We share the experiences of Simon Hooper AKA @father_of_daughters on Instagram riding Chase The Sun coast to coast in a day – and ask Simon why he is back to ride to sunset again this mid-summer…
” It truly was a bucket list experience that I’ll never forget. It was also an experience I said I’d probably never repeat, yet here I am signing up to do it all again! “
SIMON aka @Father_OF_DAUGHTERS
Cyclist, sports enthusiast, DIYer, sausage dog owner, dad
Back in 2023, I was in need for a goal to focus on. Being a busy father of 4 girls and having just turned 40, I needed a challenge that I could apply myself to – a goal that was just for me. I needed something that I could be proud of achieving, that pushed me to go further than I thought I could. I needed something that not many people could say they’d done. I needed something big!!
Enter Chase the Sun, a single day ride across England from east coast to west coast. The idea of riding across a country in a single day was daunting to say the least, but with training and the support of my family (who drove across the UK to meet me at the finishing line in Weston-Super-Mare), I embarked on what was, and still is, one of the best days I’ve ever had on 2 wheels.
Starting at just after 4am, having picked up a stone from the east coast beach, I spent the next 11 hours and 12 minutes in the saddle, and was privileged to experience England from a completely different perspective, but it was the people involved that made it special.
From the flatlands of Kent, through the still sleeping city of London and onwards into the rolling country side beyond, it was the people I rode with that kept my spirits high and the legs spinning. It was the smiling faces of the volunteers at the feed stations and their words of encouragement that got me back on my bike when it was the last thing I wanted to do.
Before we knew it, we were making the final push into my home county of Somerset, and the warm embrace of magnificent Cheddar Gorge before finally dipping my toe the sea in Weston-Super-Mare.
I removed the stone I picked up on the east coast that morning, and with a tear in my eye, I gave it a kiss and tossed into the sea as a way of closing off what had been an epic journey. A journey that I had taught me that I was capable of more than I give myself credit for.
Somehow, I’d managed to carry that stone with me for 330km and raised over £5000 for Diabetes UK in the process. I really can’t describe the emotional overload of riding down the final stretch of boards of Weston-Super-Mare pier to the finish line – it’s something you can only understand by doing it yourself.
It truly was a bucket list experience that I’ll never forget. It was also an experience I said I’d probably never repeat, yet here I am signing up to do it all again!
I’m not sure what it is about Chase the Sun – perhaps it’s the freedom of being on your bike, perhaps it’s the challenge, perhaps it’s all the wonderful people from the organisers and volunteers to the riders and supporters – whatever it is, I’m just glad it exists!
Thank you Chase the Sun – can’t wait for June 2025!
WITH FOUR CHASE THE SUN ROUTES TO SUNSET ACROSS IRELAND, SCOTLAND, ITALY & ENGLAND – Simon will be tackling the Kent to Somerset UK SOUTH route again in 2025
The idea of riding across a country in a single day was daunting to say the least, but with training and the support of my family, I embarked on what was, and still is, one of the best days I’ve ever had on 2 wheels.”
@father_of_daughters
FOLLOW SIMON ON INSTAGRAM : instagram.com/father_of_daughters/
