9th April - Day 30 - Pedalling to stand still

Cycling home yesterday I thought was going to be much easier. That is until I got to Totley and realised that the wind was worse than I’d ever experienced on the bike. I knew a few weeks ago when there was a weather warning what to expect but there had been no forecast (unless I missed something - which is quite possible). Anyway, I hope the picture sums it up as I was literally pedalling hard and not moving anywhere - pedalling to stand still.

I was also surprised to find out that the phrase ‘running to stand still’ only seems to go as far back as 1987 when U2 gave the title to a track on their album ‘Joshua Tree’. I had presumed it had been used long before then. U2 were writing about a couple in Dublin who were heroin addicts and the song explores how and why they got in that position. The lines that probably resonate for a lot of vulnerable people are,

You gotta cry without weeping, talk without speaking
Scream without raising your voice.

By the end of the day, I will have completed 30 days, a fifth of the challenge, and cycled 900 miles. I’m sure you’d love to know that this is the same distance from Sheffield to Madrid, well 902 miles that is, but what’s a further two miles between friends and supporters. So only 3600 to go, which is 1000 miles further than Sheffield to the North Pole apparently!

Anyway, enough of useless facts. As always, I must end the week by thanking everyone for their donations and support (£2500 in total to date) and the strength this will always give me to pedal against the wind. Between us we can continue the work at St Wilfrid’s by giving voice to the silent, meet the weeping with understanding and prevent the screams - even if it sometimes feels for all of us that we are pedalling or running to stand still.