On ‘is bike

In the first of a series of articles, Terry Lilley tells us about what he did in his summer holidays….

I believe that cycling makes you happy.

I have been cycling around like mad trying to show that this is true. Or, to be specific, I’ve cycled across the UK. Oh, and up it.

Last year, I fell off my bike on black ice. This year, in April, I successfully cycled from St. David’s in Pembrokeshire to Lowestoft, crossing the UK at its widest point. It was a fantastic trip, camping every night (well nearly, nipping home just the once).

To me, it was a kind of proof of concept….and so I decided that Lands End to John O’ Groats would be possible (nicely timed with my summer holidays). I work as an ESOL Lecturer at Bournville College. When I told colleagues, they suggested that I should use this as an opportunity to raise money for, and awareness of, a charity.

That’s where CALM came in.

I was appalled when I discovered that suicide is the biggest killer of young men and decided that if I could at least raise awareness of this then it was worth trying to do something. So in July I set out from Lands End.

People were extremely kind. Several campsites along the way waived their fees when they heard what I was doing. But for me, the most interesting thing was the reaction I got from people along the way – people shared their experiences in a way that was very enlightening.

In rural areas, some spoke of suicide “epidemics” among young farmers. Many felt it was because men find it harder to open up emotionally. I think there may be some truth in that, but it’s not always been my experience.

I remember a lovely man, 70 years old, who cycled with me for a few hours in the Forest of Bowland. When I gave him a card about CALM, he began to cry. His wife had died a year to the day before and the area was one where they had often walked together. I cannot tell you how honoured I was that he shared his feelings with me and we hugged before we parted ways.

My route took me from Land’s End via Dartmoor, Glastonbury, The Wye Valley, over the Shropshire Hills, across the River Mersey and onwards, ever onwards.

And I got run over on route 66, but more on that later….

There’ll be more from Terry soon. If you want to thank him for all his good work, you can sponsor him here.