Thanks for visiting my page and donating. Please read a little as below, describing the challenge I aim to complete, and explaining the cause i am doing it for...

I will be taking part (with work colleagues), as a pretty 'novice' cyclist, in a 4 day bike ride from London to Paris. Starting in London, our 299 mile, 4 day route takes us through glorious English countryside, to the ferry from Dover to Calais. Once ‘French side’, we push on cycling along quiet French country lanes, through traditional market towns with views of the rolling green hills of northern France. The pièce de résistance of this cycle for charity will be the spectacular view of the 324 metre Eiffel Tower, which marks our finish line. The days in the saddle will be long, but upon reaching Paris and celebrating our achievements in this fabulous capital, the saddle soreness will hopefully soon wear off!

This is all new to me, I've never really done any kind of fundraising by myself before. But, seeing how this disease has affected one of my 'Gym Buddies', James " Sutty" Sutliff, and watching him fight it with dignity and courage, has inspired me to raise awareness and support him and other people fighting Dystonia.

James trains most days, and will often have to use additional straps etc to lift weights due to limited hand movements, and also has to plan his exercises on this basis. You can often see that he is struggling / in pain, but he battles through, and is one of the best physiques in a gym (Sole Fitness), which is full of fantastic physiques. This hard work has paid off, with James being awarded numerous photo shoots / features in magazines and newspapers...most notably the front page of Men's Fitness and a feature in the Daily Mail !!

Here is a little more information about James' story...

"James Sutliff was struck down with a debilitating illness eight years ago. He was eventually diagnosed with dystonia, a rare neurological illness which turned his life upside down. Doctors were, at first, unable to diagnose his condition, which was eventually identified after several hospital appointments and MRI scans at a London Clinic. James could not speak because his tongue was swollen, his hands were frozen and his mobility was seriously affected. Not happy to mope around at home (having had to give up his job as a plumber), James started to exercise.
He felt that this helped both his mental and physical state. He now exercises six days a week and has recently been photographed on the front page of Men’s Fitness, a national magazine. James says, “I don’t want pity. I want to show people that, whatever you have and however it affects you, you can still achieve things.” The doctors say that the illness may leave James as quickly as it came, but he does not live his life waiting for that day. He just lives his life in the best way he can."