brain tumour symptoms

Aside from the obvious reason of raising money for the hospital that saved my daughter's life, I had other reasons for putting my body through the grueling endeavour of cycling nearly 1000 miles in 12 days (968 to be precise) - the journey that is Lands End to John O'Groats in the UK.

The trip was about overcoming something challenging, just like Tara has done. It was about fighting for every inch, just like Tara had to fight for every second. So it was a means for me to understand, in some small way, some of what Tara has had to go through. 

Bettyhill to John O'Groats - 50 miles, 38.9mph top speed, average 13.5. Finished at last! Knackered, but thrilled to have completed the "End to End".

We've reached the halfway point both in terms of miles and days. We did 87 miles today, averaging 13.1mph. That included a long climb over Shap Fell. Tomorrow we cross the border into Scotland, and I've just seen the ride profiles for the Highlands - we have some tough days ahead, especially Wednesday, when we do 1200 feet of climbing*. Whoever said Dartmoor was the toughest day, lied**.

*It turned out to be just 5000
**No they didn't

From Tiveton to the Wye Valley across the Welsh border. 96 miles, top speed 32.2mph, average 13.1 - which means I'm taking it a lot easier, because aside from a steep ascent up Cheddar Gorge, it's been mostly flat today. I feel much better for it too. And the descent down into the Wye Valley was great.

Up over Dartmoor and then down through Exeter and on to Tiveton - 68 miles and a fair few hills - some long drags and a couple of sharp 16% climbs too. Found a better pace today though - a fair few of us realised we pushed it a bit too much yesterday so eased back. Consequently, although it was a tough day, I feel in much better shape, despite my calves screaming at me (though a cold bath has helped there). I'll try and be sensible and keep a steady pace tomorrow too, since there's still 10 days to go...

The (free) blogging software I have on my iPhone doesn't work so well, so I'm going to keep this brief - 81 miles today, into a stiffish breeze, and I'm shattered. And my back hurts. And my legs are sore. But then that's about 35 miles further than I've ever ridden, so to be expected I suppose. We have some big climbs up to Dartmoor tomorrow, so I'm going to back off a bit to try and conserve my energy a bit more - I found the last 10 miles hard today, and I don't want to be in the same condition again.

I'm off down to Penzance in the morning for my Lands End to John O'Groats bike ride in aid of Kings College Hospital, as a way of saying thank-you for Tara's life.

Unfortunately the weather has taken a turn for the worse - not least the wind turning into a strong North Easterly for the next week or so - right in our faces in other words! But that's life....

I will be trying to blog and tweet en-route, so watch this space....

So I feel it is time to write how I perceived Tara's journey:

I've been asked to write something for a book about my "near death experience". Here it is:

At the end of July, 2009, I was enjoying a week long 'Family Retreat' with the Brighton Buddhist Centre. I was with my 4-year old daughter, Kyra, but my wife and 2-year old daughter, Tara, could not be there due to the little one's Chicken-pox.

Someone posted the following quote on the low grade glioma support group that I subscribe to:

"The question, "Why do children suffer?" has no answer, unless it's simply, "To break our hearts." Once our hearts get broken, they never fully heal. They always ache. But perhaps a broken heart is a more loving instrument. Perhaps only after our hearts have cracked wide open, have finally and totally unclenched, can we truly know love without boundaries." 
~Fred Epstein, MD [pediatric neurosurgeon]