The last time I did any regular cycling is nearly 20 years ago (I can't quite believe it is that long ago!), I used to be a regular "Mud Pack" Mountain Bike Club member cycling on Cannock Chase every Sunday.  We used to do 30-40 miles in a few hours, and I thought that was a lot of miles! I still have my Giant mountain bike and Look cycling shorts from those days, though the shorts contain a few holes as a result of a few offroad mishaps!

I'm now taking up the challenge of riding from Land's End to John O'Groats, that's nearly 900 miles in 5 days - you may think I must be mad!

Whay am I doing this?  Well, my Godson, Fraser, died last year of an extremely rare genetic disorder that meant some of the cells in his body could not produce enough energy from his food intake to survive. Fraser, as it turned out, was the only person in the world to have this condition.

Fraser and his parents, Iain and Jules, got a tremenous amount of support from CHASE Children's Hospice during his life - without which, Iain and Jules would have found the 24 hour care so much harder.  So in memory of Fraser, I am joining a team of 7 other riders to raise as much money as possible to help CHASE continue their amazing work and expand the number of families they have the capacity to support.

Thanks to my wife, Clare, and kids, Isobel, Joe and Amy for supporting me over the next 6 months and encouraging me to get out on my bike!  And thanks to all of you who have already sponsored me!

John’s Blog