Afternoon people of LCB!

Tomorrow 13 of us set off for an 1170mile 'bike ride' from the bottom of England to the top of Scotland!

We're doing it for a charity thats close to all of our hearts after a good mate of ours died last year from Sudden Death Syndrome. As the name suggests nobody had any idea that this was going to happen and as you can imagine it hit us all quite hard.
We decided shortly after Matt's death to do this bike ride and follow the exact route he did a few years previously but stopping off back at home for a memorial service which coincidently lands half way through the ride.

We set ourselves the target of raising £10,000... all of this money will be going towards CRY and thier work in giving free heart screening to people aged 18-35, to hopefully pick up the signs early and prevent more deaths.

If anyone wants to donate our just giving page is here(any donation helps!)...

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=lejog2012&isTeam=true

But if you could spend a few minutes making yourself aware of the charity then thats just as good

http://www.c-r-y.org.uk/

Now im off into the garage to try and catch up the time ill lose over the next few weeks!
Thanks for taking the time to read ths guys
Mark.

P.s- anybody done LEJOG before? Any tips etc would be appreciated...!?

Can I just say that this is a great casue. I donate regularly to cry and BHF. I will donate to your bike ride too. I know the next part sounds odd but I "died" of sudden death syndrome about 5 years ago. Luckily (and about 5% of all cases worldwide) my heart started again about a minute later.

After tests I now have a defib fitted and C-R-Y had some very useful information and support. More for families who have suffered a loss, but also for families like mine, where I survived to odds, but now have children who will be undergoing tests and gene testing to see if they can find causes, reasons etc.

Good luck with the bike ride.

Andy

I'm sorry to hear that Mark. I lost a close friend in February in similar circumstances- a 30 year old who cycled 800 miles a month and was training for the Maratona in Italy.

After this his brother (and my best man come April) went for an ECG and was diagnosed with Brugarda Syndrome. He had an ICD fitted, changed his brothers entry in the Maratona to his name and raced in his memory 2 months later! Madness.

All the best with the ride, it's a great charity and a fantastic thing to do for Matt.

Craig.

Ps- I haven't done it so I can't help I'm afraid- despite trying I'm a pathetic cyclist!

I just wanted to wish you the very best of luck for your Cycle ride, and also for the sponsorship too.

I try and donate to a lot of the things that come on this forum, as I see most people on here as a sort of friend anyway, but money is unbelievably tight still at the moment (unemployed for most of last year), so I've only managed to give a few quid. However it all counts and I hope I help you reach your £10k target even if I was the lowest donater on there!!!

Oh, and keep us updated aswell, if you are able!

Andy-
Thats very kind of you! Thanks a lot.
I had no idea of the scale of people that are affected by heart problems, maybe its just one of those things you dont realise until its close to home.
Glad to hear theres a posotive story to come out of this, and your in good health now! Way to many negative stories out there..

Craig-
Its not a nice feeling at all- especially at such a young age. Matt was only 22 and seemingly fit healthy lad!
Thats a pretty inspiring story. Its amazing how something like that brings out a different side to people.
Thanks for your support. Im sure you cant be as bad as some of the people ill be cycling with

Steve-
To quote a certain supermarket- every penny helps! So thanks a million for that.
Cheers for your support and ill do my best to update.. Ive gotta get my daily fix Of locostbuilders anyway..


Now time to set my alarm for a 3.30am start

Thanks once again guys! Mark.