Dear family, friends & colleagues,

 

This year, Graham and Andrew have both seen close friends and colleagues bravely fight the tough and uphill battle against cancer. The strength and courage shown in the face of such uncertainty, no more so when it is demonstrated by a child, has amazed them both.

 

 To help support their friends' and colleagues' fund-raising, Graham and Andrew have chosen to ride the 2012 Cape Epic in South Africa on behalf the CLIC Sargent Children’s Cancer Trust.

 

So what's the Cape Epic?

The Cape Epic is one of only two mountain bike stage races in the world with the UCI’s HC status, the highest status possible. The HC (Hors Catégorie) classification, meaning "beyond categorization", is typically reserved for grand tours such as the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España. Hors catégorie was originally a term used for those mountain roads where cars were not expected to be able to pass.

 

Like the Tour de France, the Cape Epic is a multi-day, multi-stage bike race. It's from 25th March to 1st April 2012, over 8 days, over 781km of off-road terrain and with 16.3km of vertical ascent. To put that into context, that is the equivalent of climbing almost twice the height of Mount Everest, in 8 days, on a mountain bike. And then there's the distance to consider ......

 

To quote someone that participated in it previously;

'The Cape Epic hurts. And then it hurts again. And again. For hundreds and hundreds of kilometres. This is world-class, big-time, not-for-sissies mountain bike racing'.

Another said;

'As Graham and Andrew train in the months leading up to March 2012, nothing can truly prepare them for the 8 days of dust and blood and pain that lies ahead. In this race, even the toughest rider can expect exhaustion. That’s when bikes are seen abandoned beside the single track while the rider huddles nearby, cradling his helmeted head, often weeping with fatigue'.

Yet the challenge Graham and Andrew are undertaking is only a fraction of what the battle with cancer is like, especially for a child.

 

The guys have already paid for their race entry, flights, food, accommodation and equipment so that any money raised goes directly to CLIC Sargent.

 

Please take this opportunity to give generously to help families in times of adversity and these two stubborn mules will give everything they have to complete the race.

Thanks

On behalf of CLIC Sargent

 

Graham Collins (Singapore) and Andrew Sharkey (Hong Kong)

A.K.A. 'The Old Mountain Goats'

You will be able to follow the guys' progress during the race week (25th March to 01 April) at www.cape-epic.com

For further details on CLIC Sargent, please see www.clicsargent.org.uk

 

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