A BAND of Ribble Valley cyclists are gearing up for a 1,000-mile fundraising ride

The riders, lead by former Royal Marine Chris McLeod and his wife Helen, who live in Whalley, will cycle from London to Monaco to raise money for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

So far they have helped raise £500,000 to try to find a cure for the condition. They aim to complete the 200-mile first leg of the Duchenne Dashmax, to Paris, in just 24 hours.

Chris said: “We have a very good friend, Ali Robertson, whose son Felix has been suffering with the disease for five years.

“Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy is an incurable muscle-wasting disease that kills more children than any other genetic condition.

“The disease, which affects mainly boys, quickly destroys any quality of life, and sufferers are usually left wheelchair-bound in their teens.”

Last year the group rode the same route, climbing the French Alps, and collecting £250,000 for the charity.

When they rode from John O’Groats to Paris in 2016 they received a helping hand from outer space.

“One of our cyclists was at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, with the astronaut Major Tim Peake,” Chris said.

“Tim was at the International Space Station during the cycle ride, so he emailed him to tell him what we were doing.

“Tim put out a really nice tweet, ‘A big shout out to the riders who are raising money to find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.’

“We raised tens of thousands of pounds through Tim writing just once sentence, and so many people responded by giving to the cause after seeing the post.”

Chris said the fight to find a cure for the disease had made significant progress since last year’s ride.

“The money we raised has helped fund a human trial of the cancer drug, Tamoxifen, which has shown real promise as a treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy,” he said.

“But there is still a huge amount to be done - and there’s still no cure.”

Two of the McLeod’s children, Millie and Rory, play in popular local band Northern Sports Club while another son, Angus, is part of rock act Landslide.

“It is incredibly generous of the Grand to support us, and I want to say a huge thank-you to Steven Lancaster.

“We’ve become great fans of the Grand, and our children were all part of the Be My Band project, a fantastic scheme that encourages youngsters to love and enjoy music.”

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