In September 2015, after years of GP appointments, stool samples, pills, chronic pain, an A&E visit (including a PR), and LOTS of what I am told are inappropriate conversations to be had at any time (never mind meal times), I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis...which was a great reason (read: excuse) to buy my first bike as an adult - my gorgeous blue/green Brompton folding bike. 

Fast forward one year, I found another excuse (I think this time it was a non-existent cycling touring holiday) to buy a new steel framed Kona Sutra Ltd (the name might have also been part of the reason). 

Fast forward a few more months and I have decided to go from random cycling commuter, to full on idiot and have signed up to cycle 100 miles for a charity that was there for me when I was feeling (and creating lots of) shit. 

For those of you that know me well, I'm not an athletic kinda guy, so this will be painful for me, and probably hilarious for all of you to watch. 

• Your donation of £21.57 could help fund a life changing call their information and support lines.
• £51.83 could help them provide 100 people with the vital information they need to help manage their condition.
• £145.01 could help them fund a full days research that will improve lives today and that one day could deliver a cure.
• £1,210 could fund the specialist training for an IBD Nurse.
• An exceptional donation of £9144.44 could fund one of their family days that help some of the 3,000 children diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease every year understand that their life isn’t over and they are not alone.

If you can afford to, please dig deep. If you cannot, in the words of Tesco: every little helps! 

P.S. for those of you that want to better understand IBD, a short video: http://goo.gl/1bsFGM