Many of you will know I like to ride my bike and along with a fine group of fellas from Collingham Velo Club, I will be riding the epic Land’s End to John O’Groats in July this year. We will ride in the region of 960 miles, 44,500 ft of elevation in 10 days. We hope, starting at Land’s End will be the sensible option, given we should be assisted by a prevailing South westerly wind. One thing we can't influence however, is the weather!

We travel down on the 24th July, start our ride the following day 25th and finish on the 3rd August. I’d guess the journey back on the train on the 4th August will be a sleepy, quiet doo – the evening of 4th however, probably won’t be 😉. I will put up a few video’s and notes along the way on my instagram page @pete2024lejog if you’d like to follow our journey, it’d be good to have you on board!

I’ve decided this is a fantastic opportunity to raise funds for Cancer related charities. The three charities are:

www.childrensbereavementcentre.co.uk (Newark)
www.copescharity.co.uk,
www.europactrial.com

These charities all have a significance and I’ll tell you why.

On 10th February 1988 we lost our lovely mum to Cancer at the early age of just 40 years. Apart from the obvious loss of our Mum and the huge hole its left in our lives, there was zero support for me, my brother and my sister at the time. I was only 18, my brother 17 and my sister 15.

The Child Bereavement Centre offers amazing support to families and boasts 100% success rate, in improving children’s lives who have to deal with the grieving process, when finding out a loved one has been diagnosed with or has been lost by terminal illness, that has a year or less for survival. I’m sure support of this kind would have been a great help to us, if available, back in the day.

Copes (Cervical, Ovarian, Perineal, Endometrial cancer Support) is a support and research charity targeting gynaecological awareness. This charity helped my sister when she had cancer and she was just 40 years old, same as my Mum. My Sister is an absolute inspiration to me, and coped with such strength when she suffered from this horrific disease, and I’m delighted to tell you she got through it! Not only did she get through it, but she has a steely determination and desire to live life to the full, and I love her and her family to bits.

The final charity is Europac. We lost 2 uncles and a cousin to Pancreatic Cancer and feel this is a charity lacking in support. Very rarely do people survive after being diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer and it so deserves to be researched to enable a chance for a cure, one day!

So, three good reasons for me to raise as much as I possibly can. Sadly we have all been affected by cancer one way or another.

It’ll be a tough 10 days for me riding LeJog with my pals. My legs might scream at me from time to time but, I don’t have to listen to them, and I will push on through the discomfort in the knowledge I can do others some good – and have a pint or two at the end.

If you can help me help others by donating using the link, I would be extremely grateful.

We will also be making a special edition jersey for me to wear along the way. If you would like your name or a relative or friend's name added to the jersey, to keep me company on this journey, please let me know and I’ll add them along with my Mums. I can be contacted via pete2024lejog@gmail.com

Thanks for reading and thanks for your support, it means the world.

Pete
x



Daily Plan
943 miles total (approx.)
Day 1 –Individual transport to Cornwall – Meet in Penzance
Day 2 - Land’s End to Launceston– 87 miles
Day 3 – Launceston to Weston super mare – 103 miles
Day 4 – Weston super mare to Stourport – 98 miles
Day 5 – Stourport to Wigan – 103 miles
Day 6 – Wigan to Carlisle – 112 miles
Day 7 – Carlisle to Ayr – 96 miles
Day 8 – Ayr to Inveraray - 89 miles
Day 9 – Inveraray to Fort William – 73 miles
Day 10 – Fort William to Tain – 96 miles
Day 11 – Tain to John O’Groats – 86 miles
Day 12 –Travel home from Inverness