The Real Journey

Post trip blog part 1

2010-09-23T17:12:00.000-07:00

Well here I am at work and the Tour Duchenne is over! It’s quite surreal... no more magnesium tablets, no more lycra and no more Nana Fucking Glen. It was such a fantastic 10 days and I met some great people! There were some fantastic moments on the trip such as some of the riding along the coast near Byron Bay, "One Day Williams" being swarmed by all those kids and mums at the school near Newcastle, Puff Daddy lighting up a bunger at every conceivable opportunity and the proceeding to cough up half a lung two minutes after while swearing his arse off, Pickles with his "drop and drags", and the accomplishment after conquering some of those big fuck off hills.

One of the hardest parts of the trip was the ride from Harrington to Bulahdelah. The morning ride wasn’t too bad and as we pulled into afternoon tea our trip guides told us that we had two reasonably sized hills and that was it for the day. Dad had just joined me on the trip and we started out for what we thought would be an enjoyable end to a good day of solid riding. After about 10 kms we came to a nice gradual hill which we tackled easily enough and I was relieved that we only had one hill to go…little did I know this wasn’t the hill it was just a speed bump in comparison. We rode for another 5-10kms and as we rode we began to realise that those bastards had lied to us…standing in front of us was the mother of all hills…and she was pissed!

The hill was endless! I would keep telling myself that it would level itself out after the next corner…but it just never did. So on we climbed…up and up and up…the air started becoming thin and I just kept my legs turning as the Sherpa’s on the side of the road gave us some encouragement. After about 4kms of climbing we finally we reached the top of Mount Fukmedead and were relieved to have a nice speedy downhill run. Our spirits were high as we sped along the flats after picking up a bit of momentum…and then we saw her…if the last hill was the mother of all hills…then this hill was her morbidly obese single friend. We got off our bikes and dad looked at me…then got out his phone and called mum to come pick him up.

So then there was one.

I rehydrated and ate a handful of snakes for energy and set off to battle Mount MuthaFuka. Within a few metres the road went near vertical but those big wheels kept on turning. I can’t begin to describe the relief I felt when I reached the summit after what was probably about half an hour of straight hill climbing (going at a snails pace). I got to the peak of the hill and started cheering “Yo Adrian we did it”.

I thought it was easy sailing from there…was I wrong…the downhill decent turned out to be even scarier than the climb. One thing I have learnt is that gravity can be a cruel mistress…I was hooning down this hill peaking speeds of 70-80 km per/h and started coming towards a pretty sharp corner…I hit my brakes…NOTHING…My life started to flash before my eyes…I am about to die, I thought to myself as I attempted to go around the steep corner…as I went around the corner I hit a bunch of pot holes and I was sent into the death wobbles, I squeezed on the back brakes as hard as I could and feathered the front brakes….I was finally able to slow myself down enough to regain some control and made it to the bottom in one piece.

I will be updating this blog a bit over the next few weeks with some of the stories from the trip…however I have been warned that a lot of the things cant be broadcasted on my blog…after all what ever happens on the Tour Duchenne stays on the Tour Duchenne.

I just want to finish off by saying that riding across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and through Darling Harbour was one of the best moments of my life. It was at that moment that I thought "I am apart of something really great here". As we rode through Darling Harbour with all of those blank Asian faces staring at us I realised that despite the physical pain and mental exhaustion of the trip I really want to do it again next year…but whether I do is another question.

Update of some of the stuff that has happened so far

2010-09-17T04:24:00.001-07:00

The Tour Duchenne

Well I am sitting here in the hotel in Newcastle after eight days on the bike. My arse is like brail and it hurts to even think about sitting on a hard chair. The roads have been long and the hills have been tough but we are finally only a stones throw away from Gods country (northern beaches).

This has been such a great experience and

although my legs feel like lead and my back, shoulders and neck have all locked up it is good to know that everyone on this tour is in pain…just some are more vocal about it than others.

Despite my superhuman athletic abilities I decided that I would hang at the back of the pack with those who are less fortunate. I have been riding a lot with Monique and Rob B and we have been swearing our way from Brisbane to Sydney. One of my favourites was Rob when we were coming into Coffs Harbour…we had been told that there were going to be a few hills and then a great downhill run into Coffs Harbour…well it turned out that those “few” hills was actually a series of big bastards and it just seemed to keep coming…on one occasion as we were climbing yet another shitty hill Rob yelled out in agony “where is this fucking downhill”.

We have seen a lot of support from the community as we have been snaking our way down the coast. There have been so many great people who have been coming up to us and saying “oh we have seen you on TV” and have been giving donations along the way. Not everyone has been as great as these people however… On the run into Coffs Harbour we were escorted by a big man on a motorcycle… he was great and helped us through some of the difficult roundabouts by stopping and letting us go through. This seemed to have pissed a few people in Coffs Harbour who apparently really wanted to get home fast so they could get drunk and get into a fight…

After that day the Police and RTA realised that we were travelling down the coast and decided to shut us down. So at morning tea on the fifth day of the tour we got word that the police and the RTA would shoot us on the spot if we kept going as we didn’t have the required permit…(apparently the permit was submitted but the RTA never processed it). So we waited…and waited…and waited…and we were in the shittest rest stop of the tour…it was a baron carpark on the side of the freeway. After about two hours of waiting we finally received word that we were allowed to ride…but we were not allowed to ride on the highway north of Port Maquairie. So the RTA sent us on a lovely ride to Bellingen so that we could ride up a big fucker of a hill to avoid the highway. So we got the Bellingen and we started our climb… this hill just seemed to have no end we just kept going up and up with big-ass trucks screaming past us as we went. We finally reached the peak of this monster of a hill only to find out that the RTA were having a bit of a laugh with us and had sent us up a dead end…the bridge that we were meant to cross was out… luckily I am a slow bastard and wasn’t one of the eager people who went down the other side of the hill. So anyways we had a lovely ride down the hill we had just come up and went and got coffee. We decided that enough was enough and we were taxied to our hotel for the night.

Although it was a day of chaos and everything just seemed to go wrong it was a great day and it was a day of much needed rest for most of us. Everyone just laughed it off and were quietly thankful that they got to have a half day off.

Anyways that’s all for tonight. I will try and do another blog tomorrow night although I can’t guarantee that I will be sober as I write it.

The first three days...

2010-09-16T05:20:00.001-07:00

I must apologise for the delay in the updates. It has been quite hard trying to find time (and a wifi connection) to do a decent update. Every afternoon when we have ridden in the last thing I wanted to do is sit down and write about it.

Day one Brisbane to Surfers Paradise

Day one of the Tour Duchenne started at the Brisbane Botanical Gardens. After some quick photos and speeches we made our way through the outskits of Brisbane taking many wrong turns. The weather was slightly against us and we all ended up with a layer of dirt from riding through the wet constuction zones.

We were greeted at Mantra Surfers Paradise by a small crowd of people including my Thommo’s wife (and my sister) Sharyn and their four beautiful children.

Dinner that night was on a cruise along the harbour and we all had a great time chatting and taking in the sights of Surfer’s. Everyone was positive after the first day of riding except for Mike Goldman who looked like her was about to collapse from exhaustion. Thommo got up to give his speech as we all finished dinner and showed us all the bight yellow Craig Lesure (Probably spelt it wrong but who cares) memorial jersey for the “BIGGEST IDIOT” on tour (Remembering this blog is PG13). The winner of the jersey was Steve Mater (Spanner) for failing to show up for dinner.

Day two Surfers Paradise to Byron Bay

A nice ride along the coast as we headed down towards Byron Bay. We were all thankful when we crossed the border into NSW as were finally rid of that XXXX stuff. Towards the start of the ride Thommo noticed that one of his headphones had fallen out and decided to stop in the middle of the group and the rest of us easily went around him. Except for Fleur who came around the corner and smacked right in the back of Thommo’s bike. Everyone was fine except, Fleur had a few cuts and scratches and Thommo’s headphones got stuffed.

We finally pulled into Byron Bay in the early afternoon and again headed straight down to the beach so the salt water could heal our sore limbs.

Yellow Jersey went to Rob Belgiovane for his great positive attitude and his designer swimwear.

Day Three Byron Bay to Yamba

We started out with a great ride along the coast through to Ballina taking in the scenery and serenity along the way. We left Ballina and made our way to the Highway. The shoulder of the road was only a metre wide and truck, cars and buses were flying by us at 100kms per hour. After a few kilometres of highway Rosie got the death wobbles and went crashing to the ground and attempted to cushion her with her face. David Jack was riding right behind her at the time and he was unable to stop himself from taking a fall hurting his arm and taking a bit of skin off his nose.

After Rosie’s accident everyone was pretty spooked and we all stopped taking risks and rode quietly to the next rest stop.

The rest of the day went without much drama as we headed towards Iluka to catch the 4pm ferry. Most of the group got there with plenty of time to spare with several people grabbing a case of beer and relaxing. Unfortunately I was not one of those people. I was slowly (and I emphasise SLOWLY) making my way towards Iluka. It got to the point where I was racing the clock in order to make the last ferry of the day as I sure as hell wasn’t going to ride any extra kms that I didn’t need to.

I pulled up in Iluka at 3:59 just as the ferry was pulling into the warf. Everyone cheered as I pulled up and I was absolutely buggered but thankfully a beer was soon at hand.

The ferry ride from Iluka to Yamba was great and everyone had a good relaxing journey. As we pulled up in Yamba we were greeted by a bunch of Fleur’s family all holding signs with slogans such as “Go Fleur”. We let her leave the ferry first and all applauded her. Thommo thanked Fleur’s family but did mention that they overdid the signs…and underdid the sausage sandwiches.

Yellow jersey went to PB (Our guide from Island Cycle Tours) who decided to give us a briefing and holding up our dinner. Unfortunately tour staff could not accept the prestigious honour so Glen Condie stepped up and wore it in honour of PB.

Last week of freedom

2010-09-07T03:18:00.000-07:00

The countdown is almost over…only a few days left until the official start of the Tour Duchenne. My bags are packed, my bike is primed and I am counting down the hours till I put my arse on that seat and start pedalling…

We have had a busy few weeks in the lead up to the ride with some great events keeping us busy. The Pub2pub “fun run” was one such event and let me tell you, there is nothing fun about running. There were just under 4,000 people participating in the Pub2pub and they came in all shapes and sizes. We all gathered on the start line and waited for the much loved Bronwyn Bishop to figure out how to press the start buzzer.

BUZZ (Someone did it for her)

We were off!

With God like speed I powered through the crowd pushing aside lesser mortals in my pursuit for greatness. Onwards I went with other elite athletes my feet travelling so fast that they appeared to be a blur AND THEN…I got a stitch…I was reduced to a combination of walking and running to finish the race in a reasonable time. What kept me going throughout the whole event was the idea of a cold beer waiting for me at the finish line and let me tell you…a beer never tasted so good.
I just want to take the time to mention the great people who turned up to support the Tour Duchenne at the Pub2pub. We ended up with 20 people in our team but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to get a prize. But a huge thanks to those who rocked up and gave it a go. Maybe next year we can get a few more people off their arses!

On the 1st of September we had our Official Tour Duchenne Launch party at the Cargo Bar in the City. It turned out to be a great night with around 100 people turning up and taking advantage of the beer, wine and canapés. There were many great items on offer on the night including a guitar signed by the current members of ACDC. This was an item that I was actually interested in and prepared myself for a bidding war. The auctioneer started the auction and before I could make my first bid my brother in-law Julian offered five grand for it...immediately I was out of the running. I only had $20 in my wallet.
After the auctions were finished and all the rich bastards had paid for their items we were treated to a very special event. Mike Goldman announced the special guest for the night and it was none other than the mighty ANGRY ANDERSON. Angry came to the stage and the first thing I noticed was that he was about the size of a Oompa Loompa but covered in tattoos. He might have been a small man...but that guy has such a massive voice and we all sang along to Highway to Hell.

My training for the last few weeks has been focused on riding with the attempt to toughen myself up for the long journey ahead. So because of my busy schedule I set up the bike on its stand in front of the television, put on my headphones and rode my little heart out. The great thing about riding in the comfort of your own home is that if you suddenly need a toilet break you can use the bathroom instead of a bush, if you need a boost of energy you can cook up some fried chicken, and if you’re thirsty you can down a six pack of beer! (After all I do need to do some carb loading!)

There are only a couple of days left so I probably will be very busy in between getting some rest and prepping myself.

I still plan on writing about the ride so please look back soon. I promise there will be some awesome stuff.

Almost time...

Less than a month to go...

2010-08-17T18:24:00.001-07:00

Well there is only a few weeks left before the ride begins in Brisbane...The flight is booked and we have started to get all the cycling stuff I will need for the ride together...

I am starting to realise that this is actually real...That for one and a half weeks my home will be the seat of a bike (and the motels along the way)...

I AM SHITTING MYSELF!!!!

I visited www.whereis.com.au to see the basic route we will be taking...The result was a big pink snake that looked like it was devouring half of the east coast of Australia. At least I won't be doing it on my own...there will be 24 other people with me along the way giving each other support and laughing when we make mistakes (Just as long as its not me making the mistakes).

I haven't actually been on the bike as much as I probably should and I have a feeling that I will be grabbing hold of the support car to help me up the hills when we actually hit the road. So I think these last few weeks will be my attempt to make up for the last few months. However in saying that I don't want you to think I was sitting at home on my arse the whole time eating chips. I have been working my arse off (literally it is disappearing as we speak) with running, swimming, walking, gym and touch football... I guess my test of endurance will be this Sunday at the Pub2pub where I will attempt to “run” 13 kilometres from Dee Why to Newport.

The other night I read an article about cycling long distances and it recommended doing a lot of leg exercises such as squats and step ups. This hadn’t even occurred to me, I have been so focused on building up my arms and neck that I never even thought about my legs. Good thing I read that article! So I have been doing these exercises at every moment I can muster, when I get out of bed, in the office, standing in line at the ATM (which I might add makes people standing in the line suddenly realise that they no longer need to visit the ATM) and I can already start to notice a difference I just hope its not too late.

The fundraising has proven to be difficult…however it is not from a lack of trying. I have thrown myself at companies in the hope of gaining a corporate sponsor but alas it seems the Starlight Foundation must have supermodels recruiting the companies for them because I don’t even get looked at. So the majority of the money raised has been through determination and hard work. My friends, family and colleagues have been very generous but I can only ask so much out of them. I was lucky enough to receive $2000 from Dick Smith Foods and a further $500 from Blackmores which was very generous and unexpected. The one thing I have learnt from this experience is that I need some rich friends…

My plan for this blog from now on will be a week by week entry up until the 10th of September…from then on I will try and update my blog each day of the ride. I just hope I can write and ride at the same time!

See you on the road!

Awesome Josh.

A day with Jim

2010-05-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

Like every professional athlete I need to keep my body in super human shape. So in my pursuit for greatness I decided to check out this new thing called a Jim (I am guessing the founder of this innovative place was called Jim as the name eludes me). Basically a Jim is a place where women meet up for a chat and men go to grunt and lift things over their head again and again.

My centre of choice is Fresh Start Fitness Centre. These guys run a small gym (apparently it's Italian for Jim) and were kind enough to offer me a free 3 month membership. It is a great little gym with only a small percentage of douches being members (unlike Fitness First).

I have been pumping iron sporadically over the last few months trying to improve a masterpiece, but have seriously started into my proper training these last few weeks. It has been hard to get myself motivated to go. The last thing I want to do after a days work is lift a heap of weights and make myself exhausted and sore. But it seems to be paying off, I have started growing muscles in places where I didn't think I had muscles and find myself feeling the firmness of my arms every few minutes.

Now I considered myself fairly strong but it is quite confronting when you see women with larger arms and bigger necks (and Adams apples) than most guys. It got even weirder when I walked into the mens bathroom and saw one of these “ladies” peeing standing up… It all started to make sense when I realised she played ladies Rugby for Manly.

The ride in September is getting closer so these last few months I will be pushing myself to the limit to get myself ready for the ride. There are many hills ahead of me and many more hours of hell and torture but I will get there.

So I guess that’s all for this week. Watch this space in the next few weeks as I will be attempting a spin class...with hilarious results I assume.

Wish me luck.

Oh and by the way...you can follow my blogs so that you get updates when ever I post something new...

Bunnings BBQ let down....

2010-05-03T17:31:00.001-07:00

Well it has been a while between blogs, and I apologise to my two readers for keeping you waiting.

Since I last wrote on here we held our first and most likely last BBQ at Narrabeen Bunnings.

We started the day with such high hopes for the day and had convinced ourselves that we were going to draw a massive crowd and sell all our sausages. The day started out slow and we didn’t sell a single sausage until a very hung over employee of Bunnings snuck out of work to grab some hang over food from us. This guy became our favourite customer coming back again and again of the course of the day.

Slowly we started selling sausage sandwiches and we were chugging along comfortably waiting for the big rush. Alison did her best to guilt people into buying sausages with the slogan “eat a sausage and go to heaven”, although I don't think this sat very well with some people...especially the nuns.... Unfortunately this ‘big rush’ never came and our dreams shattered as we realised that no one actually goes to Bunning in Narrabeen.

It was a long and hot day for us and despite Alison’s superhuman customer service ability we only managed to make $250 profit.

A special thank you to everyone who helped out and for those of you who came and bought a sausage off us.

We will be organising another sausage sizzle to get rid of the remaining sausages we bought but we will know what to expect the second time around.

So far we have raised over $10,000 which is amazing but we still have a fair way to go to reach $25,000. We are currently looking for major sponsors who can donate $10,000 or more.

Well that is enough for me at the moment, although I do promise that you will soon hear more from me and my adventures to get fit, raise money and rescue the princess.

Now get on your bike!

Tour Duchenne Trivia Madness - HUGE SUCCESS

2010-04-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

On the 7th of April we held the Tour Duchenne Trivia Madness fundraising night at Pittwater RSL.

My wife, Alison, and I had been planning this event for the last few months and our blood, sweat and tears went into ensuring the success of the night.

We spent countless hours trying to pinpoint the perfect mix of questions to make sure that everyone would at least be able to answer one question (sadly this was not the case for some ‘special’ individuals). To my dismay I was only allowed to put in ONE Star Wars related question (so I made it a pretty hard one).

Ali had been rushing around all morning preparing and finalising everything. She had packed the car with all the prizes. Put her handy assistant Mariam (5) in the passenger seat and headed to pick me up. When she was only a minute away from arriving Mariam kindly asked Alison "But where is he going to sit?" ...So I began walking.

We got everything set up and people started arriving. I realised that in a matter of minutes I would have to get up and speak in front of everyone…Finally the time came and I went up, grabbed the microphone and gave the greatest speech in the history of man. People started cheering, grown men were crying, I was showered in rose petals and Aslan returned to Narnia… Although I may be slightly embellishing…

We had a wonderful host for the night named Olivia who got everyone participating and buying raffle tickets. The questions went down well apart for the question “What animal is responsible for the most deaths worldwide each year?” with the answer being a mosquito. Many people after hearing the answer argued that a mosquito was not an animal…to those people I say “Wikipedia it”.

It was a close game but in the end there could only be one winner and that was the “Idgits” who got 65 out of a possible 85 points.

The funniest part of the night would have to be some of the answers that people gave to questions they didn’t know. “Chuck Norris” seemed to feature prominently as an answer and one team put Vodka as the answer to “What is the national currency of Russia?”

The trivia night ended up being a huge success for us. Everyone seemed to have a great time and most people participated in the games. There were so many prizes to be won and the lucky winners of the raffles didn’t go home disappointed.

We ended up raising over $5500 which is pretty good for one night (and months of planning).

A huge thank you to everyone who helped out on the night and especially to all the awesome local businesses who donated the prizes for the raffle.

We have almost reached $10,000 which is awesome considering that we still have about 5 months to go until the ride.

Well I better get back on my bike…

Introducing my new mate Ryan

2010-04-13T16:38:00.000-07:00

I would like to introduce you all to my new mate Ryan.

He is three years old and was recently diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Ryan’s parents, Alana and Aaron, were informed of Ryan’s condition in February this year. Ryan is only 3 years old. To say it is an emotional time for them right now wouldn’t come close to describing how they feel. Ryan’s family are lost for words so much so that putting pen to paper is a traumatic experience.

In March this year Alana and Aaron were sent a sign in the form of a Tour Duchenne Rider. Josh’s rider profile was sent to them by a mutual friend. Little did they know they were distantly related and lived only 2 streets away from each other. This was the first time Ryan’s parents saw light since the diagnosis and have since teamed up with Josh to raise money for this needy cause.

Ryan, like Josh, has a long road ahead of him. His road however is full of hospital visits, medications and physiotherapy. Not to mention the pain, frustration and tears of his loved ones.

There is a lot of promising research being carried out in our country by doctors and scientists. Ryan’s parents, however, need more than promises. They need a cure!

April 2010

2010-04-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

April 2010

It has been a few months since that first awful ride and thankfully it has become easier. My body is starting to take the shape of a Spartan Warrior with my muscles becoming taut under the protective padding of flab. I find myself spending more and more time in front of the mirror, flexing and posing and just generally admiring myself…

We have moved recently from Brookvale to Collaroy (Which may explain why the riding has become easier) and I am attempting to ride to and from work everyday. I still get the odd phone call from my elderly friend who shouts words of encouragement over the phone at me (I think she is partially deaf). The hill at Mona Vale is getting easier and I have not had a repeat of that first ride. I did have an incident on the dreaded hill of death when my chain came off halfway up the hill as I changed down gears and I suddenly found myself pedalling and not getting anywhere. I tried to put my foot down to stop from falling over but had forgotten that I had clip in bike shoes. I heard someone yell out nearby “TIMBER” as I frantically tried to pull my foot off the pedal as I slowly started to fall. Finally at the last moment my brain kicked in and I twisted my foot and stopped myself from an extremely embarrassing moment. Clip in boots are great for cycling, you just need to make sure your brain is working when you have them on…

I recently had a carbon framed Malvern Star bike donated to my by Pacific Brands. This bike couldn’t have come sooner as my Frankenstein road bike I had been riding felt like it was about to fall apart from all the power my legs were generating. The bike is awesome and the money we saved not having to buy a good quality bike will go straight to raising more money…

On a side note I have noticed, since donning the lycra pants and becoming a cyclist, that a lot of people who drive cars do not think favourably of cyclists. Whether it is the fact that in heavy traffic we pass them easily, or whether it is a distrust of any vehicle with two wheels, or the simple jealousy that our arses hurt because of the bike seat…and not from something else. Either way they seem to share a common dislike for me and my fellow comrades and are very open with their opinions. One such occasion happened recently when I was travelling through Narrabeen and a driver of a small truck opened his door right in front of me almost cleanly wiping me out. Instead of apologising for almost killing me, he began shaking his fist at me and yelling “You bloody menace” as I casually rode on and in response I just politely gave him the one finger salute.

2010-03-30T16:15:00.000-07:00

I am just going to use this blog to keep track of my journey from now until the bike ride. Hopefully sharing my pain and woes and some of the funny things I encounter along the way.

For my first entry I thought I would write about my first cycle to work.

Here goes….This happened in about January.

I decided that I would start riding to and from work (Brookvale to Mona Vale). So I set out on my first ride on my mountain bike. I had not really been on a bike since I was about 16 but I figure that you never forget how to ride a bike.... While I didn't forget how to ride a bike, I had forgotten that I had not done any serious exercise in quite a while and was pretty unfit.

The ride through Brookvale and Dee Why was relatively easy with only a little bit of danger to my life from crazy Dee Why drivers. The hill at Long Reef came into view and I decided I would go ‘hell for leather’. I imagined myself as Lance Armstrong powering my way up a huge hill with ease. I imagined people in their cars beside me thinking “geez that guy is fast”. Then reality sunk in as I looked to my left and saw a little old lady with a walking frame keeping up with me, and I swear she was going slow just so she wouldn’t hurt my feelings. Finally after what seemed like an hour of hill climbing and with several encouraging cheers from my new elderly friend I finally reached the summit and was blessed with a downhill ride for the next few minutes. One of the only advantages of being a big guy on a bike (besides being able to get away with wearing lycra) is that once I get some momentum I can go for miles.

My final challenge of the ride was the hill at Mona Vale on Pittwater Road. This hill is shorter than the one at Long Reef but a lot steeper. I put my head down and pedalled as hard as I could so that the torture would only be short. At the top of the hill I needed to stop to catch my breath, I was panting like a dog and the world seemed to be spinning. I gulped down some water in the hope that water would cure me…it made it worst. Next thing I know I am revisiting my breakfast from earlier and hoping that the cars screaming past don’t know me. Once that was over and done with, I felt a million times better and mounted the bike again for the downhill run. By the time I had gotten to work I felt like I could do a marathon, but within ten minute of sitting down at my desk, my legs had become jelly and would not be any use to me for the rest of the day.

Luckily for me each time I ride it gets easier and easier...

My nephew James - The real hero

2010-01-17T15:19:00.001-08:00

My name is Joshua Real. I am 23 years old and blessed with a beautiful healthy baby boy named Hayden. It is easy as a parent blessed with a healthy child to simply count your blessings and make the most of your wonderful family. It is easy to forget the children who are not healthy and who will never get the chance to share the same experiences you have with your own son.

In 2006 my nephew James Thompson was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. When I first heard of the diagnosis I knew nothing about the disease. It is not an illness widely publicised in the media. There is no “daffodil day” or “movember” spreading awareness. Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy affects 1 in 3500 boys, most of whom will be in a wheelchair by the time they are 12 and are lucky to live to their 21st birthday. My heart was almost ripped apart when I read about the seriousness of this disease. It’s hard to grasp the reality that this rosy cheeked little boy who always had a big smile on his face could be burdened with such a fate. He will never know what it is like to score a try and have all his team mates cheer for him, he will never be able to hoon down the slopes of Thredbo, and he will never be able to play guitar like his uncle. My nephew is now 5 years old and comments about his legs hurting daily, stating that he hates having muscular dystrophy, while still trying to keep up with all the other boys his age and finding joy playing with his younger siblings who can do things that he cannot. Luckily for James, he has incredibly strong parents who will never stop fighting until a cure for Duchenne is found.

In 2007 James’ dad Julian cycled across Cambodia with a group of cyclists and raised $200,000 himself through donations from friends, family and colleagues. It was whilst training for this challenge that he came up with the idea for The Tour Duchenne. In March 2009, twenty-five incredible people cycled from Sydney to Melbourne and in the process raised just under $800,000 to go towards Duchenne research. In September 2010 there will be three rides as part of The Tour Duchenne. Julian and Sharyn’s goal, like many other parents in the same position, is to increase the public awareness of this horrific disease. With enough support and funding from the community their dream is to find a cure.

Late last year a good friend of mine died from cystic fibrosis at the age of 23. He had lived a great life and had experienced more in his 23 years than most people had in their lifetime, but he suffered through it all. Seeing my friend being carted away in the hearse really hit home and I decided then and there that I needed to step up personally for my nephew James and help raise money for Muscular Dystrophy.

I can’t remember the last time I rode a bike, I don’t think the rule “You never forget” applies to me. I am currently nowhere near the level of fitness required to make the ride from Brisbane to Sydney and I am sure my legs will give out within an hour if I tried to do it today. My goal is to get fit, lose the weight, and push through the pain because this small feat is nothing compared to what James has to suffer every day.

I am going to do everything in my capacity to raise this $25,000 before the ride in September with personal and business donations, sponsorship and fundraisers. But every single dollar counts and I need your support to help find a cure. Please give as generously as you can but more importantly spread awareness and make sure this disease does not go unnoticed.

Kindest regards,
Joshua Real

Email Josh - Joshuareal@live.com.au
Sponsor Josh - http://www.everydayhero.com.au/joshua_real