Looking to the next challenge

This is still a relatively short journey but at the start of each of the two years I have written down the challenges I wanted to complete – I joined social media in a way I had never done before and used it to keep me honest and share what I was doing and why. There is something powerful about writing down your goals, neuroscientists have shown that people who write their goals down and more likely to achieve them than people that don’t.

The 2018 Challenges

So, by way of reminder here’s what I’ve committed to for 2018;

South Coast Sprint – 26 – 27 April – A warm up to the later challenge, the aim is to cycle the 400 miles from Dover to St Austell within 40hrs, solo and unsupported.

Pure Three Peaks – 20 – 22 June – This challenge consists of cycling the 450 miles between, and then trekking up, the UK’s three highest’s peaks – Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon, all in three days solo and unsupported.

Welsh 3000s – 19 – 20 July – One of the hardest classic walking challenges, this walk talks in all fifteen 3,000 foot peaks in Wales. The aim will be to complete the walk in 24hrs, walking from the first to the last summit.

5 Cities Challenge – 17 – 21 September – This challenge will see me cycle between five European cities in five days, solo and unsupported. The aim will be to cycle the 1,000 miles from London to Paris, Luxembourg, Brussels and finishing in Amsterdam.

Challenge 5 – A grand finale?

Confession time

So having said all that I’ve got a confession, there’s been some changes…

Life, as it has a habit of doing, has thrown some curve balls in July. This has meant that family has had to take priority while things settled and returned to as close to normal as they will be for a while.

As you’ll see from the above list Challenge 3 was due to be the Welsh 3000s but unfortunately that had to go on hold while life settled down. It is one I will come back to but for now I have to refocus on what is coming next.

In September, I’ll take on my 5 Cities Challenge, the essence of which is to cycle from Trafalgar Square in London and hit the major landmarks in five cities across Europe – the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Grand Square in Luxembourg City, the Atomium in Brussels and finally I’ll crawl in to a bar in Centrum, the lively heart of Amsterdam. Nearly 1,000 miles in 5 days and as ever solo and unsupported.

Unlike my previous challenges I am not going to be setting an itinerary for this one, I am going to equip myself to camp or find a hotel. Because I am aiming to complete 200 miles a day on average, I wanted to retain some flexibility to allow me to maximise the flat, good days. So I’m very excited about this one as its going to be physically tough but also be completely new.

The plan was to take on 5 challenges this year, I just didn’t write down the 5th – partly because it’s taken a while to work out the how and partly because I wasn’t sure I could actually do it. All I’ll say is that the reason I’m more nervous is that it won’t be on two wheels.

Grand finale and a Prize Raffle

So I know I haven’t said what the Grand Finale is, that will follow but just a note – as a way to launch my last challenge for 2018 I’ll be running a prize raffle. I’ve got three prize hampers of nutritional goodies to give away and hopefully raise a little extra for an amazing Charity…just watch this space.

Bit.ly/7in7competition

Why

As you’ll know by now, my challenges are all raising money for Make-A-Wish UK – to ensure they can grant even more magical wishes to children living with a life threatening condition. So far you, my supporters, have helped to raise over £2,500 for the Charity – I’d love to reach £5,000 by the end of the year. Please continue to like and share my posts and look out for some competitions over the coming weeks. If you’d like to donate head over to

http://www.justgiving.com/milesforwishes