ensure fair employment and wages for trekking porters. The profits from CAT get ploughed into Community Action Nepal.

Back in 2006 I visited Eastern Nepal on a trek run by Community Action Treks and climbed the 6,225m peak - Teng Kongma (near Kangchenjunga) - with David Nightingale. Trekking and climbing in Nepal was one of my boyhood dreams and to realise it was magical. I was also inspired by the people of Nepal and when I returned to the UK I set up a monthly standing order to support the crucial work of Community Action Nepal.

In my bid to raise sponsorship through attempting the Kielder 100 (a few days before my 40th birthday - so it's sort of a mid-life crisis!) I hope to raise a larger sum to put back a bit more to this fantastic country and its friendly mountain people.

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.

So please dig deep and donate now. Thanks, Shane