You take for granted thinking ‘oh that will never happen to me’, losing a friend to suicide, and then it happens and you question everything. You kick yourself for not knowing, questioning whether you should have known, or may have known and misread the signs. I wish Jordy had known how loved and admired he was, everyone would done more than just cycle 1000km to help him. This is my small way of addressing the tragedy that is is the mental health crisis, from the (uncomfortable) seat of my bicycle, by embarking an a challenge from Jordy's favourite home of the Reds in Liverpool to all of our ‘happy place’ in Verbier.

Jordy would have hated this entire thing; embarrassed that he was the centre of attention, questioning why we would embark on such a ridiculous challenge in general, let alone for him. His face would be almost as unimpressed as watching Liverpool be a goal down. This thought alone brings a small smile to my face and pushes me to want to prove that we are doing this for him whether he likes it or not.

It was a challenge enough eating humble pie as I claimed that I’d never be seen in padded pants and Lycra, let alone committing to the hours of training and miles to come. But as the saying goes, no pain, no gain and if cycling these miles, with all manner of discomforts helps to raise awareness, encourage friends to talk, and allows the charity to support another person in need then that’s a win.

The ‘what are you most looking forward to’ question - no prizes for guessing that I’m looking forward to coming round the last bend into Verbier after a gruelling climb. But more importantly the sense of personal achievement and being able to look back and see what the group has accomplished by channelling all manners of emotions into one common purpose.

I’m already one bike down after it was stolen so stay tuned for all other mishaps that will happen along this ride as we start to raise money in memory of the big man himself and for those we can make a positive, and hopefully life changing difference to.