Riding2Recovery

My name is Graeme Willgress and I'm asking you to help fund a third cycling adventure in a project that I began three and a half years ago whilst I was seriously ill.

I'm planning to travel to France this summer, in order to ride the 100 Cols Tour. This is described by its Dutch originators as "the hardest and possibly the most beautiful route in the world." With over 66km of height gain (Tour de France is typically around 20/25 km height gain), it will be undertaken with the same aims as my previous journeys. I'll talk openly about my own mental health experiences and listen to others, thus helping to reduce the stigma attached to mental illness. I'll also fundraise for the UK charity Sustrans.

Six years ago my life juddered to a halt. After thirty years of battling poor mental health I suffered a major breakdown losing everything I had. During the following three years I lost both my parents and sister and my life hit rock bottom.

After a chance meeting with some touring cyclists I made a decision that is changing my life. I began to cycle again for the first time in twenty years. I joined the charity Sustrans, builders of the National Cycle Network, offering my services as a volunteer ranger. Their traffic-free trails provide the perfect environment for those who wish to start exercising away from the noise and traffic of the open road.

I then had what seemed like a hare-brained idea. I made the decision that I would ride around the entire UK coastline, raising awareness of mental health issues and fundraising for Sustrans. That was in September 2009.

I spent eighteen months learning to manage my condition, raising equipment through sponsorship and preparing myself for a mammoth cycle journey of over 4000 miles.  I would ride alone, camping as I went. With support from my friends, my doctor, and my therapist, I completed this ride during the summer of 2011, raising £3500 for Sustrans in the process.

The story was covered by local newspapers as well as BBC Radio Devon, and in Cycling Plus, Britain's biggest selling cycling magazine.

Returning home I set about achieving my second goal, to write a book about my experiences of living with poor mental health, the people I had met, and the journey I undertook. The book: Riding2Recovery: a journey within a journey was completed in February 2012, and I published it myself through Amazon.com as an ebook, and Blurb.com as a paper book.

Reviews, including the one below from Amazon's own website, have encouraged me to continue the project and my writing:

This book is a must read, I could not put it down. There is so much hope against adversity. I felt I was there on this journey with him at times. I'm now following his 2nd great adventure on twitter.

Creating my own website further enhanced the project, giving me a platform to talk and reach out to others.

In 2012 I completed a second journey, one that saw me taking further steps forward in my recovery. I cycled over 2200 miles from Lands End to the Shetland Islands. It took me around the wild Atlantic coast of Ireland, clockwise from Cork to Larne, before heading up through Scotland, via the Outer Hebrides and the far north-west to the Shetland Isles. The flights to Ireland and home again from the Shetland Isles, along with the many long sea voyages to and from various islands, challenged my mental capacity to cope, whilst the riding stretched me physically.

This journey was made throughout the wettest summer in history but still threw up a myriad of people who were willing to talk about their own mental health. It raised £900 for the mental health charity MIND and has given me the substance for my second book, Riding2Recovery: All around the ragged edges.

This book will be ready to publish in March 2013. Further to this, I have begun giving talks to various groups about both managing mental health and the journeys I have undertaken. The most recent was in Bristol, on behalf of the Bristol Cycle Campaign including the mental health charity Life-Cycle.

To continue I now have to ask for financial support. I funded these trips myself with total commitment for the last three years but can no longer afford to do so. My health precludes me from earning a living and this project provides me an opportunity to work as and when I'm able, developing new skills and building new foundations.

Together with fundraising and raising awareness, I aim to inspire others to take control of their lives and manage their conditions. In addition to this it will lead to a third book about my experiences on the journey and will represent another step forwards in my recovery.