I'm a double cancer survivor, cyclist and walker who does various challenges for different charities, mainly cancer-related.

In 2016 I climbed every single 'Birkett' in the Lake District - all 542 fells over 1,000' within the National Park, including all 214 Wainwrights. I've also done a three-week cycle tour of Tasmania in February 2015 and amongst other things, I've cycled from Land's End to John o'Groats (2003), Rotterdam to Lemvig (Denmark) (2005), walked the Pennine Way (2008) completed (my first) ascent of all 214 'Wainwrights' in the Lake District in only 55 days (2009), cycled 4,500 miles around the coast of Great Britain (2011), cycled all 42 of the accessible Western Isles of Scotland in under a month (2012), twice abseiled 230 ft from the top of The Big One in Blackpool, cycled the WWI Western Front from London to Compiegne via Ypres and Arras (2014), cycled 750 miles in the Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton (2014), done a bit of sky-diving and cycled Australia's Great Ocean Road - just before lockdown in 2020.

Altogether I've raised over £120,000 for my charities including The Christie, Cancer Research UK, the Rosemere Cancer Foundation, and ABF (The Soldiers' Charity) and I was mightily chuffed to receive the British Empire Medal in the 2014 New Year's Honours List.

I'm a Rotarian and give illustrated talks about my adventures in exchange for a donation to charity, so if you're looking for a speaker leave me a message. I am also Event Organiser for the Ribble Valley Ride Cycle Sportive, to be held this year on Sunday 5 September 2021 - more details at www.ribblevalleyride.org

You can also follow me on Twitter - @CancerBikeMan and on Facebook - just search for Bill Honeywell

Cancer Research UK is the world's leading charity dedicated to beating cancer through research, whilst The Rosemere does fantastic work for patients in Lancashire and South Cumbria.

Monday 29 September 2014

Cycle Tour of Yellowstone and Grand Tetons National Parks (and much more) – USA September 2014

It’s a long time since I did anything with this blog but having just returned from an epic cycle tour to Wyoming and Montana, USA, I felt I had to sit down and write an account, in case anyone is interested in reading it.

Why Yellowstone?




The tour was organised by CTC (The Cyclists’ Touring Club) and led by my old friend Richard Dugdale. I’ve never been to the United States before and this seemed like a great adventure for a first visit.

Yellowstone was the world’s first National Park, created in 1872:  the area is a supervolcano and much of the park consists of a caldera, formed when a massive eruption took place around 600,000 years ago.  There are hot springs, boiling geysers and sulphurous pools (in fact about half of all the world’s thermal features) lakes, rivers, forests, and incredible wildlife including Bison, Elk, Moose, Pronghorn Antelopes, Bears, Beavers and much more.

You can find plenty of interesting stuff about the area here, on the American National Parks website:  http://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm

We spent the entire tour at elevations between 4,500’ and over 10,000’ (we were never below the height of the top of Ben Nevis) and in winter the place gets very cold indeed.  September is a great time to go, with the roads still passable and the chance of some warm days, although many of the visitor attractions are already closing down.  10 of us flew out from Manchester to Jackson Hole on 6 September, meeting the other two (one from Sydney, the other San Diego) when we got there, and over the next two-and-a-half weeks we cycled over 750 miles before returning on the 25th.
Where is it?


Most of the National Park lies in the NW of Wyoming, with a little slice in Montana (that's near the top left of the map - Montana is pale blue with Wyoming, purple, to the south and Idaho, yellow, to the west).  To the south lie the Grand Tetons, iconic pointy mountains, while also nearby but outside the park are the towns of Jackson Hole (a great ski-resort), Cody (Buffalo Bill) and Bozeman.

  






Over the next few days, as time allows, I’ll post a belated diary of the tour, with a few of my photos – I took lots and lots, so it may take me a while to go through them all, but hopefully you’ll find some of them stunning, and all of them interesting.