My Goal, the Hows, Whys, Challenges, Bikers 4 Macmillan and the 800 mile round trip follow the short Updates...

Update 15-Aug:

Looks like that's all the donations in apart from a couple who have reneged, shame.  Good news is finally got around to banking the second round of donations from the brilliant Bikers visiting Loomies Café.  Thanks folks, greatly appreciated, you all know who you are.

Hopefully, the next update will be in the form of the group rideout with the B4M crew and the VT of the cheque presentation at Macmillan HQ...

Update 11-Jul:

Just the last few sponsorship pledges to come in now and it looks like we we will reach our £2,257 target.  Thank you to all of you who have supported this event.  The highs and lows of this journey, which started back in Jan, will be long remembered as a mixture of memories and one of huge achievement given my agonisingly slow cancer recovery continues.

Update 05-Jul:

Dropped into Loomies Café today to pick up the funds donated by the Biking Customers into the 'Macmillan tin'.  Thanks to all as another £67.69 raised and getting so tantalisingly close to the £2,257 target with sponsorship money still to come in.

A big thanks to Jane, Leon and all the family and staff at Loomies Café for their support during the S2S-2014 campaign - greatly appreciated.

Update 23-Jun:

Well, feeling somewhat frayed around the edges but extremely happy and proud to say I did it!!!  To all the kind people that have already donated and the sponsors that are about to 'cough up', thank you so much in helping to make this such a worthwhile and rewarding experience for such a worthy cause.

Your much needed donations will go towards supporting people like me who face the awful news that they have cancer.  I was one of the lucky ones. My thoughts turned to people like Barry Humm and his Wife Lesley, who are currently fighting the battle and is a biker too.  Alex Chute was also on my mind, a young 23 y.o lad who loved motorcycles but sadly lost his battle 2 days before Pete Gyngell, who was one of the first to donate, was able to take him on a rideout with many of us only too willing to be in the riding group - he was with me all the way too, I'm sure.

A result of over £1874 raised with around £200 pledged still to come in, is never achieved by one person and firstly a massive thanks must go to Julie Giles and Sam Johnson.  Jules organised a fundraiser at M&S Swindon Orbital with Sam Johnson, Heath Cripps, Paul Warman, Rob Brabiner and yours truly, with the help of John Mander (from M&S Operations), who rode like a demon, to achieve 257 km on the day and resulted in the largest single donation of £675 - well done guys!

Thanks to Frank Smith who amazingly stepped in late in proceedings when another fellow biker fell to vertigo.  We finally met each other for the first time the day before the ride!  Frank helped raise money and also rode in the S2S - thanks Frank, really enjoyed your company and banter!!!

A heart felt warm thanks must go to Sam Johnson, who has a heart as big as all outdoors and looked out for me numerous times and picked up my bike when I had one of those embarrassing, 'lost my balance and had to lay it down' moments.  Mind you the 'mickey taking' went on for the rest of the trip, but was always made with his cheeky grin - thank you doesn't seem enough, you are a true mate!!!

This whole experience has taught me a lot more about people and the extremes of generosity and selfishness and has changed the way I will view people too.  Having said that, must say the bikers at the S2S always made each other feel welcome, with the usual friendly banter and always part a bonded team.  The B4M crew who organise and run this event deserve a medal, brilliant effort guys and gals and an experience of a lifetime.  Thank you too.

Finally, but not least, an absolute massive thanks must go to my Wife, Von who has had to endure 6 months on non stop B4M and S2S activity and all the highs and lows that go with fundraising, endless motorcycle preparation, the worry of my riding again after 20 months off the Falco, riding throughout the night and my somewhat OTT activities at times - thank you sweetheart and yes I know how lucky I am!!!  Thanks to my Son Chris too who, although not a biker but still a petrol head, has been supportive throughout.

Update 14-Jun:

Just 6 days to go before we (Heath, Sam and Frank and myself), now know as 'Team Italia' - Pegaso, ST4S and Falco), ride up to Holyhead for the big overnight ride to Skegness on Sat 21-Jun!  Getting very real now and a mixture of excitement and trepidation as it will be my first big ride (800 miles) in 20 months since being diagnosed.  The Aprilia Falco is most certainly ready, not sure about me?!

Update 10-Jun:

Putting the final touches to my Aprilia Falco, R&G heated grips, a power socket, carbon belly pan that I've had since before being diagnosed 2 years ago and few few maintenance tasks.  Also the final round of donations 'ask' to get to or over the £2,000 target.  Thank you too all of you who have donated so far.  You have been brilliant and you all will be on the scroll of honour on my double bubble screen riding the S2S Tour - THANK YOU!!!

Update 31-May:

Major Fundraiser Day - rode the Falco to M&S Swindon Orbital (160 miles round trip, give or take), for a fundraiser day organised by my kind friends Jules Giles & Sam Johnson. Jules works at M&S and they are allowed 1 fundraiser paid day a year so Jules chose to support my S2S ride and B4M - an amazing lady!!! 3 riding buddies joined in being Rob Brabiner (known for years), Heath Cripps (known for months) and Paul Warman, we met for the first time on the ride and he came all the way from the Isle of Wight - Brilliant! They all were all brilliant, riding the exercise bike to reach the goal of 257 Kms on the day. Have to thank John Mander from M&S Operations too, who volunteered to help reach the 257 Kms and rode like a demon on the day - thanks so much John.

Update 28-May:

Major Milestone - rode my Falco to Loomies, WestMeon (A32/A272) last night.  First time in 20 months after being diagnosed with Cancer.  A few aches and pains and the technique's a little rusty but nothing serious.  So the S2S ride is definitely on!!!

Update 27-Apr:

The fundraiser day Sunday was interesting at Loomies, a well know biker's cafe, West Meon. GU32 1JX (A32/A272).  It rained for most of the day but the guys and gals from B4M were brilliant supporting my humble effort and the usual biking banter riding over 200 miles to reach Loomies.  Made me feel right at home.  Thanks to all who donated on the day and wished me well with my recovery.  May and June are going to be a busy months talking to local biking businesses to try and make a big dent in my £5,000 target.

Update 05-Apr:

I've had a new 'GT' RIG tube fitted being much smaller than the previous one so it won't catch on my leathers when I start riding again, my first ride later this year.

My Goal:

Your support would be so greatly appreciated to help me reach my goal of raising a minimum of £1,500 for the fantastic people at the Macmillan Cancer Support Organisation.

Your help is needed as I can’t possibly do this alone and with your kind generosity, by donating whatever you can, is the best way to say a massive ‘thank you’ for the wonderful work and support these very special people keep giving in what is one of the scariest and potentially life changing episodes of anyone’s life.  This indiscriminate attacker has changed my life, not for the better, and it is not over yet, as the challenges section below will explain.  But, this will not beat me as this goal is so important and with your kind generosity we can all win – My wife gets her husband back, my son his father, I get to return to my passion of motorcycling as this goal will drive me to put back on the weight needed and also to be able to return to working in my other passion, as a business improvement consultant.

The best bit though, is we both get to thank Macmillan in a way that really counts.  To make a real difference for those who continue to need the support from these wonderfully dedicated people at Macmillan and for those who don’t yet know that they will too.

How:

My aim is to take part in the sponsored motorcycle ride from Holyhead in Anglesey on the west coast of England to Skegness in Lincolnshire on the east coast, some 257 miles on 21st - 22nd June 2014 in the brilliant Sunset 2 Sunrise Tour organised through Bikers4Macmillan.  We leave Holyhead at 9:30pm on Saturday night, riding through the darkness to arrive early on Sunday morning in Skegness, around 4:15am to hopefully what will be a glorious sunrise.  It will mean a total of about 800 miles for the round trip from home, to return, over the two days.

Why:

In Late September 2012 I was diagnosed with cancer of the tonsil and base of the tongue.  From the onset the Macmillan Nurses and Staff helped me and my wife Yvonne, come to terms with facing the dreaded words we all fear, 'you have cancer'.

In early November an operation successfully removed a tricky tumour in my neck that could have left me with minimal facial and neck movement but I was in superb hands with Mr Patel, a talented surgeon from the University of Southampton General Hospital and the whole Oncology staff too it must be said.

From November 2012 until early January 2013 I underwent radical, latest technique, chemotherapy (Cetuximab) and radiotherapy (IMRT).  This type of treatment was prescribed as I suffer from poor kidney efficiency at a little over 30% and my body would not have withstood the standard treatment.  Thank goodness I'm not a horse!!!

On 16th April 2013, the day after my wife’s birthday we received the best news ever..."you have made a complete and full response".  That was an emotional moment for us both, with Yvonne being unbelievably supportive and going the extra mile throughout this ordeal.  I certainly struck gold with that lady!

At that point I thought the challenge was over, how wrong was that assumption…

The Challenge:

Although having the all clear I have not had a 'proper' meal in over 17 months, surviving on a specialist supplements called Fresubin and Servimed.  My mouth is consistently dry, as I now only generate very small amounts of saliva and need to take water with me wherever I go.  Unfortunately, my weight had deteriorated and muscle mass had reduced from a healthy 79kgs down to 54.5.  A loss of nearly 4 stone.

I was admitted on 2 January 2014 into hospital for a RIG (Radiologically Inserted Gastronomy) tube operation which was ‘installed’ in my stomach to allow me to receive special liquid supplements using the RIG tube.  This helps me slowly gain weight again.  I suffer from a lack of absorption of foods through also being a diabetic which was caused by having 90% of my pancreas removed, along with my spleen and gall bladder, back in 2002 in the USA as a result of a gall stone. I’m jokingly now referred to as 'the million dollar man' as it took $1.2 million to 'put me right'.  Thank goodness for medical insurance and not being a horse!!!

The Good News:

My weight increase is agonisingly slow since the having the RIG tube fitted after a ‘wobble’ at the end of Feb, early Mar.

As the weeks tick by there are loads of mini goals and targets to achieve on the way to that night on 21st June 2014 when the ride begins - I can't wait!!!

Thank you for taking time to visit my ‘FalcoPete’ Just Giving page and if you’ve made a donation it means a lot.

About Bikers4Macmillan:

In November 2013 desperately needed a new goal to inspire me and spur me on having lived with goal setting all my working life and stumbled across Bikers4Macmillan quite by accident.  They have a very professional approach to the organised ride and have run this event since 2009.  It was perfect!  It will help me get back to full strength again, through the fitness training I will need to do be able to ride my motorcycle again, get a husband back for my wife and allow me start working again.  And I could think of nothing better than to give something back to the very people that have supported me - Macmillan Cancer Support.

They are a fundraising group raising money for Macmillan Cancer Support through the common ground of an interest in Motorcycling.  Their flagship event of the year is the Sunset2Sunrise Tour.  Other events throughout the year include ride-in picnics, ride outs and visits/meetings and can be located on their Events Page. You can also join their Facebook group as well - search for 'bikers4macmillan'.  They use their Facebook page to notify followers of short notice rides too. They have loads of pictures on the Galleries Page to show that they don’t "take themselves too seriously" either, they just enjoy what they do.

The group focus is on being bikers that raise money, not fundraisers who ride bikes – a big difference. If you are interested in emailing Bikers4Macmillan please use admin@bikers4macmillan.org.uk. Andrew Maddison is a friendly, helpful guy and is their Chairman.

Just Giving:

Donating through Just Giving is simple, fast and totally secure.  Your details are safe with Just Giving – 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 Macmillan charity.