The sun partially sets on our Meeting of ‘MINDS’ charity tour

In September we set out on our charity tour in support of BRACE and for me …..

“…. we created a unique opportunity to raise awareness for BRACE by simply doing something I love, riding my motorbike!” 
 

It was a great experience. It opened our eyes to the issues of researching medical conditions and not just in this ‘cerebral’ scenario. Also we learnt there is a definite hierarchy of charities. In doing their ‘thing’; raising awareness, collecting funds and by generally doing good, they also compete for our fiscal attention. It is very competitive.   

The tour was very much a Meeting of ‘MINDS’, as it “was a journey to a better understanding of Alzheimer’s.”

We spent time with Mark Poarch (CEO of BRACE) and got to understand his concerns and aspirations in his continual quest to raise funds for Dementia research. We also spent time with those at the ‘rock face’ of research, those trying to make a difference, which was a great privilege.

Attached are a ‘cerebral’ selection of interviews we undertook.

• Mark Poarch and Roy interview - Part i
• Prof. Pat Kehoe and Roy interview - Part i
• Doctor Claudia Mezler-Baddeley and Roy interview - Part i

A lot of what was said had a ‘mutual’ resonance with each Professor or Doctor that we interviewed, although each had their own concerns and issues that they had to address daily.

We also got to see some beautiful scenery whilst we traversed the 2,500 miles over 11 days with 70 hours in the saddle from Bristol through to Cardiff, London, Dover, Dunkirk, Lille, Dijon, Briancon, over the Alps, Genoa, back over the Alps, Castellane, Montpellier, Limoges , Caen, Portsmouth and back again. 

Finally, a very big thank you to the following people who have helped us with our charity tour.

Mark Poarch for resisting the pressure to get into the saddle and tour with us.

His team of Tweeters and Retweeters.

Our research interviewees and associates:

· Professor Pat Kehoe – Head of Section for Metabolism & Clinical Neuroscience – Brain Bank Southmead Hospital Bristol

· Doctor Claudia Metzler-Baddeley – Neuroscientist at CUBRIC (Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre)

· Professor Clive Ballard – Professor of Age Related Diseases King’s College London

· Professeur Florence Pasquier – Professseur CHRU de Lille chez University Hospital of Lille – CHRU Centre Hospitalier Regional Universitaire de Lille

· Doctor Flavio Nobili - Clinica Neurologica con Centro Ictus

· Professeur Jacques Touchon - Chief of Neurology at the Montpellier University Research Hospital 

Whitehall Press for POS design and production.

For BMW, GoPro and Ride the World Magazine, family and friends for social media support.

So the fight goes on, and we have only just scratched the surface with what we set out to achieve. But do look out for A Meeting of ‘MINDS’ tour 2016, as you never know!

Roy