The Beginning

This challenge didn’t start on a mountain pass or with a new carbon bike; it began in a hospital bed in 2021. Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS) struck hard and fast, taking away my ability to move and fundamentally resetting what I thought was possible. My wife, Edurne, and I spent months navigating a terrifying new reality, where every small movement,a wiggle of a toe, the grip of a hand was a major victory. The road back to walking, let alone cycling, was long, slow, and often frustrating. But it was during that recovery that the seed for this ride was planted: a desire to turn that overwhelming negative experience into a powerful positive statement about resilience.

The Goal

The objective of “The Slow Road Back” is monumental, both physically and financially. Edurne and I will be riding a self-supported loop across the entire Pyrenean mountain range, covering over 2,000 kilometers and climbing more than 38,000 meters—four times the elevation of Everest. The goal is to raise a minimum of £5,000 for Inflammatory Neuropathies UK and €5,000 for GBS|CIDP España. Every grueling kilometer and every meter of climbing is a symbolic tribute to the immense effort GBS survivors put into their own recovery, and the funds raised will be dedicated to advancing patient-led research that truly impacts quality of life.

Why Now?

Why take on this massive undertaking now? Because the experience of GBS taught me that time is not a guarantee, and waiting is not an option. Recovery is about momentum, and this campaign is about capturing that energy. Having retired from IT, I have the time and focus needed to train methodically and run this campaign professionally. More importantly, we are launching this campaign now to give GBS a major public platform. We are building a community over the next year so that when Edurne and I start our ride in September 2026, we don’t just have an audience, we have a movement.