Firstly, thanks for your interest & support in our challenge to ride from Kent to Cornwall in September. We intend to use this page a means of keeping you updated with our progress as we train for the big day. If you are generous to donate some money then please use any one of the individual pages linked below.
Here is a bit of info regarding the ride, and the Charity for which we are raising money for:-
We are organising and taking part in a Charity bike ride from East Peckham in Kent all the way to Newquay Cornwall in September to raise money for the Alzheimer's Society.
We have assembled a group of friends which have all (stupidly & in some cases under the influence of alcohol) agreed to join me us this short ride through the countryside. We are planning on splitting the 300 mile journey over 4 Days.
This is a charity close to Clive's heart as his mum has Alzheimers and is in the fairly advanced stages, as a family they have had first hand experience of the illness over the past 5 years or so, spending time with other sufferers as well as the carers who do such an amazing job.
A family member of an Alzheimers sufferer on a support forum refered to people with the disease as the Invisibles. Alzheimers is a terminal illness as is Cancer, although instead of being surrounded by people they love and having the chance to say their goodbyes and spend precious time with their family before the disease fully takes hold, Alzheimers sufferers tend to have a very different experience. People find this disease difficult to face and we believe sufferers should receive the same level of love and attention they always have unfortunately the nature of the disease makes it easy for them to become 'invisible'.
Below are some quite scary facts regarding Alzheimers:-
What is dementia?
Dementia describes different brain disorders that trigger a loss of brain function. These conditions are all usually progressive and eventually severe.
Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia, affecting 62 per cent of those diagnosed.
Other types of dementia include; vascular dementia affecting 17 per cent of those diagnosed, mixed dementia affecting 10 per cent of those diagnosed.
Symptoms of dementia include memory loss, confusion and problems with speech and understanding. Dementia is a terminal condition.
Who is affected?
There are 750,000 people with dementia in the UK. By 2021 there will be over 940,000 people living with dementia. This will soar to 1.7 million by 2050.
One in three people over 65 will die with dementia
More than 60 per cent of all care home residents, aged over 65, have a form of dementia.
There are over 16,000 people under 65 with dementia in the UK.
Dementia affects 11,000 people from black and minority ethnic groups in the UK.
How much does it cost?
By 2018 dementia will cost the UK £27 billion per annum.
Unpaid carers supporting someone with dementia save the economy £6 billion a year.
Dementia is one of the main causes of disability later in life, ahead of cancer, cardiovascular disease and stroke. As a country we spend much less on dementia than on these other conditions.
How does the UK compare to other countries?
More than 24 million people have dementia today with the numbers affected doubling every 20 years to more than 80 million by 2040.
Another 4.6 million people will develop dementia around the world this year.
What about treatments and research?
There is no cure for Alzheimer's disease or any other type of dementia. Delaying the onset of dementia by five years would halve the number of deaths from the condition, saving 30,000 lives a year.
Dementia research is desperately underfunded. The government invests eight times less in dementia research than cancer research.
In 2007-08 cancer research received £248.2 million, while dementia research received just £32.34 million.
Alzheimer's Society invests over £6 million in dementia research to improve care for people today and find a cure for tomorrow.
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 and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.
So please dig deep and donate now.
UPDATES:-
Below is the current list of riders participating in the ride in September:-
Clive Gigney, Kevin Zimmerman, Steve Chivers, Kurt Gigney, Nick Connor, Pete Griffiths, James Packer, Mark Bothwell, Beth Davies, David Green, Greg Snowdon, Shane Armstrong, Sean Broad
24th February
As of today we have just under 3 months before the first big training challenge. The Castle 100, which will see us all attempt 100 miles in a single day, yipee!!!!
23rd March
Just over 7 weeks to go now until the castle 100 miler!!!
A few of us are going to attempt some of the route on Sunday (aiming for approx 70 miles). Training is going well for most even at this early stage.... Pete joined Kev and I last weekend for a ride out which was good, although disaster struck for Pete when he managed to sprain his ankle whilst using a cash machine!?! So he is going to have a fun time in Miami this weekend DJ'ing on Crutches!
We have arranged a kind of launch party for the Event on the 17th April, where we will all be getting together for a Photo shoot for the Alzheimer's society website which should be good. This will also mark the official start for the organising of the ride as it is already only 6 months away!!!!!
11th April
Well it looks like the good weather has finally arrived (although probably not for long!) and this weekend saw a few of us out on the bikes and actually getting burnt rather than nearly getting frostbite!
A few more of the riders have started to get out on the bikes more now which is good, and it does seem to be getting a bit easier now.
17TH April
Today saw us all visit the Alzheimer's Society offices in Loose for a photoshoot. Was a good turnout with only 1 person missing from the line-up of 14. Unfortunately Greg got lost on the way to the offices and had to be rescued by his wife. So we have some official photographs now so we can start to get organising the ride more. A few of us went on a 40 miler after the photoshoot to test out our new jersey’s (to see if they make us any faster!)
26th April
Three of us (Kev, Clive, Steve) took part in the tour of the weald ride on Sunday which was a 65mile tour of Kent. Was a very fun ride which included a timed 4 mile hill climb, we all did the ride in a pretty decent time and was good to get used to riding in packs...The castle 100 is now looming so looking forward to that one, just hope it’s not as hot as it was on Sunday!!!!
17th May
The planning is all going well and we’re starting to get some positive support from local companies, which is excellent. We’ve also got some great ideas to aid the fundraising. We are hoping to organise a small summer fete in Horsmonden in July, a Party night in Maidstone in August, as well as the launch at Hale Place in September the week before we head off...
Some of us took part in the Castle 100 on Sunday which was a great day. Basically we spent the equivalent of a day at work sat on our bikes cycling 100 miles around Kent. The weather thankfully held out so we enjoyed sunshine for most of the ride. The food stops were excellent and we had a much needed lunch at around 55 miles. A couple of us had a few issues but on the whole it was a great taster of things to come.
4TH JULY 2011
Its been a while since we updated the page. Everyone is cracking on with the training now, with only 9 Weeks to go there aren't too many weekends left to get the miles in.....
Steve & I(clive) rode the route for day one on Saturday. With a few Stops to check our directions we completed the ride in around 5 hours. However, this was at a pace thats a bit faster than we will be attempting for a four day ride. Day one is certainly going to be challenging and there are plenty of big hills along the way as well. Our Summer fete is only 2 weeks away now so we are all looking forward to that...more to follow!!!
10TH JULY 2011
Today was our first proper team training ride which saw 9 of the riders venture from East Peckham to Rye. We all rode between about 70 & 90 miles each which is very positive as we head towards the last two months of training. It was a great day & a good laugh.....
16TH JULY 2011
The Summer Fete went ahead today despite the torrential rain. We were lucky enough to be helped out with some quality Gazeebos, and so managed to fill most of the garden with shelters. The rain did not in any way affect the day and we were busy all afternoon. The Coconut Shy was a roaring success(perhaps it was easier than the usual fete setups) as was the Human Fruit Machine...Which I think should be used throughout pubs and clubs.
We raised a Total of £1060 which is a great result and a real help towards our £10,000 target. Many thanks to all that continue to support this worthy cause and to everyone that helped make the day such a success.
6-7 AUGUST 2011
The car wash weekend at the Alzhimer's Society South-East office was yet another success on the fundraising front. People were lured in by Mr Blobby, Captain America & Shaun the Sheep, to then have their cars blitzed by un co-ordinated and inexperienced car cleaners. Our skills improved throughout the weekend and I think some of us have found a possible new vocation in life should we need to fall back on it. A great weekend was had by all, and we were once again greated by rain storms. hopefully this does not mean that rain will be joining us for the ride!!!! Another £515 in the bag towards our total.....Job done!
