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Gillys Comment

It now seems so long that all this started

In July 1989, Rob Tyler a close friend of mine and Paddy's, had a horrible accident which left him paralysed from a inch below the armpit down. Paddy and I decided to do a run in conjunction with New Forest Mag, for Inspire, a charity based at Odstock Hospital. Around 100 bikes surprised Rob, who was under the impression that only a few of his mates were coming to see him.

In February of 1991 Paddy's father, Keith, dies of cancer. Paddy decided to do another run and the Daisy Chain was born. For the first few years Paddy worked hard raising money for the Wessex Cancer trust. When he said he was moving to Yorkshire it was natural that Maria and I would carry on with the event. Over the following years the run increased in size, but we were so lucky, we had always been blessed with great support, good weather and incredible backup not only from the general public but form Hampshire Police, who have marshaled the run over the years even as the event grew in size.

1998 saw the biggest increase in numbers, from 380 bikes in 97 to 750+ in 1998. The run finished at the Flying Boat in Calshot and the police spotter plane took some outstanding aerial views. From there on in, numbers grew and grew.

When Paddy said to me in 2001 that he wanted that years run to be the last I was lost. I promised everyone that I would carry on, and privately I hoped that they would nag Paddy to allow me to continue, and they did. Paddy agreed to sign the event I now considered my baby over to me. One thing you should understand, most DCR decisions are normally made at drunken nights when everyone puts forward their ideas. In October 2001 it was the time to pick the name for the next run, and my son, Christopher, who went on his first run at 8 weeks old, said "Why not The Next Generation". He was thinking of "Star Trek" but I thought "Hey, that works, we're moving on". Little did I know how that would affect me later. In January 2002 my mother was taken ill. The hospital was almost at a loss to know what was wrong. Inside of 4 days cancer overtook my mother and she died on Sunday 27th. While she was in intensive care my father knowing she wasn't allowed fresh flowers, picked up one of the 10 Wessex Cancer Trust daisies she had collected on each run, and pinned it to her nightdress. This shows just how important the run is to all of my family. Everyone at mothers' funeral wore the daisies to show their support of the Cancer Trust, and as a mark of respect to event she was so proud of.

I knew then that I have to carry on with the Daisy Chain, and hopefully improve each year. I can only do that with the input of those taking part. So your ideas are important.

Please let me know what you think.