Here’s Simon Bone, our Office Manager, with his take on Team Genesis’s adventure at the bigmoose 24-hour spin challenge – from 340 miles on the road to 24 hours on the bike, pancakes, playlists and everything in between. Over to Simon…
Mental health charity “bigmoose” had a mission for this event: to raise £ 1 million. The plan was to have riders pedalling for 24 hours. The funds raised will be going towards helping provide life-saving therapy for people struggling with their mental health. On 29 November, 100 teams of 10 people, riding non-stop on spin bikes, powering change together and funding fast and effective therapy for people who need it most.
bigmoose Project 1 million 2.0
The event took place at the National Indoor Athletics Centre in Cardiff, Wales. It was just a short 340-mile, 6-hour drive from our base in Dumfries, Scotland. The majority of our team headed down the night before to be fresh and ready to get our bike spinning at 12 noon. Erin and I decided to travel on the day of and planned to meet up with the team in plenty of time to have a little rest before taking our turns on the bike. The journey went relatively straightforward: good music, minimal traffic, a spot of damp weather, and a pleasant little stop-off at Holmes Sweet Home for some of their lovely pancakes while the electric car charged up.
Before we set off on the second leg of our trip, we couldn’t help but be doubled over laughing as Erin tried to unplug the wrong car from its charger, whilst they were sitting in it.
After a long drive, and a custom-made 2000s A-Z Spotify playlist later, we arrived in Cardiff. The venue, meanwhile, was already busy, and we found ourselves in a highly energetic atmosphere.
The real challenge begins
Ten rows or 10 bikes filled a large area, all set up in front of a massive screen. The tunes were pumping, the spin instructor was keeping everyone entertained, and spectators were cheering the cyclists on. Periodically, we would be given updates on the total amount raised, and inspirational and emotional stories would be played on the big screen, reminding us all of the reason we were there and the impact our efforts were having.
Time ticked on, and some of us went to sleep while the others worked on through the night, keeping the bike spinning. The team switched over in the early hours of Sunday morning, and we powered on, though. We all reunited for the final few hours and powered on through to the end, where Scott, one of our Directors, completed the final stretch.
We’d done it! Our team completed the 24 hours and raised some money for a worthy cause. We had a great time, spoke to some lovely people, and did our part to help people get the treatment they need. We just had the return journey left, and we all stopped off for a lovely team meal.