Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

Some of you will know that my Dad has had difficulty walking for a long time, almost 40 years now, for me going as far back as my earliest memory of him. When it first started to affect him the reasons were not  known medically and he endured many hospital assessments in the 1980's, some of which were quite unpleasant. 

As time passed his condition was identified as being one of a group of rare genetic conditions (hereditary spastic paraplegia - HSP) that in most cases cause slow weakening and stiffening of the leg muscles. My Granddad was also affected.

In 2009 I decided to have a genetic test to find out if I had inherited the causative gene. The test was positive, so it's likely that the condition will affect me at some point in my life too.

I've found a mixture of denial and disregard to be a good coping mechanism since then (those who know me well will be aware of my reluctance to talk about personal stuff), but the time has now come to be open and to raise some money to help others with the condition.

So, when my good friend David Barwick asked me if I "wanted to do a proper bike ride" the Land's End to John o'Groats plan was hatched. We will be setting out from Land's End on Sunday the 12th June and cycling between sixty and eighty miles every day for fourteen days until arriving in John o'Groats on the 25th. I've always loved cycling, I spent a lot of time in my early teens out on country lanes on my Dad's old sports bike, so it's the right challenge for me. I'm hoping to reward myself with a new bike when I'm done, but my wife thinks I'll be so sick of cycling that I'll want a new TV to sit in front of! 

Training has been tough for both of us, me balancing work and family and Dave having sciatica right when he needed to start putting some miles in. With six weeks to go we're both as ready as we can be, healthily apprehensive of the challenge ahead but most of all raring to get going. Dave has very kindly decided to cycle for my cause. 

Five grand is a lot of money. It will be used in two ways: 

1. To support people with HSP directly by contributing towards mobility aids such as wheelchairs, scooters, hoists for loading/unloading these into/out of cars etc. This makes a massive difference to people's mobility and quality of life.

2. To directly fund research programmes around the UK which are aiming  to further understand and ultimately treat this group of rare and complex conditions.

Thanks again for reading my page and a sincere thank you for any money you have donated.

Simon.