Hi there,

some of you on here might know me and some not as I have not been on the site for a long time. My name is Matt and last April with a lot of help from the great guy's on XT660.com I managed to raise two and a half grand for Orchid. This charity is very close to my heart due to the battle I had with testicular cancer last year.

First of all I want to again thank everyone on here again for the help and support you gave me for the London Marathon.

I still am in no position to purchase a new Tenere yet but I am working, (though it is on an agency) and the pay is not great, but it's work.

The marathon was extremely hard, yet it left me wanting to do something even more amazing and even more punishing. So after a lot of consideration and exchanging ideas with my smoking and expanding brother (and with the promise of him quitting smoking) we decided on a 400 mile ride from London to Paris. This is a massive commitment and we have been training hard for over two months already. It also means spending time training instead of being with my son (whom is two today) and Samantha who has been a rock from the day I was diagnosed up until this very day.

This ride will be in April 2012 (1 year after VLM) and our joint target is �2800. Our campaign is just starting and we have a big job on our hands this year but I am positive that we can do this. I met many amazing people last year on my fund raising journey and saw a great deal of selfless donations and fundraising attempts.

Well this is it, I need your help to raise money and awareness for men and boy's affected by Testicular Cancer (all 37,000 of them each year) and in exchange I will punish my self and my brother every week through the long cold winter. Then in April we will pass through Paris and show that if you put your heart in to it, you can do anything!

Please contact me if you have any questions or ideas and please check our site on: http://www.justgiving.com/teams/gardiner

Thank you, and I look forward to another year of being in contact with XT660 riders and I envy your wicked bikes and hope to own one again one day. If you don't know of me I believe my story is still on forum announcements under 'my cancer battle'.

Good night and speak soon, all the best, Matt!

Matt
All the best, both for the marathon cycle ride and in your employment quest.
Donation made....
Cheers, Mark