Story
Hi, my name is Michael and starting on April 26th I’ll be attempting to cycle solo from Glasgow to my home in Stornoway in aid of WICCI (western isles cancer care initiative.)
In 2022/23 within 6 months of each other both my mother and father had separate brushes with Cancer. In late 2022 my father was diagnosed with a cancerous tumour on his kidney which, fortunately, had been discovered at an early stage and resulted in surgical intervention. The following spring, my mother had a more intense journey with breast cancer and underwent a lumpectomy and then both chemotherapy and radiotherapy in order to treat it. During this time both were supported in many ways by the services of the Western Isles Cancer Care Initiative who work in partnership with the local MacMillan cancer support team and offer local support and a variety of services both practical and financial suited to the needs of each cancer patient.
It has since been a wish of mine to do something to raise money to give back to the charity that helped them so much when we as a family needed the extra support. Because of the invaluable support both my parents received from WICCI at such a difficult time I have decided to raise money to pay it forward and help them to continue supporting other local families struggling with cancer diagnoses.
To raise money I plan to cycle from Glasgow back to my home in Stornoway, a distance of approximately 300 miles. My intention is to cycle off road where possible or otherwise small single track back roads whilst avoiding main roads unless absolutely necessary. To add a further layer of difficultly I aim to do this solo and unsupported on a bike that I am currently rebuilding from the frame up. My current plan for the route breaks the journey into 8 days of riding (7 nights) and will be an average of 40 miles of riding per day.
The start point is Kelvingrove Art gallery and the route I’ve planned follows the “An Turas Mor” trail route (The Long Trail) with a deviation towards the end to Ullapool.
This will be both a physically demanding and mentally challenging task for me and although I am a keen cyclist this will be my first attempt at a long distance multi day challenge.
Whilst I have participated in other fundraising events in the past, this will be the first time I have done one on my own and I would appreciate any donations and support that you can give this fundraiser. Thank you for taking the time to visit this page.
If you wish to find out more about WICCI and the services that they provide to local families I’ve included a link below.
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