Watching how his father’s muscle-wasting condition caused his health to deteriorate has motivated Gordon McLean to fundraise and to build awareness.
Gordon, 47, has signed up for the Etape Caledonia, in September. He hopes to complete the tough 40-mile ride, which starts in Pitlochry, in three hours.
His father was diagnosed with inclusion body myositis (IBM) several years ago. He died last year although his death was unrelated to the condition.
Gordon said:
We watched as his mobility declined over the years. My sister even brought her wedding forward to make sure he could walk her down the aisle. He never complained, but you could tell it was starting to impact him. As the primary carer for my mum (herself a stroke survivor of 10 years), we were getting close to having to make major family adjustments when, sadly, he passed away. Whilst his death wasn’t anything to do with the IBM, it had clearly made his life harder and harder month on month.
Gordon, a business analyst, has done a few fun cycle rides in the past including Pedal for Scotland. But he says this one is different:
The Etape will include some serious cyclists, as well as the likes of me tagging along at the back! When I heard about Etape Caledonia, a 40-mile sportive running out of Pitlochry - I signed up for the challenge and to give myself a goal.
He said:
I love being out in the fresh air for the training. It only takes 20 minutes to cycle into the countryside. It is really good for the mind as well as the body. The cycle up and over the Campsies was a long hard morning but well worth it.
I went for this challenge because it looked so different and something I have not done before. Choosing who to raise funds for was a pretty easy choice.
The Campsie Fells are a range of hills in central Scotland, stretching east to west from Denny Muir to Dumgoyne in Stirlingshire and overlooking Strathkelvin to the south. The southern extent of the range falls within East Dunbartonshire.
In addition to the fundraising, the McLean family has also self-published a book of Gordon’s father’s poems.
It was something he was working on before he died, so it’s been nice to finish it off. We are well on our way to raising over £1,000 in donations from it.”
Why not read more about Gordon and support him here