This event took some classic climbs such as Passo des Stelvio, Furkapass, Julierpass, and Passo Gavia; From Switzerland to Northern Italy. Here's some numbers to show distances and ascents of each day:
Here's Dominic climbing up from Stelvio to Bormio on the 5th day of the event.
Several of those days qualifies as tough stages of the Tour de France as seen here on their first day to with single ascents of 25 kilometers long with more than 1,800 meters of climbing. The biggest single day is over 170 km long with 3,500 meters of climbing.
Dominic's impression of the event, "It was without doubt the hardest ride I've ever done - especially since I've been training for sprints and not climbing. It's hard to overstate the beauty of the landscape and the difficulty of the climbs... Or the sense of achievement and relief when you reach the top of something as epic as Stelvio Pass. Or the pure thrill of a 25km twisty descent, reaching speeds of 88kph. Most of all I was grateful to share the experience with such fine and generous people. Who were not only riding and supporting each other but actively contributing funds to the charity during the ride. Having our dear friend Frank Hopps (who suffers from Kennedy's disease) along for parts of the ride was an added bonus -- his strength of spirit belied his weakening body. As he so aptly put it, we were working to help his children, and his children's children -- it's already too late for him."
Their goal to raise funds of GBP 100,000 is still going strong. Dominic met the minimum $1,000 donation required but Vinh Tran still needs a lot of your assistance. To help Vinh reach his goal, please visit Vinh's fundraising link at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/vinhtran. Dominic and I are sure that any of your help will make him very thankful. I'm pretty sure that this goes the same for Vinh. Here's is taking much needed breather on the first day on the way to Crans Montana.
And to close, here's Frank’s story to make sense of why Dom and Vinh committed themselves to travel across the globe on their own expense and raised funds for Kennedy's Disease - UK (KD-UK)…
I suppose looking back on things, the first symptoms I really had of Kennedy's Disease was in my late twenties. Not that I knew it then, of course, but the hand tremors and cramps were all down to the disease. I first heard about KD from my brother Colin who also suffers. It was 2005 and he’d begun to display identifiable symptoms. Up until then, Kennedy was simply the 35th President to me...how little did I realise then how much it would affect my circumstances, both personally and professionally, in only 11 years.
After the hand tremors and cramps, I started noticing that, when I was playing 5-a-side football, the fat blokes were running faster than me. Now I’m no Usain Bolt but I could certainly cut a dash when required so this revelation came as something of a watershed. Gradually it got worse and people who I could dance circles round suddenly seemed very talented. I turned my attention to long distance events where I still had an edge over the pie eaters. From Climbing Mont Blanc in 2000 to taking part in the Great North Run in 2005, I had definitely noticed my muscles wouldn't respond. Light was shed in 2005 when my brother told me of the family bogey man – KD. I was determined to keep active and beat the disease but when I cycled John O’Groats to Lands End in 2011 (in a relay with my wife and in-laws), I was struggling to cycle up even modest hills and I knew this would be my last major event.
I decided to confirm my suspected diagnosis in 2012 when I went to the Hospital for Neuroscience and Neurology in London, where the consultant took one look at me and said with a smile “you’ve got Kennedy's Disease”. To add insult to injury, he then fleeced me £500 for a blood test to confirm the seemingly obvious!
All this while, I had wanted to keep this from my friends and work colleagues. I was employed as a long haul Airline Captain and at this point, I could still do all I needed without issue. I was also embarrassed at having this disease and wanted to tough it out thinking that, if I pushed myself or ran harder, I could beat this disease. In reality I was making things worse as the more you push the muscles, the weaker they became.
A turning point in my relationship with the disease came in 2013 when Andy Symington approached my wife, Kate, and asked if they could do a sponsored challenge to raise money for KD. Now, the rest of this story is a novel in itself but, suffice to say, it made me face the disease and both Kate and I would not hold back or make excuses for my ever increasing falls, slow walking and slurring of speech. We finally began to tell people including my work and the Civil Aviation Authority. It was quite a relief not to have to make up excuses or for Kate to have to tell people not to worry as I was just pissed!
As my condition continued to deteriorate, matters came to a head professionally in 2015 when my muscle weakness was becoming so acute, that I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without difficulty. I started using a walking stick and giving long lectures or presentations at work became a challenge due to muscles in my face weakening. I decided to go to the company doctor, lay the honest truth of my mobility before him and let him tell me if he thought I should continue flying. I had of course expected him to say all would be fine for another year or so but it took him about ½ a second to tell me to hang up my flying boots – bugger.
He was, of course, spot on. Passengers don't like to see their Captain struggling with stairs and they may well wonder with what else I struggled with…..if only they knew! I continued to work in the Head Office looking after pilot training but, even then, the fatigue that I encountered from a normal day began to take its toll. I decided that enough was enough and that I’d have to give up the job that I’d been doing since I was 18 years old. That was April 2016.
On the plus side, I get to spend more time with the kids. On the down side, I have to spend more time with the kids. I struggle with most aspects of daily life from getting out of bed to climbing stairs and doing all the normal stuff you’d never normally give a second though to. I infrequently have choking fits as my throat muscles go into involuntary spasm which scares the bejesus out of all of us as I can't breathe. I approached my brother about this and he said “ah yes, I've had that, it's not life threatening…just wait till one of 2 things happen. The muscles in your throat will relax and you can breathe or you pass out from lack of oxygen and they relax then”. “Thanks”, I said, with not a touch of sarcasm.
From here, I’m trying to pack as many experiences as I can into the next few years, while I can still walk… a few years down the line may be a different story but either way, I’m grateful for not only the experiences I’ve had up till now but also the massive support and help from friends and family who are as determined as I am to rid the world of this pineapple up the arse of humanity.
Here's the whole crew who participated in this KD-UK event with Vinh and Dominic seated at the front.
Please don't forget to donate for Vinh Tran's help to the cause. He will surely appreciate all your help.
Lastly, congratulations to Dominic and Vinh for the great job they did.
Photos courtesy of Vinh Tran and KD-UK.
Thank you.
Arden Arindaeng
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