Day 24 - Wigan Warriors RC
I can hardly believe that we have been on the road for 24 days already. So before I waffle on, I'm going to give you some stats so far.
4 weeks = 20 days wheeled.
Total distance so far : 831.28km
Total elevation: 23'767 feet.
Ben Nevis over 5 times.
Way above Kilamanjaro.
Only 5'000 feet from the summit of Mt Everest.
5 rugby clubs visited. 5 balls passed on.
So it's looking quite good. The days are so tough at the moment. Pam gives me a lovely hug at the start of the day and tells me that I can do this! Which really helps, and she is a self confessed 'not huggy person!' So im very honoured. The whole team have been incredibly supportive. Alexis has been with us this week. Shes the third , third person! (Yep, compliccted, i know!). Basically since my lovely wife, Cat, left, there is a new person every week. So this week was Alexis turn. A few teething issues, which are always going to be there, when anyone joins during something like this. There's alot to learn, and they have to learn fast. Not just getting used to the new electric car but everything else too. Like when and where to charge her. She's called Maggie, after the legend Maggie Alphonsi MBE. We kindly had the car sponsored for the event by BYD (build your dreams) A very appropriate name for this challenge. They were and have continued to be extremely supportive. The car is lovely and it looks amazing with all the lights flashing and all the sponsors on there.
So I digress again! I do that! It's the crps and Fibromyalgia. They both give me brain fog. So i have double fog, which means basically, a foggy head which forgets what I'm talking about when I'm talking about it 🤣!
So yep, new person. Alexis is so lovely. She often comes with us to rugby, and joins Pam in the back seat. She had a tough week with alot of directions to follow, and a tough day today finding her way through Preston. Cat has worked out the route with satnavand instructions, but that the satnav can be a bit confusing. So unfortunately on the way we were meant to go, we didn't go! I was meant to go down one side of the country and ended up going another, like a split upside down V! But no one knew until the end of the day. I had a thought that things were not right when I saw signs for Garstang, when we had just come from there, and then again when I was on the duel carriageway for around 30 ish km. I knew I was going to be on it that day, because Cat had told me, but she said it was a short section and that was it. When I'd been on there for a while, I was a bit confused, but did not want to question, as I have to have complete trust in my team, and I still do. At the end of the day, I was still in one piece and we were heading down the country. So we were all good. Poor Cat though! Her nightmare began there. The whole route has been planned for my safety. I could have gone around alot of mountains, but it was safer for me to go over them, so that's what I did. So safety was the number one priority. So me being on the duel carriagewayfor over half a day wasn't too great, but I absolutely fine. The girls did a good job keeping me safe. Mistakes happen. It's what makes this a big challenge. We just go with them and don't worry about it. You can't. Everyone is doing their best and they are doing such a fantastic job. I owe this amazing team so much. They are awesome 👌
Cat then had the challenge of working out how she was going to get me back on the right road. But she is amazing and I knew she would be able to sort it out.
So we found the hotel we are now staying at for the next 3 nights. Yes you read right, 3 nights in the same place! I am still wheeling but not for Friday and Saturday. Iactually have 2 days off. But not off! Off wheeling, but having lots of paperwork to do, and that's what I'm doing right now! Updating this blog.
The room in in is lovely. Really big and beautiful. Very classic older hotel. I have a lovely shower which is an accessible shower. This is fantastic to almost all wheelchair dependant people like me. But I have CRPS, and showers are one of my worst nightmares. The pressure of every drop of water on my stump feels like hundreds of tiny knives stabbing me! So i end up laying in the shower with stumpey out of the way! I'm learning how to become a contortionist without the mammoth amount of flexibility 🤣 But i would never complain. They didn't know and I hate having to ask for changes when people have been so kind. So I'll deal with it. In the grand scheme, these things are not big problems. Just things I deal with all the time.
I had just a short period of time to sort myself out and get ready to go to Wigan Warriors. So I did my usual routine post wheeling. Which looks like this:
Immediately after I have my SIS Rego drink. Then in the hotel or room, I have 100g of GF museli. Then I do some stretches. When I don't have a club to visit I will put ice packs on sore bits like my shoulders, stretch for longer and use a massage gun on myself. But on this day there was no time for all of it. So it was a quick flopping about in the shower and get dressed into less sweaty clothes, and out the door to Wigan.
None of us had been to a Rugby League game before. We were there about an hour and a half before KO. We were met by a lovely lady from the women's team. She had sorted parking for us and was going to be doing the special bits with me at half time. So she showed us to parking and gave us our complementary tickets, which was amazing, and shower us where to go. All the grounds staff were very friendly. In fact everyone we spoke to, were really friendly. The stadium was already getting busy and the fans were chanting lots of songs. It was incredible. We sat and watched and listened while it got busier and busier.
8pm was KO time. Just before the crowd went very loud! Chanting, singing and then fire works and flame throwers, and cheer leaders. I've never seen anything like that before. It was like a huge party atmosphere. Absolutely amazing. Drums and chants, and dancing and singing. Wow!
Rugby League is quite different to Union. I had no idea. All the players are of very similar body type and stature as its basically about speed. Hard core speed, agility and tackling as well. It was actually great fun to watch, and I would definitely watch it again. I'd love to watch the women play.
At half time, most of the women's team came over to meet me and escorted me to the pitch. I was going out on to the pitch to hand over the last ball from Garstang RC. I had to take a big deep breath. I'm quite a shy person and don't like being the centre of attention. My heart was racing and my palms were sweating. I kept my wheeling gloves on so that when people shook my hand, they wouldn't notice! Then the announcer started telling the 25 ish thousand people what i was doing. I wheeled onto the pitch and the girls stood around me and we all had pictures taken and we exchanged balls. I heard applause, but strangely didn't think it was for me. Pam and Alexis told me that the crowd stood up and all applauded and as I wheeled toward the exit with the new ball from Wigan on my lap, the all clapped me out of the stadium. I was totally gob smacked. This is something I did not expect. I was totally blown away. I was given a signed ball which they said was for me, and another ball which was for the relay. But the other ball wasn't signed, which was a shame. So I will keep the blank one and pass the lovely one on to the next club. That's what the realy is about. Passing a signed ball from club to club, with no one know if its a grass routes or a premiership club, because in rugby, it doesn't matter.
We left at half time because it was already late, and knew we would be waiting for a long time to get out of the stadium. We hadn't eaten either. I had wheeled 44km in just over 4 hours. I had to attempt to consume the 6000kcals that I had burnt that day. But that wasn't going to happen that late. So a bowl of musli and a protein drink had to suffice. But I've existed on less. I know I'd be able to have more the next day 😋
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Lexi Chambers
