Hi, my name’s Josh and I’m the Musical Director of Lostock Hall Memorial Brass Band.

Music has played a big part in my life however, fitness has not. Over the years I’ve progressed from playing to conducting. My fitness has not improved. I have had many successful ventures with numerous brass bands. My fitness has succumbed to many, many takeaways.

My current band, Lostock Hall Memorial Brass Band, have been working very hard and have secured a place at the National Finals of Great Britain held at Cheltenham Racecourse this September. With all my spare time going into band and musical preparations, my fitness has still been lacking somewhat. Stupidly, I had said to the band prior to winning at The North West Regionals contest, held at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, that I would cycle to the Nationals if we qualified. Well we did just that, winning First Prize at the Regionals for the first time in the bands 70 years of existence and now I need to do something about my fitness…

So, as I never go back on my word, I will be cycling from Lostock Hall Band Room to Cheltenham racecourse. I am also stupid enough to enlist a friend to do this with me as I didn’t want to do it alone. He has come up with an even more stupid idea of taking the scenic route... 171 miles long!!

With that in mind we will be travelling over three days in July. Taking the opportunity to take some pictures of various landmarks along the way such as; The Dream Sculpture, The Mersey Gateway, Beeston Castle, Ironbridge, Bridgnorth Cliff Railway, Whitley Court and Gardens, Worcester Cathedral, then finally the racecourse at Cheltenham.

This year the band are celebrating their 70th anniversary and it is also 10 years since they last qualified and won the Nationals. So, I feel it is only fitting that I mark this momentous occasion with something as equally spectacular. Alongside many other fundraising ideas, the aim is for the band to raise enough money to cover the costs of the players to get to Cheltenham, as it can be quite expensive. I am doing my part by completing this crazy cycling challenge.