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| Beccy + bump & Darcy |
I think Beccy put the challenge into perspective with the e-mail she sent out before we set off on our travels:
Hi all,
Well most of you know that Ian, Darcy and I are just about to head off to Ireland for our month tour of the emerald isle.
For those of you who don't know, Ian is embarking on a huge challenge - to cycle to every county town in Ireland (all 32 of them!) covering 1500 miles in 21 days - that's averaging 70 miles a day with some days covering more than 100 miles. Plus the hardest bit of all (for me to get my head around) is he is doing almost all of it by himself (fingers crossed Michael Pennance will be joining Ian for Stages 16 to 19....Tullamore to Armagh). I'd drive myself crazy but he is very determined. It's not an organised tour he is joining, he has spent hours in the evenings planning it all himself. And, if it were me, I'd ride the flatter bits but oh no, it's his challenge and he has chosen to cycle really hard terrain - partly as a personal challenge but more, so that Darcy and I can enjoy remote campsites and enjoy a sightseeing tour of Ireland. We're his support team in the campervan!
So you may ask, is this all for fun? Well no, Ian is raising money and awareness for MS. His Mum has suffered / lived with MS since Ian was born and she is a complete inspiration for him. Life is getting tougher for her and as the years go on, the support she gets from the Omagh branches of national charities such as the Leonard Cheshire Society and the MS Society is becoming more and more vital for her to enjoy life and remain living in her own home. Ian wants to give something back to them to say thank you for all the support that they give his Mum, support that he can't give on an daily basis due to the distance of her living in Omagh and him being in London. It's kind of a thank you as well to all her friends who support her constantly even though many of them have their own family commitements and health problems.
You can follow his energetic progress (and Darcy & my 'less-energetic' progress) over the next month on the blog below. It has a link on to it to Virgin Money for financial support you might like to give - any amount is much much appreciated. Ian hasn't set a target, as every single penny donated will be divided between the two charities. He is funding the whole tour and even Virgin Money's cut (yes all these sites take a cut!) himself so you can rest assured that whatever you pledge, 100% goes to the cause.
http://cycletourofireland.blogspot.com/
(if you get a random questionnaire come up, just close it down and retype the url without www then it will work).
Thank you all very much in advance! If any of you feel the urge to promote the site via your social network sites that would be much appreciated (Janey!), as I am useless with Facebook!!!! Also, if any of you are overseas and are unable to use Virgin Money site online, you can just email us your contribution and we can track it seperately as an offline donation.
Thank you very very much indeed - we'll be in touch at the end of the tour (if I don't give birth in the outback of Connemara before then!!!).
Ian, Beccy, Darcy and (very wriggly) Bump!
Please give as generously as you can via
www.virginmoneygiving.com – a heartfelt thanks from my Mum, other MS sufferers and me.
