Stratford upon Awesome

Despite the awful fact that I lost an hour's recovery time last night I did get up and gone at a slightly delayed time of 9.45 but my host Vikki, manager of TCAA charity shop in Rugeley and her husband, Steve, fed me well before Steve joined me on the ride to Tamworth before heading back to the on-laws and leaving me to continue to Bedworth to visit Nick Skelton's first post box...

In Bedworth I met Jo, from TCAA and her husband, Ian, who rode alongside me for the rest of the day arriving at Stratford upon Avon at around 4ish. Stratford college actually donated a room for the night which is brilliant and Di (the lady behind my video) met us there, got some new material to update the vid and took me out for dinner.

I'm now fully fed and recovering well, ready for a bit of a monster ride tomorrow heading to my sister's fiancé's parents in Cheltenham. Looking forward to it, now I just need to hope the weather stays clear and the terrain stays pretty flat!
Good times

Half way!

Yesterday's ride completed the halfway stage of the challenge!
Anyways, I got to Flint nice and early, got the photograph taken at Jade Jones postbox, which is just round the corner from Jade Jones Pavilion (they're quite proud of the girl up there it seems)...
From there I rode up what they call Flint Mountain, but I'm sure it's not a real one, and back down into Wrexham a couple of hours later, finding Tom James's box nice and easily...

From there it was a small matter of 50miles to Stafford, where I was being met at the train station for a list to Rugely where there's a TCAA charity shop. They'd rounded up their volunteers and we did a little photo session, which I'll share a link to when I can (pics aren't on my phone) before donating some money and giving me a very lovely little miner's lamp as a memento. Then taking me to the pub for a couple of beers and some time chatting. Really great group, and very much appreciated.

Today's ride looks like fun, from here to Bedworth solo then meeting up with a TCAA employee and her other half and riding in to Stratford-on-Avon to see Di (the lady behind the video) and hopefully rest and recover well!

Hopefully tonight I won't be completely shattered so will be able to do the blog then, but if not we'll have to wait til morning. Enjoy your Easter everybody, hope you have a good day.

@Pedal_Medal
www.justgiving.com/samlevey

Pride comes before a fall

I don't know why I do it, but every time I think the worst has past something comes along and gives me a swift kick in the whatsits.

Yesterday, leaving Sheffield was a bit of a drag, nothing too major just constant and before I'd properly warmed up. Once going strong I started to make good time towards Leek until I hit a disgusting hill. I'd actually taken a different road, but seeing the view stopped off and took a picture...I then checked my route and saw I had to go up it. Arthur's Way in Castleton, an evil 20% incline with my panniers dragging me backwards. I'm confident without the additional weight I'd have dragged my way to the top, but this was the first road to defeat me as I climbed off and pushed the second half.

From there, aside from a couple of difficult but manageable hills the ride to Buxton then Leek was fairly simple and I arrived at Anna Watkins post box just as the Good Friday service was finishing in the middle of town. The box itself was easy to find so here's the picture...

From there it was a small matter of riding 45ish miles to Chester/Wrexham which, thanks to being out of the hills meant I could ride along at a good pace so reached my goal around 5.

My mum's cousin Alan collected me and just when I thought the day was over a real disaster struck. My pannier rack broke. Evidently the challenge of carrying my bags and bouncing through the potholes I couldn't avoid  took it's strain and the actual frame snapped. These problems can be solved so a quick trip to Halfords (other companies are available) to buy a replacement and all is looking good...and the checkout girl was gorgeous, but that's beside the point.

Today's ride hopefully won't be too difficult, Flint, North Wales for Jade Jones then back to Wrexham/Wrecsam to collect Tom James's before another long slog to Stafford.
I say this cautiously, but I think the big hills are behind me for a little while which should help, the traffic will hopefully be lessened over the Easter weekend and by the end of the day I'll have finished half of the ride!

As ever @Pedal_Medal and www.justgiving.com/samlevey so please donate and share the link!

Peak District? You call them hills?

A good, if frustrating day today. Started off well enough, traffic and poor road maintenance the only downsides on an otherwise straightforward ride from Bolton to Manchester. As I entered the city my regular problem hit so I spent a while meandering the streets looking for road signs and clues as to where I was going. Anyways, eventually I found the GB Cycling post box at Piccadilly Garden...
Before an inefficient, though successful journey round the corner to Albert Square for Philip Hindes box, thus completing the Men's Sprint boxes (Hoy, Kenny and Hindes)...
This left me with an unenviable trip across to Sheffield, a ride that had loomed large for a while. As it was I followed signs for Sheffield rather than getting into Glossop before the Peaks so took the longer, but easier Woodhead Pass rather than Snake Pass. The ease with which I coped however leads me to think the 3.2mile, 7% incline wouldn't actually have been that big a deal. Easy gear and keep the legs turning. No great secret but highly effective. There were some interesting road signs as I got off the Pass, first saying Sheffield was 16miles, then a couple of miles later telling me 21, but nonetheless I rode them, getting to the city centre around 3.15. As ever there was some messing around to find the box, but I did do. I suspect this is the closest I'll ever get to Jessica Ennis (unfortunately)...
From there another cluster-cuss of a journey to find my hostel but it was eventually located. I'm now warmed up, fed and hydrated (water and beer) and looking forward to the ride back to Leek and on to Chester.
Final picture, a lovely scene from the bottom of Woodhead Pass...

As ever, thanks for the support. It means everything to me, particularly on these days of isolation!
Here's the obligatory reminder to follow me on Twitter (@Pedal_Medal) to donate www.justgiving.com/samlevey and to share my challenge with everyone you know

Another great day, let's hope this keeps going!

To my knowledge I'd never been to the Isle of Man before, but judging on how great it was yesterday I will be going again.

The interview I gave from Liverpool went out in the morning, and although it only got one person on the road with me it was gold medallist Peter Kennaugh's dad! We met at the sea terminal, so I could thank Brian for organising the donated ferry crossing before setting off. Now, the island had just suffered it's worst snowfall in 50 years so a good section of the place was unavailable, but we made do. There were some good hills, great scenes (once the snow stopped) and, as it turns out, some interesting history. Pete Senior was a top tour guide and inevitably very knowledgeable about cycling and particularly Manx riders so we talked about track and road cycling, Cavendish, Ben Swift (he just bought a house on IoM) the Kennaugh brothers and the Olympic experience. It was an brilliant insight to a world 'normal' people just don't see. After the tour and some lunch in a proper, quaint little teashop we made our way round to Onchan and visited firstly his son's gold phonebox (nobody else has one of these) followed by his postbox.
I also took a picture of Pete Sr at Pete Jr's box.

On my way back to the ferry port, as it would have been rude not to, I stopped off at the TT starting point, as I know a few of my friends are into that kind of thing, so there's also a couple of pics of that...

My next couple of days are going to be a bit brutal, but I feel well rested and I'm reasy to get it done. Today it's a casual jaunt over Snake Pass between Manchester and Sheffield, through the Peak District. Only a relatively short day, but a lot of climbing. Head down and keep pedalling is the key!

Interviews and the Isle of Man

As expected yesterday was and easy, if time consuming day.
With only the 30 miles to cover between Bolton and Liverpool and a ferry crossing from 7 it was very much a case of waiting.

My original plan had been to leave home at 12.30 but I was taken to an interview with local radio station Tower FM just beforehand, so departure time was pushed back. The interview went quite well, hitting the salient points of what, why and when so I set off at 2. The ride to Liverpool is really quite straightforward, which makes a change, get on the East Lancs Road and keep going til you find the water.

All that remained was getting on the ferry and crossing the water. At least that's what I'd thought. I posted a couple of messages on Twitter (@Pedal_Medal) and lo-and-behold a reporter on Manx Radio said they wanted to do have a chat. Hopefully that'll go out this morning and will get me some company riding around the island later and if not, it's more local media showing an interest, which can't be bad!

So, for today a short ride up to Onchan before a ferry back this evening. I think I'll probably do a little sightseeing while I'm here, particularly if I find some company for the ride. If not I'll just find somewhere warm and wait til the return journey.

Much harder days coming up, so must make the most of these shorter efforts. Particularly with Snake's Pass over to Sheffield looming large on Thursday!

All systems go

In the immortal words of Ice Cube, "Today was a good day".

Thanks to the weather delay Huddersfield was covered on Saturday, resulting in a much reduced mileage today.
Starting the day in Colne at Steven Burke's postbox wearing my slightly delayed, but nonetheless awesome customised cycling jersey...

I met up with an old school and Uni friend, Stu Powers who took the train from Lancaster to join in for the day, which helped bring about the most fun ride of the challenge. From Colne to Blackburn for a quick cup of soup, flapjack and banana (thanks to my Dad running the support vehicle) we got over to Eccleston for the first of two Wiggo boxes before (eventually) rolling through to Chorley to collect the second...

After that, due to a good pace being set we were able to take our time heading to Bolton. Stu was starting to struggle - this was his first ride for a few weeks and his longest of the winter/spring season - so a stop off for Frederick's for the world's greatest ice cream was well deserved, followed 20mins down the road by a quick brew at home before the final 10-15mins into the town centre to get both of Jason Kenny's boxes...

Stu then went over to the train station to head back to Lancs before I was collected by my Dad and brought home for a mountain of spag bol and a cheeky couple of beers.

Another short day tomorrow, Bolton to Liverpool for the ferry to the Isle of Man, let's hope this dry weather continues because that will definitely keep me motivated, as will any offers of company along the way!

"Today I didn't even have to use my AK, I got to say it was a good day"

The calm before the storm

As I explained yesterday, the weather forced me into a rethink.

As a result my Dad drove me around Yorkshire to visit the postboxes there. First, Alistair Brownlee's in Horsforth. Second Nicola Adams in Leeds. Third Luke Campbell's in Hull and finally Ed Clancy's box in Huddersfield before a journey back across the border, back home to Bolton.

Last night I utilised the night out to call in at my local pub which did me an absolute world of good. Speaking to friends about something other than cycling, weather and postboxes reminded me that there was a world happening away from the challenge as well as reaffirming the support they have for me. In short, I got myself refocused.

Tomorrow it's all systems go again. For the first time on the journey I'm going to have company on the ride. My old school and Uni friend, Stuart Powers, is meeting me in Colne riding alongside to Eccleston, Chorley and into Bolton where hopefully there's a little bit of a welcome committee waiting for us! With the removal of Huddersfield due to the weather it's a reduced distance so a decent 55miler ahead of another couple of shorter days getting to and from the Isle of Man. All-in-all that should set me up nicely for the inevitable challenges ahead. I've got friends and family down the road and we're now below the 20 day barrier. All is looking good and I'm raring to go!

As ever, please don't forget to donate www.justgiving.com/samlevey
We've raised over £1150 so let's keep going!

Snow...seriously, this is taking the Michael.

After waking up to a howling gale and about a hundred feet of snow in Leeds there's been some rearranging to be done.

Basically, my Dad is going to drive me to the Leeds, Hull and Huddersfield post boxes then back over to Bolton, today and we'll pick up from Colne on Monday as was the original plan. It is disappointing, but my time is limited and I'm not risking my life for the sake of a bike ride.

I do promise that in the near future I will come back and cycle them, so I'm not cheating too much. I do hope you understand the situation and judging by the feedback I've had you're all behind me.

Sorry to let you down, but this is the most sensible course of action at this time to ensure the success of the ride going forward.

All that remains is for me to say enjoy your weekend, stay warm and stay safe.

I thought the fat lady was singing

If I'm being honest I was (you'll have to imagine how close my fingers are) this close to giving up today. Waking up to yet another bad weather forecast, hastily rearranging my route from quite a pleasant Durham, with exceptionally lovely, kind and generous hosts, to Stockton then Leeds rather than Grassington. I'd expected to be on arriving at Kate Copeland's post box in Ingleby Barwick around 11ish. However, due to some truely dire signposting throughout the North East coupled with hills and wind I didn't arrive til 1.30 with 60miles ahead of me.
Now, as I mentioned yesterday my dad was meeting me for the evening and we'd spoken early on to discuss the change of route but my head had gone. Physically my legs are feeling fine but there was and in some ways still is nothing left to give mentally. From the postbox I made three phone calls in floods of tears, my mum, my dad and my friend Mike. All three answered and gave me some hope so I jumped back on and set off south again. All was going well, I thought and as I approached Thirsk I pulled over to take a phone call. It was 4.15 and there were 30 miles to go...that was it, again. My dad came and picked me up, driving me and my bike down to my cousin's house in Leeds.

I genuinely don't know if I've ever felt worse. I don't understand why I'm putting myself through this awful experience, tiring myself out in snow, wind and rain in almost complete solitude, getting my head back together over night then running into the same problems the next day.

My focus now is completing tomorrow to Hull, the next day to Huddersfield and finally returning home on Monday. If I can do that I'll have completed day 9. The following 2 days are quite straightforward with a decent amount of recovery time which should help me get sorted. It still leaves me with 16 days of riding to go but I'm seeing people I know along the way and hopefully the weather will start to change.

I really don't want to let anyone down, but I don't know how much longer I can fight this feeling, a feeling brought about entirely by the conditions I'm suffering. The support I'm being shown from friends, family and strangers is amazing, that will get me back home, as will the fact that as of tomorrow I'll be wearing my customised TCAA cycling jersey but it remains to be seen whether it will get me the whole way to Penzance.

Here's the picture of Katherine Copeland's post box...

Tears, Traffic and Tumbles

You remember how happy I was that I was leaving Scotland? Well it gave me a massive kick in the teeth on exit. I was cycling in literally first and second gear for the first 10miles of the day. Almost entirely uphill and varies degrees of ridiculously steep. After about 7miles of continual climbing I broke. My legs were screaming, my head had gone and I just wanted to go home, so for the next few minutes I kept riding whilst crying. Not my happiest time, but I suppose the best thing to say is that I got through it.

From there it was largely downhill. Northumberland had a few little attacks at me, but on the whole it was fairly straightforward.

Next issue, and this was terrifying, was the A1. From Newcastle airport I picked it up and it was going pretty well, it had a cycle lane and there were signs for Durham. A few miles later as I approached the exits and entrances for Gateshead and Newcastle it all got a bit dangerous. Again, I soldiered on and kept ticking the miles down towards the destination. Then a sign appeared saying start of motorway so obviously I make a swift exit and get hopelessly lost because for some reason Durham wasn't signposted. I followed my phone's directions and after some messing around got on the right track.

So far we've done tears and traffic, so I think we're approaching the part most people are interested in...unfortunately it's not that interesting.
As I arrived at a roundabout I looked, slowed to a stop and unclipped my right shoe. However (I put it down to fatigue), my weight was shifted to my left so I completely overbalanced, couldn't flick my other leg out and fell down. Stupid situation but it happened so we move on.

Anyways, I reached Durham, spent a while getting lost because of poor signposting, but eventually found where I was going. Then it was time to eat! Spag bol, garlic bread, cookies, malt loaf and crisps. Lovely.

Now we reach today's ride. I'm due in Grassington for the evening but I'm sure everyone has seen the forecast and it looks absolutely dreadful. Potentially there's going to be a rearrangement meaning the Andrew Triggs-Hodge box in Hebden may be delayed or visited by car after cycling somewhere else, but we shall see.

My dad's coming out to meet me this evening and shadowing me for the next couple of days so that should be nice.

I shall let you know what happens with the route, but until then @Pedal_Medal and www.justgiving.com/samlevey

Nice try Scotland. Good but not good enough.

Well yesterday was a drag. Not a particularly hard day but thanks to a mistake on my part it was much more difficult than it needed to be.
Dunfermline continued true to form, a couple more hills before the bridge over to Edinburgh. Edinburgh itself is a lovely place, but deceptively steep. A little bit of faffing around meant it took a while locating the boxes but find them I did. First Hanover St then across to old town on Hunter Square.
A family friend then met me and treated me to a pizza (and half of hers), before I continued down to Peebles for Scott Brash's post box.

This is where I realised my error. For some reason, in my mind I thought I was about 25miles from Jedburgh, but in actuality it was 38, so an extra hour or so...which sucked. Fortunately it wasn't too hilly so I made decent time, eventually reaching the b&b at 6ish.

On the plus side, and it's a massive plus, the weather was decent. Very little snow, no major wind. Still no sign of this mythical burning orb in the sky, but I live in hope!

Durham today, about 75miles. But first, breakfast and convincing myself to actually get up and on my bike.

Dunfermline, Scottish for "at the top of a bloody big, windy hill"

As you may have guessed I'm in Dunfermline. For what should have been my easiest day so far it was very tough. Got out earlier than normal this morning to cover the 50ish miles to Dunblane, which I completed pretty easily. A few hills, but nothing major and reached Muzza's post box around 12.30. The lady who took my picture also donated a tenner so that's going to TCAA at the end, though the actual cash is long-since spent.
It all went downhill from there however (metaphorically speaking). Basically, I had to double back on myself before cutting across to Dunfermline. Only then did I realise why reaching Dunblane had been easy. Tailwind there, headwind back. Bugger. Anyways, to cut a long, cold, miserable story short, the next 25 miles took 4 hours. I suspect of those 25 miles 18 of them were uphill. Grim.

Some good news however, I had a chat with a reporter who's going to do a bit of a feature on me, so watch this space for what could be the start of something.

Eaten well, 2x Mars bars, pork loin in mustard and cider, sweet chilli roasted gammon, potatoes and chips, 3x macaroons and 2x pancakes. Should give me a nice little boost tomorrow.

To sign off, I'm going to wish a massive good luck and safe tour to my little sister, Nell, who leaves for Afghanistan tomorrow. I'm very proud of you, what you are a part of is great and puts this bike ride to shame. Love you kid. See you in a few months.

Dun-did it. Day 2 down, day 3 awaits!

It's the morning of day three. There's another day of cold weather, strong wind and snow ahead so yeah, excellent.

Yesterday was big. It was an 85 miler but with the amount of messing around in Aberdeen and Dundee city centres it was probably a bit nearer 90. I was good though. Think I'm going to need to rethink my timings, as I didn't reach my hostel til 6 but all in all a very good day. The very kind owners at Broomlea B&B in Dyce gave me my cheque back to support me, which was brilliant and I got on the road at 9.30. About an hour later I found Castle St where Katherine Grainger's post box is...
Then about an hour after that I'd reached Westhill for Tim Baillie's...
Then the big effort started. 70 miles to Dundee. After battling a few snow flurries en route, it became serious about 7miles out. Snow was sticking to the roads and was still falling thick and fast. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time worrying and hoping for the best.

Here's a question. Why, when a cyclist is riding safely, visibly and legally do other vehicles, particularly HGVs think it's a good idea to honk their horns as they overtake? What exactly do they think that's going to achieve?

Today's ride looks interesting. Back onto the A90 to Perth, then out to Dunblane to collect Andy Murray's first postbox. There's hills all around, but I think my route basically skirts them, I hope so anyway. After Dunblane it's back round to Dunfermline to finish the day. Setting myself up for Edinburgh tomorrow.

Physically I'm still feeling strong, mentally I'm doing well, but this weather is really starting to frustrate. It's the second half of March, give me a break! That said, I think today is the last day of big snow, tomorrow should just be sleet and rain, so that's just lovely.

Anyways people, I'll see you on the other side. Good or bad, I'll be there. Clear eyes, full hearts. Can't lose.

@Pedal_Medal www.justgiving.com/samlevey

Aftermath of Day One. Looking ahead to day two

Well, one day of cycling done and I feel done in. I knew it would be hard, I knew there would be hills, I knew there would be bad weather but yesterday was awful.

From a very positive start in Elgin I set off in dry and still conditions to Lossiemouth. All good. Then I turned around, got on the A96 and rode pretty much uphill into an awful headwind the entire way to Dyce. One thing I did discover, Aberdeenshire is big. Like, absolutely massive.
Had one technical issue which resulted in a hissy fit. Shortly after lunch I climbed about 3 miles continuously away from Huntly through a blizzard and got a pleasant surprise seeing a 26 miles to Aberdeen sign, then disaster struck. I say disaster, my chain slipped off. Not the end of the world I hear you say, but I lost it. Hands covered in oil, freezing cold and being rained on with 3 hours riding to go. Tantrum time!
Anyways, I got back on my bike and kept talking myself up hills, through the wind and cursing myself for having such a dumb idea. I made it though.
Warmed up, ate well, rested and made a couple of phone calls which helped a lot. It may only have been a 75 mile day but I think it'll be my worst. If not my actual worst, the top 3 is a definite. Longer ride today, 85 through Aberdeen for Katherine Grainger and Tim Baillie's boxes, then down to Dundee. Recovery has gone well and I'm feeling pretty positive again so let's get this thing doesn't.

To quote Friday Night Lights and rehash my mantra of the day, Clear eyes, full hearts. Can't lose.

See you on the other side, don't forget to donate, www.justgiving.com/samlevey and follow @Pedal_Medal