Last August, my Dad passed away from Alzheimer's.  It still seems strange to write it down.

My Dad used to talk.  Like really talk... on and on and on.... for hours.  If he rang I know I'd be in for the long haul and I'd brace myself and find a comfy place to sit for the next hour.

But over time the chats grew less and I knew something was wrong.  My Dad lived alone, and he had hidden that he had a problem.  He had stopped cooking, stopped washing up, stopped washing his clothes, stopped taking showers, stopped cutting his nails, stopped shaving.  He didn't know the date, he didn't know his age and he had no idea what was going on in the world.

When covid hit in 2020 he couldn't fathom what it was, and he didn't remember to adhere to new regulations.  After an episode where he went missing and wound up in hospital it was decided for his safety he would be put in a care home.  

His health spiralled quickly and by April 2022 he had stopped talking altogether, had lost the ability to walk, suffered from bedsores, suffered countless infections, lost the ability to feed himself and then ultimately lost the ability to swallow.  Alzheimer's ravaged his mind and body and has his only regular visitor and decision maker all I could do was watch and hold his hand as he faded away.  

That is my dementia experience.  And I've learnt that there are more people than ever before in the UK with Alzheimer's disease - statistics show that half of the UK population know of someone that has the disease.  Another scary fact I've learnt - an astonishing 1 in 3 of us born in the UK will develop dementia in their life time.  I want to raise money for Alzheimer's Research UK to support the work they do trying to understand dementia that will ultimately help towards better diagnosis, preventions and treatments.  

So, anyone that knows me, knows that I am not a cyclist and a challenge like this is verging on ridiculous.  I don't even own a bike.  But dementia is a much worse challenge and I'm stubborn, and I want to do this in memory of my Dad and raise money for a brilliant charity.  

The ride is on Father's Day - the first since he passed, and instead of dwelling on the past I will look to South coast and I will ride those 54 miles.  And if someone wants to take the kids to school the next day, that might be nice :)

Lastly, a huge thank you to Helen, a great cyclist who knows her ways round bike gears (I don't have a clue) who will hopefully help me navigate my way to Brighton.  Helen knew my Dad in his healthy days and I count myself very lucky to have her support for this ride x