AIM: To raise as much money for The Prostate Cancer Charity as possible.
HOW: Participating in the 1st week of the Gran Corsa d'Italia ride starting 29th May, riding the first 6 stages of the Giro in a row.
WHO: Neil Manning, Condor Production Director.
Last year my father was rushed to hospital after collapsing from a bad reaction to medication. Whilst at the hospital he was thoroughly checked over and prostate cancer was detected. He was lucky as it was spotted whilst still treatable, but only just. We have a bit of history with the ‘C' word in our family with 4 aunts/uncles passing away with various forms of the disease in the past decade. Now for my dad to have cancer we feared we knew what came next.
Over the next few weeks we learned a lot about the Prostate and the cancer that can affect it. It is surprising how common it is. Over 10,000 men die from prostate cancer in the UK every year and approximately 25% of all cancers diagnosed are for prostate cancer.
When I heard the guys from Sharp were going to follow the route of the 2011 Giro d'Italia to raise money for The Prostate Cancer Charity I had to get involved.
We usually have a hectic summer at Condor so I opted to join the Gran Corsa during the first week. This will be the first 6 stages starting in Turin and will be covering approximately 1,100km.
Training started back in March after a winter of sporadic riding due to the cold weather and foreign trips. Prototypes are always a great incentive to get back out on the bike so I have been working my way through a succession of ideas.
A bit of thought will have to go into the equipment needed for the ride. I am currently favouring steel over carbon, with long days in the saddle comfort is going to be an important factor and I will update with my final choices closer to the ride.
In the meantime please follow the link to my sponsorship page and help me surpass the £500 target that has been set.
Find out more about the Gran Corsa and how you can win a special edition Condor Acciaio here.