Читать книгу Solitary Fitness - You Don't Need a Fancy Gym or Expensive Gear to be as Fit as Me - Charles Bronson - Страница 8

My good friend Tony Simpson called me and asked if I would take on a massive challenge, one that would push me to the limits. I listened to what he had to say. He asked if I would consider cycling 500km over Vietnam and Cambodia to raise money for a charity called Whizz-kidz, a charity that helps change the lives of many disabled children in the UK. I told Tony to send me the details.

I received the itinerary on what the challenge had to offer and it sounded amazing. I sent back my application form with the deposit to book me on the trip, which was to take place in November 2005. Tony had also booked on the trip. We decided to call the event ‘The Asda Challenge’ as both Tony and I worked for Asda. We wanted to get a team together so we advertised internally at Asda to get more people interested. We managed to get a team of eight of us from Asda and we were looking to raise at least £3,500 each.

One of the first things I had to do was find a hand-cycle and, after a lot of looking around, I finally purchased one from Da Vinci in Liverpool. I received the cycle in April 2005 and I started cycling the first day I got it, as I knew I had a lot of hard work to do. I entered some races to get used to the chair and in total I completed 13 10k races and half-marathons on the run-up to me going out to Vietnam. I raised money for different charities when I entered the races.

I had a lot of hard work to do in 2005; I had to get fit for the challenge and I had to raise the money to go over to Vietnam. I started training at The Fitness Suite at North Lindsey College in Scunthorpe. The guys down there were great. I did a lot of cardiovascular work and a lot of stamina work; I was training sometimes four to five days a week, which also included swimming and out cycling in my chair. I was finding it hard to fit all my training in, as I also had to work 41 hours a week at Scunthorpe Hospital and at Asda.

In terms of sponsorship, I received a lot of support from local businesses and charities, and I received some tremendous support from work colleagues. Asda Scunthorpe helped me raise a lot of my money – we held lots of different events in store – and Asda UK also helped our team a great deal with all there fundraising.

The year had flown past and 3 November was nearly upon us. I didn’t really know what to expect out in Vietnam but I was looking forward to the challenge.

When the time came, we went down to London and had breakfast on the Thursday morning before checking in at Heathrow at 9.30am for a midday departure to Thailand. There were a total of 22 of us taking part in the challenge, and it was great to meet up with everyone who was raising money for different charities. We had a long journey ahead of us, a 12-hour flight to Bangkok, and then we transferred to Saigon, before finally arriving Friday lunchtime. To say the least, I needed some sleep. After a few hours’ resting, we had our briefing with the two tour guides Chi and Phat, who were going to lead us through Vietnam, and they told us what to expect over the next four days. The following day we had to be up and ready to start cycling at 8am. We were going to cycle 52k from Saigon towards the Mekong Delta River.

On the first day of cycling from Saigon, we were hit by a monsoon. Talk about crazy weather. The terrain was challenging as we cycled down the gateway to the Mekong Delta River and then crossed it by ferry into the jungle. As we cycled past fields of sugar cane and banana plantations, the scenery was spectacular. When we got through the jungle I looked like I had been in mud bath, I was so covered in dirt. It was so wet, if I had stopped my chair in the jungle, I don’t think I would have got going again.

In Vietnam we saw the most remote and poor parts of the country. Visiting villages while we stopped for lunch, the locals were amazed to see me; our tour guide told me they were shouting ‘amazing strong man’ to me. Our journey through Vietnam was spectacular and I have many, many stories to tell. The weather played a massive part. It was so hot that the top half of my body was covered in heat rash and blisters, and all I could do was try and block the pain out.

On our final stage in Vietnam it started to rain and it cooled me down so much. It was great, but it didn’t make what was in front of us any easier. We had to climb five miles up a mountain, the roads were very wet and the front of my cycle started to slip as I climbed up. The mountain seemed to go on and on and, when I was about two miles from the top, I had to stop to put my cycle into the lowest gear I had. Two of my team were encouraging me and, with a lot of hard work, I made it to the top. As I sat on the top and looked back down, I was amazed at what I had just achieved, but the best was to come. As they say, what goes up must come down! The drop on the other side was unbelievable – as I got halfway down I was doing 24mph. Looking back, it maybe wasn’t safe but I enjoyed it at the time.

We transferred to Cambodia on a six-hour boat journey. Our tour guide was the national champion for cycling in Cambodia and would take us on our final two-day journey through Cambodia.

We started the 100km cycle from Phnom Penh. Most of the journey was dirt tracks and pot holes, and it was extremely hard work. Some of the cyclists were getting punctures, buckled wheels and one even snapped his pedals. We were surrounded by paddy fields and huge open plains, the scenery broken only by sugar palm trees and wooden huts and at times we saw water buffaloes. The heat meant I was in agony and the heat rash now covered half of my body. I was being pushed to my limits; 60 miles in such heat was no good. So why did I do it? I will tell you. We were doing it for a great cause –Whizz-Kidz.

The final stage of our first day in Cambodia was special, as we had now finished on the bumpy track roads and we had the final few miles on tarmac. It was like being at home. I pushed myself on and started to overtake the other cyclists. They were in shock – the two lads who had helped me get up the massive mountain in Vietnam were following me. I finished first and received the yellow jersey.

The last day of cycling was towards Seam Reap. We had to complete another 100km to the finish at Angkor Wat, and there was excitement as the finish drew near. We passed and visited many temples in Cambodia and they were unbelievable sights, and we also went to the poorest villages on the way. In one of the villages the children were using fans to cool us down, and our guide paid them some money. The poverty was extremely bad. The children seemed to enjoy us stopping in their village, and we offered them pop and snacks, although they wouldn’t accept them.

Our last day of cycling was excellent. Spirits were high and nothing was going to stop us now. I blocked the pain out and got on with the cycling. I knew I had nearly completed our amazing journey and I was thinking of visiting the temples at Angkor Wat; I was also looking forward to our celebration meal and a good sleep. We arrived at Angkor Wat around 1700hrs and I led the full team of 22 into the city. It was extremely vibrant. Seeing the temples of Angkor Wat was spectacular.

I completed the 500km in six days on my hand-cycle. It was the toughest challenge I have ever taken part in. My fitness was spectacular and at times I was pushing the other cyclists to their limit. The heat and humidity was a massive obstacle, but one I had to mentally get through and try and block out and I managed it.

I was the first person in the world to hand-cycle 500km over Vietnam and Cambodia. The feeling was spectacular – my team had just crossed the finish line and we had raised over £20,000 to help disabled children.

Solitary Fitness helped me achieve all these goals.