My wonderful step father Don recently passed away after suffering from this terrible disease. I'm thankful that he and mum have had many wonderful years of an active lifestyle together and were perfect companions for one another, and complemented each other perfectly. They retired early, travelled the world including zipping around Thailand on a motorbike after retiring, spending time in New Zealand, and Europe on many many occasions, cycling around France, whilst in addition loved the outdoors, including sailing and walking in the English countryside, and dropping in to pubs, they were always out and about and when at home loved their garden. Don's loss although great is lessened by the fact that he lived life to the full.

However because of his outgoing nature and larger than life personality the disease seemed all that more cruel.

Looking to the future it's not just a case of slowing down the progression of Alzheimer's (although that is a major help), but on the horizon there exists the possibility to actually reversing the disease, and research has recently managed to achieve this in mice. Hopefully within ten years there will be a treatment that can rid us of this horrible disease.

So although cycling the LEJOG route is something long time in the planning for me, and not related to this, I have decided to dedicate my ride to raising funds for research in the field of Alzheimer's. It goes without saying that every donation no matter how small will help contribute to finally eradicating Alzheimer's forever - let's hope. It's quite fitting that my last day of my adventure will coincide with what would have been Don's birthday.

My vision is a world where people are free from the fear, harm and heartbreak of dementia.

This charity is the UK's leading dementia research charity, dedicated to causes, diagnosis, prevention, treatment and cure. Backed by their passionate scientists and supporters, they’re challenging the way people think about dementia, uniting the big thinkers in the field and funding the innovative science that will deliver a cure.