Let's start at the beginning ......

Not quite sure when it first began for Dad. There was the time back in the winter of 2009 when he became confused and disorientated for a while and the GP thought he’d contracted a “virus” while holidaying in Spain. Then there was his increased distractibility when I tried to engage in conversation or maybe the struggle to put his point across as cogently as he used to.  The number of falls involving bangs to his head and their regularity was one of the bigger concerns of course, but their cause?  Dad getting unsteady on his feet, not paying attention to where he was going perhaps?  All stuff you could put down to old age and the march of Father Time you’d think?  Then there was the trouble swallowing food and more worryingly the choking on far too many occasions for comfort. The palsied appearance of his mouth; the slurred speech.  All definite alarm bells for sure, but as to making headway with the GP and a proper diagnosis, well that bit was a constant uphill struggle for Mum. Inevitably the swallowing problem resulted in a dramatic loss of weight; time for the dietician to be involved which I think was where things changed. A referral to a Neurology Consultant, at last a proper examination and analysis as to the cause of this alarming downturn in Dad’s health.

Deep down we all knew something was wrong and if we were honest, we all knew that things had gone sufficiently far that there was never going to be a return to the Dad we all grew up with. So, cut to the chase; the test results said Motor Neurone Disease, a devastating blow for Dad and the friends and family around him. No turning back, no spoonful of medicine to make it all better; we were talking terminal illness. The general medical consensus, three to five years from start to finish. Okay, Stephen Hawking has dodged that bullet for far longer, but this is the prognosis for most. We don’t truly know when it started, so we don’t really know when it will end now, just a case of enjoying the time we have together and making the best of things.

Reality.  No amount of money is going to change the inevitable for Dad and others currently in the same situation. Funds can help with palliative care, support networks and maybe, just maybe, ground breaking research which will at some point in the future, make a difference to someone else.  So what to do? Raise some cash on behalf of the Motor Neurone Disease Association seemed a logical step. Couple that with a desire to always push the parameters and go as far as I can on that bike of mine. Perhaps I could combine the two? 

So, fast forward from November to the present, and the launch of C2C4MND. On August 1^st  my partner Nicki and I will set off from Southport and ride West to East, coast to coast, to Hornsea; on the Trans Pennine Trail, averaging around seventy miles on and off road over two and a half days.  Okay it’s hardly LEJOG, but it’s the biggest cycle challenge (so far) for the pair of us, and if it means we raise money and awareness for the MNDA along the way, then it will all be worthwhile.

Over the coming months I’ll attempt to post blogs of our training, as ad hoc as I’m sure they will be; maybe even a few photos. And obviously on the ride itself, we plan to post pictures and journal pieces along the way. I’m sure it won’t be all plain sailing riding, but we’ll have some fun and hopefully anyone checking in on our progress will do too.

In the meantime if you do nothing else, please check out:
http://www.mndassociation.org/what-is-mnd/About-MND

A little closer to the time we’ll create  a “justgiving” link  you can also visit if you feel so moved. Your support as well as any spare cash, no matter how small will be much appreciated and will make a difference.

Cheers,

Tez