CYCLING almost 1,000 miles in 125 hours provided lots of life lessons for business coach Bill Squires, as well as thousands of pounds for a Bradford mental health charity.

Bill and his friend Steve Coleman tackled the London to Edinburgh to London challenge, with the route including 49,000ft of gruelling climbing, raising money for Mind in Bradford, and for children’s rugby-based charity Wooden Spoon.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Bill Squires cycled just under 1,000 miles for Mind in Bradford Bill Squires cycled just under 1,000 miles for Mind in Bradford

The duo cycle regularly and have undertaken some challenges, but nothing as relentless as this. Their planning was meticulous, but as often happens, life got in the way.

Steve, co-founder of Leeds company Picture Perfect Data, had Covid during the training period and then needed an emergency appendix operation just 16 days before the ride. Amazingly, he started it but had to pull out with exhaustion.

And despite only about three hours of sleep a night and many hours a day in the saddle, Bill completed the challenge.

“On the third day at about 01.30 in the morning, I was 180 miles into a 211-mile day, cold, on my own, loose chippings on the road, losing my mojo and beginning to cycle slowly. But six cyclists pulled me out of the depths,” he said.

One of his mottos from the ride was ‘Never stop on a hill’ and Bill applies that to life, saying: “However slowly, get to the top, celebrate a little win and kick off again.”

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