In May 2018 my otherwise healthy son, Lewis died aged just 19. It was completely out of the blue, and CRY not only helped me understand what may have been the cause (there are more than one type of un-diagnosed heart condition that can cause sudden deaths like his). They also provided free counselling to help come to terms with his loss and cardio screening for myself in case the issue was a hereditary one.

In 2019 I cycled 793km from London to Glasgow (my hometown and where Lewis was living when he died). It took me 40 hours, with no sleep, and a very well drilled support team along side me. We raised approx £30k in the end which was way beyond what I'd hoped.

This time round, the plan was to take part in the London-Wales-London Audax which is basically a 412km bike ride from London to Chepstow and back again and it has to be completed in 27 hours or less. However, this ride is also a qualifier for Paris-Brest-Paris, one of if not the oldest bike race in the world.

After completing LWL in April I kinda got talked into doing PBP!

PBP is only held once every 4 years, and these days is not a race. You have 90 hours to travel 1,218km from Paris to Brest and back to Paris again. You have to be completely self sufficient, i.e. no support vehicles or outside help. Carry all your own supplies or buy them along the way.

This year's PBP takes place from 20th Aug to 24th Aug. I had to complete a 200km, 300km, 400km and 600km ride to qualify. LWL was my 400km qualifier.

My fundraising target is a little more modest this time, but the cause is no less emotive 5 years on. Like most charities CRY were hit hard by the pandemic but the work they do is crucial to helping families avoid the devastating loss that mine did. 

And on a more selfish personal level, cycling up stupid gradients for hours on end seems to be a good way for me to keep my own mental health in check after losing Lewis, so I suppose I'll just keep doing it till I find a better way to cope!

Cheers,

Graeme.

Follow the adventure on insta @l2gnonstop

Every week in the UK at least 12 apparently fit and healthy young people die of undiagnosed cardiac conditions. With your donation, CRY can reduce the frequency of young sudden cardiac death (YSCD) by working with cardiologists and family doctors to establish good practice and appropriate screening facilities to promote and protect the cardiac health of our young. 

https://londonwaleslondon.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris%E2%80%93Brest%E2%80%93Paris