WHY DO IT?
On December 19th 2023, my business partner and best friend Paul Eames went to sleep and never woke up. He suffered heart failure during the night. He had a condition that could likely have been diagnosed were he having checks on his heart - but he wasn't, and hadn't, and then it was too late.
Some years ago I also under went some checks on my own heart due to some dizzy spells. These checks showed an abnormality in my ECG, and I am regularly checked for signs of Hypertrophic Cardio-Myopathy as a result. These perhaps should and could be checks that are routine for everyone. Just knowing that I have a level of risk enables me to manage my lifestyle accordingly in order to minimise it. Getting checked out is so important.
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Paul (right) with me (Rob) in the centre at a friends wedding in 2016
Doing what I love ; at the top of the Telegraphe (I think) in the Alps - 2023
Paul also loved his job in the events industry, and he loved to travel. He did get trips to Dubai, Singapore, and the like through work. But more often we'd be at conferences around the UK, exploring the cities in which we stayed, and appreciating the venues in which we worked - who hosted the events that created our livelihoods.
As a result I have decided that a ride in honour of Paul, between some of the venues he loved working in, and the towns he visited with work, highlighting the importance of heart health, whilst doing something that I love - and which provides me with such a release from the stresses of day to day work - whilst raising money for the British Heart Foundation and select mental health charities. I think this will be a perfect tribute, and a cathartic process for me as I deal with his loss.
I am also passionate about exercise, and as a result of the above, ever more so, in tandem with a balanced diet, and healthy lifestyle albeit not at the cost of some of the simple pleasures in life. Pleasures which Paul also loved, and I miss sharing with him such as some great food and wine, or more commonly a beer or two, three, four!