May 2
Bikers4Life 2009
Next week will see the official launch for Bikers4Life 2009. We will be opening sign up for the 3rd Annual Ride-Out in aid of Cancer & Leaukaemia treatment at Dublin’s Beaumont Hospital.
Over the coming weeks we will be announcing details of the route and after party.
For more information about Bikers4Life please visit www.bikers4life.org
Apr 8
This year for the first time, I will be taking part in the annual Rev-Up for DSI, a charity bike event which raises much needed funds for Down Syndrome Ireland.
From they official site:
Rev-Up for DSI 2009
It all started in 2005 when two kindred spirits (Michael McCormick and Aidan Lynam) met. Both are Dads to young girls born with Down Syndrome (Megan and Robyn respectively) and both are keen motorcyclists. Michael (CEO of DSI at the time) was looking to run a motorcycle event for DSI and Aidan (managing a bar at the time) was thinking along similar lines. So after a fairly brief but enthusiastic meeting Rev-up was born.
At the outset the hope was for 50 bikes, each raising €1,000 which would have been fantastic. Little did we know then exactly how big or how fast it would grow!!.
In May 2006 we set off on the inaugural event from Joe Duffy’s BMW dealership with 94 bikes in tow about half of whom were carrying pillions and all bedecked in DSI shirts, badges and stickers. Raising in excess of €200,000 at the first attempt was an absolutely astounding achievement by all the participants and truly humbled us all.
Rev-up4DSI continues to grow in size and popularity and as I type this in July 2008 We are already booking hotels and picking routes for 2009!
Hopefully We will see you all again in 2009 and beyond.
As I am taking part in this years event, I will be looking for sponsorship. As such I have set up a donations page over at MyCharity.ie
Here is the link to my page over there where I would be grateful if you would be kind enough to sponsor me. Donating through MyCharity.ie means that all funds go directly to the charity, so it is my preferred method of donation.
http://www.mycharity.ie/event/darragh_verschoyles_event/
Thanks for reading.
Feb 27
I was in for a check-up in Beaumont this Tuesday. Nothing unusual about this of course, except that it was the first time that I had a check-up outside of the Coleman Byrne Unit. My appointment was in Clinic A with my usual consultant Mr. Murphy. I for some reason had expected it to be very different to the comfortable surroundings of the CKB but I was pleasently surprised when I was ushered in to the CKB to have my bloods taken and was greeted by all of the usual suspects.
My bloods were taken with the familiar comfort I have become accustomed to at this point. 5 minutes later and it is all over and I have some time to kill while I wait for the results and to speak with Mr. Murphy. So I decide to head to the canteen and grab a bite to eat.
Dec 17
Helllo again everyone. I am happy to say that as of Monday 15th December I have been completely treatment free. For the first time in 2 years I have not had to take a single tablet. This marks the end of my treatment in the Coleman K Byrne Unit in Beaumont. I will now be in the regular out patient system and the regularity of my appointments will be lessened.
What this really means to me is that I will be able to get back to the life I knew, where I had energy for things and could maintain some level of concentration on things. It also means I may be able to get back to playing basketball for the remainder of the season in Cavan, which would be really great.
A quick note to give my best wishes to Chris who was treated in Beaumont while I was there for the APML the same as I had. Chris is not having the best of times of it at the moment and I just want to wish him all the best and a speedy recovery. Good luck mate.
IBF Toy Run for the National Children’s Hospital
On Sunday last we took part in the IBF Toy Run for the National Children’s Hospital in Tallaght. All in all about 60 bikes took part in what was a great day out for a very worthy cause.
A big thumbs up to the organisers for a very well run event. Looking forward to next year’s already lads!
Oct 29
Hi Guys,
Check presentation
Quick update here for you all. So the weekend before last we did the presentation of the cheque to the good people at Beaumont Hospital. This was really cool to do as of course it is what it is all about. A massive thanks to the 43 bikers who turned up to help us out with the presentation and made it a really special day. Oh and a big thanks to PJ Gallagher for helping us out also.
With a grand total in excess of €13,600 we are delighted with the final ammount. This equates to a grand total over the two events of in excess of €25,000 which just goes to show the incredible generosity that bikers show.
There are millions of photos to see on this one. Far too many to link to individually but you will find them in the same place as always.. http://www.irishbikerforum.com
Also one particular post really caught me. It’s from Dick (Shinwacker) who took part in the run in August. It’s a really heartfelt post and was really appreciated.
The content of the post is below. Though you can see it in it’s original for here
So a quicky here folks just a quick posting about the Free Spirits MCC Rally which took place in Roscrea. Fantastic night out. I met with Ozzy & 325sport in Trim about 3.15pm on Saturday to head down to Roscrea. Had a lovely spin down with the lads with the exception of a collosal tank slapper coming into Longwood. Rear tire hit some wet tar and took to going sideways. Got full lock on the bars twice but managed to keep her upright. “New balls please!”
Anyway got there safe and sound in the end and set the tent up nice and early. Straight away we met up with some of the usual suspects and set up camp beside Blondie who was very generous with the Bulmers.
Was nice to meet up with the lads again, big hello to Joe, GixxerMul, Finchiefin, RallyMan, Lumpy, Blondie, Panther, Ken, Karol, T, Ozzy, Alan, Chris and many more of the lads that I have no doubt forgot to mention.
The lads from Renegades were present again and had brought two of their more impressive bikes with them. Check these two machines out.
Aug 20
So in a slight change of direction for my blog I have decided that I am going to update it more often and with more than just the story of my experience with Leukaemia, but of my everyday goings on and the stuff that matters to me. I will be keeping the blog more current but from time to time I will jump back into my story.
So to begin…
We just had another really successful Bikers4Life for 2008. Once again I’ve been blown away by the amazing support we recieved from accross the board and the wonderful volunteers who made it all happen.
First off from a personal perspective I would love the thank all of the marshall’s who made the day run so smoothly, and despite out little run in with the law which I know was a sour point for us all, you guys truly made it happen and everything turned out for the best in the end.
I would not normally point out any one individual but in this instance I feel it is necessary becuase just like last year a guy called Aidan (known as Aidan*34 to many) did so much to help make the Bikers4Life gig happen. This year unfortunately though after all his hard work, Aidan could not make the day himself falling ill only a day before the event. I just want it noted that none of Aidan’s hard work went unnoticed. Thanks mate!
Just last weekend I attended a party with the fine folks on IBF and the Renegades MCC. The party was to celebrate the engagement of Renegedes member Jonny, who on top of been a stunning dancer, was an all out sound bloke for having us at his party.
The venue for the party was surreal, based on ranch with a saloon bar and the works! We all had an great night and the entertainment provided by VOODOO & EMERALD was top class as always. Other forms of entertainment included Jonny’s dancing, Joe Soap’s Dancing 
and Hormowen blowing the rear tyre on his Aprillia. Also top of the bill was sitting up until Silly O’Clock talkin shite with SuzukiJon and Ken. Fair play lads.
With a very sore head, I headed off for the Biker.ie Burger run but missed it by about half an hour. To be honest it was probably for the best with the state I was in. Before I knew it Monday had rolled around I was just about starting to feel human again.
Feb 19
Right folks, I’m back from my break from telling this story and hopefully over the coming days I will be able to bring things right up to current day and we will continue from there. First things first though, I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read the blog over the past few months.
Okay so to continue from where I left off.
I had come out of surgery and been put in plaster and could not really move my legs. Next step was another one of the dreaded Bone Marrow samples. At this stage my medical team had also undergone a change as per the rotation policy of the Hospital. At first I was apprehensive about having a new team looking after me as my trust in the previous team was so high. My fears proved to me completely unfounded as the new team were jusst as amazing as the first.
I was extremely scared of getting another bone marrow sample taken at this stage because I was already in so much pain. I was assured by my new doctor however as she told me that she had preformed the proceedure over 1000 times and that she would not hurt me. I found this difficult to believe at the time as I had been in such pain with my first bone marrow sample. She also explained that unlike a lot of other patients it would not be safe for me to have another general aesthetic. Anyway, despite my fears the procedure was completed entirely painlessly much to my surprise.
This test was to be very important as it would let us know how the treatment was going and if there was to be any good news for us because so far it had all been bad.
You are currently browsing the archives for the Bike Related category.
