Five years ago I was finally diagnosed with Axial Spondyloarthritis (AS) after many years of not knowing what was wrong. AS is a form of inflammatory arthritis that most commonly affects the spine, but it can also affect all joints in the body (as it does with me). It can also affect your eyes. A major side effect of the condition is debilitating chronic fatigue. There is no cure.

The last few years haven't been plain sailing as I come to terms with the condition and the limitations it puts on my daily life - forever changing and always unknown. The constant pain and fatigue are, quite literally, exhausting.

However, I have found exercise to be good therapy - it is extremely important that AS sufferers remain active despite their discomfort & tiredness - hence the challenge ahead .

Paris to Hayling: 345 miles to be cycled over 5 days! To some this might not sound too bad, but to me, this is huge. Barry has been an amazing support to me over the years and he is one of only a few people that really understands the condition and what I go through. I am so happy we will be doing this challenge together.

We are raising money for The National Axial Spondyloarthritis Society (NASS) which is the charity that supports people who have AS. This is an invisible disease, with double the amount of people living with AS compared to Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson's combined.

NASS are trying to raise awareness of the condition and importantly get the diagnosis time reduced from 8.5 years to 1 year as during this time people pay a heavy physical and psychological price for this delay. Unfortunately my diagnosis took over 20 years.

If you are able to donate in support of our cycling challenge, any monies will be very gratefully received by NASS and enable them to continue their vital work. We thank you so much.

You can follow our journey on the Strava app; search for Steve Barfoot, Portsmouth.

Thanks again.

Steve and Barry

*In September Steve is also riding London to Brighton for NASS. All donations on this page will go to NASS.

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