Ian Gregory, a 47 year old Islander, will next week be taking on the final and most gruelling ride of his Three Ton Challenge, the Plymouth Gran Fondo.
He’ll be cycling 104 miles, enduring 20,000 feet of climbing over countless hills, twisting and turning over moors, through villages and open countryside.
Circumstances less than ordinary
This kind of challenge is pretty amazing in ordinary circumstances, but Ian’s are not ordinary.
Twenty years ago he was diagnosed Fibromyalgia, a chronic pain disorder, eight damaged discs in his spine, Arthritis and Tempro-mandibular dysfunction disorder.
Despite this he’s cycled over 3,000 miles for Prostate Cancer UK, a charity close to his heart.
Ian says,
“The Plymouth Gran Fondo is going to be the hardest ride to date and the one that will hurt me the most.
“Just as well it’s for such a great cause, Prostate Cancer UK.”
If you’d like to support Ian’s fundraising efforts you can via his Just Giving Page.
Impressive statistics
Some stats of Ian’s performance so far this year include:
- Mile covered to date = 3,040 miles
- Miles pedaled for Prostate Cancer UK fundraising 1st Aug-6th Sept = 1,820 miles
- Money raised online via JustGiving to date = £3,029.82 + gift aid of £330.67
- Money raised at events in cash donations = £1,612.16
- Most event miles pedaled = 600 miles over four days 42nd Havenstreet steam show
- Longest pedal = 200 miles day one of the V-Dub Island Festival (550 or the three days)
- Longest Ride = 119 miles First Stage of the Tour De France 24th June 2016
If you’d like to support Ian’s fundraising efforts you can via his Just Giving Page.
Ian explains below the background to his challenge and how the money has been raised so far.
Who is Ian why is he taken on the challenge?
My name is Ian Gregory, a 47 year old business owner in general building/property services. 20 years ago I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, a chronic pain disorder, along with sciatica due to eight damaged discs in my spine.
Over the past five yrs my health had deteriorated further suffering with Arthritis and impingement of the AC joint in my right shoulder and Tempro-mandibular dysfunction disorder, (jaw muscle spasm and jaw dislocates).
I have been registered disabled since 1998, but in 2002 we decided it was time to get on with our lives and dominate the illness rather than the illness dominating me, and so we started our own business.
A tribute to Don
A family member, Don Exell, was diagnosed with Prostate Cancer back in 2006 however this was all too late. With sheer determination and excellent medical care Don would survive a further four years until he lost his battle on the 11th January 2010.
Don was an enthusiastic person who enjoyed life with his family. He played golf, tennis and bridge and had a wonderful career with British Aerospace, which included some 20 years working on Concorde.
He was born on the 23rd January 1937 in Thornbury and lived subsequently in Tetbury, Chester, France and finally in the Isle of Wight with his wife Sally. He had two sons, Alan and Gary and two grandsons William and James who were his pride and joy.
Inspired by the Olympics
After being inspired by the 2012 summer of success for both Team Sky at the Tour De France and Team GB at the subsequent London Olympics, I decided that I had to try to get fitter and return to the road cycling I loved as a young teenager.
So a new approach to pain management started with the pain clinic at St Mary’s. It was here that a consultant pointed out that I would never be able to ride a road bike with my problems, well that was just like a red rag to a bull and my determination increased four fold.
Finally, in 2015, I bought my first real road bike, only something cheap to see if the consultant was right, fortunately he wasn’t and slowly, but surely training began.
Cycling for Prostate Cancer UK
It was that October when I spotted that Prostate Cancer UK were going to run the inaugural Grand Depart Classic in 2016. A chance not only to ride a stage of the Tour de France but to also raise money for such a great cause that had affected the family in such a horrible way.
After a number of phone calls to the organisers and PCUK to ensure they were happy that I could take part (as I’m on some very heavy daily medications including Morphine and Pethidine), I signed up and paid my registration fee. This is where the ball started rolling for the ‘Three Ton Challenge’.
Two weeks before I was due to depart for the event I won a competition by Evans Cycles for a place in the Prudential Ride London-Surrey 100 on the 31st July.
I never win anything and was over the moon when I was notified, until it hit home just how many huge rides I had now got myself into. Calculating I had enough time between each ride to recover and train I decided to add these extra two rides to my fundraising efforts and create the ‘Three Ton Challenge’ in aid of Prostate Cancer UK.
Three 100 mile plus rides for someone who is not only disabled, but who has only been back on a bike for just over a year!
Matching first stage of Tour De France
The Grand Depart Classic was fantastic and a really well organised and run event by Expedition Wise Ltd. They took 75 riders, including all their bikes and created the route to match the 1st Stage of the Tour De France as closely as possible, only diverting on one way streets.
The total mileage of the route was 119 miles leaving on the causeway of Mont-Saint Michele at 7.15am I finally got to the finish line at Utah Beach just before 5pm, and I wasn’t last, I think I came in around 62nd, but I just didn’t care, I finished and had earned the donations made of just over £2,000 that had me in fifth place in the race for the Yellow Jersey.
Support of supermarkets and their customers
This money had mostly been raised via my Justgiving page, but also at three fundraising days, two at Tesco Express in Wootton and one at Morrisons in Lake, where I would set the bike up on a turbo trainer and pedal the 117 miles of the Grand Depart Classic.
I can’t thank these stores and their patrons enough as their donations boosted the fundraising by over £782.
To date that event has raised over £80,000 for Prostate Cancer UK.
The London-Surrey 100
The Prudential Ride London-Surrey 100 however was a different beast altogether. There would be over 27,000 riders on the route to contend with, all with varying abilities and experience on the bike.
I parked my car at Lambeth at 4am that morning and cycled to the startline at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for my loading time of 5.50am and a departure time of 7.10am.
I managed to cross the finish line at around 4.40pm on a glorious sunny day and a hard ride. Fundraising at this point had hit just over £2,125. Both Wightlink and Red Funnel have supported me with transport for these events and I look forward to their support for the final ride in September.
Other fundraising events
Since then we have been able to take part in the Chale Show on the 6th/7th August and the Rotary Family Fun Day at Northwood County Show Ground, the V-Dub Island Festival on the 19th-21st August, the 42nd Havenstreet Steam Show on the 26th-29th August.
We also attended Waitrose store in East Cowes on 3rd September and then Speedway at Smallbrook Stadium on the evening of 6th September.
Fundraising from these events brought the total to £2,899.82 and with a small status posted on Facebook last Sunday morning, we received four further donations online bringing the total up and over our goal to £3,029.82.
With the gift aid this makes a total to date of a massive £3,360.49 for Prostate Cancer UK.
Can you help?
I’m looking for any other venues where we can do a fundraising day between the 24th September to the 31st October when fundraising for this year will finish.
I’m especially looking for a venue where we can perform one last marathon pedal for Prostate Cancer of at least 300 miles in the one day to represent all three ton rides. This ideally will be on the 29th October 2016 and would be a great way to finish this year’s fundraising.
You can achieve your goals
I am so pleased I have been able to take part in these rides as it proves that no matter what your disability you can achieve your goals and help others on the way.
Don’t get me wrong, these rides, including the fundraising pedaling for Prostate Cancer, do cause me pain, it’s not easy but I am also starting to feel the benefits.
My heart is so much stronger, I can see this from the heart rate monitor I wear. My breathing seems so much easier and my leg muscles are stronger, so I’m sure this can only end up having a positive outcome on my health and should mean I can stave off the effects of Fibromyalgia for longer.
About Men United and Prostate Cancer UK
- Prostate Cancer UK has a simple ambition – to stop men dying from prostate cancer.
- Through shifting the science over the next 10 years to focus on radical improvements in diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and support, we can make prostate cancer a disease the next generation of men need not fear. Standing against injustice, Men United is Prostate Cancer UK’s movement for everyone who believes that men are worth fighting for. Already more than a quarter of a million strong, Men United will help Prostate Cancer UK raise its game – and the funds vital to beat this disease. Working together, we can stop prostate cancer in its tracks.
- Ignoring prostate cancer won’t beat it, so join the fight. Search Men United now.
Key Headline Statistics
- 10,900 men die from prostate cancer in the UK each year – that’s one man every hour.
- It’s the most common cancer in men, with over 330,000 living with the disease.
- Without urgent action, prostate cancer is set to become the most common of all cancers by 2030 which is why we must all act now.
- Prostate cancer treatment often causes devastating, long term side-effects. Incontinence and erectile dysfunction strike at the heart of what it means to be a man.
- Anyone with concerns about prostate cancer may contact Prostate Cancer UK’s Specialist Nurses in confidence on 0800 074 8383 or online via the Live Chat instant messaging service: www.prostatecanceruk.org/. The Specialist Nurse phone service is free to landlines and open from 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday with late opening until 8pm on Wednesdays.
- Visit prostatecanceruk.org now to help beat this disease.
If you’d like to support Ian’s fundraising efforts you can via his Just Giving Page.
