YORK City super fan Simon Hood has admitted he never expected his cycling odyssey would end at Wembley stadium.

At the start of this season, former Fulford School pupil Hood set himself an ambitious target of pedalling to every league and FA Cup fixture involving the Minstermen.

His 10,000-mile mission, undertaken to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Society after the degenerative disease claimed both his grandfathers, will be completed at Sunday’s Blue Square Premier play-off final against Oxford United.

It is an ending he didn’t dare to wish for last summer.

Hood said: “I had a bet with a Stevenage supporter at the start of the season that we would finish in the top eight because I felt Alex Lawless and Michael Gash were good signings, but I never thought we would reach the play-off final.

“I felt my best chance of ending the season cycling to Wembley was a glory run for a repeat of the FA Trophy final, but the fact that we are in this position is testament to the great job Martin Foyle has done as manager in a short space of time and I think we will smash Oxford 1-0 on Sunday!”

Hood added that following a successful side has made his long trips up and down the country easier to bear than they might have been in previous campaigns, saying: “It’s made a huge difference watching a winning team and I don’t think I’d have been able to finish this challenge last season. City fans go to games now with expectation rather than trepidation.”

The Stillingfleet-born 33-year-old confessed he had surprised himself by clocking up every mile of his gruelling crusade ahead of this weekend’s match.

Fate did play a part, however.

“I would have missed the postponed Grays game even though I’d been in London for a week,” he explained. “Because of the snow, I was leaving it quite late because I did not want to make a wasted 30-mile trip.

“When I did set off, I ended up falling off the bike two miles down the road and damaging it. I had to find a bike shop and would not have made kick-off but then I heard it had been called off at the last minute.

“When my sister heard, she said I always landed on my feet, although I ended up on my backside when I fell off the bike!”

Taking into account the other games called off due to the freezing conditions, Hood estimated: “I did about 1,000 wasted miles and, in terms of the weather, I probably couldn’t have picked a worse season.”

He also cut it fine on a couple of other occasions jumping on his bike at 6am to ride 130 miles in a day to make kick off for the AFC Wimbledon home game.

“I only got to the ground at 7.20pm,” he recalled. “But still managed to fit in a pre-match pint in the Bay Horse.”

For the play-off semi-final against Luton, meanwhile, he cycled the 150 miles from Huntingdon to Bootham Crescent in 15 hours to arrive the night before the game as he had other matters to attend to on the day of the match.

Hood has met many interesting people and forged new friendships on his travels, including his Huntingdon hosts.

He added: “A City fan from there, who is now a good friend, got in touch with me when he heard about my idea and provided me with bed, breakfast and a beer on more occasions than his fiancée probably expected.

“But I met a lot of great people on my travels, not just City supporters. One night I slept in a caravan at the back of a pub. It was kept there for anybody lucky enough to grab themselves a bit of action, or myself!”

Hood never once resorted to pushing his bike over the last nine months – not even up the never-ending hill that causes Land Rovers to labour on their way to Forest Green’s New Lawn Stadium.

Sensibly, he set off from nearby Stroud on the morning of that match and was provided with moral support by an exiled City fan he had stumbled across along the way, who cycles from Bristol to the same fixture every season.

“Having gone through the Peak District a few times, I was also used to steep gradients by then,” Hood added.

When asked whether he fancied undergoing the same slog next season should City win promotion to the Football League, Hood’s answer was unequivocal. He said: “Absolutely not. It’s been a great experience but I have to return to real life now and I don’t think my girlfriend would let me. She’s been very stoic through all this.”

Hood’s journey, meanwhile, was made even tougher and tinged with sadness by his grandmother’s death, although the pair did manage to spend some quality time together that might not have been possible in different circumstances.

“I knew that when she passed away I could be anywhere in the country,” he said. “But I did get to spend a couple of hours with her before and after matches while she was in York Hospital and I might not have had that opportunity otherwise living in London.

“It was also comforting that my gran was really proud of what I was doing for Alzheimer’s.”

Hood has raised £4,900 for the charity so far and wishes to thank City supporters for their generosity during last month’s bucket collection, which contributed £370 to the cause. Anybody still wishing to make a donation can do so by visiting www.justgiving.com/bicycle kicks or www.bicyclekicks.co.uk


Cycling snippets

Biggest highlight Hopefully, it’s still to come. Otherwise, I would say the celebrations after Richard Brodie’s goal against Luton.

Lowest point Scrambling across the Pennines over Christmas to try to make the Altrincham game and finding out at Rochdale, of all places, that the game had been postponed. In football terms, the performance at Eastbourne was insipid.

Favourite journey Not many people look forward to going to Barrow, but I went through the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District and it was beautiful. After the game, I also pitched the tent in a meadow under a bridge in the Lakes and it was idyllic.

Worst journey Cycling around Birmingham is never a nice experience so probably somewhere like Kidderminster. There’s a lot of traffic and, whereas most big cities have cycle routes these days, there aren’t many there.

Most hospitable club The majority of the smaller clubs like Hayes & Yeading and Histon are really welcoming, but if I had to single one out it would be Eastbourne. They were great to me and my friend at the ground and told us to come back to their Social Club for a karaoke night that evening. We did and were treated like returning heroes and had a great night, although a pounding hangover wasn’t the best preparation to make it back to York in two-and-a-half days for the next match.

Breakdowns Two snapped frames, one broken bracket and countless punctures.