22 – 31 JULY 2010

Congratulations to DJ and Lewis (pictured below with Callum, cycle support) after completing their incredible 874 mile cycle in 10 days to raise more than £8000 for the Fund.  An amazing effort and achievement!

(L-R William Mitchell, DJ MacLeod, Lewis MacLeod, Callum Curry, Willie Mitchell)

Over the 10 days we have followed their incredible journey, keeping in close contact with Ian and Chrisell (DJ & Lewis’ parents), who I’m sure by now feel that they have cycled the entire route with them and we have looked forward to the updates coming through each night.  We were always relieved to know they had reached their planned destination safely – actually by the third or fourth update we were much more worried about Callum’s safety than D J or Lewis. FOLLOW OUR PROGRESS

The Leanne Fund also wish to thank Ian and Chrisell who have worked tirelessly in front of and behind the scenes not just in supporting the boys but also in raising the profile of the Fund - from the huge amount of work and effort they put in to the Tong dinner which was a massive success, to all the work they put in to raise awareness of the cycle at local shows, with publicity and gaining sponsorship for the event – we are so grateful to them for all their hard work and their incredible heart to help the Fund.

Thanks also to everyone who came along to show the boys support when they crossed the finish line at John O’Groats  and to everyone who supported the event in any way.

DJ and Lewis are pictured below presenting a cheque for the amazing total of £8,500 to Willie and Chrisetta Mitchell of The Leanne Fund.

Please show DJ & Lewis your support by sponsoring them at http://www.justgiving.com/DONALD-MACLEOD

Progress Report DJ’s Update Hi, this is our first progress report on how things are developing regarding the cycle.  My brother and I have written two separate accounts on how we feel training etc. is progressing for each of us. So far for me, training for the cycle is progressing steadily.  I can feel my fitness  improving day by day and with each cycle I feel more comfortable on the bike, at least as comfortable as is possible with the saddle on road bikes.  I can also feel my confidence growing, particularly riding on the busy road’s here in Aberdeen as it is in Aberdeen I reside.  This however does create one issue regarding the difficulty for Lewis and I to train together, though we did manage to get numerous bike rides together when I was up in Stornoway for the charity dinner last week. Each cycle went very well with both of us riding at the same level of fitness, that being at a level we are both content with at this stage in our training, though we are both fully aware that training will now become more difficult and intense as the weeks go by. Regarding the dinner on 17 April, everything went very well indeed with a total of £1700 profit raised that will be donated directly to ‘The Leanne Fund’ which we could not be happier about. We had over 130 guests sitting at the dinner along with raffles etc. so the dinner was a complete success which was excellent as well as a massive relief.  All in all I am happy with my progress and hope to continue progressing at a good pace.

Chrisell & Ian MacLeod, organisers of the Tong Dinner and their son Steven (pictured above) present a cheque for the proceeds from the event to Robert MacKay, Trustee of The Leanne Fund. The committee would like to extend their sincere thanks to all involved in the event and especially to Catherine for the fantastic meal. A great night was had by all.

Lewis’ Update
I’ve been working on my fitness now for several months, since October last year to be exact. I started off doing quite a bit of swimming to get my stamina up which has worked really well for me. I was going to the pool twice a week and it really helped me before I got started on the cycling. Now since we have got out bikes I’m out on the road every second day through the week. At first I was finding it pretty difficult against the weather, especially since it’s not so great up on the island, but I’ve done a few weeks now and I’m definitely getting a lot more comfortable on the saddle! It’s pretty difficult against the wind but once I find my rhythm it doesn’t slow me down too much. It’s important to go out in all kinds of weather because we need to be prepared for anything when the time comes!
DJ was at home recently for the fundraising dinner which was a fantastic success. We managed to go out cycling together to see what stage we each were at. I thought I would be lacking in pace compared to him but he was very impressed with my progress and I was up to exactly the same stage he was at which was excellent. On the whole I feel I’m getting on very well so far and things can only get better.

Cycle Support
We would also like to mention Callum Curry who will be driving the support van throughout the cycle (for route details check the map above). We will be relying on him for both maintenance and motivation throughout the cycle so he is an integral part of our challenge.
All in all things are progressing very well so far, and we will be sure to post further updates on the website in the near future. Take care.

Sponsors
We would like to sincerely thank the following local businesses for their very generous contributions towards the cycle and dinner expenses and the raffle prizes.

Alex Dan Cycle Centre                             MacLennan Coaches
Galson Motors                                         Donald MacRitchie Haulage (Inverness)
Woody’s Express Parcels                        D.R. MacLeod (Haulage)
Round Table                                           Bernera Boat Hire
MacLeod & MacLeod                               Events
Tesco Stornoway                                   Digby Chick
Other Personal Donations

The time limit we have set is 10 days, starting from Land’s End on Thursday 22nd July and finishing in John O’Groats on Saturday 31st July. The average duration for a charity cycle from end to end is around 12 -15 days, so we thought this would be an appropriate time limit for the cycle as it poses a real physical challenge for both of us. We have not yet compiled the exact route details, but we will post the route on the website as soon as we do, hopefully within the next few weeks. We are raising money for The Leanne Fund, an organisation we feel is a perfect tribute to Leanne. We fully support all of what the money raised goes toward and are very proud to be a part of it.