Well not quite, but Dick will be cycling 24,901.55 miles this year (equal to the earths circumference), in order to raise money for Children in Need.
Dawn to Dusk off road super endurance bike-athon
As part of this challenge, on the 16th of November, Dick will be cycling non stop around Pitsford Resevoir for 12 hours.
To sponser Dick, you can do one of the following;
- Pledge by email to [email protected]
- By cheque to BBC Children in Need Appeal, sent to Dick at Northants Police FHQ Wootton Hall park, Northampton NN4 0JQ
- By direct deposit at any branch of HSBC bank
- By cash direct to Dick who will deposit at HSBC
- By ringing Dick and pledging directly on 07557 776349
‘Around my world’.
In 1997 I thought I was pretty fit and decided to lead a team of Police Officers on a round-the-county bike ride for charity which we named ‘The Land Ranger Challenge 97.’ This event saw my good friends and I cycle 110 miles in 10 hours for a national charity and was enough to seriously wet my appetite for endurance fitness. A matter of weeks later I announced that I would lead a team of cyclists the following September from Lands End to John O’Groats. And that’s exactly what we did, covering just under a thousand fabulous miles in 9 days.
In 2002 I lead another Police team on the long road to John O’Groats and we covered the same ground in six days. That was a real tough one for me and a good lesson in understanding where my physical and mental toughness was at the time. If I wanted to continue with this passion for pushing myself I needed to take my fitness to a higher level.
I started to cycle to work from the south side of Kettering to Northampton, sometimes twice a week, covering the 29 mile round trip from my home out past Sywell airport. I continued to run regularly and kept a good level of fitness as the big Four-Zero loomed.
In 2007 I started to record annual cycling mileage and I was quite impressed with myself by clocking up just over 1500 miles for the year (a distance I now regularly complete every 12 weeks). All mileage that had gone before 1 January 2007 was disregarded.
I was still combining cycling and running but I knew I could do a lot more on a bike if I focused my mind and so was naturally pleased when 2008 passed with a recorded mileage of just less than 2500 miles.
In 2009 I came to a cross-road and made a massive decision which has brought me to where I am today. Petrol prices were soaring to well over 80p a litre (!!) and I had a rusty old car sitting on my drive that frankly was worth less than my bike. I was now regularly covering the 29 mile journey and started to wonder. Then in a moment of madness the decision was made that shaped the next three years...………… no more car, I would sell it and try to do without.
This was it, a seriously tough solitary on-going physical test that really appealed to my psyche – how far can you push your exhausted body, how deep is your reservoir of inner strength, how much pain and discomfort can you endure before you say…no more?
29 miles-a-day, every working day, what-ever the weather through all seasons…... until I dropped? Or until my body adapted? A few weeks, six months maybe and then I might want to buy another cheap run-around?
Well that was 2009 and let me tell you, I’ve been to the edge of what I thought was physically and mentally possible and now appreciate that it’s only when you reach the very edge of ability that you can see greater things beyond it.
Some of the coldest winters and wettest summers on record have seen to that and I’ve come through it all.
And so here I am, 1 November 2012 just over a thousand miles to go, and still no car. My trusty bikes have been like ‘triggers broom!’ and at times yes, I feel dog tired. Over the last 3 years I’ve clocked up over 15,000 miles with a current overall total of 23,828 since 1 January 2007.
At the start of our fabulous Olympic year I set myself the final target for this challenge – ‘Complete 5604 miles for the year and you will have traveled a distance equivalent to the equatorial circumference of the earth.’ Sounds a lot doesn’t it but if you were considering buying a car with 25K on the clock you might view it as having low mileage? That’s how small our planet seems to have become, but believe me, with only your legs as a power source, 25K is a long, long road!
The physical fatigue has to be kept in check with a high-carb diet, lots of fluids and a good sleep pattern. I think I turned a point and overcame the mental fatigue after enduring the freezing temperatures of December 2010, the coldest on record in the UK.
I now think very differently about the task in hand each day as the 5.00am alarm sounds. I fall out of bed not knowing whether it’s wet or dry; calm or blowing a gale outside but it doesn’t matter. A friend said to me recently, there’s no such thing as bad weather Dick, just bad kit’, and he’s damn right! I just get on with it.
The mileage has become almost therapeutic – my journey to work helps me to focus on the tasks for the day and the journey home guarantees I’ve off-loaded Police work long before I step back into ‘husband and dad’ mode. The confidence too that this journey has given me to visualize a new career after my Police service concludes in 2 years time is immense.
But that’s enough about me. As of 1 November 2012 I have 1073 miles to go to reach that golden global target. So on 16 November, for BBC Children in Need I commence a 12 hour Dawn to Dusk cycle challenge around Pitsford reservoir in a bid to knock at least 100 miles off the remaining distance.
I am sure you would agree that BBC Children in Need is a good cause, each year the fruits of which bring much needed joy to the lives of many unhappy, impoverished, deprived or just downright unfortunate children right here in the UK.
If my story and progress I have made interests you and you would like to make a donation to the appeal in a way that represents a bit more than just picking up the phone and pledging money generally, then make me work for it on BBC Children in Need day 16 November 2012 ………….. What-ever the weather!
Each circuit is 7 miles (11km) how many circuits do you think I can do in 12 hours?
I will have a small support crew supplying me with food and hot drink but if you wish to
join me for a circuit or two I would welcome the company. Come prepared though to get wet and muddy.
You can donate cash or cheque, or pledge via email to [email protected]. I will bank all cash and cheques prior to 16 November and collect all pledges as soon after the event as possible.