Success!!!!

We are pleased to confirm that the 2 Saints Ride was successfully completed on Saturday 2nd May.  After some very tough days cycling we arrived at lunchtime at St Davids.  It was great to be reunited with our families again.

The ride was brilliant.  The first two days the weather was excellent.  We had no major problems mechanically although the weather on the Thursday and Friday was as bad as we could have expected, with heavy rain, wind and mist in the Brecon Beacons and along the South Wales coast.  Physically, we were mainly fine - Stephen suffered a bit from being in the saddle and Michael managed to 'tweak' his right knee on day 2.  Though tired at the end of each day, our fitness was pretty good. 

The route was beautiful, cycling is such a good way to see the UK.  On most of the route we rarely saw any vehicles because we stuck predominantly to B roads (good planning Stephen!). 

Once again, we are so grateful for the generous support we have received and are thrilled to have raised over £3,600 so far.  Morgan Stanley also have an employee matching scheme so that should add another £2,000 on top taking using towards the £6k mark.   

We managed to take a few photographs of the ride so please feel free to review by clicking here.

Thanks again.

Michael and Stephen

Welcome

The '2 Saints Ride' is the brainchild of Stephen Usher.  During the late summer of 2008, Stephen was at home, having a glass of wine and enjoying an episode of the 'The Long Way Down'.  Thinking it was a great idea, he emailed his friend Michael Keaveny and suggested they do a bicycle ride to raise money for a good cause.  The suggestion was to cycle from St. Albans (where Michael lives), to St. David's in South Wales (where Stephen doesn't live, but Cardiff isn't that far away!).  So, here we are, '2 Saints, 2 Riders and 300 miles' to ride.  The ride will take place in late April 2009.  You can find out more about the ride itself by clicking on the ride tab above.  The cause which has been chosen for the money raised, is the National Blind Children's Society (NBCS).  The reason we have chosen the NBCS is because of the great work they do in supporting children (and their families) who are severely visually impaired.  This is a cause Michael and his wife Miriam are very aware of, as they have a two year old child who is blind. 

Aoife


 

Aoife (pronounced ee + fa) is a traditional Irish girls name and means 'beautiful, radiant, joyful'. Aoife was born in November 2006, younger sister to Sadie (age 5), daughter to Michael and Miriam.  The meaning of her name fits quite beautifully with her character, although you could easily add 'willful' to the description too.  An amazing little girl, we realised in the first few weeks of her life that her eyes were not working as they should.  She was diagnosed in late February 2007 with condition called Leber's Congenital Amaurosis which confirmed our fears; our world had changed - Aoife had a severe visual impairment and would be registered blind.  A lot of happened since then and Aoife's medical problems are much more complicated than the visual impairment.  She had to have a cardiac pacemaker fitted at 1 due to heart block, and has poor mobility due to muscle weakness.  Despite these issues, she is a sprited, smart little girl with a fondness for the Teletubbies (as do most children of her age) and in particular Tinkey Winkey. 

Thanks

Michael and Stephen would like to say thank you to everyone who is supporting this ride, and in particular Sinead and the boys, and Miriam and the girls, for putting up with frequent and long absences while we are out on our training runs!