What and why?

This blog is an account of my sponsored virtual bike ride from Land's End to John O'Groats, taking a slightly scenic route so that I stop at some interesting places. I will be covering a total distance of 1,636 km, or 1,022.5 miles if you prefer.

It might sound odd doing it as a virtual ride, but I wouldn't be able to do the 'real life' version as I had a spinal cord injury - cauda equina syndrome - in September 2016, and again in October 2016. I have been left with permanent damage, I am a powered wheelchair user, and can only use specialised bikes. I also have chronic severe brittle asthma, insulin controlled steroid induced diabetes, Cushing's Syndrome, and liver disease, which mean that I have to be careful when exercising, and can only do so in a safe and supervised environment.

Until January 2018 there were no facilities outside of the hospital environment for those with spinal cord injuries in the north of England to use a gym with specially adapted equipment. Then POP-UP GYM opened.

Set up by Drew Graham, an athlete who had a spinal cord injury when training in the USA, Pop-Up Gym has three MotoMed bikes, two of which also have Function Electrical Stimulation programming available so that those even those with total paralysis can pedal an exercise bike by the power of their own muscles. The gym also has two standing frames, one of which can be used as a kind of elliptical trainer as well. There is a VitaGlide trainer, a VibroGym and a wheelchair-adapted multigym. The gym employs three personal trainers, a neuro rehab physiotherapist, and a couple of ancillary staff, but they are also reliant on volunteers.

Gym users can either pay as they go or sign up to become members, but as both a business and a charity the gym needs a regular income in order to keep going and keep providing the excellent facilities they do, facilities that are only available to the public in a handful of places around the UK, and nowhere else in the north of England, possibly nowhere north of the West Midlands.

My aim for this ride is to raise some much needed funds for POP-UP GYM, and I welcome all the support I can get. I have broken the ride down into twenty-two legs, stopping at interesting places along the way. I'll be writing the blog as though I am doing the ride 'in the real world', showing you pictures of where I'm going and what I see, and perhaps writing about some of the folk I meet along the way. I will be doing the ride on the gym's MotoMed bikes and attending two to three times a week, so I estimate I should complete it in about eight weeks.

Please sponsor me if you think my efforts are worth it and the cause is worthy.

3 April 2018

Getting ready

It's not long now until I get going on my trek so I'm gathering my things together and making all the preparations I can, like making sure I have my water bottle handy and enough pairs of trousers to see me through.  I have packed my virtual tent and all the camping equipment, though there are some nights I'll be laying my head in luxury and the tent will stay packed in its virtual pannier.

 One thing I didn't consider was how I might make my virtual way from my home in Newcastle upon Tyne to my starting point at Land's End.  I'm not going to hitch hike, and I don't whilst Land's End does have a tiny airport, I don't think they do charter flights to the North East.  It's looking like I'll either be getting the virtual train to Penzance and getting a taxi from there, or I'll commandeer a friend to drive me.  Of course, given that it's all virtual, I could opt for a flying carpet, which might be good fun, though perhaps a little cold and breezy in the rainy and snowy weather we keep having.  I'll have a think, check out all my options, and make a decision in the very near future.

 Now then, what else might I need to pack?  I've got:

  • Route map
  • My mobile
  • Water bottle
  • Wheelchair
  • Spare cushion cover for the wheelchair (essential because they get very sweaty)
  • Trousers
  • T-Shirts
  • Other clothing essentials including trainers
  • Medication and all the other medical paraphernalia I need
  • Wash things
  • Towels
  • Coat
  • Virtual tent
  • Virtual sleeping bag and double bed with comfy pillows and hot water bottle
  • Virtual fridge, kitchen sink, cooker, bath
  • Virtual crockery and cutlery with kettle and big mugs for hot tea
  • Virtual comfy chair, dining table, and tellybox
  • Virtual raised toilet, bath lift, fluffy bath mat, and squishy slippers
  • Virtual cycle helmet, of course! Safety first
  • A huge quantity of virtual food with masses of energy boosting virtual chocolate, and extra in case of diabetic hypos
Can you think of anything else?

 I have one more day of training tomorrow and then I'll be setting out on the first leg of the journey on Friday, so I really had better get a move on with thinking about how I'll be getting to my starting point.

 I'm starting to get nervous now, wondering if I can do this mammoth virtual cycle.  Sponsorship would spur me on, so go on, click here to donate on my Just Giving page.
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