Latest / The MindSets Podcast / Episode 48 - Pedalling for Purpose: The 5600km Challenge

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Episode 48 - Pedalling for Purpose: The 5600km Challenge · The MindSets Podcast

0:08
Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Mindsets
0:11
podcast. We are in episode 48 and there
0:14
might have been a little bit of a big gap between 47 and 48, but
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that is on my terms. There's all sorts of things
0:20
going on behind the scenes that's going to make 2025 the
0:23
biggest and best year to date for the Mindsets podcast.
0:25
So thank you very much for bearing with and I am back with
0:29
another guest. So I'm joined here today by I'm
0:32
joined by Casey and those of you that have been here a while will
0:36
know that I don't do introductions for my guests.
0:38
So I'm going to hand straight over to Katie and let her
0:40
introduce herself. Hello.
0:44
I'm not sure I'm very going to introduce myself, but I'm Katie
0:47
and 34 and I guess my thing at the minute is I've, yeah, this
0:55
year I just finished or in August, I've finished a three
0:58
month, three month cycle around the coast of the UK to raise
1:03
money and awareness of mental health and suicide.
1:06
And that's kind of my sort of still part of my life.
1:09
So that's big. What else?
1:12
I love sport. Yeah, we'll leave it there.
1:16
Yeah, no, solid. I mean, I think the reason that
1:18
we try and keep that bit brief as well, for those wondering why
1:20
Katie's not opening the door and everything that's happened in
1:23
her life is because before we get in deep into Katie's life,
1:28
we like to do what we call show and tell.
1:30
So show and tell is the thing I did when I was younger.
1:32
I used to love it in school. We used to all bring something
1:35
cool into school and tell our whole class about it.
1:37
And I absolutely love it. And I think it's a really good
1:39
display of someone's character. So Katie's brought something
1:41
along and I have absolutely no idea what it is.
1:43
So I'm really excited to see what it is.
1:45
Katie, do you want to show us your show and tell?
1:47
And I'll do audio description of whatever it is.
1:50
Yeah, so it's actually a photo and I love show and tell as
1:55
well. And actually I was like in
1:56
right. I was like, Oh my God.
1:58
I just couldn't think of anything because there's loads.
2:02
But I am obsessed with photos. I'm quite a visual person
2:05
anyway. I love taking photos to people.
2:06
I feel like it captures people and it tells a story.
2:09
And I think that sort of says a lot about me as well.
2:13
Like I love telling stories and and you know, like family
2:17
history. I was with my Gran and family
2:20
last weekend and like we're just going through all these old
2:22
photos and you know, it's just history as well.
2:24
So yeah, here we go. It's a photo and it's my lovely
2:27
dad. I don't know if you can see it
2:30
well, but he has just got the biggest grin on his face and
2:35
there's three cars in that picture.
2:37
He was obsessed with cars. His he one of my best memories
2:42
is he had an E type Jag that he completely did up from scratch.
2:46
He was like, why not scratch? But it was like pretty in bad
2:48
condition. And then he won loads of awards
2:50
and stuff and he so yeah, he was just like my weekends.
2:54
I used to be the car washer of the family.
2:56
He so my weekends consisted of cleaning his nice cars, but
3:01
getting but getting paid for it. But so, yeah, just.
3:05
And I don't know if this is going to.
3:11
Oh, yeah, I lost my dad. I mean, look, we're going to
3:14
talk about this more, but I lost my dad to suicide when I was 17.
3:19
And that's obviously quite dark, quite sad and sometimes can take
3:26
over the memories. But this one reminds me that
3:30
like, it wasn't all sad. He was really like just, he's so
3:34
happy and, you know, it's just nice to see his face like that.
3:39
One thing that I think is really nice is the the sort of photo of
3:43
it being with a car which he clearly had a lot of passion
3:45
about as well, is do you ever get reminded when you see those
3:48
cars out on the road? Does it make you think back to
3:49
just that photo and that that presence of?
3:51
View that 100% and and you know, that's what I just, oh, I just
3:54
think photos are just like, thank God for photos.
3:56
Like what an amazing invention. They just capture a moment in
3:59
time, you know, and sometimes I'm like, you know, memories can
4:04
be a bit bit hazy, a bit fuzzy and it just takes you back
4:08
there. Like literally that's that's our
4:09
garden or, or driveway in Oxfordshire and Spa shell.
4:13
And it's funny whenever I go there, like I never learnt to
4:16
drive there because we moved when I started to learn to drive
4:20
to Suffolk. But whenever I go that I can get
4:23
there, I know the way like the back of my hand because we, you
4:27
know, we was on bikes and stuff as a kid.
4:29
So yeah, just compasses quite a lot of good memories.
4:33
Awesome. So when you you you mentioned
4:35
that you were, you were in Oxfordshire at the time.
4:36
Did you grow up in Oxfordshire as a young child?
4:38
You were always there? Yeah, I was.
4:41
Born in that house because the ambulance can find.
4:45
That's a that's a kid story. I like that.
4:48
And, and when you were growing up, I think one of the things
4:50
that you mentioned in your brief introduction was that you're a
4:52
big fan of sport. Was that always the case when
4:54
you were young as well? Yeah, yeah, pretty much.
4:57
I, yeah. I mean, I struggled at school.
5:01
I was never very good at school. I had to try like a lot, lot
5:04
harder. And I, you know, but I was good
5:08
at sport, like swimming, I think was the, my mum and dad had a
5:11
little sailboat and they feel like, right, you guys need to
5:14
learn how to swim. And my dad actually was a really
5:17
good swimmer. So he taught me to swim quite
5:20
early on. And then it was, it was just
5:22
something I was good at. And yeah, it's always been quite
5:25
nice that no matter what happened at school, it was like,
5:28
OK, I can, I can beat everyone in a swimming race or, or
5:32
something. It's always, yeah, it was a bit
5:35
in. And my mum actually told me a
5:36
really interesting story about how my dad, because I was quite
5:40
AI, didn't like being competitive.
5:42
I hated it. And my that I really, and I
5:45
really wanted to quit swimming when I was little, like being
5:47
competitive. But my dad was normally the
5:50
softie out of mum and mum and dad.
5:52
And he was like, no, I want, I think she should keep doing it
5:56
because he could see that I was good at it.
5:57
And it actually gave me so much grit to, to keep going, you
6:01
know, because then suddenly I was like, oh, I'm good at this.
6:03
And then that gave me that streak of like real sort of
6:07
determination and grit and like competitiveness, which my other
6:12
like school and stuff, I was always really like, I'm not very
6:15
good at this. I'm not very good at this, you
6:16
know, So a whole, a whole lot of stuff sport.
6:20
With with that, with swimming more specifically, did was there
6:24
ever a thought of like, how can I make this my thing?
6:26
Or was it always sort of an addition to your life around
6:30
kind of another idea in mind of what maybe growing up and being
6:33
an adult and having a career might look like?
6:36
Really. That's really interesting.
6:37
I don't think I ever thought it could be a career.
6:41
I, I, I don't, I think no fault against mum, dad or anyone's.
6:47
I just don't think, you know, I think they were very, because I
6:50
struggled at school. I think they were quite anxious
6:52
because I was the oldest as well.
6:53
I think they were quite anxious that I wouldn't get through
6:56
school and stuff. And so they were very like, got
6:59
to get a good career and you've got to, you know, and, and
7:02
that's been sort of a bit of my trouble sometimes is like, Oh
7:06
no, you've got to do it this way.
7:09
And actually I think I I'm learning slowly that I don't do
7:14
things normally or I don't fit into that way.
7:20
So yeah, I never really actually thought about doing something as
7:22
a career, but I'm starting to, that's starting to kind of open
7:28
up now a little bit. Yeah, I, I think I'm, I'm very
7:32
similar as sort of going through my teens.
7:34
I felt like I was a little bit different and I did rely on
7:37
sport a lot. I wasn't really wasn't doing as
7:38
well as I should have been academically.
7:40
I'm rather than being the oldest, I'm actually the
7:42
youngest of my well of my two, I'm about to say my two
7:47
siblings. I have one sibling.
7:48
I'm the younger of the two of us, but she done fantastically
7:52
well in school academically. And so it was kind of like I
7:55
should also do the same. And in theory in my classes and
7:58
that sort of thing, I did well enough.
8:00
But when it came to the exams, I just didn't do very well.
8:03
And I needed a, a different way of thinking.
8:05
And I think I started to discover that with sport, which
8:07
is kind of led to where we are now.
8:09
And in the last year, I've completely flipped my whole life
8:11
on its head and kind of decided to do things my way.
8:15
And I see I'm. Falling behind you.
8:17
I feel like I'm just starting to be like, yeah.
8:21
It is. It is absolutely terrifying.
8:23
But I do think a lot of the persistence and that sort of
8:27
thing, as you mentioned, comes from grit that you get from
8:29
different areas of your life. And in particular for me, it's
8:31
sport, maybe for you as well with swimming, that sort of
8:33
thing. But it also comes from when you
8:37
kind of get through tough times and teenager absolutely
8:42
amplifies when tough times happen.
8:43
But I'm aware age of 17 for you is a very, very sort of
8:48
prominent age. Do you want to kind of introduce
8:51
that? I mean, you briefly mentioned it
8:53
beforehand, but kind of talk to us about that situation.
8:55
Yeah, I mean, just to just to like back story before I was 17,
9:00
like I grew up in Oxfordshire in it was, my childhood was
9:05
idyllic, like, you know, in the countryside, like bike rides
9:09
most weekends. Like, you know, mum and dad were
9:12
awesome. Like I've got two siblings, like
9:15
just very lovely grandparents. Like honestly couldn't have
9:18
asked for a better childhood. I was very like, it was just
9:22
amazing. And sometimes I'm like, did I
9:23
make that up? And then it's actually been
9:25
interesting. I've been meeting quite a lot of
9:27
my friends, my parents, friends who were like, no, no, you know,
9:31
So we moved house from Oxfordshire to Suffolk when I
9:37
was, yeah, maybe 16. And that because my, my dad
9:43
worked in London, he was a reinsurance broker, had a very
9:46
good job, but hated it. And I think he really drilled it
9:51
into me, like get a job you love.
9:52
And I think in a weird way that sort of put a lot of pressure on
9:55
me. And he took voluntary
9:59
redundancy. We moved to Suffolk and
10:01
everything kind of really went downhill for him.
10:05
For me, it was actually the best thing because I ended up going
10:07
to school, which I loved. I felt like I was sort of more
10:11
accepted to do drama and photography and sport and stuff.
10:15
So I really. Yeah.
10:17
But for my dad, unfortunately, I just suddenly saw him sort of
10:20
really deteriorate. Yeah, lots of things.
10:25
I think a number of things happened, like obviously he was
10:27
the provider, he was the man at the family.
10:29
And I think, you know, not being able to earn as much.
10:33
I think him and my mum's relationship and he wasn't
10:38
around his family, you know, lots of things.
10:39
I guess that I'm, I can only guess, but he ended up taking
10:45
his life in yeah, 2007 when I was 17.
10:49
And yeah, I mean, I can't ever put into words like how much
10:55
that like just completely tip my world upside down.
10:59
It was kind of complete fell out the blue.
11:02
I mean, you know, I now know he was ill.
11:05
He was ill and I could see that he was ill, but I guess I didn't
11:09
think he was that I'll. Because I remember as a little
11:12
kid say, I remember hearing a friend of a friend or something
11:16
had taken her in life. And I remember asking my dad,
11:19
like, what does that mean? And he, I remember him saying
11:23
like, oh, we'll never understand Katie, you know, And so like.
11:29
It is a really weird thing I remember.
11:32
So there's been when I was growing up within my family,
11:34
which is again another driver for why the whole podcast
11:37
started. There's all sorts of different
11:38
mental health, both positive and negative things that happened.
11:42
But one of those discussions I remember having actually with a
11:45
friend when I was in the very early years of secondary school,
11:49
it was about the sort of understanding taking your own
11:53
life because we didn't really understand how how that happens.
11:57
Death at the time sort of seemed like it happened to old people,
12:01
people that were too sick physically or it happened by
12:05
accident. And there was nothing really.
12:07
There was no other thing. And it's very, very hard thing
12:10
to grasp. And it's one of those things
12:14
that you hear of, you don't really see it happen in the
12:17
immediate. And and that's the difficult
12:19
thing, especially when you are so young, is because you're
12:22
you're not trained and you shouldn't be trained to look out
12:25
for those sorts of things because you should preserve your
12:28
childhood, which in your sense and a lot of people sense is, is
12:31
almost idyllic when you think back to the naivety of how you
12:34
see the world. But then, yeah, as you get
12:36
older, sometimes those things hit closer to home than you ever
12:39
thought would happen. I suppose so with that sort of
12:45
situation, I can imagine that the shock is almost double
12:47
because you really remember your dad saying something like that
12:50
and then actually going through the whole situation.
12:53
But you also mentioned that you were the, well, you are the
12:55
oldest sibling, So what was the impact like being the oldest
12:59
sibling? Obviously you've got your mum
13:00
there, but then you've got, you know, young people that are now
13:03
looking up to you a little bit as well.
13:05
Yeah, yeah, I, yeah, I, I felt like I had to like protect
13:13
everyone and I felt like I had to, I was.
13:18
And also the build up to it, everything just kind of went a
13:20
bit nuts. Like we were very together,
13:22
family, everything was just very normal.
13:24
And and then suddenly we had like people living at the bottom
13:27
of our garden. Everything just felt bananas.
13:29
And I felt like I had to like, grasp, especially my little
13:32
brother. I'm, I'm the oldest and my
13:34
sister's the middle and she's very, kind of quite strong
13:36
willed. And she went to school the next
13:38
day and I was like, what are you doing?
13:41
And I just felt like, and my mum, yeah.
13:44
And I just felt like I had to sort of like step up a little
13:47
bit and yeah. I yeah.
13:53
And then it was just kind of just it's, it's still, it's
13:56
still to this day. I'm like, did that happen?
14:00
Do you know what I mean? Like is, did that happen?
14:02
And I'm, I'm so lucky that he wasn't I'll for that.
14:05
Like all of my, my life. I know that I from my ride, I
14:09
spoke to a lot of people who lost people to suicide and a lot
14:13
of people had lost people suicide who were really like,
14:18
you know, they lost them a long time ago kind of thing.
14:24
And yeah, it's like, it's the most bizarre thing.
14:30
It's a very, it's a very strange thing.
14:31
And like we said with you being the oldest sibling, but everyone
14:34
deals with grief in a different way.
14:35
So your slightly younger sibling would have dealt with that and
14:40
and wanted to go to school, I imagine as a bit of a
14:41
distraction. I think one of the things that
14:44
are difficult and I'm not assuming anything by the way
14:47
that you deal with grief. I wouldn't want to do that, but
14:49
it kind of sounds like it's a bit of a tough position that
14:51
you're putting as the oldest sibling because you kind of
14:53
almost have to be, you have to step up in a way that you said,
14:57
but that doesn't actually allow you necessarily to process it in
14:59
the way you would naturally. Because you kind of got to put
15:01
this front on of I'm the oldest. This is how I handle it.
15:05
This is how I'm going to make sure you guys are OK in any way
15:08
you can. And unfortunately any way you
15:10
can is unfamiliar. You've never been there before.
15:13
And so you're all dealing with the shock and the grief in your
15:16
own way. But and no one can do anything
15:17
right but you. You try to.
15:19
And I wonder as a sort of ongoing impact of that and the
15:24
sort of shock around that sort of age, that's the sort of age I
15:27
remember I was make it. I'd done my GCS, ES and those
15:30
sorts of exams, but I was looking at what universities I'd
15:32
want to go to, what kind of career I'd want to have.
15:35
I can imagine that not only did it turn your world upside down
15:38
in terms of the relationship and family sense, but it must have
15:41
absolutely blown up what your sort of life plan was at the
15:44
time. And and sort of how did you
15:47
resolve that or kind of what was your next steps through that?
15:51
That story and yeah and also going back to the sibling thing
15:54
as well, I think my everyone handled a deal.
15:57
I'm a little brother. He was the youngest.
15:58
He, you know, it's like so much pain for so many different
16:01
reasons. Like he's the youngest, he's the
16:02
only boy. He was so little and like he
16:05
didn't get a lot of time with dad.
16:06
I got more time with dad. My you know, my middle sister,
16:09
she was struggling with stuff and you know, it's just yeah, on
16:14
every, every aspect. But yeah, after that, I think
16:18
for me, I everything just got really, really, really
16:25
insignificant. Like I had little, I had a part
16:28
time job and I was like, I don't want to do that.
16:29
Everything just felt so insignificant and like
16:33
pointless. I was doing, I was like doing my
16:35
drive. I remember learning to drive and
16:36
I just was like, I don't want to do that anymore.
16:38
I didn't really want, you know, everything just felt so
16:40
insignificant and like, I was really angry.
16:44
I was angry at people. I went to school and people were
16:46
crying about their breakup. And I was just like, oh, you
16:49
know, which wasn't like me. And I'm so glad that I managed
16:52
to kind of get away from that because I realised, oh, before
16:55
Dad died, it was my goldfish dying.
16:57
That was like, you know, you know what?
16:59
I was crying and I, but I think, and I quit things.
17:03
So I, I actually like everything just got a bit messy.
17:06
For a long time. I, I was trying to go to
17:08
college, I quit college, I tried to go to university, I quit
17:10
university. I was drinking so much.
17:13
I know part of me is like, maybe that was just drying out, but
17:16
also I think there was an underlying like sort of fact
17:21
there, you know, that like, you know, but as you go up, so, and
17:28
I think to be honest, that's why it's only really recently.
17:34
I think I and then so I went off the not went off the rails, but
17:37
I think like, you know, yeah, everything.
17:39
I couldn't really figure out what I want to do.
17:41
I didn't really know what I wanted to do.
17:43
I knew, you know, and so life was just really weird for a
17:48
really, really long time. And then suddenly I switched and
17:51
I was like, I've just got to like be really grounded.
17:54
I've just got to get a really normal job and do really normal
17:56
things and just be really normal.
17:59
But that didn't even work. That didn't really work.
18:00
Are you there? Because I was like, I'm a square
18:02
peg in a round hole here. This isn't me.
18:04
I don't feel. And so I wasn't happy then.
18:08
And to be honest, it's only really sort of the last couple
18:11
of years that I've been like, Oh yeah, maybe I don't need to do
18:14
that to be happy, you know? Yeah, I do.
18:18
I completely understand that. One thing I want to know is
18:21
obviously we know you and I and maybe the listeners don't, but
18:25
you, you mentioned it, that you cycled around the, the coast of
18:28
the UK this year, which is a pretty rogue challenge.
18:31
And we'll come to the actual challenge itself and kind of why
18:34
that and who fought. But what I want to know is, was
18:37
there anything else that was kind of a bit rogue that was a
18:40
bit like that as a challenge or anything you took it, you sort
18:43
of did in your life to to sort of get that spark or anything?
18:47
I am I'm very play it safe, I think because I get, you know,
18:52
because life has surprised me before and I've always been like
18:57
I'm a little bit like I do like I'm a bit of a don't know if
19:01
it's daredevil. I like adventure, I like
19:03
challenges, especially sport. And I've always kind of gone,
19:06
Oh, I'm going to sign up for that because I think I've in
19:09
life, I find I can be quite all over the place.
19:12
Whereas sport, I love it because I'm right, right, I'm doing that
19:14
half Iron Man or right, I'm swimming that 10K or whatever.
19:17
And I just love it. I love a challenge.
19:19
So I've always loved like signing up for something and
19:21
doing it. So I've always done sort of like
19:24
challenges, but I, it's always been like, that's an event, you
19:29
know, that's already planned and stuff.
19:33
And so no, and I've always kind of played it safe.
19:36
I've always been like, no, must go to university and must do the
19:39
job and must play it safe. And there's just something that
19:42
was like brewing away for a long time.
19:45
And I was getting obsessed with people, especially women that
19:48
were doing these like cool solo adventures.
19:52
And I was like that, you know, I was just obsessed.
19:54
I was like reading these books and audio books and getting
19:56
obsessed at Jenny Graham and cyclist basically.
20:01
And I was doing a bit of bike packing and I was just like, oh,
20:03
there's freedom. I was just like something here.
20:07
But yeah, no, I didn't do anything like that.
20:09
Before, well, you mentioned, you mentioned that you didn't do
20:11
anything like that, but Half Iron Man's, I know within my
20:14
personal network that Iron Man's, Half Iron Man's
20:16
triathlons, different sort of, well, duathlons and everything
20:19
like that are starting to become a bit of a thing that people are
20:21
trying to try different ways of training.
20:24
But what they're discovering is largely the mental impact of
20:27
doing those challenges is almost bigger than sometimes the
20:31
physical impact. And I wonder, I mean, doing some
20:34
of those challenges, did you find that you're able to go to a
20:37
place and provide confidence in yourself through that training?
20:40
Was it a place that you kind of felt comfortable in your
20:42
discomfort at the same time? Yeah, I think I've always known,
20:46
you know, I've always kind of pushed it.
20:47
You know, one year I'd be like, oh, I just just Sprint try.
20:49
And then the next year I'd be like, oh, I'm going to, you
20:51
know, and I've always, you know, swimming as well.
20:53
I was like, Oh yeah, I'm going to swim around all the islands
20:56
of the sillies. And I was always like pushing
20:58
myself. And it was just one area that I
21:00
was like, I know I can do that. And I know.
21:02
And I really liked when I clocked into that kind of.
21:05
And it just doesn't really happen in any other aspects of
21:07
my life. I'm always like a bit undecisive
21:10
and I'm always a bit. Whereas for some reason I just
21:14
clock into that zone and I love it.
21:16
And I was like, yeah, I can, I can do that.
21:20
And I like that. And I yeah, yeah.
21:23
Awesome. I think one thing that is
21:24
obviously quite clear though is from those challenges, a lot of
21:28
them involve cycling. So you weren't going in
21:31
completely blind with a BMX trying to cycle around the the
21:34
coast of England. So leading into this challenge,
21:37
what was the reason that A you decided you wanted to cycle?
21:41
What was the reason, B that it only was going to be the coast
21:43
and C what was the whole purpose of the challenge?
21:47
OK, good quick, good question. Good question.
21:49
So it was like a very I'm a bit of a slow burner.
21:52
So I think when, when when dad died, I felt very helpless.
21:55
I was like, I want to do something.
21:57
I felt very helpless. I couldn't help him.
21:59
And so basically since he died, I was like, I want to do
22:02
something, but I made it so unattainable.
22:04
Like I was like, I want to swim around the world or, you know,
22:06
it became so unattainable. It became sort of to like, I'd
22:11
never do it, but it was always taken away in the background.
22:16
And then over the years I was like, oh, I can do stuff, you
22:20
know, And I started getting more confidence in myself and I went
22:24
to New Zealand over lockdown. I started working for a bike
22:28
shop doing marketing and I just got, I already love cycling.
22:32
I've always cycled. Mum and dad were always, you
22:34
know, getting his own bikes. But I just got obsessed with
22:37
like all cycling. And I think when I wanted to do
22:41
a challenge, it was always going to be swimming because that's
22:43
what I sort of did that I competed in.
22:46
But there's something about cycling where you can be with
22:50
other people, you can talk to people.
22:52
And I think that became really important to me and the and the
22:55
ride and it's just more interesting.
22:59
I get bored quite easy and swimming, I love it, but I do
23:01
get bored. So I was like, and I just got a
23:06
bit obsessed with bike packing when I was in New Zealand and I
23:09
was just, I was like, this is amazing.
23:14
So that's why I true cycling. I also actually joined someone.
23:19
So a big pivotal moment was I joined someone Danny who was
23:23
doing a similar thing because he lost his sister suicide and he
23:28
was doing it on a tandem and I joined him and never met him
23:30
before. And I had, and this was in 2003
23:34
and I'd never met anyone before who'd lost anyone to suicide
23:38
outside my family. And so that was like huge.
23:41
And I just remember having like quite a cathartic, amazing,
23:45
like, experience with him. Like I've like, I've never asked
23:47
these questions before. And it kind of felt amazing.
23:50
And also I've tried therapy over the years and I didn't really
23:54
get on with it. Whereas I was like outside on a
23:56
bike, I was like looking at things.
23:58
There was awkward. There wasn't awkward pauses
24:00
because there was quite a lot of like, you know, looking around.
24:03
And I was like, my God, there's something in this, this is
24:05
amazing. And I kept saying to him, I wish
24:08
I did something like this. And he was like, oh, you still
24:11
can. And I was like, oh, yeah, you
24:14
know, And then I was like, and that was it really.
24:16
I was kind of like, I think I'm going to do.
24:18
And I, I was going to do John the Great's to Land's End.
24:23
And then I kind of like, I was in a job, but I was still
24:26
working in New Zealand and I was like, oh, not really working.
24:30
So, you know, and then I was thinking, I love the coast.
24:35
I love swimming, I love being by the sea.
24:37
So I was kind of like, oh, I'm going to miss the sea a lot.
24:39
And then I was like, why don't I just go around the whole case?
24:43
And it was nice because I was like, oh, dad's family are from
24:46
Wales and like Suffolk is where, you know, with the last time I
24:49
was with dad. And so it just kind of made
24:51
sense and that I quit my job, yes.
24:55
I mean, that, that's the next question really is you had to
24:58
quit your job to do it because at the time, I mean, you can do
25:00
as much planning as you like. And one thing that we've
25:03
learned, I, we had a conversation with a guy called
25:05
Yurian earlier on in the year who's sighting around the world
25:09
who's discovering that you can put all the plan you want, all
25:12
the planning you want in, but when you've got equipment like a
25:14
bike involved, things go wrong. So you don't really know how
25:17
long it's going to take. So having to leave your job on
25:21
paper doesn't seem that sensible, but when you're taking
25:23
on a challenge like that is actually quite sensible because
25:25
you you can't commit to how long something's going to take.
25:29
Very true, although I that was one aspect of the ride that was
25:32
like quite difficult was so my ride was a bit different because
25:38
I then like just young off and you know, my own and having a
25:42
nice, you know, adventure. I wanted people to join me
25:46
because of that experience I had with Danny on on the on the
25:49
cycle. I just said if people want to
25:51
join me who've lost someone to suicide or who have struggled
25:54
with their own mental health, because, you know, I, I lost
25:58
some of some mental health and suicide, But although I've
26:01
struggled with mental health before, you know, and I think
26:06
actually being on a bike, being outdoors and having conversation
26:11
is the best thing for my mental health.
26:13
So yeah, people join me, but it meant I had to be quite strict
26:16
with the plan and I'm not a planner.
26:19
So that was like a real challenge was like trying to
26:22
stick to a schedule and organise people to meet me and stuff.
26:28
But I just, I just wanted to quit my job.
26:30
Well, a, it was three months, I couldn't really leave them for
26:32
that long. And BI just felt like just
26:36
needed to it. Was time, time for a change at
26:40
the same time, Yeah. And.
26:42
And well, the challenge, yeah. So you started off in Cornwall.
26:46
You also finished in Cornwall. I believe it was 78 days long,
26:48
just over 4000 kilometers cycle, which is absurd.
26:53
So yeah, when it when it came around, were you finding that
26:56
you were quite excited, extremely nervous for it to
26:58
begin? And then as it went on, did it
27:00
just become this sort of endless slogo because you're having
27:03
those interactions with people? Was it constantly enjoyable?
27:06
Honestly, it was so like, it's so funny because it was very up
27:10
and down and it makes me laugh because it's like, oh, you know,
27:13
the hills and the the highs and the lows, the hills and the
27:16
declines, you know, so it all kind of like linked up.
27:20
But it was funny. There's a photo of me just
27:23
before I leave and it's with all my friends or a lot of my
27:25
friends came to wave me off and it was all sunny and I was
27:28
wearing a white T-shirt. And it just is so funny because
27:31
it's like that is just not how it went.
27:33
You know, it was like the white T-shirt had to go after the
27:35
first day because it was so like, how am I going to keep a
27:38
white T-shirt? And it wasn't sunny at all.
27:41
It was like the rain. It was horrific.
27:45
But quite a lot of it. And I think it very much like
27:51
the first quarter, it was awful. I wanted to quit.
27:56
I was having a terrible time. My bike got run over.
27:59
I had to get any bike. I was on antibiotics because I
28:02
got like horse by bike. I was really scared.
28:04
I, I honestly, it was just like, I was like, this is not fun.
28:09
This is not fun. And then the kind of then there
28:12
was a sort of moment in the second-half where I was like, it
28:18
was euphoric. I was like in Scotland.
28:20
And I remember sort of crying about how beautiful and how
28:23
proud I was of me. And also sad because I was like,
28:26
oh, Dad, life's pretty beautiful and amazing.
28:29
And you're not, you know, So there was all that.
28:32
But I felt very like, I come, you know, I was like, Oh my God,
28:36
I've got this far. And then, and then, and then it
28:39
got quite busy. Then I actually, because, you
28:42
know, word got around then, then sort of like basically after I
28:45
got halfway, after I got to John O'Groats, I, it got really busy
28:51
and I missed sort of being on my own and missed the solitude and
28:55
stuff. But I had amazing conversations.
28:58
So it was, and then I just didn't want to get back.
29:01
Then I was like, oh, can't do it again, you know.
29:04
So it was a real, real mix. I was going to say that last
29:08
day, was there any relief that you didn't have to sit on that
29:11
saddle anymore? Or was it all kind of dread that
29:14
it was all coming to an end and that that challenge was done?
29:17
Yeah, more dread I think. Also, I was so tired, I could
29:21
actually cried thinking about finishing because I was so like,
29:26
you know, proud of myself and like seeing my family.
29:28
And I couldn't, you know, I was just like imagining like what
29:31
it'd be like. And I was so I think emotionally
29:34
drained. Like I had a lot of deep
29:36
conversations for a long time and a lot of sleepless nights.
29:42
I was certain, like not eating very well either.
29:44
Like all these things, you just think, you just don't think
29:47
we'll be fine. And so by the time I got, it was
29:49
a little bit like overwhelmed and a bit like, I didn't even
29:53
cry on the last day. I was just so like gone.
29:57
But it was more building up to it.
29:59
It was more dread actually. I was like, I don't want, you
30:03
know, I love this life and I want this.
30:06
I think so. This is something that I've
30:08
experienced with various small challenges and some larger
30:11
challenges that I have had and I wonder if it's a similar thing.
30:14
So other people have weighed in on this to say essentially when
30:19
it comes to perspective on life and sort of the outlook when
30:23
you're doing something that's so majorly positive to begin with,
30:25
it can be quite daunting. Then you get into the middle bit
30:28
where you kind of have accepted and you're you now adjusted to
30:31
what needs to be done. So whether that's essential task
30:34
in your case, the amount you need to cycle and where you need
30:36
to be, it becomes almost like a routine.
30:39
And then as you're coming towards the end of the challenge
30:41
and you start to appreciate the impact that it's had on you
30:45
ahead of it being over, that's the enjoyment bit because it's
30:48
almost like your victory lap. You know that you're, you're,
30:52
you know that you have done the thing that you didn't know if
30:54
you could do. You're able to continue doing it
30:56
because now you've got the habits of it.
30:58
You know how how good it feels. But unfortunately, all good
31:01
things have to come to an end. So it is going to come to an
31:03
end. And it's kind of that's the
31:05
dread. I, I say to a lot of people when
31:07
you're doing these challenges, you don't want them to end.
31:09
And it doesn't make sense to people that haven't necessarily
31:12
done something like that. And that's no fault on them, on
31:14
them at all. We're absolutely absurd trying
31:16
to tackle some of these things, to be honest.
31:18
But at that time it can be quite scary because I can imagine as
31:22
well that whilst you're having those conversations, you started
31:25
maybe the first time you had a conversation like that, it would
31:27
have been a bit nerving or, or you would have got quite
31:29
nervous. But then towards the end it
31:31
becomes deeply, deeply comfortable.
31:32
And it's similar with this podcast.
31:34
I not that nervous to sit down and have a great conversation
31:37
with someone, but I can appreciate that my first ever
31:39
one, I could barely speak and I get to do that regularly.
31:43
Fortunately for me, there's no end point with this.
31:45
But when you were having those conversations, are they?
31:49
Are they people that you've never met before?
31:51
Are they people that you now still talk to?
31:53
Have they changed your perspective on your life as a
31:55
result? Oh.
31:56
My God, so it's so funny when when I left, before I left,
31:59
people were like, this is going to change your life.
32:00
And I was like, no, it no, it's come on.
32:02
No, it's not, you know, like, but it has.
32:05
And the conversations I've had like that, that I think that was
32:08
the biggest, that was the big, that was just the most powerful
32:13
thing. Like, and also random people
32:16
that I met who just opened up when I told them, you know, like
32:20
a lady in the shop said, and she lost her daughter to suicide.
32:23
And like, we just had a hug and had a chat and it caught, you
32:26
know, and I think there was, there's something about me
32:32
saying safe space, like safe space for you to talk about is
32:36
because, you know, my, I love my friends so much and they've,
32:40
they're there for me. I know they are.
32:41
But there's not really been many occasions where I've sat down
32:44
and said, Oh, I want to talk about my dad and, or, you know,
32:47
and people don't want to ask and I don't want to, you know, so
32:49
it's just difficult. And you know, and it's not their
32:54
fault. It's not my fault.
32:55
It's just, oh, this isn't the right time or situation.
32:58
But this, this was like a green light for people.
33:00
So I had like, you know, 6 foot 7 farmer man, you know, and I, I
33:06
arrive and I'm like, I've never, you know, most of these people
33:08
I've never met. And I look at him and I'm like,
33:10
Oh my God, what are we going to talk about?
33:11
And you know, I had the best day with him.
33:14
You know, I think if people like bikes, you automatically got a
33:17
conversation there. So, you know, we just chat away
33:20
about gravel bikes and races and stuff.
33:23
And then, you know, and then sometimes I, I just, I found
33:27
that I just like people want to talk about anything deep, then
33:32
they can, you know, but I'm not, I don't probit.
33:34
And it would eventually it would just come out really naturally.
33:37
And I think people really, really wanted to.
33:40
It was like, I've got a green light to be able to talk about
33:43
this. And it was like men.
33:45
And I think 1 old, old boy, he just had never spoken to anyone
33:51
about how he was feeling. And yeah, it was like, wow,
33:56
beautiful. And I still, I've got some, you
33:58
know, I'm still writing thank you cards to people because I
34:01
just had the most those, some of those chats are like once in a
34:05
lifetime chats. And I was just having them
34:06
back-to-back, you know, And it was like, Oh my God, I need to
34:09
really sit down and like, process this and say thank you
34:13
because it, yeah, it was, it was incredible.
34:16
What I think is so interesting about having those conversations
34:20
while you're on that sort of journey and sometimes while
34:22
you're actually on the bike is I've mentioned this, I think in
34:26
a previous episode about golf, because golf is one of the most
34:29
hated sports by partners of, of people that love golf.
34:33
But to be honest, I think one of the things that's big with
34:36
sport, but also other activities in general is that it can be
34:40
almost easier to share and have those deeper chats while doing
34:45
another activity because the other activity grounds you and
34:48
feels distracting enough that you're not actually going,
34:50
you're not talking that deeply about it.
34:52
And that enables you to actually talk deeper about it.
34:56
And so you do go to these faces and, and bit like you said,
34:59
you've got two people that like bikes.
35:00
So immediately there's something there to talk about and that
35:03
makes the start of the conversation a lot easier.
35:05
And then through that trust of an understanding of a certain
35:08
topic, and yes, in your case, cycling, in a golfer's case,
35:12
both hitting a bad tee shot into the forest, there's a there's a
35:16
mutual ground to actually start having a conversation and also
35:18
bring up other things that are somewhat related, whether that's
35:20
a story about a similar sort of atmosphere, atmosphere,
35:24
environment or something totally different.
35:26
And I think that's one of the things that I love so much when
35:29
it comes to training, like events are great challenges and
35:34
doing them on the day races, everything like that is great
35:37
because that's the reflection of how your training has gone.
35:39
But training is what keeps coming back because it's the
35:42
people that you're with, it's the experiences that you have
35:45
there. And I think that's one of the
35:47
things that I find so interesting about doing an
35:49
activity with people. And I would thoroughly recommend
35:52
if you need to have a conversation with someone, I
35:54
wouldn't try and lock them down on a sofa or have a deep,
35:57
meaningful, full conversation out in the smokers area on a
36:00
night out. Don't do that.
36:02
Try and plan something in whether that's pottery,
36:04
painting, whether that is golfing, whether it's cycling or
36:06
running. Something like that will kind of
36:10
make it slightly easier probably for the both of you as well.
36:12
I don't know if you'd agree with that.
36:14
Oh my God, 100% like, you know, it like just my own experience,
36:18
like I've tried therapy and I'm like, you didn't get it, you
36:20
know, I don't know, like I, I do agree.
36:23
I do think therapy is awesome and but I just think there's
36:27
other ways as well. And I think there is some
36:29
science behind it because I looked into this and there's
36:31
like something about bilateral movement.
36:33
And I just think in general, it's not too, it's not too much
36:37
pressure. You know, you can just kind of
36:39
like, and again, there's distractions.
36:41
You're not just stare at each other and, and, and it just
36:44
happened so naturally. And again, it's not too much
36:47
focus on one thing. It's just, oh, it's just I had
36:52
an amazing experience and, and you know, when I was training
36:54
for the Half Iron Man, I remember doing it and I was
36:57
like, is that it? And someone said to me, no, no,
36:59
it's not the event, it's the training.
37:01
That's the thing. And I was like, oh, I can't
37:03
even. That made me feel a lot better
37:04
because I was like, you know, it gave me a reason to get up.
37:09
You know, I had people, you know, I made some amazing
37:11
friends out of it. And you know, I just think sport
37:14
always makes me feel better as well.
37:16
So it's like a beautiful combination of it all.
37:20
Awesome. Well, while we're on the topic
37:21
of kind of talking to other people, one of the things that
37:24
we do on the Mindsets podcast is we do the listener questions.
37:26
So for anyone that's listening and isn't aware before, I have a
37:31
guest on to the Mindsets podcast about 24 hours beforehand or in
37:34
the lead up to actually recording.
37:35
I like to put out some information, maybe even share
37:37
who's coming on to allow some people to ask some questions
37:40
that are relevant either to you as a listener or actually just
37:43
to get some more juicy info out. And it also takes the pressure
37:46
off me asking all the right questions.
37:48
So I love it. Now I've got three questions
37:51
here. The third one kind of counts as
37:53
two questions, but I'll allow it because I think it is a good
37:56
one. The the first question is from
37:59
Megan and Megan asks what mental lessons have you learnt from
38:05
what happened with your dad but also while you were cycling?
38:09
Wow, what mental lessons? Oh, that's such a good question.
38:14
I think it's so difficult because sometimes I don't think
38:20
some of it was was right, you know, like probably drinking too
38:25
much and but I think talking is a big one.
38:29
You know, I spent a long time on the right talking about stuff.
38:33
I think another mental lesson was like just allowing yourself
38:42
to, sometimes it was too hard to let myself think about stuff.
38:48
And I think sort of that thing, I would just be sad.
38:51
Like, like, let yourself be sad. Let yourself go there.
38:57
Also, like being kind to yourself.
38:59
I think I put a lot of pressure on myself all the time to like
39:03
be good at this, be good at that, you know?
39:05
And I think especially on the ride, when I was struggling on
39:08
the ride, I was like, you're doing OK.
39:11
You know, you're doing OK. And like, yeah, that was, that
39:15
was a big one, actually. Awesome.
39:18
The next question is from Andrew.
39:21
So Andrew has asked what are the recommendations you could give
39:24
for equipment if you were to do it again?
39:26
What are the top three things that you might change or would
39:29
bring this time you didn't last time?
39:30
OK, so my tracker, I had a tracker and I just thought like,
39:33
well, my friend lent it to me and I just thought like, you
39:37
know, Garmin tracker. But it was so good because it
39:41
just made me say, it made me feel really safe because I was
39:44
on my own and I was like, sometimes when I was really
39:47
scared, I just thought it's OK because people can see me where
39:51
I am, you know? And it was just good when like
39:54
in Scotland when I had no data, no signal, no nothing.
39:57
I was like, OK, at least someone can see where I am.
39:59
That was just like a real like comfort thing.
40:03
And it's just an amazing bit kit as well.
40:06
So that I Oh my God, there's so much kits.
40:13
OK, this is a really silly one, but a pillow.
40:16
So I don't want to blow up out kit pillows.
40:18
I didn't have that at the start. I was just because I'm just
40:21
like, just use your clothes like it's fine, you know, try to
40:24
rough it, whatever. And then my friend who joined me
40:28
was like, do you want this? And I was like, because it folds
40:31
up tiny and it was just Oh my God, it makes such a difference.
40:36
I have a bit of a silly, but like it was just like luxury for
40:40
me. I mean, I had I had some really
40:46
good bags walk with bags that like just rained so much.
40:55
I. Think that's the thing with
40:57
being on the coast and also being in Britain is you are
40:59
likely to face quite a proportion of wet weather.
41:03
Yeah, so yeah, my I had, you know, I had really, I really
41:06
laugh. I got some amazing tail thin if
41:08
it's a kit, I know not that everybody could have that, but
41:11
before if we put like use like plastic bags or like dry bags.
41:15
So just like to keep it waterproof.
41:21
My Jetboil, my Jetboil was just really small and could cook
41:24
everything. So yeah.
41:26
Oh, great shout. Yeah, I like those.
41:27
I've seen those. It's kind of thing that I don't
41:29
have a need for, but also still want 1, so maybe I'll have to do
41:32
some cycling and then I can warrant it.
41:35
Awesome, amazing. I think the the last question
41:39
and apologies for pronunciation, I'm not great with Irish names,
41:42
but Aoife has written in and has said what was the best slash
41:48
worst individual moment of the ride.
41:51
So I reckon we can go for both, which is why I think is is too.
41:54
What was the is there a point that stands out was the best
41:56
moment? And is there a point that stands
41:58
out? Was definitely the worst moment
42:00
I. Think there's there was.
42:03
There's quite a lot of those. I think the worst there was the
42:12
rain, there was A and I got ill. Or is my bike getting run over?
42:21
I remember seeing that one on As it Happened.
42:24
That was a bit of a a rogue thing because that was quite
42:26
early on, wasn't? It yeah, the the bike was day 6
42:29
and that just like just completely not me for six
42:33
because I just what you said earlier about like you can plan
42:36
and you can prep and you can be organized, but you you can't you
42:41
can't plan for your bike to get run over.
42:43
And like luckily I wasn't on it and actually it's sort my my way
42:48
around my way of like being OK with.
42:50
It was like I had my bike for a really long time and actually my
42:52
old bike was probably due. I'd probably do a new bike and
42:56
actually I'd probably my some weird universe way of saying
42:59
like that you might crash on that.
43:02
So yeah, it's just crash it then you can.
43:05
But I think that just really spun me out because I was, I
43:09
just remember being being in the in the bike shop because first
43:14
of all, I thought it was just the wheel that because the wheel
43:16
got run over and I thought it was just the wheel and my
43:20
friend's mechanic and he was like, can we see?
43:23
Because it could just be the wheel and, and when I got to the
43:26
shop, it wasn't just the way I like cried at the bloody pool
43:30
guys at the shop. And I was like, I'm doing a
43:31
thing. And I just did.
43:32
I just thought that's the end of the ride.
43:35
And I was just like, oh, you know, I'm going to let people
43:37
down. It was just was a really.
43:40
And then after that, I, I, it really put me in a spin.
43:42
I really freaked out. I was like, anything can happen,
43:45
you know? So yeah, that was that was
43:48
probably up there was like the. Awesome.
43:50
And and then is there a flip side?
43:52
Is there a stand out best moment that you remember?
43:55
Honestly, there's so many, but I think 1 was I just remember
43:59
being in Scotland on my own and I was like, it was so beautiful.
44:06
I cried and I'm not a crier and I do, I, I am now after that
44:11
ride I'm very like, Yep, I'm a crier now.
44:14
But I just remember thinking it's so beautiful and I've done
44:18
it. I just, I hadn't done it, but I
44:20
was like, I've got like enough way to think you can do this.
44:25
And I think it was just a really beautiful, sad moment where I
44:28
was just so proud of myself. And it was like a really
44:31
beautiful and I, yeah, it was really beautiful.
44:33
And that was. Awesome, amazing.
44:37
So that kind of rounds off the the listener question.
44:40
So thank you to those guys that wrote in and to the other people
44:42
that wrote in as well. Apologies, I couldn't ask all of
44:44
your questions, but do keep them coming for next time.
44:47
The next section is what we call the three pieces of advice
44:49
section. So this is very individual to
44:51
you as a guest and to all of the previous guests.
44:54
So what I effectively do here is I remove myself from the
44:58
podcast. And so imagine that you're
44:59
having a conversation with a younger version of yourself or
45:02
three different younger versions of yourself.
45:05
What 3 quick bits of advice would you give them if you could
45:08
have a conversation with them? Yeah, right.
45:12
This yes, this is very good. I think it would OK yeah, don't
45:19
sweat the small stuff would be one of them.
45:21
I was always a bit of a warrior worrying about everyone,
45:25
everything and it just like just, you know, just don't sweat
45:29
the small stuff. And I'm I still have to say that
45:33
to myself now that, you know, like I would just worry about
45:39
like things that just seem so silly now.
45:43
And it's just like, and then that kind of links, they're all
45:46
quite similar actually. And the other one was be nice to
45:49
yourself. Like, you know, just, you know,
45:52
I think it's one of these things like we all we're our own worst
45:55
critics, right? And I'm so harsh me to myself
46:01
sometimes, and especially when I'm younger as well.
46:04
And it's just like, you know, just be a bit nicer to yourself.
46:09
And I think the other one is like, don't really know a short
46:13
way of saying this, but you don't have to take the path that
46:18
everyone else is doing. You know, like Kate Roberts is
46:21
her own person. And she's she's she doesn't have
46:25
to do the path that everyone else is on.
46:28
Yeah. Because I really felt like I was
46:30
like, forcing myself into stuff that I wasn't.
46:34
Yeah. And I'm still again stuff I'm
46:36
still telling myself now. I think, I think there's good
46:39
advice and I think that's the important thing is it, it quite
46:41
often will be stuff that you hold for the rest of your life.
46:43
I don't think it'll necessarily ever go away, but it's good to
46:46
identify what those are. And I think other people will
46:48
potentially resonate with at least one of them for them as
46:51
well. So it's a good little reminder
46:53
for anyone listening, I think, and likewise as well.
46:56
And you can do it. You know, that's another one
46:57
like you, you, you've got this. Yeah, nice.
47:01
Well, the the final part of the podcast is the guest to guest
47:05
question, which is completely stolen from other podcasters,
47:09
but I think it's a great thing to do.
47:10
So the previous guest was Robin, who also had a bit of an
47:13
interest in swimming. He was a very good swimmer when
47:15
he was younger, but he had an unwell, an invisible disability
47:20
as it were. And he's now gone down the route
47:22
of psychology in sport. And it's a really, really
47:25
fascinating episode. If anyone's listening and
47:27
thinks, how do I feel more confident about my upcoming
47:30
challenge? Well, there you go.
47:33
Go back and listen to that. He will coach you through some
47:35
stuff and we'll have a bit of a discussion.
47:37
I become a bit of a Guinea pig. So if you're interested as to
47:40
why I talk so much about sport, go back and have a listen.
47:43
We discovered some amazing things while I was doing that.
47:46
But Robin wanted to ask you the question, which was if money was
47:52
no object, you lived in an ideal world, what would you do as a
47:57
career? Is it's such a difficult
48:01
question because I think I spend most of my time thinking about
48:04
what I could do and but re I'm just going off the recent one
48:12
and it's obviously something to do with bikes and sport.
48:16
I'm sorry, people and sport that be my whole.
48:18
Like any time I talk about what I want to do, it's always
48:22
people, people in sport. And basically it would be doing
48:26
the ride. That's my job.
48:28
Like, you know, and I'm like, can I be a guide?
48:32
So sorry, I'm going to split this into two because I can't
48:35
decide like cycling and talking to people all day.
48:39
Don't know what that is, whether that's a guide or sort of being
48:42
an interviewer, like first floor.
48:44
I just think if you could run around and just see people in,
48:48
in their moment, you know, and just capture it a little bit.
48:53
Photography or chatting and chatting and better at or do
48:56
more of so, yeah. Amazing.
48:59
I think they're both good. And maybe maybe you can find a
49:02
way to do both and make that a reality even in this world where
49:05
money sadly is an object and does have relevance.
49:08
But I think it's a good thing to sort of remind yourself on a
49:10
daily basis of like, if all of this construct of finance and
49:14
economics wasn't a thing, what would I be doing?
49:16
And in reality, you could probably give it a good go now
49:18
and. That's exactly what I'm sort of
49:21
in the midst of, is like, can I open a bike cafe?
49:25
You know, can I do bike guiding? And yeah.
49:29
Well, if you, if you decide to go with either of those in 2025,
49:32
because we're very, very close to that, then obviously do let
49:35
us know. We'll be happy to share it.
49:36
So all the listeners can come in and have a chat with you while
49:39
they're on their mid ride or, or join you on a ride.
49:42
But I, I need to ask a question that you want to give to the
49:46
next guest when they come on. What sort of thing would you
49:49
like to ask? I don't know well, I think any
49:55
you I'm I'm I'm sorry this is being said before because it's
50:00
so sick on I think 1. I always think is great is like
50:05
if you had a soup, what would it be?
50:09
Or I actually. Don't think that's been asked
50:11
before. Oh my God, I'm just like a.
50:13
Lot of interest. Out of interest, if you could
50:15
have a superpower, what would it?
50:16
What would be yours? Yeah, oh mine.
50:21
It would be be able to breathe underwater.
50:25
It makes swimming a lot easier. Yeah, and just surfing and
50:27
everything. I'll just and I'll just, you
50:29
know, the underwater is this most incredible world and just
50:32
be able to like dive in and just sit you under there for it.
50:36
Yeah, that's, that's actually a really good answer.
50:37
And it's a pretty robot. I don't think many people will
50:39
say that because most people would just say, oh, you know, be
50:42
invisible, fly, that kind of thing.
50:44
But actually going underwater, underwater is so undiscovered as
50:46
well. Amazing, very good.
50:49
Well, I want to say a massive thank you for joining me and a
50:52
massive well done on completing your challenge as well.
50:55
I do have one last question, which is just me being nosy, is
50:59
are we likely to see Katie taking on any other challenges
51:03
anytime soon? Well, I get asked this so much.
51:08
Not right now. I think right now I'm just sort
51:12
of grounding myself a little bit and just kind of like, you know,
51:16
yeah. But I think I've definitely
51:19
shown myself what I can do. And yeah, there'll be no
51:22
stopping me. But 2025 might just be a bit of
51:26
like rest and cover. Awesome.
51:32
I think that's, I think that's fair.
51:33
I think with you trying to decide what's next for you, it
51:35
doesn't necessarily have to be a challenge.
51:36
It could be the career and then it could also all tie into each
51:41
other. So again, we want to say a
51:43
massive thank you. You're an inspiration.
51:44
I hope that a lot of people are dusting off their bikes going
51:47
into the new year. So to try and do dry January and
51:50
fill that time with actually coffees and cycling would be
51:52
good then. Yeah.
51:54
And likewise, I will make sure that your social media is
51:58
tagged, but is there anywhere in particular where people could
52:00
find you to to reach out to you? No, not really.
52:03
Just my, yeah, my Instagram saddle to see.
52:06
I think there's a website saddle to see, but that's a little bit
52:09
dormant at the minute. So yeah, Instagram.
52:13
Amazing. And for anyone listening, if you
52:15
weren't really aware of the podcast before you accidentally
52:18
clicked on it or you clicked on it by choice, then welcome.
52:22
This is the Mindsets podcast. So on all forms of social media,
52:25
it is at Mindsets under score podcast.
52:28
Same for YouTube, which means you get to watch the show and
52:31
tells and kind of get to know the faces behind the voices.
52:35
So feel free to go over there. If you can follow drop a like
52:38
drop a share the messages from each episode go further and that
52:41
way we can fix some problems with the fitness community as
52:45
well at the same time. So a massive thank you to
52:47
everyone for listening and again, a massive thank you to
52:50
you Katie for joining and I look forward to seeing you all in the
52:53
next episode.