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On the 11th June I will set off on my bike from John O'Groats and hopefully pedal into Land's End 9 days and 951 miles later.

 

My bike ride coincides with "Diabetes Week" and I am raising money for Diabetes UK, the charity for people with diabetes. Diabetes UK is not only one of the largest funders of diabetes research in the UK, but also provides practical support and information to help people manage their diabetes. There are 2.6million people diagnosed with diabetes in the UK, costing the NHS a massive £9 billion annually. It is not just a case of living with diabetes on a day-to-day basis, but also preventing the long term complications such as nerve damage, kidney disease, stroke, heart disease and blindness. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness in people of working age. To find out more about the work of Diabetes UK visit www.diabetes.org.uk

 

As many of you know, I have had type 1 diabetes for 17 years. Although I cannot claim to have perfect blood sugars (far from it!), I am lucky in that I do not let my diabetes be a hurdle. I currently control my diabetes using an insulin pump which I wear all the time, testing my blood 4-10 times a day and balancing my insulin requirements against food and exercise. Cycling from John O'Groats to Land's End will be one my toughest challenges yet. I am very lucky in that my hospital is lending me a continuous blood glucose sensor, which will automatically measure my blood sugar every 5 minutes, allowing me to keep a closer eye on my levels. The hospital hope to use me as a case study as there is not much data on diabetics cycling over 100 miles a day for 9 days consecutively.

 

Thank you very much for your sponsorship! Every little helps. Please help me raise £951, that's a pound for every mile cycled (excluding the 20.5km of hills vertically into the sky). Your sponsorship will help keep me going when the going gets tough! Thank you!