Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

In March this year, my good friend Will and I will be travelling to South Africa, to ride the 2019 ABSA Cape Epic. This race is the Tour de France of XC mountain biking, the only Mountain bike race to be classified as hors catégorie by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). Basically, its really rather hard, and this year will be the hardest ever: The 8 day race will cover 650km and over 16,660m (Sixteen thousand!!!!!) metres of climbing. See link www.cape-epic.com/riders/the-2019-race/2019-route

Now, to be fair, we are aren’t going to win. But we have been training really hard through the misery of the British winter to prepare, and we will 100% bring the spirit of the indomitable amateur. We MUST finish!

Honestly, our desire to do the Cape Epic comes from our own love of mountain biking and a crazy desire to try and keep up with some of the world’s best riders and be able to say we completed the hardest event! But if our mad efforts can spur you into giving something to charity, I’d like you to consider donating to Race Against Dementia who are working hard to prevent or even cure Dementia.

I’m sure most of you know of someone, a family member, relative or friend who is suffering from Dementia. It is a truly awful condition, often developing quite quickly and preventing an otherwise healthy person from remembering what was just said or what they did just a minute ago. This causes embarrassment, stress and can make it impossible to live without social care.  

My grandmother suffered from Dementia, and now my uncle has been diagnosed with it. You can sometimes miss the signs, or write it off for been a bit forgetful, then all of a sudden it hits you. My 8 year old daughter, Georgia, recently had a cast fitted due to a dislocated arm. My visiting uncle obviously noticed it and asked her about it. Two minutes later, he asked her exactly the same question, then again, and again. Georgia realised something was very wrong and had no idea what to say or do next!

Dementia is something we should all dread developing as we grow older. The more research that can be done now, the better chance of prevention, or even a cure, before it affects either yourself, or your closest family members. Please give generously to this deserving cause. We will pedal as long as we are physically able to complete this epic mountain bike marathon.

Will and I have funded our entry into the event ourselves and our local Fleet bike shop (Pedal Heaven) have graciously sponsored us with kit. So everything you donate will go to Race Against Dementia. Will has his own charity page so if you have any pennies left for another deserving cause, please sponsor him as well :-)

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. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.