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On the 8th of July 2013 my life changed completely. At 2.25am my son Rory was born and whisked away for an emergency operation to have a silo fitted to his abdomen. My gorgeous precious boy was born with Gastroschisis, an abdominal defect where organs protrude through the abdominal wall and develop on the outside of the body during pregnancy.

He was in hospital for a total of 39 days and they were the longest days of my life. Gastroschisis has no known cause but msinly occurs when the mother is a teen or in their early 20's. It was heartbreaking to not to be able to hold my baby for 5 days until he'd had more surgery. It was devastating when he couldnt be fed for 3 weeks because his intestines had shut down. But what was worse was not knowing why this had happened to my perfect boy.

The Luey Jacop Sharp Foundation have teamed up with Sparks to help raise awareness and research into gastroschisis, to try and find a cause and prevention. 

I am cycling to paris over 4 days from london to raise money to fund this vital research. I will be cycling an average of 80 miles per day, and as i havent even ridden a bike in 5 years this will be no mean feat!

Please donate and help me get there and most importantly, help fund the important research into gastroschisis.

Many thanks in advance,

Love Sian & Rory

xXx

********************UPDATE******************

I've done it!!!!!!!!!!

Well I'm sad it's all over but to summarise my London-Paris bike ride:

Day 1: it sucked. I was slow - very slow. I hit the first hill and started to cry as the Lycra clad bums of my fellow cyclists headed off into the far distance. By the time I hit the first water stop I was already well behind. Then my chain came off halfway across a major roundabout and I got hit by the wing mirror of a car. So I cried some more. Then I met Sarah.... And I realised that I had found what would turn out to be my rock to the finish line. The back rider was sympathetic but I could tell had little faith. By the time we got to lunch I was less than enthusiastic about my chance of completion. By the time we got to the ferry my what became famous 'duck walk' had appeared. After the ferry we rode in a lovely gentle convoy to the hotel and I managed a smile... Albeit a small one.

Day 2: was again slow, but I got some momentum and finally learnt the power of gear changes! It also rained... A lot!!!!! I had a car doing a sudden stop in front of me deliberately on a hill and I came off my bike. It hurt. I was soaked and cold and in pain. But today I met tom - a keen cyclist on a fancy road bike who had some spare pedal cages which turned into my life saving tools!!! And I wasn't the last one in to the hotel! 

Day 3: Sarah and I took it nice and slow to start, cycling along a lovely canal and passing markets and war graves. After lunch I picked up momentum and the last 40 miles flew by. I had finally got the hang of it. By the time I hit the town 10 miles away from the hotel I felt great! After a couple of glasses of wine I was confident and looking forward to our last day cycling and Sarah and I planned to leave early to get a head start!

Day 4: Sarah and I set off at 7.15am and picked up some pace, and after a couple of dashes into the woods for a wee we were on our way. After the water stop came the hills. They weren't undulations they were bloody mountains in my eyes, but I didn't stop!!! After lunch we set off for the last 30 miles and along came my FGC (I won't reveal the translation but it was an accurate description!!). Sarah and I were in agony. There was a lot of foul language emerging and Sarah developed Tourette's at every traffic light! But with some encouragement we made it to the pre- finish stop only 25 mins behind the rest of the team which was a record and I'd shaved 3 hours off my  previous mileage time!!!!!!!! We then rode in convoy to the finish line which was an amazing experience even if a little scary going round the arc de triumph! I was greeted by my mum as a surprise which was lovely and very unexpected!!! Then we went back to the hotel for champagne and dinner (if you can call it that as I'm not sure it was edible! The only bad meal on the trip - the other meals were excellent). Then off to a bar for some drunken antics with glow sticksand jäger bombs - regretted that the next day!!! Finally getting into bed in the early hours!

Day 5: no cycling!!!!!!!!!! Whoop whoop! A lovely morning nursing my sore head with the best walk along the river ever. Then spent the afternoon in a cafe by the Gard du Nord people watching and playing I spy, drinking coffee and trying the think of car manufacturers beginning with E. Then off to the Eurostar to journey to London to be reunited with my 'compact pussycat' and make the horrendous journey home. 

I can honestly say I couldn't have done this trip without Sarah Woodward! She was my surrogate mother, my nurse, my inspiration, and my agony aunt. We had some giggles and rants and I think I've found a friend for life :) so thank you so much!!!!! Let's go ride bikes!!!!!!

I am now planning my next fundraising venture! London - Amsterdam!

Xxx 🚴💨xxX

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