14th July 2015
What can I say, how can you be speechless in a blog – wordless??
My revised fundraising target of £1,000 was exceeded within a week of topping the original £500 target. Once again I have been truly humbled by your support and generosity for those kids less fortunate than we.
Well my chums, lets get the medical stuff out of the way first. After much pestering, we now know what we are up against, Low Grade Lymphoma! What does that mean I hear the disinterested cry? It means extraction of a bone marrow sample (14th July) followed by further consultations with the experts (15th July) followed by the commencement of the intake of toxic chemicals commonly known as chemotherapy. The treatment is likely to last about 4 – 5 months but I’ve already told the team at the Rosemere Centre at Preston Hospital that I have an important appointment in the 27th September that they have to work around!!
A valuable lesson learned is not to wait for information but to actively seek it out!
Now on to the cycling stuff. Membership of the elite NSG Psyclopaths is growing, bikes are being purchased and padded lycra is being recommended for the uninitiated! We now have a Doctor Psyclo, not one that would help me though. Dr. Dom Farrell from the NSG Consultancy group has joined us. Once he is ensconced in our new Cumbria office I’m sure he will be familiar sight around the highways and byways, getting in much needed training on proper hills, as his previous base in Berkshire only offered the odd speed bump to get over.
A training ride for yours truly, the Baby Psyclo, Psyclo Lozza and the Budding Musician Psyclo was completed this last sunday. Just a litttle 18 miler around the proposed Ironman route through Anglezarke, Rivington & Belmont. This was Psyclo Lozza’s introduction to proper hills, and being the trooper she is conquered them all. We just have to work on the speed!! It was a good job there were a couple of Prosecco stops along the way, notably the Black Dog at Belmont and apologies to our main sponsors at Jennings, but a pint of Jumping Joe’s best always goes down well after 8 miles of climbing!!
Note to the newbie Psyclos, as you gently grunt your way up Whinlatter just remember what a proper cyclist once said – “You’re alone on the road with your bike. There’s no slipstream, no tactics, it’s not about who has the smartest strategy. It’s just you, your bike and your head, fighting against the pain.” Of course you won’t be alone, we’ll all be there in pain with you!!