Amy and Kyle Hudson look serene on the small screen in front of me. Amy’s curly hair is falling gently against her shoulders as she leans towards her screen to say hello, Kyle sat next to her relaxed.
But just out of shot is another story completely; a sea of bike bags and clothes, the flotsam and jetsam of a pre-ride packing crisis in full swing.
Kyle looks towards the floor sheepishly. Amy rolls her eyes. They’re one day away from trying to break the round the world couples record, and they’ve worked out that they’ll need to cover 18,000 miles over 150 days to get the title. Amy’s all packed – Kyle has a way to go.
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She is – to be fair to Kyle – a seasoned long distance rider. Last year, she rode all 21 stages of the Tour de France route, including transfers. But Kyle’s done an impressive amount on a bike, too. His longest ride before this was a 24 hour time trial – “1,200 kilometres in one go,” he says, still slightly bewildered that he’s capable of that kind of distance.
Cycling exploded into the couple’s life just over ten years ago. Amy was working as a mental health nurse, burnt out and struggling with depression – and then one day, Kyle brought home a bike.
“I was trying to think of a way to get Amy out the house. So it was a stroke of luck – I knew that Amy’s dad cycled a bit, and I just had a brain wave,” Kyle says.
And it worked. The first time Amy cycled on that new Carrera bike, she rode 45 miles through the Peak District with her dad, covering over 2,000 metres of climbing. And it wasn’t long before Kyle joined her.
The first time he attempted that ride, it was a different story. “You got off and walked off the hill, didn’t you?” Amy teases. “There was a lot of walking, a lot of expletives, yeah,” Kyle concedes, shrugging.
The couple describe their bike packing history in an affectionate back and forth, taking turns to lay down the facts, or to interject with missed details. Their Lands End to John o’ Groats ride was the first real long-distance test for Kyle, who “didn’t even have lycra or anything,” just “trainers and a gym bag strapped to the back.”
For both Kyle and Amy, cycling is more than just a physical challenge. The couple have both struggled with their mental health. Cycling became a way for Amy to get out of the house, and out of her head, and it transformed their relationship. As our conversation turns to mental health, there is a palpable sense of relief from both of them; that the Carrera bike really did help Amy to overcome a difficult time, that somehow, despite neither of them being cyclists before 2016, they’re about to cycle around the world – together.
“We literally have seen each other at our worst and best,” Amy says. “You work out how someone ticks, because even though you see someone day to day, you don’t fully know how you’re going to react in situations under pressure. You learn how to communicate with each other.”
Supporting one another through their bouts of bad mental health has made the couple stronger, and has inspired a determined mindset in Amy, who has a solid track record of aiming big, and smashing her goals. I ask Kyle if this latest challenge is inspired by Amy’s relentless determination, or if he’s similarly driven.
“Yeah,” they say in near-unison, pausing to look at each other. “I think we’re both just as bad as each other,” Kyle laughs.
But differences colour their relationship too. Kyle loves the heat – Amy hates it. Kyle wants to talk straight after an argument, Amy needs some cooling-off time. But food – and cycling – is their shared language. While they plan to avoid anything that could set their tummies off while abroad, they won’t deprive themselves of the culinary delights on offer. (They both fondly reminisce on Germany’s delicious chicken wraps.)
I ask Kyle and Amy what they’d like to achieve from the trip – aside from a record breaking round-the-world cycle, and aside from raising money for the mental health charity, Shout. Amy says it is to inspire people.
“For me, coming from a place where I didn’t want to be here anymore, of not seeing a future at all, not feeling like I deserve to live…to then finding the bike (and obviously counselling as well) I’m at a place where I do really enjoy my life and I do want to live and now I’m going around the world,” she says.
“I want to inspire people that struggle… It doesn’t make you a weak person, it actually makes you stronger, because you can get up every day, even though it’s really hard, and you can do whatever you put your mind to. You’ve just got to keep going.. I think if I hadn’t been through that mental health struggle, there’s no way I would be able to ride the distance I do.”
Kyle takes a sideways glance at the messy floor around him, both of their minds back on the task ahead.
“It’s going to be really hard,” Amy says, battle-hardened, about to set off on her next adventure with her husband, her training partner and her best friend. “But we’re just going to get through that together, aren’t we.”
You can follow along Amy and Kyle’s challenge via her Instagram account, or this live tracker. To donate to Shout, click here.
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