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Charlie Cox was diagnosed with a brain tumour as a very young child. At one of his biannual MRI scans in April 2014 it was apparent the tumour had grown. Radiotherapy was deemed to be dangerous, and an operation would be a last resort, so after consultation with the oncologists at Royal Marsden Hospital it was decided that Charlie would undergo 18 months of chemotherapy, which will be administered through a chest port-catheter.

Charlie could potentially suffer side effects from the chemotherapy, which could also leave him vulnerable to infection. Despite this, he is still able to mix with other children. 

#teamcharlie are optimistic that the chemotherapy will be successful, but Charlie could require radiotheraphy or surgery in the future. In the meantime your kindness can help fund research into brain cancers to help Charlie and children like him. 

https://www.justgiving.com/teamcharliecox/

The Etape du Tour is the stage of the Tour de France that is opened up to amateurs each year. The 2014 Etape du Tour is the 145km stage between Pau-Hautacam that goes through the Pyrenees and takes in the massive and infamous Col du Tourmalet (2115m) and finishing on the top of the Hautacam (1520m). The Etape du Tour is Stage 18 of the Tour, and takes place on 20th July 2014, four days before the pros tackle the stage on Thursday 24th July.

http://www.letapedutour.com/ET1/us/homepage.html

http://www.ledomestiquetours.co.uk/etape-du-tour-2014-the-route-and-cols/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8QkL3eWJIM

Steve and I started cycling in April 2012. We both bought road bikes and decided we were going to do a stage of the Tour de France. Even then our ambitions were lofty - especially considering that at that stage I weighed over 17 and a half stones and Steve couldn't walk back from the pub without getting ill.

Our first ride on our new bikes was once round Sefton Park (about 2.5 miles) and afterwards neither of us could walk up the stairs for 3 days. We gradually built up our bodies; the next week we did twice round Sefton Park, and by the autumn of 2012 we were entering short distance sportives.

We increased the distances we rode, and saw our bellies shrink and our calves grow. We have had injuries, mechanicals and setbacks. When Steve moved to South Wales in 2013 we both lost our training partners but we carried on riding and will do the Etape together.

No money donated goes to me or Steve. We are funding the trip, accommodation and race entry ourselves. All money donated goes to the charity.