The Aftermath

Monday, 25 July 2011

My legs are stiff.  They were OK until yesterday when I started to do some gardening – I’ve clearly been using muscles that I haven’t used for some time!  My good friend and gardening expert Bill Barker (he could give Alan Titchmarsh a run for his money) advised me to alternate nicejobs in the garden with nasty jobs.  Which would be OK if there were any nice jobs!

It has been hectic since I got back last Wednesday. What a homecoming! It was great to see so many people turning out to welcome me back. 

One of the main jobs has been to collate all the donations that have been made. People have been really generous – and a lot of money has come in since the finish, with the result that donations have now reached the high teens of thousands.  I’m meeting Sarah MacPhee from Cancer Research UK tomorrow, and there are so many cheques to hand over she may need a Securicor escort!  If we carry on at this rate I think Val can look forward to the return of a clean-shaven husband pretty soon.

On the subject of donations, I’ve been promised a share of the proceeds from the Clitheroe Rock at the Castle gig on Friday 12 August – so please make a note in your diary to be there – the more the better!  Details are athttp://www.rockthecastle.co.uk.

There have been a lot of people to thank, and I hope I’ve got round to them all. If I have forgotten any, I apologise.

On Sunday I went on Sean MacGinty’s morning show on Radio Lancashire, which is always fun.  I was able to make a few comments on matters like the Greek debt bail-out (don’t give them the money, give everyone in the UK £500 instead, on condition they go to Greece on holiday!) But the sad news of Norway and Amy Winehouse put a bit of a damper on things, naturally.

I also made the front page of the local paper – the Clitheroe Advertiser & Times – but the piece for Granada TV News didn’t seem to materialise – well, I couldn’t compete with Mark Cavendish!  Tonight I’ve done a photo-shoot for the Evening Telegraph with Val threatening to cut off the beard with a pair of scissors!

The motorhome has gone into James Alpe Ltd for repair – fortunately the insurance will cover it.

Sunderland, mid-June - notice the exceptionally fine weather. It was pouring down by tea-time of course!

Finally, today I received a really nice message of endorsement from Sir Ranulph Fiennes, adventurer and holder of several endurance records (The Guinness Book of Records describes him as “the world’s greatest living explorer”). He said:

‘Bill Honeywell has just finished a non-stop 4,500-mile cycle around the entire coast of Great Britain – a gruelling challenge by any standards.  Please show your support for this effort by donating generously to Cancer Research UK, a cause which is also very close to my heart.’

Well chuffed!

A Resumé For New Readers (and some more information for everybody)

Thursday, 21 July 2011

I meant to post this a few days ago, but had no wi-fi signal and then forgot I’d written it!  Now the ride is over, it still seems appropriate if you just substitute with the past tense where appropriate! --- 

I realise many people will have found this blog some time after I started this bike ride on 10 May (I think that was this year but it seems so long ago now, I’m not sure!)  So perhaps it would be a good idea to let you know a few things and let you know some of the events so far.

First of all, this is a 4,400-odd bike ride around the coast of Great Britain which I am doing in an attempt to raise £20,000 for Cancer Research UK. I’ve had cancer twice, and nearly everyone has a cancer story to tell, if not of themselves, then of someone very close to them.

I’m going clockwise from Clitheroe in Lancashire, so I started off up the Fylde Coast, then Cumbria, Scotland… and so on. I’m doing the ride in one go – no breaks – with one exception, which was that I had to nip back from Oban to Clitheroe to attend the wedding of my nephew Chris and Nic after ten days. Since 24 May I haven’t had a day off.

The weather on the first day was fine. After that it rained at some time every day (and often all day) for weeks and weeks, and a times the wind was so strong it was impossible to stay on the bike. This culminated, on 24 May, when gusts in nearby Loch Aline reached 90 knots (100 mph) with a large oak tree being blown over on top of the motorhome whilst we were all inside. That was a worrying moment, I can tell you, and how the motorhome survived with nothing worse than a broken windscreen and a few dents I’ll never know.

I’ve had a few companion cyclists, but most of the riding has been alone.  Accommodation, and brew/food stops, are provided by a motorhome which has been crewed by different volunteers who have come out to do a week’s stint at a time.  Except on one occasion, when the lovely Margaret Rose put us up in her house near Colchester, fed us heartily and provided us with enough food for the next week!

I’m due to finish next Wednesday 20 July.  The amount raised for Cancer Research UK stands at around £12,000 (now over £16,000!!), including over £300 from 11-year old Ella Spencer who organised a cake stall at her home a couple of weeks ago.  So more donations are desperately needed – especially as I’ve promised not to shave my beard off until the target is reached – and Valerie, my wife, hates the beard!

I’m using Twitter to keep people up-to-date of progress – you can find me there as @CancerBikeMan, and you can also find me on Facebook.

Day 69 and the very last day! Thurstaston to Clitheroe

Wednesday, 20 July 2011

83 miles; the final grand total: 4,440 miles

From underwhelmed to overwhelmed! – Ferry across the Mersey – Surprise company – We go squirrel hunting and almost regret it – An incredible homecoming reception - Can I cope with all the media?

I’m sitting in my living room for the first time in over ten weeks. Earlier, after I arrived home, I had a shower and for a while couldn’t remember where I kept my socks.  That’s when it dawned upon me how long I’d been away – longer than I’ve ever been away from home in my entire life.

Although it’s a nice feeling, it really is a little difficult to come to terms with at first, but I’m getting so many emails and tweets which are a welcome distraction from having to get back to reality. I feel good, really.

As I was getting ready this morning I was a little surprised that it didn’t feel any different from all the others: I really expected that it would have done. Although I knew it was the last day, I’m not sure that I felt it was the last day.

I love the red sandstone that outcrops all over the place on the Wirral (often at the base of stone walls). It was formed in the Permian Period, 250 – 300 million years ago, and the strata show so clearly that the rock is basically solidified desert sand dunes.

The view from West Kirby - you can just see the oil rig that I passed yesterday at Mostyn in Wales.

West Kirby, Hoylake, Wallasey, New Brighton – all easy going and level, taking me around the peninsula’s perimeter to Birkenhead. At the Seacombe terminal for the Mersey Ferry I asked a uniformed gentleman if I was at the right ferry and how I should go about getting a ticket. He turned out to be a bus driver – but he was still very helpful!

Once off the ferry I did a telephone interview for Radio Lancashire and then set off on busy roads north towards Crosby.  When I got to Seaforth, three familiar cyclists were gesticulating at the side of the road – Richard Dugdale, Mick Bryan and Big Al Taylor, who had come to ride the final 60 miles back to Clitheroe with me. I had half-expected they would!

I thought we had a lot of time and would arrive much back in Clitheroe much earlier than the four o’clock which I had estimated and told everyone.  So when we got to Formby we went on a diversion to Formby Point in the hope of seeing some Red Squirrels. None were seen, though there were hundreds of tiny schoolchildren. Al said it was more like Disneyland than a nature reserve.

Marine Drive, Southport

As we got to the very long road that is Southport’s Marine Drive I started to feel that we’d spent too much time on our squirrel hunt and we needed to press on.  The tide was out, meaning that the sea was nowhere to be seen, but we could see Blackpool across the Ribble Estuary.  The Ribble flows past Clitheroe, so I was really feeling near home now!

The soil in this area is incredibly black and fertile, and some of the crops are really quite picturesque.

As I arrived in Preston, I ‘closed the loop’ – having crossed the point where I had been ten weeks ago – and, I suppose, officially completed my circumnavigation of the coast. Soon after, Geoff Isherwood was waiting at the side of the road opposite his office, and fixed a big ‘Congratulations’ balloon to the back of my bike, whilst looked upon from on high by all the staff at Forbes Solicitors!

We were joined by Mick Wood, who rode on Day One, together with another two cyclists from Clitheroe Bike Club, and by 3.30 we were only two miles from Clitheroe. Thinking that some people might not be at Castlegate yet, there followed a rather surreal 20 minutes’ wait before we set off again into the town.

As we headed up Moor Lane, the other riders held up the traffic behind to let me go ahead, to be hailed by the bell of the Town Crier, Roland Hailwood, and scores and scores of friends. What a fabulous moment!  After breaking the finishing tape I made a short speech, relieved that this time, unlike the end of the 214 Wainwrights, I managed to hold it together without getting too emotional!  Then there were interviews with Granada Reports, East Lancs News and Sean MacGinty on Radio Lancashire before I could get on with the serious job of meeting and greeting all the people who had helped, donated, and just generally supported the ride.

Crossing the line

Being interviewed by Ben from Granada Reports (nice view of the office in the background!)...

...and then Faiza from East Lancs News

Me, Val, Roland the Town Crier, Big Al, Richard, and other helpers Tony, Frank, Simon, Ian, Mick and Bernadette.

Good ol' Mum & Dad!

"You're SO in trouble if you don't shave off that beard!!!"

And after it had all died down… I cycled the two miles back to my village of West Bradford to start the long painful process of my rehabilitation… (!)

There is a lot more to say, but not tonight.  I’ll be trying to get things straight tomorrow, catching up with urgent jobs, but I’ll also hopefully find time to provide you with a few more thoughts, insights, reminiscences - and acknowledgements of all the help I’ve had on the ride.  And there may be a few words from a very famous hero of mine…

Day 68 – Caernarfon to Thurstaston (Wirral)

Tuesday, 19 July 2011

91 miles; total 4,357 miles.

The penultimate day! And the weather was kind – what a change! Visitors from Clitheroe, and attention from the media.

Tonight we’re going out with friends Alan & Christine Beggs who have come down to the Wirral to see us on the last night – so the blog may be a little on the short side!

We had an early night last night in preparation for an early start this morning, but at half-past midnight were awoken by the people in the next caravan having a party, or so it seemed.  Not amused. Strange how this morning at 6.00 am I was feeling particularly noisy as I got the bike out and blew the tyres up!

The footbridge over to the magnificent Caernarfon Castle has a sign with a man pushing a bike in a red circle – so I presume they mean you CAN’T push your bike over. So I rode mine.  Heck, there’s a lot of castle in Caernarfon !

It turned wet in Bangor, and after that came the extremely busy A55: there are cycle routes provided for so I didn’t have to risk life and limb with the traffic.  When you get to the first tunnel at Penmaenmawr, the cycle route goes over the gantry with the lane signs, then over the top of the tunnel; for the second it goes on the seaward side of the cliffs. Absolutely great, and they must have cost a fortune.

Conwy was spectacular with the Castle and bridge together; then into the wind to Llandudno with views of the Great Orme before turning east with the wind right at my back. I loved doing 25 mph + along the prom!

At Penrhyn Bay I saw three familiar faces at the side of the road – my former neighbour and great friend Alison Fisher with her grown-up offspring Claire and Matt. Now that was a surprise!  What’s more, Claire had brought £120 which she’d collected from the customers in her pub the other night. The three of them came to the next two fuel stops, which was good company.

I carried on apace, enjoying the high speeds, through Colwyn Bay, Rhyl and Prestatyn, then through Mostyn and Llanerch-y-Mor, where there is a surprise view of an old hulk of a ship.  Over the impressive suspension bridge over the Dee – not bicycle friendly, with a path on the bridge but not even a dropped kerb at each end – then back into England at last, and a last 18 miles into the wind (I didn’t mind by now!).  Parkside is an interesting village on the Dee marshes on the west side of the Wirral, but it certainly catches the wind.

During the day there have been calls from Radio Lancashire and Granada Reports, so there’s a chance that there may be some useful publicity to help fundraising for Cancer Research tomorrow.

So hopefully tomorrow, given a good day, I should be back in Clitheroe at around 4.00. Let’s hope there’s another following wind!

That’s it, I need to get showered and changed for a big pasta meal tonight.  More tomorrow.

The Last Day

Monday, 18 July 2011

A few people have asked where and when I'm due to finish.  Well, if all goes according to plan (and who knows?) then I'm hoping to finish where I started - at Castlegate, Clitheroe - at around 4 o'clock on Wednesday, 20 July.

If you are thinking of being there, please do check my progress on www.fleetsmartlive.com in case I'm either early or late - the tracker should give you a pretty accurate idea of when I'm due back.

It would be nice to see people at the finish but be warned - there will be helpers there with collection buckets for Cancer Research UK - so make sure you bring some money with you!

(Which reminds me. I think the total amount pledged is now over £12,000 but the target is £20,000.  The beard which I've grown these last few weeks will STAY ON until I reach the target.  Valerie is NOT happy about this and I could be banished to the spare bedroom.  Please help!!!)

Day 67 – Abersoch to Caernarfon

Day 67 – Abersoch to Caernarfon

53 miles; total 4,267 miles; 172 miles to go.

Firstly a few words about yesterday.  My cunning plan to go a bit further than planned came at a price.  With 78 miles to do on Monday, 94 miles on Tuesday and 77 on the last day, and a poor weather forecast, I thought if I got ahead a bit it would be a good idea.  I had felt strong in the morning and confident of managing a long day.  But as soon as the decision had been made, the heavens opened. Even Noah would have felt under-prepared. And for the last 25 miles the headwind was just cruel.  The rain continued through the night on our improvised caravan site; making a call on the phone as I approached the site, my up-to-then dry iPhone became drenched and went on partial strike; and the T-Mobile people were telling me I had used up by ‘fair use’ allotment and wouldn’t give me access to wi-fi.

I was, to put it mildly, cheesed off.

Never mind, you can’t drive a car by looking in the rear view mirror all the time; onwards and upwards…  So this morning I set off with the intention of seeing how things went, then deciding at the first pit-stop whether to go for Conwy and make Tuesday easier, or stick to Plan ‘A’ and stay at Caernarfon.

It didn’t take long to decide. I was feeling knackered after yesterday.  I thought Abersoch was at the west of the Lleyn peninsula, but I kept going west for a further 20 miles, into the headwind and including a long and rather vicious climb up to Rhiw. I didn’t feel on top of my game, I can tell you.  So a short day was decided upon.

Nice to visit Abersoch by the way. As far as I know, until today, everyone in Clitheroe except me had been to Abersoch.  Now I don’t need to feel left out any more.

The Lleyn peninsula has some interesting scenery, with rugged cliffs, woodland and marshes, but the villages seemed uninspiring with many of the houses plain and utilitarian. And every village seems to have at least one awful-looking plain, domineering Methodist Chapel - Cromwell would have loved them.

At Nefyn the rain returned, making the long climb out of the town up on to the moors a little less pleasant, but the descent was fast.  A short detour around Foryd Bay and Saron, and the day was over, here in Caernarfon, where I was met by John and Helen Rushton, old friends who did part of one of the Wainwright walks with me two years ago.

Catherine has reccied the footbridge over to Caernarfon Castle and tells me it doesn’t open until 7 am, so that’s when I’m starting tomorrow. A long day coming up, after that only one left. Scary!  KPO.

Thanks to Captain Greybeard

I’m very grateful to my big brother for updating the blog for me. Clearly all those years in Fleet Street have taught him a thing or two about hacking into other people’s emails! (Only kidding, I gave him the passwords).

I do have to correct him on one point. Despite his advancing years he may well remember his holiday at Butlin’s, Pwllheli, and there may even be a daguerrotype image of his happy stay there.  But if you wanted to see a photo of me it would have to be an ultrasound scan, and I don’t think they were using them all those years ago!

I have wi-fi tonight here at Caernarfon so I'll try to get up-to-date. But for some reason Blogger won't let me upload photos from my laptop - it's only just started doing this - has anyone else come across the problem? Let me know if you can help me fix it!