AN award-winning journalist heads to Falmouth this month to tell a gritty, moving account of his 3,500-mile adventure around Britain during the pandemic.

Simon Parker will be telling his inspirational true story on how he battled grief and anxiety, one pedal stroke at a time, as Britain entered its first lockdown.

His life had fallen apart; his travel journalism career vanished overnight and shortly afterwards he received the tragic news that a close friend had died.

With a long-suppressed anxiety disorder starting to rear its head, he turned to the only therapies he knew and trusted: travel and exercise.

Setting off on his bike from the northernmost point of Shetland with only a sleeping bag and a camping stove, Simon would end up cycling 3,427 miles around Britain. En-route, he would meet hundreds of resilient Britons, who were all, in their own way, riding out the storm just like he was.

Falmouth Packet:

Even in his gloomiest moments he began to see that a chink of light was never too far away. His book, Riding Out is a story of optimism and hope, and a ground-level portrait of Britain as it transforms from a country in crisis to a nation on the mend. From Shetland to the Scillies, Dover to Durness, Simon learns that life’s sharpest corners are best navigated at the gentle pace of a bicycle.

Simon Parker is an Oxfordshire-based travel writer, newspaper columnist and broadcaster who has reported from over 100 countries. He’s sailed and cycled from China to London for the BBC, cycled the length of Scandinavia for Amazon Prime, and hiked every known route to Machu Picchu for The Telegraph.

Simon will be at The Poly on Tuesday 27th September at 7.30pm. The talk will be followed by a Q&A and his new book, Riding Out, will be available to purchase. Tickets: £15, plus a £1 Poly Fund payment. Book now online at www.thepoly.org or by calling the Box Office on 01326 319 461.