In the year 2000, soon after I had turned 10 years old, my Dad did a bike ride from Whitehaven on the West Coast of England, to Tynemouth on the East Coast. Over the course of 3 days it's around 150 miles and I remember being in awe of him at the time!

Now, almost exactly 25 years on, my brother and I are going to do the same route, again over 3 days.

My Dad raised money for Diabetes UK in 2000, and again we are doing the same.

My Dad has lived with it for around 50 years and in the Winter of 2023 it ultimately caused him to have his leg amputated. It's a disease where the severity is often overlooked and even now, I can't pretend to be an expert on it. It was just the norm for my brother and I to see Dad injecting Insulin and we learned to spot the signs of his Hypoglycaemic incidents and whilst things have really improved with technological advancements, there's a way to go yet, so I hope you can help us!

On a lighter note, I rang my Dad today and spoke about his memories of doing the ride and he had this to add;

- It was a real challenge, but we kept on going and supported eachother through it

.....not sure Bob will provide me with much support!

- The highlight was getting to the top of Hartside and getting a cake from the cafe

....the cafe has since closed down, so no cake for us

- The worst part was hitting a rabbit hole and cracking my ribs near Rookhope

....I don't plan on doing that

- The weather was brilliant throughout

...we can only hope!

Massive thanks for any donations received, and I will keep you posted on our progress!