Welcome!
By way of an introduction, I am Roger and have cycled to varying degrees since childhood, increasing my cycling efforts significantly in the last 8 years or so. I now cycle around 4 times the distance that I drive; luckily I drive less than I used to as I estimate I’ve driven around 1.5 million miles and 6 million miles by bike doesn’t bear thinking about! I work for BCA, part of the Constellation Automotive Group. Since 2015 BCA / Constellation has supported “Action For A-T”, with an annual cycle ride (typically 200-240 miles in 3 days) and an annual marathon walk. To date approximately £917,000 has been raised.
My involvement started in 2022. As a regular cyclist, covering 240 miles in 3 days didn’t seem enough of a challenge, so I chose to double the distance by cycling to the start and home again after the event. I have continued this approach in 2023 and 2024, progressively increasing the duration and distance (698 miles and 1142 miles respectively). The ride attracts cyclists of all abilities, my choice during the event is to support those less experienced, some of whom have ridden no more than 30 or 40 miles before the event.
Why do I support Action For A-T? To be honest it wouldn’t be my first choice of charity, never having heard either of the charity or the condition; I wouldn’t be supporting them were it not for the company’s support. This highlights one of the problems that the charity faces – it’s a rare condition that few people have heard of. As a rare condition there is not the business incentive for the pharmaceutical companies to get involved nor is there any central funding; instead, it is down to charities such as Action For A-T to raise funds for research and ultimately finding cures and treatments. I hope you’ll join me in appreciating the good work of this charity and in supporting their efforts going forwards.
I started the RogerRides4AT YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@rogerrides4at) for the 2024 ride, giving daily updates of the ride and other related content. For 2025 I have also launched this blog, the combination of blog & vlog will provide news to my supporters
About Action for A-T
Action for A-T was established in 2012 to provide support to the wider A-T community and speed up the process of identifying a cure or treatments that delay or prevent the disabling effects of Ataxia Telangiectasia (A-T). To date Action for A-T have invested over £5,700,000 in 60 A-T related research projects, offering hope to the families living with this devastating condition.
In the words of Professor Richard Gatti, one of the world’s most respected A-T researchers, finding a cure for A-T is: “...just a matter of time and money...and more money means less time”.
What is Ataxia Telangiectasia?
Ataxia –Telangiectasia (“A-T”) is a degenerative brain condition that causes many of the same disabling effects as ALS/Motor Neurone’s disease only it affects young children.
Kids are born seemingly normal but peak physically around the age of 5 before slowly losing their physical abilities including the ability to walk, talk and even to feed themselves. Mentally they remain unaffected and so they effectively become trapped in a deteriorating body.
On top of the severe physical disabilities children with A-T must face, the condition also attacks their immune system. 1 in 3 children with A-T will develop cancer and many will die from lung disease. More than half will die before they are out of their teens and there is currently no cure and nothing that can slow the condition’s progression.
