Owain Wyn Evans is on his way home to Wales, the long way round. The Ammanford-raised presenter left BBC Scotland’s Pacific Quay in Glasgow just after 8am today, Monday 9 November, on a bike in Pudsey yellow with coloured spots.
Ahead of him are nearly 400 miles through Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales, with the finish in central Cardiff on Friday 13 November. The ride for BBC Children in Need is the longest ever attempted for a Radio 2 fundraising challenge, the BBC says.
He was not hiding his nerves at the start line. Speaking live to BBC Breakfast, he said: “I am very nervous for what the next couple of days have in store for me.”
It is not the first time he has said so. Three weeks ago he admitted to “a couple of wobbles” in training, and the BBC says he was not even a cyclist before he started preparing for the challenge.
He told BBC Breakfast why he was doing it: “I feel very passionately about the importance of BBC Children in Need because no child should feel like they’re alone and don’t have support.”
Day one: 84 miles to Cairnryan and a ferry that will not wait
The first day is 84 miles south from Glasgow down the west coast of Scotland to Cairnryan, where he has to catch the ferry to Northern Ireland. The route was read out to him on Radio 2 by the Welsh actor Luke Evans.
The actor sent him past Ayr beach, the birthplace of Robert Burns and the Electric Brae, where a road that looks downhill is anything but. His warning about the ferry at Cairnryan was blunt: “it will leave… with Owain, or without him.”
Glasgow gave him a noisy send-off. A local piper played ‘Scotland the Brave’, comedian Susan Calman gave him a motivational speech and drummers from the city’s Samba Ya Bamba Band played him away.
The drums were a nod to his last big challenge for the charity, a 24-hour drumathon in 2021 that raised more than £3.8m, by the BBC’s count.
A bike called Shania Chain, and a message from Shania Twain
Even the bike has a name. A Radio 2 listener came up with Shania Chain, which was picked ahead of suggestions including Áine Bike, Britney Gears and Kylie Spinogue.
Shania Twain was impressed enough to send a good-luck message. “You’re about to take on an incredible challenge for BBC Children in Need, cycling 400 miles through all four nations,” she said.
The singer added: “As you set off in Glasgow, I just want to say ‘Let’s Go, Owain!’”
‘You’re so ready Owain’: Sara Cox and DJ Spoony at the start
Fellow Radio 2 presenter DJ Spoony was at the start line and said he had given him “about five big hugs”. He described him as being “in the finest fettle in a glorious Glasgow morning”.
Sara Cox, whose run for the charity last year raised £11.7m, spoke to him live on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show. She had no doubts: “You’re so ready Owain, I can just feel it.”
The weather was on his side, for now. “Glasgow is gorgeous this morning,” he told her.
He added: “Honestly, we couldn’t have hoped for better weather to kick off the challenge because it’s dry for now, it’s a bit misty, it’s like I’m doing the weather again!”
Following the ride, and the Welsh leg to Cardiff
A live tracker on the BBC Children in Need website shows where he is in real time, and Radio 2 will carry updates on air all week. The BBC has not yet said which Welsh towns the final leg into Cardiff will pass through.
A BBC TV crew is following the whole ride for a film, Owain Wyn Evans: Four Nations Challenge for BBC Children in Need, on BBC One on Friday 20 November at 7.30pm. Donations can be made through bbc.co.uk/owain.
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