Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I've been a Type 1 Diabetic since 2006. I developed Diabetes as an addition to suffering from the auto immune condition Rhuematoid Arthritis which I've had since 1994. I have no cartilage in either knee and will one day have to give up cycling completely - for now, I'll keep going with the help of determination, technology & painkillers.

My big drive to complete this ride and others, is to show that being type 1, shouldn't automatically be thought of as a barrier to exercise, lifestyle and your own ability.

I have sort of been in training for the last year and a half - 2021 RideLondon was cancelled due to Covid and fingers crossed, it goes ahead in 2022. 2021 saw me ride approximately. 3500 miles- both indoor Zwift riding and traditional outdoor riding. The majority of my riding is on a Road bike but I do also ride Gravel and Mountain bike.

Tech helps me a lot. I'm lucky enough to have been using Freestyle Libre - a flash monitoring system for the last 4 years or so. This saw me lose the need to do multiple finger prick blood testing per day. Instead, I Scan a device on my arm and my Blood sugar reading is taken. December 2021 has seen me.migrate to the Dexcom G6 - a full CGM, constant glucose monitor - similar to the Libre, this is a technological device that has a small filament permanently inserted into me to measure my blood sugar - it sends my blood glucose figure EVERY 5 MINUTES to my phone, my watch and more importantly to me, to my Garmin cycling computer.

This means that I only have to look at my cycling computer head unit and see a real-time reading of my current (technically its about 3 minutes behind a true capillary finger prick reading as the reading is taken from my interstitial fluid) blood sugar level. Coupled with an "urgent low soon" push-alarm, this means the chances of hypo-ing while riding are vastly reduced. Great considering a 100+  Mile ride will take me over 5 hours.

Sponsorship will go towards Diabetes UK who are the UK's premium Diabetes charity. The work they do and assistance they give, makes living and coping - with a life changing permanent condition - more bearable bearable everyday adults and children. For some, trying to cope without that assistance makes Diabetes life limiting.  The research that Diabetes UK contribute towards, makes the tech like I use, more widely recognised and available.