A Redditch man plans to cycle the length of the UK without sleeping to raise awareness and funds for the MS Society.
Max Williams plans to travel from Land’s End to John O’Groats as the first stage of a wider challenge in which he hopes to cycle through six countries in six months without sleep.
The 30-year-old said he was motivated by his son’s mother being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2020.
Williams said: “I’ve always been an active person and I like pushing myself past my limits. The reason I’m raising money for the MS Society is because my son’s mum has the condition. I also think not too many people are aware of the condition either.
“In each country where I cycle, I’ll be raising money for the charity.
“The lack of sleep came about firstly as I’ll never know what it’s like to have MS, but it was a way to mirror the feeling of having MS as a lot of people who have it face tiredness and fatigue.
“Secondly, I wanted to make the challenge even harder.”
Williams said he was “feeling confident” about completing the challenge without sleep, although he was concerned about the effect several days of cycling could have on his legs.
“I know I’ll complete it no doubt,” he said.
“It sounds crazy, but the first time I picked up a bike was a few days ago and I’ve completed 800 miles in that time. I’ve been gradually putting the miles up each day so my legs are conditioned and can withstand hundreds of miles per day.”
Williams has raised £2,647 towards a £3,500 fundraising target.
“I know this is a massive task, but I feel like for someone doing this, they have to be mentally strong, which I feel like I am,” Williams said.
“It won’t be the hardest thing I’ll ever do as after the cycling challenges, I’ll have kayak ones, including a 12,000 mile kaya
“I’m really excited to do it and I’ll be documenting the whole thing.”
Williams hopes to cycle through France after completing the UK stage of the challenge.
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