06/01/2026
My Dad has dementia. He didn't go and get regular dementia, of course, he likes to be different. He got Lewy body dementia. It's the variety Robin Williams had. Google it, it is ALL the fun. Luckily Rare Dementia Support have been lovely, and vital, in helping my Mum and Dad to deal with this least fun of life challenges. They're part of the National Brain Appeal who also fund research crucial to helping find ways to treat and, maybe one day, cure conditions like his.
Come February, I'll be having a ball by comparison. I'm attempting the Atlas Mountain Race, a 1400km unsupported bikepacking race across Morocco, climbing 25000m across the Atlas mountains, the sahara and then the Atlas again, just for kicks.
Unsupported means you set off with zero support, carrying all your sleeping kit, clothes and food on your bike and sorting yourself out as you go. It's pretty hard to enter and even then only about half the field get to the finish in Essaouira within the 8 day time limit. I'll likely be riding about 18 hours a day, sleeping under the stars and trying not to get ill, injured or broken-biked as I go.
Since this sounds EXACTLY like the sort of s**t I like to do anyway, I'll be adding to the pain cavalcade by trying it on my singlespeed bike. One gear for 1400km? Well Rog (my Dad) rode his 1920s singlespeed to work every day for 20 years and, in his own words, it's not one gear, it's three: sitting down, standing up, and pushing.
If you fancy it, you can follow the link in the bio to help the National Brain Appeal with their amazing work.
Love you Dad
