Land's End to John O'Groats Cycle Challenge Dedicated To My Brother-In-Law Marcello

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 Marcello  married  my sister, Jacqui, 26 years ago, they have  a son, Joe, who is 16. Shortly before they married Marcello had a kidney transplant. He had been suffering from kidney disease first diagnosed when he was in his teens. Both before and after his transplant he and Jacqui were given tremendous support and assistance by The British Kidney Patients Association (BKPA) a charity dedicated to helping kidney patients and their families cope with the effects of kidney disease. Following his transplant Marcello took extremely good care of his new kidney, following a rigorous medical and dietary regime. The kidney gave him 26 fantastic years. Recently however Marcello was diagnosed with cancer which was when I decided to take on this challenge in aid of a charity of Marcello's choice. Marcello asked that any money raised be donated to BKPA.

Tragically, since we started to put  this page together, Marcello has  lost his battle with cancer. He was only 52. He passed away peacefully on 5th February and Jacqui has asked that  you remember him in your prayers. Marcello was buried in his Italian home town of Cavenago near Milan on the 16th February and a service in his memory was held in his home town here in the UK, Oundle, on  the 12th March. We know Marcello will be with us all the way, in spirit, on this challenge .

I am being joined by two other brothers- in-law, Derek McMenamin and Ben Holden and we each hope to cycle from Lands End to John O'Groats this Easter. None of us have previously cycled regularly, the most any of us have done is to cycle the 54 miles from London to Brighton. So the thought of doing one and a half times that distance each day for 14 days is daunting ...........but the training has begun! We shall be very reliant on our support team on the road, my wife Liz and daughters Amy and Anna who will be living in a horse lorry for two weeks, kindly and trustingly lent to us by my work partner Kate.

If you wish to join us on any part of the ride you are most welcome and I have detailed our provisional itinerary below (this will be updated regularly with any changes). If you want to be sponsored yourselves then please use this 'just giving' page asking your sponsors to mention your name in the comments section so that BKPA know who to thank for raising the money. Alternatively, join us for a beer in the pub in the evening! (We will indicate below the ale houses as our plans become more advanced - we will be the ones asleep at the table!)

Our proposed itinerary :

Sat 16th April Booked into Lands End YH

Sun 17TH April Lands End to Treyarnon Bay, Cornwall (65m) Booked into Treyarnon Bay YH

Mon 18th April Treyarnon Bay to Okehampton, Devon (65m) Booked into Okehampton YH

Tues 19th April Okehampton to Street, Somerset(87m) Booked into Street YH. Being joined by Isabel Evans (Issy) , friend from Glasgow days, in the evening.

Wed 20th April Street to Llanishen Nr Monmouth  (69m) Staying with Stuart  (ex Glasgow Vet School ) and Cal Kay, a hot tub in the garden has been promised for our arrival!  Janet (ex Glasgow Vet School ), Jeremy, Laura and James Warren  are providing lunch at  Old Severn Bridge and joining us at the Carpenters Arms in Llanishen in the evening.

Thurs 21st April Welsh Bicknor to Clun, Shropshire (nr Ludlow)(56m) Booked into Clun Mill YH

Fri 22nd April(Good Friday) Clun to Chester, Cheshire (60m) Booked into Chester Backpackers. Being Joined by Brian and Lizzie Johnson today, Brian who I met when working in  New Zealand 20 years ago will be joining us on the road and we may well be in need of his sports medicine expertise by this stage of the trip!

Sat 23rd April Chester to Slaidburn, Lancashire (nr Clitheroe)(80m) Booked into Slaidburn YH and Ben wants to drink in the Hark to Bounty!

Sun 24th April (Easter Sunday)Slaidburn to Grasmere, Lancashire (62m) Staying with Bens parents

Mon 25th April (Easter Monday)Grasmere to Moffat, Dumfries and Galloway(70) Booked into Buchan Guest House

Tues 26th April Moffat to Bannockburn, Stirling (70m) Booked into Hillhead Farm Lets

Wed 27th April Bannockburn to Glencoe(80m) Booked into Glencoe YH and will be taking refreshment at the Clachaig Inn

Thurs 28th April Glencoe to Conon Bridge (nr Dingwall) (92m) staying with Graeme and Tina Swanson,  friends from Glasgow days.

Fri 29th April (Royal Wedding Bhol) Conon Bridge to Tongue (65m) Booked into Ben Loyal Hotel

Sat 30th April Tongue to John O'Groats (66m) Spending night in Sinclair Bay Hotel in Keiss-we hope!!

Recent correspondence from BKPA has said that all money  donated will go towards their Children's Holiday Fund with which each year they are able to give young kidney patients a week of fun and excitement at an Adventure Centre where they will take part in challenging activities usually denied them because of the nature of their illness, they return home with increased self confidence and renewed courage to face the future.

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