the big bike ride: February 2012

750 miles from Glencoe to Boscombe

750 MILES FROM GLENCOE TO BOSCOMBE

At the age of 50 our dad was diagnosed with Dilated Cardiomyopathy, an incurable degenerative heart disease that can affect people of all ages and one that took the lives of his brothers at the ages of 29 and 34. Sadly, it also claimed the life of our dad in December last year at the age of 64.

The condition can be managed in various ways to improve quality of life for sufferers - the CMA (www.cardiomyopathy.org) is a small charity that receives no government funding but works hard with its limited resources to provide support and information for sufferers and their families.

My brother and I are undertaking a 750-mile cycle ride in memory of our dad and to raise funds for the CMA by way of thanks for the support they provided for him after his diagnosis. We also plan to take Dad's beloved 1956 split screen Morris Minor along as official support vehicle, and we plan to scatter some of his ashes in each of his favourite haunts along the way.

To make a donation go to our fundraising page.

We also have a facebook page where we'll be posting throughout the course of the event, so help us spread the word and get 'liking' us.

Sunday 26 February 2012

First joint training ride

We finally managed to find a slot in both our diaries to get together for a bit of bike ride today, we had a family party to attend Saturday night so stuart and Helen took their bikes to Birmingham so that the three of us could go out and get a few miles under our belt. So with map in hand we set off from Mom's house and headed out into wast hills, from there to hockley Heath and back to Mom 's again via earlswood, making a total of 26 miles. Generally. Went well, highlighted a few things that need attention on Lee's new bike so very useful on that front and introduced Lee to his first lengthy bike ride for more than 15 years.