The Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, or in this case, a single pedal.
Meet Hive volunteer, Alex, who is taking on a phenomenal challenge in July, all in the name of raising funds to support The Hive.
Alex is pushing himself (quite literally) to take on a once in a lifetime bike ride from the Wirral, all the way to Istanbul, Turkey. In total Alex will be cycling around 3,300 miles and travelling through 15 different countries, an adventure that will take him almost 4 months to complete.
Before Alex sets off on his amazing adventure, we got the chance to sit down with him and find out how he got involved in volunteering at The Hive, his inspiration for the challenge and what he’s most excited and anxious about! (Turns out it’s not the thousands of miles he will spend cycling!)
If you want to support Alex’s journey, you can donate to his Just Giving page or share his story with your networks.
Could you start by telling us what your role at The Hive is and how long have you been a volunteer?
Sure. I started August 2021, so it’s coming up to four years now. I think the official title is a volunteer youth worker on the junior Wednesday sessions. I used to do the Hiveability, but I couldn’t always commit to it because I’d either be busy on the weekends or something like that, so now it is mainly just the junior sessions on the Wednesday.
What made you want to be a volunteer at The Hive.
It was towards the end of lockdown and there was still a lot of bad stuff going on around the world…but what stood out was people coming together doing a lot of volunteering, and I thought, well, I’ve never really done that myself, maybe I should do something. I’d always see The Hive building, either driving or walking past and always wondered what it was. So, I looked it up and found out it was a youth centre, did a bit of reading on the website and I thought immediately, it sounds like a good place to volunteer. I made some inquiries and quickly fell in love with it to be honest and enjoy it immensely.
What does The Hive mean to you?
It’s meant a lot to me over the years. It’s taught me a lot personally and taught me how to build on my own self-confidence and I’ve learnt a lot from others, how to be more organised and confident in my own abilities. It’s great to be around the juniors because you learn so much from them. It’s surprising as well, how clever they are. I started on rec (the main area of The Hive) as I thought it would be a good place to start and then maybe go into one of the activity rooms, but I really like the way rec is laid out, you can see the whole Hive and I enjoy being part of the activities. At first, it a bit overwhelming, I thought ‘Woah, this is crazy’ but now I’m used to it. But now I thoroughly enjoy just being there and seeing everyone. The staff and other volunteers are all great too.
Have you ever taken on challenge like this before?
Not of this scale. I’ve done challenges in the past and little bits for charity where I’ve had had to push myself. But nothing of this logistical size.
So how long have you been cycling for?
Since I was a kid, really, but I kind of fell out of cycling a bit. I think I was just a bit afraid to go on the road when I was cycling because it’s so busy and I lost a bit of confidence in it. It was maybe about two years ago now, I thought I really want to get back into it and I had watched a video online of someone cycling from the UK to Portugal and that inspired me quite a bit so then I did a bit of research into what bikes to get but ended up just getting the bike that he had on the video, mainly because I liked the colour. There are so many different bikes but that one looked nice, so that’s why I settled on that.
Was that video your initial inspiration?
I watched the video about two years ago, but I first came up with the idea of travelling and cycling five years ago during lockdown. I remember, my friends were on Skype, chatting about where we wanted to go next and I said we could maybe cycle to Istanbul. Nobody was interested and it sort of took a back seat until about a year ago, I thought, well, why not. I wanted to go travelling again and after doing a bit of research it slowly snowballed into planning it and now, I’m here doing it.
What made you choose this route?
Istanbul is a good target. It’s a place where, West meets East and historically it’s an important city that I really want to visit. I’ve been to Turkey but never Istanbul so it’s a good end target. I’ve chosen a lot of countries as well, that I haven’t been before like Luxembourg, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria. I’m trying to do 40 countries before 40 and I have picked the route specifically so I can tick them of the list.
How many countries have you been to so far?
Twenty-six. So, this will cut off a big chunk of that (40) as well and it’s a bit of a tongue in cheek thing, it’s mainly to visit them and see the people and the sites.
So how many countries is it then?
England, France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, Austria. it’s a bit of Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece, a bit Bulgaria and Romania and Turkey, so that’s 15.
Alex’s journey as he cycles across Europe into Istanbul.
Will you be stopping off as you go?
Yes, rest days will be important to avoid burn out but also to see the different sites, some cities or towns along the way and just take it all in. I obviously want to make it to the end but it’s also about the journey too. I want to absorb it and meet people along the way because cycling on my own can be a bit of a lonely experience sometimes and I’m someone who likes to be around other people.
What are you doing physically and mentally to prepare for this challenge?
Getting on my bike as much as I can really, putting in the miles of a weekend as I like to try and go out for the full day. I’ve started going to the gym as well just to do a little bit of prep there and mentally I’m really excited for it, I know there’ll be challenges along the way. I know it’s roughly 3,300 miles, but I don’t know what will be like so I’m just trying to stay positive and raring to go.
What are you most excited about?
There are multiple things really, like the freedom of it and being able to do what I want and take it all in my stride or putting extra effort in, seeing new places, new cultures, hearing new languages, new people. One thing I love about travelling is meeting new people, especially when you go to different countries, you learn a lot. I’m looking forward to the challenge itself, how far it’s going to push me I’ll be out of my comfort zone. Although I’ve done something similar before, like sleeping rough, this is going to be a different scale. So yeah, look forward to the challenge and how much I can raise for The Hive
Are you anxious about any part of this challenge?
Being chased by dogs. When you travel into Eastern Europe and the Balkans there are packs of them or you can possibly get confronted by farm dogs, so I’ve done some research on how to avoid them.
What about the weather?
I think like it’s going to be summertime so it’s going to be quite hot. I’m planning on just getting up early and cycling during the cooler part of the day and then having a break when it gets too hot just being sensible about it really. It’s all comes down to preparation so even though I know it’s going to be summer, I’m still going to take a raincoat, rain jacket and other bad weather gear just in case.
How do you think this journey will change you?
(Laughs) Physically it will change me. I’ll probably end up with a hunch back and bad knees, but it’ll be worth it. I think mentally too. Hopefully it will make me a bit more of a stronger person. I think it will be a good learning experience as well, and a chance to learn from the other people along the way. We’ll see what happens along the way, what else changes. It’s often not until you come back and then maybe months or even years later, when you process it and realise it did change me, it made me more confident and more willing to try new things.
Do you hope young people at The Hive will learn or take anything away from your challenge?
I hope it will. I hope it will inspire them to try new things, challenge themselves to take on their own journeys (maybe not on this scale but…) Hopefully it will promote fitness as well, get them out on a bike. Ideally, if someone has an idea, or a plan or a dream to look into developing it and seeing where it leads. Even if it’s just one person.
What would you say to someone who’s considering donating/why should people donate to your page and support The Hive?
I think The Hive is an incredible place for young people and does some amazing work within the local community getting kids off the streets and being with other kids helping to improve their social interaction, at the same time helping to develop their confidence and life skills. It’s also a place where people like me who want to volunteer can also learn new skills.
How can people follow your journey?
Through Instagram and Just Giving
What’s the best way for someone to donate?
Through the Just Giving Page
What would hitting the £3,000 goal mean to you?
It would mean they mean a lot. As another goal to achieve not just the cycling to Istanbul, but to raise money for a cause that I thoroughly believe in and a place that I really enjoy being a part of and of course I know that it will mean a huge amount to The Hive as well. So, anything from a penny to a pound, whatever people can spare, it’s really appreciated, even just sharing the Just Giving Page that would be a great help.
Thanks Alex, for coming in and speaking with us and good luck on your journey. Everyone at The Hive will be routing for you!
