I have signed up to take part in the Ride London Surrey 100 miles cycle on the 4/8/19 and Lands End to John O'Groats bike ride starting on the 10/8/19 which is roughly over 1000 miles over 14 days to raise money for the MS Society.

IMPORTANT. If you are going to donate to my fundraising please ensure that you tick the GIFT AID box, this does not cost you anything but means the Government will give the charity a further 25% of the amount you donate. Thanks

Photos

The photos show  myself and Ross and also my niece Trisha Kerins who was also diagnosed with MS. The second photo shows myself, Ross and my son Marc who died suddenly on the 31st July 2016

Why the MS Society?

In the summer of 2018, while studying for his professional qualification, my son (Ross ) started to suffer from double vision, dizziness and a general lack of balance and co-ordination. Ross visited his GP on a few occasions working through a process of elimination, before being referred to a neurologist. Following this appointment Ross had an MRI head and neck scan carried out. Following the scan we were told by the neurologist that a number of lesions were found on the brain with some on the spinal cord. The likely diagnosis was Multiple Sclerosis.

Since early December Ross has undergone numerous tests such as a lumber puncture to get confirmation and a full and final diagnosis. However consultants have told us they are 99% certain that it is MS given the locations of the lesions.

Looking back this is something which Ross thinks first showed itself in 2016, shortly after losing his brother and my eldest son Marc. Ross developed numbness in his right arm, hand and to the right hand side of his head. While the numbness to his arm and head has passed he has been left with a numbness in his right hand. It is thought that this numbness is to residual effect.

This news is a shock and a scary time for not only Ross but his wife Jane and me and his mum, but we are lucky to a certain extent as we all have my Niece Trish, who was diagnosed with MS 15 years ago and my sister Anne who have been able to provide support with their experiences with the disease and the great support from friends and family.

I was also able to visit the MS society headquarters in Cricklewood, who were great in helping me get a better understanding of what MS is and the possible challenges we may face in the future.

The advances in treatment and research into MS over the past decade has been amazing and I hope that the money raised can contribute to the ultimate goal of all the research................ A cure for MS.

The past couple of years have been a tough time for us with the sudden lost of Marc and now Ross' diagnosis.

Thank you all for taking the time to visit my Just giving page and reading my story and a huge thank you in advance for your contribution towards my £5,000 target.

The Cycles and Training

I completed the Ride London 100 in 2018 in 7 hours and 43 minutes(and cycled the 16 miles home afterwards) it was a terrible day for cycling with heavy rain and strong winds. This years I will be aiming for the 7 Hours.

The lands end to John O'Groats ride is a straight 14 days cycle doing approx 75 to 80 miles a day. The training is going well and since the 1st January 19  to today(7/4/19) I have done 2300 miles. Come August I hope to have completed around  5500 miles in training. The training from now on will get tougher as I will be doing lots of big hills. To see how I would cope with sitting it the saddle I have just completed a  straight 14 days cycling completing 603 miles and found it ok. Since I have started the training I have lost over a stone and hope to lose another stone before August. 

Up to today 19/5/19 I have now completed  3504 miles with lots of hill so feeling pretty good and feeling confident I will be able to exceed my 5500 miles target

Tuesday 21/5/19 Feeling pretty proud of myself as today was the day I completed my longest ever training cycle 137.3 miles in 12H 10M 22S and only stopped for 32 minutes{loo and a coffee}. Part of this cycle included 14 laps{lap is 7 miles} round the beautiful Richmond park

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.