On 4th November 2015, our world turned upside-down. This is the day when we were told that our son Austin John Foster had the rare muscle wasting disease - Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. News like this does not sink in at first, nor does it fully sink in for months afterwards. It’s hard to describe, but may never really sink in. It’s been incredibly difficult to come to terms with, but we do have hope. 

 
Duchenne is a muscle wasting disease in children, primarily affecting boys. Historically, most boys who have it do not survive beyond their mid-twenties, and those that do, most will be wheelchair bound by age 12. The simplest of tasks become difficult, and in the later stages, heart and breathing muscles begin to fail. Duchenne is 100% fatal with no cure. 

But there is hope! Scientists and doctors around the world are working to find treatments and cures and some of these are within touching distance. But the only way they will make it over the finishing line is through ongoing funding. And that is where we come in. 

Last year, I cycled four events to raise money for my son and for all the other boys affected by this horrible, cruel disease. Not being a particularly sporty person until I recently discovered a passion for cycling, it was a big challenge, culminating in the gut busting, leg sapping Etape du Tour, a tough mountain stage of the Tour de France which on the day of the event experienced temperatures of 38c while climbing the final mountain. To say it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done is no exaggeration. 

And yet, thinking I need to raise the bar, I have entered three more events this year, the first two of them being multi-stage 3-day events. I am riding the first two with my good cycling buddy Graham Harvey who is going to provide much needed mental encouragement and support. 

1.    Dragon Tour Wales (9-11 June). 208 miles / approx. 16,000ft ascent. 

2.    HotChillee Alpine Challenge (22-24 June). The big one! 230 miles / approx. 33,000ft ascent! To put that in perspective Mount Everest is 29,000ft high. 

3.    RideLondon 2017 (30 July). 

The third event, RideLondon, is the Harrisons Fund cycling event. But this year, as a demonstration of the true kindness in people you sometimes take for granted, a group of colleagues from where we work at The Siemon Company, have also agreed to join me in my fund raising efforts riding in either 100 or 46 mile distances. Dan Vout, Keith Astin and Richard Fowler from UK will be joining, a colleague from Japan, Toru Irisawa, plus his brother Sato, making a huge commitment to travel over for RideLondon and then from US, Rob Galle, CK, Jen, Casey & Trevor Siemon. All of these guys have done very little cycling, so they are undertaking a huge challenge in taking this on.

Together we are all committed to our goal of raising as much money as we can to put into the hands of the scientists who are working to find cures for our dear sons, brothers, nephews and friends. 

If you’ve read this far you are probably one of the kind people making a donation. All of the team thank you, but an extra special thank you from my family. Miracles can happen!

Steve, Max, Ava & Austin.