Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

On Sunday 30th July I'll be setting off from London (well, actually Loughton) to cycle 1,433 kilometres (890 miles) to Edinburgh and back as part of the London Edinburgh London audax (https://londonedinburghlondon.com/). I'll have 116 hours (just under 5 full days) to complete the event.

London Edinburgh London (LEL) is only held once every four years and the event has been on my wishlist for some time. I always knew it was going to be a big challenge but when I entered in January I didn't realise that life was going to throw me a bit of a big curve ball.

Going to the doctor at the end of February with some mild but persistent abdominal pain led to lots of tests and the discovery of a suspicious growth attached to my womb, necessitating a hysterectomy in May, just nine weeks before LEL. Obviously, this rather threw a spanner in the works of my training plan!

LEL was always going to be a personal challenge for me, but the last few months have made me realise just how lucky I am to have access to excellent healthcare. The dedicated NHS staff who have treated me, from my GP, to the teams at Salford Royal and The Christie, have been excellent and their expertise has undoubtedly extended my life (the suspicious growth turned out to be cancer, which has hopefully all been removed by the surgery).

I am incredibly grateful to the incredible care of the NHS but so many people around the world don't have access to even basic healthcare. The charity Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders) provides impartial help to vulnerable people in conflict and disaster zones around the world, with their healthcare staff sometimes risking their own lives to help those who need it most. Access to healthcare is a basic human right, and MSF upholds that right in really difficult circumstances.

Honestly, I have no idea if I'll manage to complete London Edinburgh London. I missed out on a vital month of training following my operation and I'm not sure how my body will deal with the fatigue of long days in the saddle and not much sleep. But I will be there on the start line and will continue pedalling for as long as I can. Your donation will give me that little extra motivation!

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