“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.”
“Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.”
My name is Ian Carey, I live in Stubbington, Hampshire and I am 58 years old. I have been married to my wife Sarah for almost 35 years and we have a 28 year old son called Ben.
I lived in Chippenham, Wiltshire until 1988 when my career moved me down to Hampshire, but I still have parents and many friends living in the Wiltshire area.
In my teenage years my hobbies were cycling and swimming and although I really enjoyed both, neither of them ever became major competitive sports for me. As my career and family life flourished both sports took a back seat and my bike was relegated to the garage where it gathered much dust.
My father also did a lot of cycling and in 1981, to celebrate his 50th birthday, he cycled from Land’s End to John O’Groats. Not to be outdone, and with my 40th birthday pending, in 1997 I bought myself a new bike and with very little training cycled 900 miles in 10 days from John O’Groats to Land’s End. I raised £600 for ‘The Winged Fellowship’ charity (now Revitalise), who were based in Netley and for whom Sarah worked for at the time.
As I crested the final few hills in Cornwall I realised that my general fitness was not quite as bad as I had imagined and that my will power and determination were both very strong and I began to think about what to do next. The thought of undertaking a USA ‘coast to coast’ ride became a dream but sadly, upon returning home, the dream fizzled out and the bike got put back in the garage where it remained for nearly 20 years!
I hope you will come on this journey with me and I will be sharing my experience by updating my blog on a regular basis. You can also support my chosen charities by making a donation here.
I am not underestimating the magnitude of this challenge but I am quietly confident and am looking forward to the end of June when Sarah and Ben will fly into America to join me for what I know will be an emotional experience as we roll into Boston and I see the welcoming sight of the Atlantic Ocean.
“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”
“Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.”