New Visited Peterhead today Merv Howard 31 July
The cyclist dubbed “Bugs in the Beard” beings mammoth charity challenge, Visited Peterhead today
RAF Regt veteran and former Warrant Officer Merv Howard is currently cycling the entire coast of the UK on a 55kg bike.
He’s raising awareness of Mental Health through the charity Support The Walk a forces mental health charity.
Each RAF Regt Sqn is attempting to join him for a stretch of his journey.
RAF Regiment media are led to believe that RAF Regt veteran John Buchanan is joining him soon in the SW of the country.
He departed East Anglia in April and plans to arrive back in 4 months.
Follow his progress on Instagram or Twitter
Raising money for a forces Mental Health Charity
https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/bugsinthbeard
When Merv Howard visited Peterhead he has been in Morrisons today it’s him review in Twitter about our local store worker.
Merv Howard story about Scotland next
After not completing ANY training rides, whilst substituting them for time spent with my family and after finally receiving signs for my bike, advertising what I was doing and who I was doing it for,, I set off north towards Scotland.
My legs felt as though I hadn’t ridden a bike in months. It’s amazing how quick your fitness disappears! The knowledge of thirty eight years in the military, had obviously been forgotten. In very short order, I managed to get myself knocked off my bike, by a traveller builder vehicle, that promptly fled the scene, whilst I narrowly escaped being crushed by a Volvo 4X4 .
That night, I stayed at RAF Woodvale, thanks to Si Webb and Taff Townsend. Patched up, I rode North, eventually reaching Morcambe, staying in Dave and Paula’s B&B.
The stay was regrettably short and I cracked on. I stayed at many campsites along the way and was well received by most of them. Eventually, I reached where the Romans gave up on, heading west along the coast.
I made a calculated decision not to ride through Glasgow because of lack of campsites, I instead elected to ride across the Isles of Arran and Skye.
Whilst riding across Arran, I felt the need to ring my wife Hannah (the first time I felt the need to inform her immediately), and tell her how amazing the place was. Quiet and nearly totally clear of rubbish at the side of the roads, (I only saw two Iron Brew plastic bottles), it truly was a beautiful place
Skye was also an amazing place, however the place was full of cyclists that were decidedly regretting taking on the challenge of the mister climbs, that the Island offers. If you want to train for the Tour de France, have a go on Skye.
I met many interesting characters that offered me breakfasts in their caravans and vans be saw mostly cloud covered mountains. That’s not a complaint, may I add. I’ve been very lucky with the weather in Scotland. Most of the day, I spent my time looking not to ride into any of the thousands of potholes. Scotland comes in a close second to Wales, on that front.
It was during the ride up the west coast, that my rear wheel started to crack in seven places. This was also compounded, by the fact that my rear tyre started to delaminates severely.
I managed to hang on with wheel until it eventually started to fall apart just short of John O Groats after six miles after a nights stay, one spoke went, six miles later, another, then just before Portsoy, it totally collapsed, leaving me stranded.
Incredibly, just before this failure happened, two veteran servicemen passing in the opposite direction, saw me standing under the cover of a bus stop, whilst emptying my boots and wringing my socks out decided on the way back to try and seek me out to see what I was up to.
By the time they returned, the failure had happened and I was in a lay-by deciding which wooded area would be best to hide the bike in and to pitch my tent, whilst I tried to find transport to get me and my wheel to Dundee, (a long way away).
Mikey and Gouldy an ex RSM/Captain and an ex Royal Marine, pulled up next to me and asked, what I was up to after a quick explanation and gnashing of teeth, I was instructed to get the bike a very short distance to Mickey’s house so we could work out a plan.
To cut a long story short, he then arranged for an Amazon vehicle, (the company that he is a manager for), to drive to his house from visited Peterhead to Portsoy, to pick my wheel up and drive it to Electric Bikes Scotland in Dundee to get it rebuilt. Dundee was one of two places in Scotland that could do warranty work on my bike, a Reise and Muller Load 75 Rohloff., which they did in very short order, dropping everything else to get me back on the road. I can’t thank them enough, (Daniel, Barbara, John and Jack.
A day later and after another rescue mission from Kev Grimshaw, (a fellow RAF Regt Warrant Officer), who drove from Edinburgh to Dundee and then to Portsoy, to deliver my newly built wheel to me. A round trip of six hours!
The first time he rescued the mission, was when he drove a round trip of TEN HOURS, to deliver a new tyre, after the de-lamination of my Shwalbe back tyre. Incredible…
It’s amazing how luck, allowed all this to happen. Right place, right time, wheel falling apart when it did. Me stopping to empty my boots after the torrential rain, Mikey taking his car to be repaired on that day. Him working for Amazon. Kev Grimshaw being a good egg and a snappy dresser……..
Fate!
Although if the wheel hadn’t of failed in the first place…..
After was Visited Peterhead Merv Howard
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