Story
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Hi Everyone! </span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Firstly, thanks for taking the time to have a quick look on here. I'll get straight to telling you why I'd love you to donate to my fundrasing cause...</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Last year my dad was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease. I was amazed to learn that every hour someone in the UK is told they have Parkinson's, for which there is currently no cure.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="color: #000000;">I'm giving every penny I raise to Parkinson's UK who fund groundbreaking research into finding a cure and are closer than ever in doing so.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">My challange - On 17th July 2011 I will be cycling the longest stage of this years Tour De France, a 209km (130 mile) mountain stage reaching heights of 1589m above sea level. Temperatures reach 30c and there is a 12 hour time limit. Its one of the toughest amateur cycling events of the year, and only a percentage of entrants will ever see the finish line.</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">Currently I cycle around 40 miles in one go and can hardly walk afterwards, so there is alot of hard training required before July!</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">I will regularly visit this page and post updates on how my training is going and if i'm one of the few who make the finish line (which I am determined to do).</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">I hope you will agree that this is a very worthwhile cause, and thank you for any donation you are able to give. </span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">** Training update** - On Sunday 1st May I completed my first 100+ cycle by completing the Tour of the Glens event in Co. Antrim. I completed the 130 miles in 9 hours 40 minutes. It hurt!</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">On Sunday 12th June I completed my second training event - the Wicklow 200. Again it was 130 miles but due to horrendous weather conditions I completed the course in 10 hours 7 mins. It was mentally and physically one of the hardest things I've ever done. Check out the photo which was taken shortly after I finished....Im not looking to happy, although glad to be finished and still alive!</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">In the 3rd photo is Olympic Silver medal cyclist Wendy Houvenaghel, holding up a sign wishing me good luck!</span></p>
<p><span style="color: #000000;">On 16th April I took my bike into Bow Street Mall, Lisburn and rode on a turbo trainer for 7 hours. I raised a massive £700 pounds, so thank you to all those who dropped change into my bucket - it really does add up and makes a real difference.</span></p>
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