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I’ve made it one final checkpoint before my original predicted finish date for my Back in the Saddle exercise bike challenge. I am now in the Yorkshire Dales National Park! It’s a very long way to the next checkpoint at Hadrian’s Wall – 170km to be precise. Might take me a while to get there I think, even if I do keep managing to do 4-5km a day. Something between 34 and 42 days I reckon. Lots of pedaling to do.

I’ve now reached Bradford and, miracle of miracles, I’ve also passed the half way point! Yippee!!! This virtual challenge of cycling the distance from Land’s End to John o’Groats is taking me far longer than I ever thought it would, but with a bit of stubborn determination and a lot of encouragement from all of you, my amazing friends and family, I am slowly but surely getting there.

I am now in the beautiful Peak District National Park and 49% of the way through my virtual journey. I still can’t quite believe how far I’ve managed to cycle each day for the last few weeks. I’ve even managed 1 day were I hit the heady heights of 5km on my trusty exercise bike! That was what I was thinking I’d be achieving everyday, the whole way through this challenge You never know, at this rate I might make it to John o’Groats by the 1.5 anniversary (24 July 2022) of when I started, rather than my original predicated end date (24 January 2022). However, whenever I get there is fine with me. It’s not like someone’s going to come along and move the finishing post.

In my last update I said that I hoped to get to the next checkpoint before the end of the year and I have actually managed it! Just got to Sheffield. If things had gone to plan, I would only be about 25 days away from finishing, but at least I am now making better progress again now. Every turn of the pedals gets me that little bit further from Land’s End and a tiny bit closer to John o’Groats. My next stop is the Peak District National Park and I believe it’s only about 21km away, so shouldn’t take me too long to get there.

I know it’s not been long since my last update, but I’ve actually made it to the next checkpoint. I am now managing between 3 and 4 km a day, so things are definitely improving. This checkpoint is Sherwood Forest, which is 45% of the way through the virtual route from Lands End to John o’Groats. The next stop will be Sheffield. You never know, if I keep going at the rate that I am, I might even get there before 2022! We shall see…

Time for another update. I’ve made it as far as Nottingham now. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve managed to cover 3km a day on several occasions! I don’t want to tempt fate or speak too soon, but maybe, just maybe, I’m finally starting to come out of this fatigue flare. Keeping fingers firmly crossed, touching lots of wood and all that sort of thing anyway.

Strange to think that if I’d been able to keep to my original target, of about 5km a day, I’d only be about 40 or so days away from John o’Groats right now. But hey, I’ve kept going and I am getting closer to the end point with every slow turn of the pedals. Hopefully, I’ll be able to carry on building up my strength and stamina and will get there by the middle of next year.

I made it as far as Leicester on my virtual exercise bike challenge – going from Lands End to John o’Groats! I virtually ‘dropped in’ to see our favourite Leicester resident. It would have been a great opportunity to play some board games I’m sure.

I may be rather behind my original target of reaching John o’Groats by 24th January, but hey, all things considered, I’m proud of the fact that I’m still going and have now got past the 40% point of the route. Next stop will be Nottingham, which is 43km away. I’ll do another update when I get there.

Made it to Coventry. Nearly 40% of the way through the challenge, but nearly 80% of the way through the original time allocation. I’ll get there in the end though. Next stop Leicester. Hope I get a warm welcome there!

I’m autistic, and while I don’t take absolutely everything literally, I’ve realised recently that I’ve been struggling to accept accessibility adjustments for a while.