Day 27: Standish to Cuddington

So today was a another day wheeling, we set off quite early at 7 o'clock in the morning. We had to do that because of going into Sale Sharks later on in the day. Quite early, really, to set off, normally would quite like to set off a little bit later, to get away from work traffic, but fortunately, it's Sunday, so that didn't really apply, and it was actually really, really pleasant on the roads, not much traffic at all. So we went to the set off point, took about 20 minutes to get there. Um, so actually we started moving at 7:20 and managed to wheel 45 km in 4 hours and 15 minutes, which is much further than, or quite a bit further than, a marathon, which is 42km. I managed to wheel 45 + 3 km extra, but 17 minutes faster than my world record, so really pleased with that. It was actually really tough today. There was a long incline at the start and also had another 16% incline again as well. It seems to be that now I've had one, I keep getting 1 almost every day, if not more than 1, which is really, really tricky. So when you've got something that tough, and I've mentioned this before, it's hard to keep going, because it drains your strength so much. On a hill like that, you're relying on your grip strength to keep you moving and keep you from rolling backwards, it's really difficult to put the little hand brakes on my chair. So there are little hand brakes that you can put on and they're basically made of plastic, so they don't brake you at all, but they will hold your chair in place, if you can manage to get them on. When you're stationary, they stop your chair from rolling around where you are. It's really difficult to get them on and off when you're on an incline of 12% and up. The incline is so steep that the front wheel does come off the floor and I have to lean as far forward as I can to stop myself from rolling backwards, and stop the chair from completely tipping over, which it would do if I was to sit upright on something like that, I'd also just roll backwards, so it takes every single bit of strength that I have just to get myself moving and keep myself moving.

You feel everything at that point, your lungs are burning and you're gasping for breath, because you can't get enough oxygen, and are just straining and straining, because for those that go to the gym, or if you Google what 1 rep max is, basically it's a maximum lift that you do when you're doing weight training. So it's your maximum lift that you can do that for one repetition, and it's very hard to do that for more than that. So every time I'm doing a hill like that, this is like doing a 1 rep max over and over and over. Basically the most that I've lifted, by lifting my body weight and my chair, and then going uphill against gravity. I wouldn't even like to put that into kilos, so I have no idea what that would be, but it would certainly be more than I normally bench press! I can bench press probably about 60 kilos and I weigh that, so I'm doing the 60 kilos plus my chair, plus gravity and plus the track wheel, so it's considerably more.

So to put it mildly, it's really, really tough! But you have to keep going. On some hills that steep, you can use momentum by rocking forward and pushing to help you get up the hill. But on a percentage climb, it's impossible to do something like that because I can't move backwards in order to launch forwards! So I've just got to hope that I've got enough in me to get up there! But I did, and it was actually a really, really good day at the start.

Bad weather seems to be hitting now. It's since we reached the North. No surprise, as the North is quite often a bit wet. I did get a bit drenched today. I was very wet and soggy! Not what I really wanted when you're going straight into a rugby club, wearing your kit, and are probably going to be smelling a bit like a wet dog. I knew I was going to have to be sitting there in that wet kit for quite a while, as well as meeting some amazing people.

It was Sharon's first day today. So Sharon's just joined the team. I had to say goodbye to my lovely wife. She drove Sharon up from Devon and stayed over. It was just so great to see her. Such a lovely boost. I miss her terribly. I get to speak to her all the time, but I still miss her ❤️

Sharon was quite nervous about doing this challenge. I'm not surprised. Obviously, it's a new car. She's not used to using an electric car. I don't think that anyone in the team, other than Paul, has used an electric car before, and even then, this is difficult for him because it's a different type of car than he's used to, so he also had to get used to the car. It's getting used to the controls and all the technology, because it's very high-tech. And then charging it. On top of the fact that there are a few other bits to do each day. So, there are hand signals that I used to ask the car to stop and then go and other things like that, and then there's communicating when it comes to directions! What's the best way for that person to do it, will it be to ring me? Which can quite often go wrong. Sometimes I can't answer because, if it's raining or it's really cold, my earphones won't let me. Sometimes my gloves just don't let me answer the phone either, so that can be a bit difficult too. Also, on top of that is the safety element as well. So basically, it's the driver and passengers' job to keep me safe, which is just a bit of responsibility there!

I try to do the best that I can and I will sort out communicating details they need to know, like where I'm likely to be on the road and why? It comes down to things like cambers as to where I need to position myself, and it comes down to the road's surface. It can come down to potholes as well. So obviously that can be quite scary for the driver if I'm close to the white line on a busy road. But sometimes I have to be there, because the camber won't let me go anywhere else, otherwise I'm likely to tip out of the chair.

So yeah, it can be a lot of responsibility and obviously nerve-racking when you're coming into a situation like that. But she's done amazingly. Straight into it, perfect from the word go. She's absolutely incredible and you wouldn't guess that she was nervous at all. She's just her usual self, really! Cheery, really funny. She definitely cheered me up. Not that I was miserable, but you know, it can be quite tough, and last week was a really tough week. Basically, it was lovely to see Sharon, she always makes me laugh and we get along really well and it's really lovely to have it here.

I finished the day wet and soggy and we then drove to Sale Sharks. Straight away met Jo Brown, who is one of the Sale Sharks women's team. We've been chatting for quite some time on LinkedIn, and she offered to help this year, and she's just been amazing. She tried so hard to help get the Sale Sharks visit together and be there on the day. She's just a really, really lovely person. I got to meet a few of the other girls as well. In fact, there were quite a few of the Sale Sharks players there, and a few of them were USA Eagles as well, which obviously made me really, really happy, because I absolutely adore the USA Eagles.

It was really amazing meeting the girls. It was a shame that we didn't get longer to speak to them, because the chaps were playing that day, and so the End2End part was quite fast and furious and rushed through the relay part. But it was great of them to do what they did. This is about women's rugby for me. It's about getting women's rugby out there. It's about the girls. I want them to be up front and centre, I have an inkling why the clubs are bringing me in to men's games, instead of the women's. A couple of the team have said that they are putting me at men's matches, because that'll get a huge amount of exposure for the women, which they, sadly, wouldn't yet get! Yet!!! I think that's probably right.

I know that the girls aren't playing as many games at the moment, but there are still games going on, so it would have been possible, potentially, to have each visit at a women's game, but it depends if the girls were there and a lot were at WXV.

ITV Granada were there too, which was wonderful of them to come and they did a little video, which was shown later on in the day and it had the girls in it, which was exactly what I wanted, and that makes me really happy, and Jo was there giving the ball to me which was awesome. They also showed it the next day in the morning as well, which was brilliant. So a bit of exposure for the girls, which is exactly what I wanted. We had a bit of a chat too, which was really nice.

It was still raining when I got there, so we got a bit soggy again, and then I was kind of rushed off to go onto the pitch, which again, was a huge privilege to do that. In my opinion, probably a little bit early. Because if I had done it about 10 minutes later, the stands would have been pretty full and it would have got more people knowing about the challenge and then in turn, knowing about the women's game and maybe giving it a go and donating to the charities. But what they did was amazing, and we still got it to some people.

They took me on the pitch, probably when there was about just over a quarter of the stands full, so not as many people as there could have been, but I did a little Q&A with the announcer, which was really amazing. Really nerve-wracking, doing that in front of such a big space, actually. I looked up at the stand and it was a bit like when I was at Wigan Warriors and all of a sudden, people were clapping and it's always very surreal. I don't know how to process that because to me, I'm just wheeling a wheelchair!

To be honest, I don't really think about wheeling. I don't really think about anything other than the end goals of hoping beyond all hopes that I get to that finish line, the charities have got a decent amount of pennies and some people will turn up to the women's games, or some women will take up playing rugby. That I'll be able to help them in some way. And hopefully get more people into those stands, so the game'll keep going and keep growing again. I know I'm only one person, and I can't really effect that much change, but even if I can just get a few people there, then that's going to make me really happy. So that's really all I think about.

So, that happened, and then I went back in again, and managed to have a little chat with Jo and the team for a few minutes and then was whisked away to the hospitality section. It was all in one room, which was lovely, and they had various food, which you could buy, which is really nice, so we managed to get something that was gluten-free for tea. So that's saved time. I think the kick-off was at 6 o'clock.

So obviously, it was going to be quite late back, so trying to find something to eat at that time would have been a nightmare. So it was nice to have some lovely beef brisket and mashed potatoes, which was actually really yummy. The mashed potatoes were lovely.

We were introduced to a couple of people, which was really nice and then we sat on the balcony and watched the men's game. So, I'm watching different stuff all the time, so the first men's game of any was Glasgow Warriors in Scotland, then Wigan Warriors, where I watched league, and that was that was absolutely awesome. Then we watched Sale Sharks, which was their first game of the season and they beat Harlequins, but only just, but it was SO close, and was really tough, but fantastic that they beat them.

I'm always a Chiefs supporter, they're always my number one, they're amazing, and I absolutely adore them all. To be honest, it's really nice to go and appreciate all female rugby players and what they do, because you know that they have all been to different clubs. They all move around and I think probably most of them know each other and they are incredibly amazing and inspirational, wonderful human beings and I haven't met one that I didn't feel a massive sense of 'wow' about. I mean that they are just amazing and that they're so humble. They all just say, "I'm lucky I get to do what I love doing." Claude said at my launch event, "I just run around with a bag of air and I'm lucky to be able to do that."

So, in order to get to run around with that bag of air, they have to work their socks off, and a lot do jobs that they wouldn't ordinarily do, especially when you find out that most of them are incredibly qualified in one way or another. So you take Jo, for instance, who's a really, really highly qualified physio, and works for the NHS. She works part-time and then drives miles and miles to go to training (a few hours) and then has to stay over as well because she's so far away from training. Yeah, she does that. Week in, week out. Match after match, she does it. Just to play the game that she loves. Name any other professional sportspeople who have to do that? There aren't many because most sports you get grants and loans and sponsorship and all the things that you should get when you're a professional athlete. It's only really in rugby that I can think that these things don't exist for people at this level and it's quite sickening.

Here is where you are realising that, when I write this blog and start talking about women's rugby, I don't tend to shut up, so I'll move on!

So yeah, I watched the men's game. It was really lovely and then got stuck in a bit of traffic trying to get out of the grounds, which was unexpected. We sat in the car park for about probably about 45 minutes and didn't move at all. People leaving men's games can be quite brutal, too! I didn't know that!

When it comes to getting out of the car park, there were a few people unnecessarily being mean to others, but that's the nature of people trying to get home. We managed to get back to the accommodation, and it was quite late going to bed, but it was a really, really good day. I wheeled from Standish to Cunnington. I've still got that tiny little bit that I'm behind from last week, where on the very hilly day, because of all the stops and things, I ended up stopping a bit early. So I've still got that to make up, but hopefully I'm chipping away at it day by day. Moving on to another day. 👌💪