We want at least 100 people to sign up to raise funds within 100 days and to each raise a minimum of £100 for our cause - getting more men in more circles of support: for wellbeing, for mental health, for the good of men and for the good of our families, friends and communities.

Me, my event, and I

I live just outside the village of Tondu in South Wales. Due
to its location, situated at the mouth of three valleys, the Ogwr, the Garw and the Llynfi, the village was the hub centre of the former railway network, serving the coal mining and iron making industries for which the area was
famous throughout preceding centuries. For this reason Tondu now serves as the hub centre on the cycle track network for the area, which consists largely of
former railway routes. 

I use these cycle routes as part of my personal self maintenance programme. Where these tracks cross a road, as they often do, there are steel frame barriers to stop the local half wits (of which we have an abundance) taking stolen cars and the like on to the track, and doing who knows what harm. I cycle along them, certainly,  and usethe barriers as exercise stations to stretch and do a few press ups.

With my fifty eighth birthday imminent and my sixtieth looming up over the horizon, and charging towards me at an alarming rate, I perhaps ought to ‘fess up’. I have beaten myself up a bit, and a bit more over the years, all the usual blokey nonsense, drink, drugs and putting myself in harms
way just to prove ‘I’ve still got it’. That notwithstanding, I’ve still got all of my arms, all of my legs and my head still faces mostly forward – on a good day at least,  hence, I consider myself to be a really lucky  man.

Regardless of the negative impact I’ve had on myself, I also
have at least a few good habits. I do not eat out of packets and boxes, I am in fact a reasonably good cook and I also enjoy plenty of fresh air and exercise. This I believe has been the saving of me!

I have found that as I go through middle age the darker
months are more difficult to bear with each year that passes. This year part of my beating off the blues will be this One Hundred Men Challenge for MKP.

At this stage  I know only that I am already weeks behind schedule with whatever training regime I might need to enact. As such I am minded to make my training regime part of the event. The period from the end of October, just after my birthday, when the clocks go back and it is then dark in mid afternoon, is the time when I find my energies most depleted and staying positively minded a bit of a challenge in its own right. So from November, through the run up to the winter solstice, and possibly beyond, so as to give myself a bit of leeway is case of a period of seriously inclement weather, is when I would need to wring the most out of myself training wise. I consider this to be the prelude to my challenge proper.

The challenge itself – an afternoon bike ride.

I will ride the three routes that converge on my house as a loop, a total of about fifty eight kilometres, one for every year I’ve had on this planet. I’ll do an extra lap of something if necessary to make it up to fifty eight, and while I’m about it I will do one thousand press ups as I complete my circuit.

Starting in a week or so, at about half past October, my
training must begin in earnest. In keeping with my pagan beliefs I will use the period up to the solstice, or thereabouts, to build towards the fitness level I will need for my event. During this period, the prelude, I will do five
thousand press ups, culminating in my afternoon bike ride.

I will be putting out a weekly update, letting you know how
my regime is going and how I’m feeling about it all. Doubtless there will also be a bit in there on how and with what I am feeding and watering myself.

For now, all the very best – Ike Roberts