Nell set herself a challenge at the beginning of the COVID lockdown to cycle from Chorley to Liverpool when travel restrictions were lifted and she was able to get out. Nell has been a player for Burnley FC Women and Girls since the age of 5 and wishes to play football professionally as an adult, she is currently 15. Her health and fitness is extremely important to her and during lockdown she has worked hard to maintain and improve this, she therefore felt prepared for this cycling challenge.
Nell asked if we could hire an electronic bike, not to use throughout her journey but as a plan B if she felt significantly fatigued or needed to reach her meeting point quickly in the case of emergency. We approached icycle and went to meet Ian. Ian kindly offered that he lend Nell a bike free of charge and was extremely interested in her and what she planned to do and wanted to achieve.
Nell independently planned every element of her challenge from equipment required, to nutrition along the way, the route, identifying meeting points and her pre cycle care from a fitness perspective. On the day she was up at 4:50 am for a gentle run as a warm up. We travelled to Chorley and in the pouring rain she set off at 8am. By the first stop 8 miles later, she was covered in mud and wet through. This did not deter her and she continued to Liverpool, stopping on the way in Kirby to give a school friend a birthday present and at 5pm she finished and we set off back home. She achieved 43 miles and used only one bar of the charge from the battery. She was exhausted and somewhat cold, wet and sore. We encouraged her to identify a charity and she raised her target for Black Lives Matter. When I asked her why this charity her simple and uncomplicated response was "because its important".
