Yet another hurdle in the path to recovery.

Yesterday we found out that not only does my Dad have to contend with recovering from a severe stroke, he also has to beat 'C-Diff' - a potential killer bug. 

C- Diff (Clostridium Difficile) is a healthcare associated infection, often acquired by people during an extended stay in hospital. The hospital say it's due to vulnerability caused by anti-biotics stripping the stomach lining away but it seems funny to me that this comes at a time when the stoke ward is being deep cleaned due to infection. In addition, Ward C3 where he is currently in isolation has been more than careless when it comes to carrying out basic hygiene precautions by nursing staff.

We can only visit for 15 minutes a day now and have to follow a strict regimen of washing, disinfecting, wearing a gown etc and upon leaving a similar process must be adhered to. It doesn't stop when you get home either, clothes have to be washed immediately and not mixed with any other clothing. During the visit there is no touching, kissing etc and the effects upon the patient are visible.

All this has caused added distress and concern to the family and I feel lets down the team of surgeons who did such excellent work at the Hallamshire Hospital initially. My fingers are firmly crossed that he will pull through this, but he has a fight on his hands, the most challenging marathon of the many he has run.

I want him to be healthy, and to project the light and strength of old again. I want him to come home.

Today was an exercise intended to help with the  planning for the actual coast to coast in September. With transport and assistance from my neighbour Pete we went up to Cleasby in North Yorkshire. I set off around 8.30am  (see pic) intending to ride to Whitby on the East Coast by sunset! The distance is about 65 miles, in actual fact it wasn't too bad, it took me 4 hours and 45 minutes, so with a short stop for 'elevenses' in Great Ayton I arrived at the old seaside town at 2.30pm.

The climbs were tough but none bad enough so I had to get off and push (quite a few 25% inclines), but overall I managed a 13.5 mph average. Not too bad given i'm on a mountain bike.

Anyhow, there's the update. I just need to go off and plan the ride properly now, work out the schedule, the stops, any B&B's required etc.

The Route

This coast to coast route is based heavily on the Sustrans W2W route the distance is approx 172 - 185 miles I can be a bit more accurate on this next month following a planned trial run from Barnard Castle to Whitby. I need to get a few miles in in training over the next few weeks, and I also need to estimate how many mile per day I can reasonably expect to cover on this type of surface.

I have done several coast to coast rides previously (I hasten to add when I was quite a bit younger), on those occasions they were road based events on the classic Morecombe to Scarborough route. If memory serves me correctly they were about 136 very hard miles which we used to complete in about 9 or 10 hours.

This year i'm riding a mountain bike and travelling on disused railway tracks, trails, quiet bits of back road and rough stuff. All a bit of an unknown quantity. There's the lengthy climb up Tan Hill, the highest point on the route at 1,732 feet above sea level and some of the best scenery the UK has to offer in Cumbria and the Yorkshire Dales.

What am I going to do?

The challenge I have set myself is the Coast to Coast W2W mountain bike ride 175 miles of tough riding through some of the finest scenery the UK has to offer.

The beneficiary of the funds I manage to raise is the Neurocare Charity based in Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield.

Not for some random reason have I decided to do all this, my Dad was recently a patient at the Hospitals neurosurgery unit where he was fitted with a platinum coil to stop an artery leaking into a vein. Unfortunately, although the procedure was a success, six weeks after the surgery he suffered one of the rare risks of the operation, a stroke. In my Dad's case the stroke has proved to be a severe one affecting the left side of his body and his ability to move is totally diminished at the present time.

Anyhow to kick start the fundraising today I attended the Tom Simpson memorial site in Harworth Nr Doncaster where i'd arranged for the good ladies of the local church/W.I to have a bake off and sold the proceeds for the appeal fund. The plan was to entice the public with the gorgeous aroma of freshly baked sausage rolls and chocolate cakes and once they were hooked, get them to sponsor me as well. I am pleased to say that the combined effort raised £210. Not bad.