Bike the UK for MS Podcast #3 – Felix talks to Tommy Blake, North Coast 500 alumni and this year’s placement student from Loughborough University about his riding with the charity and what he is looking forward to in 2024.
Hello and welcome to the bike the UK for Ms podcast we had an episode that you may have already seen where I spoke to the founder of bike the UK fors and I was the new guy uh and I’m very excited that we have an even newer new guy uh
Who is going to be talking us today so I’m Felix young I’m the UK program manager for bike the UK fors and uh we’re going to be talking today to Tommy Blake who well Tommy I’ll leave you to introduce yourself so uh Tommy tell us a little bit about yourself who you are
And what your role is in bike the UK fors yeah hi there I’m Felix I’m Tommy and I am the UK placement student this year with bike UK for Ms um so I currently study Sports Science coaching P at luer University and I’ve just I’ve just finished my second year study and
I’m now um yeah joined for charity for a placement year and Tommy you’re not only are placement student and going be working hard all year to deliver the well you’ve already been on the trips and we’ll talk about a bit later later about this summer strips but you’re
Going to be working hard alongside myself and and James to uh to get things lined up for 2024 um but uh you are far from new to bik the UK froms uh in the last few months uh can you tell me a little bit about your your first
Experience and when you first uh joined the charity definitely so um back in 2022 in my first year of uni B UK fors was actually a charity partner of our University’s rag organization which is the charity arm of uh lots of UK universities and through that they were
Advertising the North Coast 500 trip and I thought oh that looks like a good challenge go see Scotland and do it for a good cause so I kind of signed up and summer 22 joined the charity riding um yeah riding nc500 with a group group of
Friends and kind of getting to uh meet everyone involved with the charity and and and what was the specific link that brought you to the by the UK fors to your attention was it the rag fair was it a friend was doing it was it through the Trion Club what what was the
Specific thing that that kind of first brought it into your into your vision yeah so I I just went along to the uh the ragir the uni ran I kind of had a look around all the trips and noticed there was a cycling one as a keen
Cyclist that kind of caught my eye and then saw that it was up in Scotland which was a second tick and then saw uh it was for bike UK for Ms and multiple sces wasn’t a charity I heard or cause I’d heard much about um but I was I had
A kind of went away had a bit of a read up had a look and actually thought this kind of tick full free boxes being a really good cuse a place I want to go and kind of a cycling a cycling challenge is always up my street and we
Both know and we can talk a little bit about your your background as an athlete and as a cyclist but had you gone to that ragir thinking that you yes I wanted to um commit to some kind of cause on on just on General principle or
Or was it just out of interest that you’d kind of gone Along on a whim almost I definitely wanted to um yeah feel like I was given something back to um yeah to some good cause and it was kind of like it was a good opportunity
To go see the options I had if that made sense excellent and we’ll talk a little bit about your athletic paress so uh Tommy you’re you’re you’re a very very competent cyclist very competent triathlete tell us a little bit about your sporting background as well um so
Yeah I’ve kind of been doing doing sport on and off most my life um and more recently I’ve kind of focused on Triathlon and um yeah I race here through lre University and um yeah do a mix of cycling and Triathlon representing the uni a bit and doing
Some races for myself so beyond racing like you said you’re you’re you’re you’re a sports person you’re a cyclist throughout and so hence wanting to go on the uh on the on the trip to Scotland the North Coast 500 trip and what was it you said that Scotland appealed
Obviously cycling appealed what was it about traveling in Scotland traveling and doing the North Coast 500 that was there the particular kind of thing that that sold you that you wanted to go and do it so it was uh the highlands of Scotland is a place I’ve always kind of
Wanted to visit having kind of seen it in when I was younger watching Nature Documentaries or whatever or and kind of uh seeing um suggested posts and reals on social media as kind of a true kind of a true Wilderness in some cases parts of it and actually getting to visit and
Explore a complete different landscape that you can’t necessarily find elsewhere in the UK um and yeah it’s kind of just always had a draw to me to kind of get out into nature properly um and I really felt like it gave me that opportunity and and it’s not just the
North Coast 500 the coast itself which you’ve now I said you’ve root L with myself you’ve root L twice this summer and ridden as a rider but um I happen to know you’re a big fan of the ks Tommy can you tell us a little bit about that as well
Yeah again it’s that connection to um kind of the Wilderness of Scotland it’s actually a place I visited um with my family a couple of times and somewhat annoyingly we’ve only ever been there for like one or two days at a time so I’ve never had the chance to
Properly explore but um yeah I’ve always really wanted to uh kind of get out into it and every time I’ve driven up to the North Coast 500 which is now three separate times for the uh the trips I’ve done um I drive past the C and just
Think how beautiful case it is and I’m only going around the outside then yes quite it’s not bad from the car but it’s it’s even better from from the bike on foot right isn’t it um and so the North Coast 500 trip so it’s eight days of
Riding up on the um the North Coast of Scotland and it’s a trip that’s become a real staple for B the UK froms since it was induced I think was your year the first year we did B the UK froms on sorry it was your your year the first
Year we did the North Coast 500 um I believe it had been done one year before so I think we were second year but don’t quote me on that it’s it’s it’s it’s on the record now there there’s no getting away from it um so so yeah so the North coost 500 eight
Days of riding um 500 Miles as the clues in the name around the the North Coast of Scotland um and it’s a it’s a really spectacular route both Tommy and I have just been on the um on the trip just in SE earlier in September um and there
Will be a trip in 2024 from the 27th of July until the 3rd of August and the signups are open for that now if you are already thinking like Tommy was oh cycling Scotland and a great cause ticks all the boxes but but if we think back
To 2022 when when you rode it Tommy uh let let’s dig into a little bit of um some of the uh the experience that uh that you had because uh part of this trip part of what makes that trip so appealing is like you said the the the
Stunning spectacular scenery um and the opportunity to ride through it and really experience it so what what’s the one particular standout kind of moment from the trip for you oh that’s a that’s a hard one I can give you a top three oh we’ll go for allow you top three it’s your podcast
After all um yeah so I think what one of the things that was kind of uh the most special moments of it for me was actually most uh pretty much the whole team on the night three in Jonah groes or night two night two of riding night three of
The trip if that makes sense uh we all went down to the beach um just away from the campsite where we stay in Jonah GRS and as a team kind of sat down the beach watched the sunset talking and it was just a it was a really nice experience
That you were there with a group of people doing doing this challenge for um for the course but at the same time it was just like you there with a group of like-minded people all taking on the same challenge getting to take in some absolutely beautiful beautiful nature
That was that was a really big part of that just getting to that’s something that I found on the trip we’ve just done where actually like you said it’s it is a team right you’re riding your own ride and and The Way We Run The trips is that everyone could
Ride their own pace it’s not one big group ride but actually there is that huge camaraderie you’re sharing that experience with people and that was that was hugely powerful combined with as you said um that kind of escapism a little bit been long way away from all of the
Rigar of of of Modern Life in some ways and and uh you watch the sunset I sat on that probably that same set of rocks and watched a couple of seals bobbing in and out of the ways while we were up there early in September so no it is a it’s a
It’s a truly special place and and that Dynamic of sharing it with everyone is is is really special isn’t it definitely and yeah so I guess the the next bit would be actually getting to tackle uh the Apple cross the Apple cross climb which is I think one of the most iconic climbs
In the United Kingdom and it’s it’s probably the well it’s the longest road climb in the United Kingdom it’s actually arguably one of the best climbs I think in the UK as well give given that it’s not too steep a gradient um but it’s just long and winding and it
Takes you up to an amazing view looking out over um the rest of the applecross peninsula and actually over TOA sky as well so getting to getting to tackle that was something that was always on my bucket list so to get to ride that was amazing and you’re one ahead of me
Because it’s still on my bucket list I’ve driven a van up it now but I’ve I’ve not got to ride it but uh um and not only riding up Apple cross pass Tommy but this year as a root leader you took an opportunity to to tackle it in
Another way yeah so uh this year I didn’t have my bike with me unfortunately so I thought well how else can I manage this so I ran up it um which was seemed very sensible in July or August I should say on the first trip
I did this summer when it was a nice sensible temperature and that was quite fun I ran up it again in September and it was a little bit warmer and I did I did wonder wonder quite where I decided to do that but um yeah it’s still
Evidence that it can be too hot sometimes in Scotland not not even too hot but very hot right yeah it’s definitely um maybe not what you’d expect from the highlands but it’s quite nice actually I think I’ve now seen it in pretty much all weathers which is
Which is quite nice it shows it as you say it can be nice and sunny up there as well and and you touch on that and it’s something that must be said about Scotland and Scottish weather and particularly the west coast and and the North Coast the weather can be quite a
Challenge because the rides are are aren’t just a cycling holiday there’s an amazing experience there’s amazing scenes amazing roads to ride but the the fundamental point of B the UK fors is that we are taking on a cycling challenge to raise money for a great
Cause and the weather can be one of the challenging factors can’t it definitely if um it can really vary so the year I rode we had I think we experienced all four seasons you could say and we had some beautiful Suns for the first couple of days up the East Coast had some
Slightly challenging winds as we kind of of headed across the top of Scotland going from east to west um and had a few days of rain a few days of pushing it a bit further than rain you could say um but then you also get
The days where it just clears up as you go over the brow Hill and you open out into just some stunning scenery dappled in sunlight so although it can definitely be challenging with the weather and that’s something which actually makes it arguably all the more special um that you do get to experience
It in all sorts of conditions um but it it almost shines no matter what the weather is which is yeah it was it was weird to be riding in the wind and rain and thinking you know what this almost makes it look more beautiful but there you are yeah well and I’ve
Only seen it in beautiful weather because when we drove when we did the trip of September it was a stunning stunning week and and there was a number of you talk about cresting and there’s lots of kind of crests where brings you out into a new world and real jawdropping moments draw dropping
Scenery and but I do know what you mean when it comes to uh uh the adversity adding something to the conditions because when I rode the bike the UK for A M trip in 2014 which is coming up to 10 years ago now um uh the we had really
Great weather for a large Partners as well it was it was wonderful and we had a wonderful time and then we got down into Cornwell and Deon the last couple of days and there was flash floods and there just torrential downpours and actually those live as long in the
Memory as the the the beautiful weather because actually it was just absurd right like the absurdity of the situation we remember everyone was just in hysterics as were kind of tackling these kind of these these sudden kind of this sudden changeing conditions and uh they do say sometimes don’t they if you
Don’t like the weather in the west Scotland just got to wait a bit and it’s going to change any minute so that’s that’s a positive when when it is challenging weather um but we talk about kind of the challenge and and and the cause and and and why the rides happen
And it isn’t cycling holiday is a is a cycling challenge to to to raise money for a great cause and another part of the trips of course is is meeting uh some of the people that uh that can benefit or do benefit from uh the money
That’s raised and and the MS groups and and both you and I Tommy when we first came into B the UK for Ms we rode as Riders without a direct connection to the condition um but can you tell me a little bit about what it what it what
What it was like and what what what you learned from those those opportunities to meet up with the members of the MS Society groups up in the highlands in this case for the North Coast trips both as a rider and then more recently as a root leader certain so actually um that
Would be that was going to be my third part of my top three was actually getting to meet the MS groups um and yeah so on my trip we met we unfortunately in the highlands with it being such a a big place with kind of smaller groups of populations thoughted about in
My first year riding we only met one Ms group and in Vanessa at the end um actually that was yet again one of my highlights in a trip so they came down kind of celebrated the end of our ride of us but actually gave me a really good opportunity
To gain that bit more of a connection to the condition and learn a bit more about it so I’d kind of found out a little bit about Ms and like actually what multiple sclerosis is with it being where the immune system attacks uh the sheeps around the nerves but I hadn’t
Really it’s it’s one thing reading about it it’s another thing actually hearing people share their stories um and that was kind of quite a special experience to kind of not only to get to meet them and find out a bit about them actually it kind of really drives home
What you’re riding for and I think that’s something which makes it makes the trips a little bit more special to get to um meet those groups and luckily enough as you as you kind of alluded to this year we were able to meet a few more groups going around the highlands
Um and yeah it just it really adds to the the of the trips and kind of when you’re when you’re finding it tough it kind of reminds you actually what you’re riding for as such yeah and you mentioned earlier about within the riding team about how you end up with
That sense of community that sense of shared experience and that teamwork and the members in the MS groups can’t share that experience because well we do have members of M groups that do Riders but particularly often the ones we meet at the at the meetups often can’t and so
They get to take a little part of our experience and and and and come on that Journey with us as well and in particular like you said there’s been a few um groups now that we’ve started to kind of meet on a more regular basis and
A few that we’ve met multiple times on on a single trip and what that has meant is that they are starting to build a proper Community where we we the alumni and the root leaders and all the Riders and the trips are starting to kind of have that commonality for these PE for
These these members of the groups that that that they’ve seen week on week year on year potentially and it’s been a really special thing and if I think all the way back to again back to my trip back in 2014 we met the BMS Society
Group and that was the only group we met back in 2014 because we were still establishing those connections um but uh but now we’ve got to the point where certainly on the Len J gr trip it’s it’s almost every day there’s an MS group all the way through the country knitted
Together through through the Riders traveling across the whole of the UK and one of I think that’s one of the really amazing things about by the UK froms and what we do as a charity is that it’s a small scale um thing it’s a very local
Um operation in a lot of ways but actually it’s it’s it’s building those those real personal connections at a at a small scale as well as the kind of broader um contributions to the MS Society on a national scale and Beyond and uh you said uh what do we ride for
Which I think is a is a very very kind of crucial part of it but also one of the really nice things I find about meeting those Ms groups and and and knowing that a lot of the the the money that’s raised goes directly back to
Those those groups in in in in specific cases is also who you’re riding for and actually having specific people that maybe you’ll have met in a previous year as a rider in your back rout leading or specific PE people that you’ll have met on the ride and then as you go through
And you might have a bad day of weather or you might be feeling like you had a bad day on the bike um and it’s not just the what but it’s the who you’re riding for and and those meups of the M groups were always for me about um really
Making it a really personal thing um for for me as a as a as a rider back like I said without a direct connection um but we also um like I said have have have riders that um either themselves or or family and friends are directly affected by Ms on
The trips and and uh that’s been the case for a number of the trips you’ve ridden on hasen’t it hasn’t it Tommy yeah definitely so um yeah um when I’ve been riding and when I’ve been rot leading there’s the team’s been a mix of people like myself who may not have had
An initial link when they signed up and as you say family and friends people with Ms themselves um and yeah it’s it’s also that I I know I’m Haring on about the community and the shared experience but yet again it just gives you another opportunity to kind of engage more with
The kind of the condition no matter what background you come from and where you come in but yeah and uh so you’ve you’ve ticked most of the boxers Rider root leader alumni and so on and uh and and now you’re you’re involved on a day-to-day basis as
The the placement student for B UK for Ms and tell me a little bit about um again why you thought that was something that would work really well for you um as you kind of progressed through your course um so yeah so kind of I knew I
Wanted to do a placement year as part of my degree to kind of get some experience in the world of work alongside just studying um and but I was never quite never quite sure what I wanted to do with it I knew I wanted to be involved in something where I felt
Like I was contributing in to giving back in some way or helping people in some way but um I was never really sure and then I did this trip um back in 20122 I wrode the nc500 and kind of um met Ella the previous placement student
With BK for Ms um through that and kind of really felt I was really on board of what the charity was doing and it was obviously within cying a sport I feel quite passionate about um not just at a competing level but actually as a vehicle for people to in this case raise
Money through but just to something people can use to get active and find a hopefully find the kind of same joying that that I found um and it kind of bubbled away in the back of my mind as I was looking at placement options and I thought actually if I reach out this
Could be something that not only provides me opportunities to um be within the world of sport in this case within more of a participation Focus if that makes sense but also to not only be giving back in that I can be helping people in terms of getting ready to ride
Providing advice if they want it and all these kind of things but actually giving back in an extra sense through being involved within the charitable organization um for a cause that I’ve actually grown to be quite passionate about as you say through those personal connections I’ve made through the trips
Um and that kind of I guess that’s why I chose to do the placement um but as you mentioned kind of particularly why it worked for me as well is um it’s uh it’s quite nice that it is quite flexible so we have the trip season throughout summer um which generally spans from
July to September um and to get to go and Lead those trips and M get back into that well maintain maintain that Community each year and go and meet those people um from s groups again each year on year um was definitely a really appealing part of it but also the
Flexibility in the fact that it’s um it’s not going into sitting in the office uh 9 to5 actually going out and talking to people at ragar um a lot of it being focused around building those connections and um talking to uh potential new signups and all this kind
Of thing it was nice that that was something I could also fit around uh my training as a student athlete myself as well um so it kind of ticked all the boxes as such there’s and there’s again it’s funny you and I there’s a lot there’s a lot of
Similarities because I did a placement year as my part my degree cross back in 2012 2013 and um I spent a year living out in Canada so so a different placement in in in a lot of ways but actually the same um things that you described I knew I wanted to do a
Placement year I’ve I’ve said I’ve said ever since and I’m be interested to hear what you think in uh nearly 12 months time Tommy but I said I would recommend doing a placement to anyone I’d never do one again because it was really tough
And and and being a a a student kind of on a placement is is a hard role because you’re having to do a lot of learning a lot of development whilst also working hard and and covering a lot of ground um but but again the same kind of things
For me is that actually kind of I could never imagine myself and I’ve always struggled to do the kind of the office job side of things I quite like talking to people hence why I ramble on on podcasts like this um and I spend so much time chatting to people on the
Rides but um but the um but that that Dynamic of trying to kind of build that Community build those connections is is a really powerful thing and and actually is an really incredibly valuable skill that now that I’m into my 30s and later on into life you realize that that is a
Common Thread that goes between huge amounts of of um career and business and and and every every part of development it’s about building connections and and and maintaining them and uh that’s exactly what the core of the placement is all about so I’m I’m very hopeful
That you’re going to have a very uh enjoyable year but also a year that’s really um gives you a lot of development opportunities in terms of how you can uh build up your repertoire a as a as a young person and then you also mentioned about how your your kind of your
Coaching background your experience is a little bit more kind of tilted towards competitive sport or performance Sport and actually the opportunity to to work in a it’s not quite coaching per se but actually coaching and supporting people in in a more participation focused angle
But again I I har back to some of my memories where I was a Community Cycling coach for a number of years in bath um and actually learning how to to work with a really diverse range of people gives you a skill set so that when
You’ve got someone that might be a young athlete actually some of the skills you learn in supporting Riders on a bik the UK from metri might just be the thing that that does the that hits the right buttons to support someone that uh that needs that support in the performance
Setting as well so uh again it’s what is all about development in a in a wide range of opportunities definitely on that on that last Point as well it’s it’s one of the things that like you get to meet people from all walks of life from all all over the country or indeed
In some cases so um people travel over from abroad for example we have a few uh alumni that regularly travel over from America to take part in our UK TRS and actually meet meeting these people from all different life circumstances to yourself um as someone who is interested
In as you mentioned the coaching side of it it’s it’s so valuable to get that experience and find out their experiences um like you say so yeah it’s a definitely a really really valuable thing and you’ve had a first experience on the quite and quite other side of the
Fence that speak or the other side of the trestle table it may be at the uh rag fair at Manchester University last week um and you said it was at the rag fair at um the rais and give fair at lub uni that you first came across by the G
From so can you tell me a little bit about your experience of being on the other side of the uh the coin so to speak the other side of the table uh meeting potential students that may be interested in taking part on the trip last week yeah definitely so I kind of
Well yeah I got the train up to Manchester um after we’ve been so we’re there off offal one of the official charity partners that arrived for next year um and went up set up my table and it was just it was great to get to spend
The day kind of sharing sharing a bit about the charity sharing my passion and actually so it’s really nice to see that you get plenty of people who just want to find out more about the cause as much as they’re looking at all the challenges and that opportunity to kind
Of yeah um hopefully try and inspire a little bit the uh what I found in the um through the rag it’s and did you find did you find it hard work because I did trade shows on my placement and I I I found it was I
Found it really hard like it it was there was a lot to gain huge amount to gain for the company I was working for I gained a lot in learning how to kind of speak to people and and and come forward and and and present well but I found
Them really hard days was it was it a tough day or was it was it to go it it was it was tricky to not trick is the wrong word it took me a little while to get into my get into my St I was a little nervous being the first time I’ve
Done a at least done a ragir myself I was quite lucky in that um I previously as an alumni come along and helped out a couple of the love for ones but it’s definitely a little intimidating being sat there in the union for the first time um thinking oh my I’m representing the
Charity um to all these people but actually um I definitely kind of relaxed into it a lot more because if you’ve not if you’ve noticed I’m I’m quite Keen to talk about uh cycling and the charity and the beautiful places we run the trip so kind of once I managed once I got
Into talking to people I kind of relaxed and felt a lot more comfortable with it although I must admit it was a is a it is a tiring day um settling into it but also it it feels really worthwhile if that makes sense excellent and and what
Are you looking forward to on the rest of the placement years anything in particular you think you know I’m really excited to um do something new or is there something that you you’re really passionate about that you’re already are really look forward to doing over the next 12 months within the poent role
Definitely so um there a couple of things actually so I guess the one of the first things I’m really looking forward to is we’re looking to do a bit more of an offseason offer this year with some um activities to keep alumni engaged and uh some kind of potentially
Some crazy challenges coming up um as we look towards the end of the year um and I’m really excited to kind of get behind running those and um kind of hoping to get some people engaged with maybe at a time of year It’s tricky to motivate
Yourself to get out and do that bit of exercise and provide a way that maybe a challenge which gets people involved um but then the other part I’m really looking forward to is actually getting a chance to kind of leave my legacy as such and actually be involved with the
Running of a new new trk um for for Lush rag actually so extra close to home being my my University um and that’s we’re doing our first ever by UK Crossing Borders trip going to um London to Paris um and you mentioned London to Paris which we’ll talk about a bit more
Later but it’s also um quite an important year for B the UK fors overall not only is Tommy in Tommy Blake the placement student which is obviously a huge huge deal for anyone uh but it’s going to be 10 years since the first ever B the KMS trip next year so uh not
Only are we planning these hair brain challenges uh for the purpose of raising lots of uh uh money and also getting lots of people involved with what we’re trying to achieve but we’re also going to be spending a bit of time looking back and celebrating the last 10 years
Of the charity and uh keep your eyes peel because there will have been some stuff potentially over the last few weeks looking back at some of the trips in previous years um and what we want to try and do over the next kind of 12 months as we go through this 10 year
Anniversary for the charity is take a look about some of the people that have made uh B UK for what it is up to this point so we’ve like I said we’ve got a podcast we’ve got an interview with James who was the founder um all that
Time ago um and uh talking to you now Tommy so if you think you’re someone that’s been part of by the UK for mess over the last 10 years and you’ve got a story to tell short or long uh then please get in touch we’d love to chat
And share that story as we look back over the last 10 years of the charity and everything that has been achieved but that’s looking back well look looking ahead to the challenge in the winter looking uh back uh over the last 10 years um but looking ahead um a
Little bit further we’ve got the summer trips coming up um that we mentioned Tommy we’ve got a l engine joh a great trip in July 2024 uh the North Coast 500 trip that we’ve already mentioned in um uh the end of July early August uh we’ve
Got the ctoc trip which will be towards the end of August 2024 and then finally uh the second iteration of our well STP Al Las Cy uh from hollyhead down to Cardiff um at the uh I think it’s the big beginning of September or the very
End of July very end of August from memory um I should have the dates in front of me that would be much more professional uh and then also the London to Paris trip that Thomas Tommy me Tommy mentioned is going to be a first time for the charity um tell me what you’re
Looking forward to Tommy looking ahead to next summer where you’re going to be in charge of uh keeping the show on the road uh yeah I’m one thing I’m really looking forward to is so kind of through the summer I got experience uh as a ride
Leader on the trips this year and I’m really looking forward to kind of building on that and actually taking on the head ride leader role um kind of on the road and getting to one SE lands ENT joh on a growth of a trip I haven’t
Actually been on yet um as well as La momery they are two two trips I’m really looking forward to being involved with an experiencing um but yeah I’m really looking forward to kind of building building on the experience of this year to kind of hopefully hopefully make the trips uh even better
If I can in terms of uh just yeah finding being being there to support the Riders and kind of doing do doing a um better job I’m not promising people soup at the wrong times for uh um anyone who was on the uh July mc500 trip this year um I may have
Blundered about a cafe being open when it wasn’t so I’m hoping to uh iron out a few of those mistakes there’s there’s nothing worse than the unfulfilled promise of warm soup on a cold cycling day hey indeed um and and um like you said you you’ve already learned in the
Trips that you’ve you’ve you’ve root L uh supported uh supporting Ella who was the previous uh placement student um and uh I’ve got a question for you because I thought it was quite an interesting one so so you you we you and I uh were both
Root leading on the trip uh a few weeks ago earlier in September um and the position you were put in let’s say almost in a way by by myself is that you were relatively new on placement uh you you kind of a few weeks into the into
The role um and then you were the head rot leader so you in charge of the trip and you had your boss me as uh as one of the uh the the root leading team supporting you was that an interesting situation to be in as someone that’s uh
Newly started a placement to be uh effectively in charge of uh not not just everyone on the trip but also uh the person that’s managing your placement on on the first few weeks of your job yeah it definitely uh slightly not nerve-wracking but I was slightly nervous to start with um
Actually yeah it wasn’t it was it was never a problem and actually on the trip it never felt never felt weird if that makes sense um actually one of the good things is although you have a head rout leader the whole rout leader team um kind of it generally works together really
Well and actually it never felt like I was well I was never having to chase up to get this done to get that done it was kind of it just worked really smoothly so I was kind of yeah it never felt too bad it’s a sign of a good uh a good
Leader that you managed to have everything working smoothly uh without without too much stress and I only ask as I was intrigued because it’s if I think back to when I was again when I was in the same place when I was in my placement thought oh yeah would it be
Weird to be told to kind of take take take charge take authority and and um especially in the context of where you might be telling your boss what to do but um I um uh I really I said from my placement and and we certainly saw with
Al last year that that kind of ability to to take a leadership role is something that is doesn’t always come up as an opportunity early in someone’s career where they they might be kind of within a large organization or or or managed by by various layers of of of
People that kind of take those kind of big decisions but actually one of the things I think is really I’m I’m really excited about the placement role that I took on and now and then you’re on is that you do end up in a position of authority where you have to make
Decisions and and and and learn how to maybe refine some of those decisions about how you manage things um but uh but but it’s a really important part of developing as as a young person and like I said in in a coaching sense as well as
Uh um in in in a in a sporting kind of participation sense as well um so so looking forward to the trip of the summer and let’s talk about London of Paris so so like we said it’s it’s a first for the for the charity we’re
Attempt to uh I say attempt we’re going to successfully but we we are we are planning a process by which we’re going to take bik the UK for a mess uh on France we’re going to go uh um across a a international border you mentioned borders earlier but obviously we cross
Scottish English borders and uh Wales English course but that’s a whole whole topic for another time um but yeah tell tell us a little bit about kind of um uh what what you think the new challenges will be delivering a trip that uh that goes across to Paris rather than than domestic
One yeah so it’s definitely it’s something I’m really looking forward to as you mentioned there’s there’s obviously the challenges associated with as you say Crossing that international border and kind of just thinking logistically about getting people bikes uh mechanics kit and all this kind of
Thing um not only to Paris but then of course how it all comes back but I think yeah the other the other thing of course is going to be just managing managing a team in a country which of course speaks another language um and how’s your French kind of du
Lingo is going to be getting a good good good bit of uh good bit of activity this year I Fe um but uh it’s um yeah I think it’s a it’s going to be a really good opportunity to obviously there’s as you meant as as we’ve kind of just discussed
A few new challenges but I feel like if anything that’s almost more exciting it gives that gives us a more more opportunities to kind of um develop the charity more because each challenge you learn something new to add add to the add to what you do in
The future so yeah I’m really looking forward to it no it’s going to be exciting and uh like we said we we’ve got a a raft of alumni over the last 10 years and we know that lots of people have already said oh I’m quite interested in coming and help us
Supporting that one because it’s a little bit different a little bit new um those that maybe have been on or or supported trips like the North Coast 500 or land the GRS already this year go oh actually I’ve I’ve I’ve I’ve never done a trip uh in that way so um if you’re
Interested in helping out on the London to Paris trip or any of the other trips whether you’re alumni or not uh we need volunteer route leaders for all the trips uh next summer so if you think oh I can’t um I can’t ride those trips for whatever reason but I’d love to be
Involved in some capacity uh please just give us a shout and uh we will get you onto the rout leader team ready to support the the riders that are riding um so Tommy a final thing and I’ve done this for uh James who we spoke to before
And then Rosie who is another um podcast that if it’s not already out it’ll be out soon um the uh I I wrap up and I haven’t warned you of this bit uh some quick fire questions I’m going to give you a a a little uh round of some quick
Questions just a very short answer don’t need to go into any great depth unless you really want to um uh but uh here here here comes some first few questions so Tommy if you could choose uh bike the ukuk for mess L and J A Gro or a
Bike swim the UK from swh yet to swim across from DOA to Cal what would you do definitely be l a great so not a big fan of see swimming too many fish too many fish SC fish okay there we go so so he’s
He’s a swimmer but but only only in a in a competitive sense um what uh what is your favorite route of the B thec roots of all the ones I’ve experienced so far definitely mc500 I’ve already I’ve already mentioned how much I love the highlands so yeah and it’s also being
The first one I did it’s pretty special holds good memories nice excellent um uh so San you’re going to be looking forward to going back again I guess in that Cas um which of the um uh rides that you’ve not experienced uh do you think you will enjoy rout leading the
Most I’m really looking forward to lond um Wales is another place I’ve LED visiting I’ve actually got family links to uh South Wales on my mom’s side as well so it’s going to be quite special to get to uh lead the trip there uh can you pronounce that’s train station on
Angle SE that has the longest train station name in the UK not a chance okay we’ll work on that for next year we work on that for next year um and uh one final one um if you had to sum up your experience of by the UK froms um both as
A rider and as a rout leader and I guess also as a kind of um as as the placement student but kind of combining those into one in in in one sentence I’ll give you a sentence what would that sentence be that’s a tricky one um I think they’ve been it’s been a
Really rewarding challenging but um yeah a really rewarding challenging but amazing experience um kind of does that do that that does very cheesy but very cheesy but we like it and I’m going to go one more because I am genuinely interested to see what your answer is to this one because
Because this is is uh for those that haven’t been on a b the trip before um we sleep either campsites or sometimes we use Community halls or church Halls to help kind of ensure that as much money that’s raised can go to the Cs as possible um outside in a tent or
Sleeping indoors in a Community Hall Toby what’s your what’s your preferred mode of uh sleeping on a bik c from trip controversial one that’s a tricky one you know do you know what before start of the 2023 trip season it would have been in a church Hall but camping’s
Grown on me I like I quite like my tent now nice he’s learn he’s learned to love camping on out of tent under in in in nature there we go so so yeah so amazing to chat Tommy thanks so much for your time and um as I as we said earlier if
You’ve got a story from the last 10 years about the UK from that you would want to share um with us and with anyone that’s listening please do get in touch if you’ve managed to uh find this uh podcast via any of the different platforms we’re going to try and put it
Out on please give it a share pass it on if there’s someone you think would enjoy listening and uh best of all if you are looking forward to uh next summer as we head into towards the offseason as we call it or the uh the the Autumn or
Winter uh then um then please uh have a look at our website B theuk for.org and have a look at the roots and uh if you are ready for a challenge uh get yourself signed up for one of the trips next year in the meantime as Tommy said
We’ve got our 130,000 kilometers in December challenge so even if uh you’re not ready to to pull the trigger and commit to coming on a trip with us next year uh you can get involved as much as or as little as you can um later on in
December again keep your eyes peeled for all the information on that Tommy it’s been wonderful to chat it’s been great it’s been great to uh share a bit of my experience to charity and um yeah thank you for having me on and uh thank you for everyone for
Listening and we hope you have a wonderful day wh whatever you are are wherever you are and whatever you’re doing and we look forward to hopefully seeing you out on a ride soon