Who and Why?

We are two good friends who have known each other for over ten years. Met whilst working at a school in East Grinstead, West Sussex. Shaun's a diehard Pompey fan and former PE teacher, now having an easier life as a PDM in Basingstoke, whilst Rob is currently putting in the hours as the partnership director of the Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire county sport partnership. Both are former runners - shaun a talented middle distance runner, until injury forced him to stop and try something else and Rob, liked to run a bit further, and stopped after completing 6 London Marathons, the last in 2000 with Shaun, to take up golf. But both of us are new to cycling. Our previous cycling experience is no more than cycling to work and spending three hours on the side of a kentish hill waiting for 40secs of le tour . Hardly the potential, you might say, of taking on the challenge of cycling nearly 1000 miles in 2 weeks. So why this madness? Simple really,

in June 2006, Shaun's daughter Angel was born with Hydrocephalus -a condition in which the primary characteristic is excessive accumulation of fluid in the brain. You will be pleased to know she is doing really well and is growing fast! Shaun wanted to do something to support ASBAH (Associtaion for Spina Bifida and hydrocephalus - http://www.asbah.org/) an organisation which has given him and his wife Debbie a great amount of support, particuarly in the early months of Angel's life. So he takes the credit for coming up with the idea, but i didnt take much convincing because it was something I had always wanted to do. That was last summer, and like most good ideas, that seem good at the time, particualarly at new year over a few beers, the reality soon begins to sink in!