Thank you for all the donations so far.

The training is on schedule ( due to be ramped up a level in the next few weeks to try and shift some weight!).

I've even got a few corporate sponsors, whose logos will be printed onto my jersey.

(If you'd like your logo featured on the jersey, please get in touch via email to discuss the details.

22nd August, 2015.
I set off, along with a few hundred other riders on a course which would take us from Newcastle to London.
Stopping only to grab a bite to eat and refill water bottles, the aim was to complete the 310 miles in under 24 hours.

I started out strong. I got into a group with several other riders, and we were making good progress.

As night approached, and the rain began falling, I started suffering what cyclists refer to as 'the bonk'.

I had struggled to eat anything all day - (even the bacon sandwich at the start was a struggle!) and as a result my energy levels dropped quickly.

The group I was with tried to help me out, but it soon became clear that if they were to stay on target, they had to keep the pace.

Watching them pull away, and being suddenly unable to keep pace was very demoralising. I managed to get to the next rest stop, and get some food in me, and had a bit of a rest.

I was still on target to complete the ride in under 24 hours (just!), but 40 miles from the end, with the hilliest part of the whole ride still ahead of me, I was floored by an unbelievable pain in my knee.

I stopped at the side of the road, dejected, and watched as several riders went past, each one asking if I was o.k - each one getting a smile and "Just having a rest" in return. I knew it was over though.
I couldn't bend my leg at all, and the pain wasn't subsiding.

I laid down and watched the clouds float by for at least ten minutes before finally giving in and ringing for the support crew.

My bike and I were driven the final 40 miles, where the organisers kindly let me hobble over the finish line to be presented with a finishers medal.

I felt guilty putting it round my neck.

I saw the paramedic who suggested I'd damaged my IT Band ( the theory being that my leg muscles had stretched during the day, then on my extended break they had relaxed. Once I got going again, the muscles were quick to lengthen again, but the IT Band unable to do so).

So, you may ask (and many have) why I want to do it all over again.

Simply put, I WILL NOT LET IT BEAT ME.

Just as we must not let cancer beat us.

The work that Macmillan do is simply incredible, but they can't do it without the help of you and I.


Thank you for reading my story, and please make a donation.

All the best, and wish me luck.  See you out there, maybe.