The Roubaix Challenge 

Day 1 - London to Dover approx. 85 miles
Day 2 - Calais to Lille approx. 70 miles
Day 3 - Roubaix Challenge approx. 86 miles
              of which 18 miles are on cobbles!

Scroll down for more details

Target Update 4 Wednesday 4th April

Not only is it Benjamin's 4th birthday today - it also the day before the off. I've raised the fundraising goal because you have smashed through it again! Thank you!!!!

Please have a look at my eBay auction of a brilliant cycling print. http://ebay.eu/1WZSwZO

Target Update 3 Friday 1st April

This isn't an April Fool - you lovely generous people have put me over the £2000 mark which is amazing! Thank you 

Please have a look at my eBay auction of a brilliant cycling print. http://ebay.eu/1WZSwZO

Target Update 2 Monday 21st March

Just over 2 weeks to go until the off - I've raised the fundraising goal to see if we can get over the £2000 mark which would be absolutely brilliant.

Target Update 1

It is amazing to have reached my initial target already - however CHECT needs all the sponsorship it can get.

Raising 125% of my target enables 10 families affected by Rb to come together to support each other and share experiences of having a child with a serious illness

Raising 150% of my target pays for a CHECT support worker to be available for a week's Rb clinics to help parents during their child's diagnosis and treatment [From our own experience this is amazingly valuable work]

Raising 200% of my target pays for 3 months upkeep of the CHECT website - a critical support for those with children who are affected by Rb and those who are worried their children might be.

Retinoblastoma and Us.

In May 2013 our son Benjamin was diagnosed with bilateral retinoblastoma [Rb]. 6 courses of chemotherapy and multiple laser and cryotherapy treatments given by the amazing staff at the Royal London Hospital with care from the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford and Great Western Hospital in Swindon could not save his most affected eye. This had to be removed in January 2014 because of the recurrence of the cancer and the risk of it spreading.

However Benjamin has retained excellent vision in his left eye. 

Benjamin was fitted for a prosthetic eye and is an amazing, healthy and robust little boy of 3 and a half. He is always zooming around on his bike or scooter, and enjoying pre-school to the full.

We are currently on six-monthly gaps between check-ups at the Royal London Hospital as Benjamin is at risk of recurrence for the foreseeable future. 

So all this means that I now have time to get myself ready for a ludicrous charity challenge in order to raise money for the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust (CHECT).

The support we have had from CHECT has been invaluable throughout Benjamin's treatment. CHECT also promote awareness of Rb as early diagnosis is key and support cutting edge research into treatment.

Why the Roubaix Challenge?

The Paris-Roubaix cycling race is perhaps the pre-eminent early season one day race. 

One of the "Classics" or "Monuments" of the cycling world it is best known as "L'enfer du Nord : the Hell of the North" because of the long sections of cobbled roads that form part of the course. 

The cobbled tracks are terrible surfaces on which to ride a bike and are restricted to agricultural vehicles for the rest of the year. If the weather is dry then it gets incredibly dusty, if it is wet (and after all this is the first weekend in April in Northern France) then it becomes very muddy and slippery.

Riding the Roubaix cobbles has been likened to trying to ride a washing machine full of bricks whilst it is on spin cycle.

Even Bernard Hinault, the French five-time winner of the Tour de France thought Paris-Roubaix was stupid* - although it didn't stop him winning it.

So what could make the challenge even harder? 

How about cycling to Roubaix from London..!

Day 1 - London to Dover approx. 85 miles

Day 2 - Calais to Lille approx. 70 miles

Day 3 - Roubaix Challenge approx. 86 miles 

              of which 18 miles are on cobbles!

Any support that you can give would be amazing. 

Rb is very rare and CHECT is a very small national charity that needs every penny to continue their support of families like ours.

*Hinault actually used harsher language than stupid.

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