Jer’s A City Cycle-path

No-one was more relieved than Jer Boon when City drew Barnsley at home in the FA Cup. Not Danny Wilson, not Steve Lansdown, not Tommy Doherty, and (trust me on this) certainly not you.

After all, if we had gone to Oakwell Stadium, Danny and the team would have settled into their comfortable seats for the coach drive up and rested overnight in a country hotel before taking the leisurely journey to the ground. The chairman would have journeyed up in similar style, no doubt, before enjoying prawn sandwiches with Peter Ridsdale in the directors’ box. And regardless of whether you had opted for C.A.T.S., rail or the convenience of your own car, you would have doubtless arrived relatively fresh and, possibly, in time for a jar or two before taking your seats.

By contrast, City supporter Jer Boon would have cycled.

The 35-year-old diehard Cidered and self-confessed lunatic/masochist has pledged to pedal to every City home and away game this season to raise thousands of pounds for breast cancer research. So far, 35-year-old Jer has somehow completed just over 3,000 miles to 22 games, including nine gruelling away matches. In one week alone, he rode 720 miles to Plymouth, Wrexham and High Wycombe on his Dawes Sardar racing machine.

If only the team would put in that much effort.

It took him five days to travel the 402 miles to Bradford Park Avenue and back for the FA Cup first round. As he unchained his bike from the stand outside a Portakabin after the game, he heard the blissful words he was praying for. City were at home in the second round.

Now all he has to worry about is a replay.

Jer, who lives a 16-mile cycle from Ashton Gate at Downend with his partner, said: “I was so very pleased that we were at home to Barnsley. I can’t tell you how much.

“I’ve only just got back from Bradford Park Avenue and my big fear is that we draw and have to go up there for a replay.

“Then I’ll end up going back to almost the same place I’ve just come from.

“After the Bradford match I had to collect my bike, which was chained to a Portakabin grandly titled the directors’ suite.

“We went in and bumped into Maggie and Steve Lansdown, and the second round draw was taking place.

“When I saw ‘Bristol City versus…” I just thought, ‘Yes’. I didn’t care who we got.

“I wasn’t praying we got knocked out because I’m too much of a fan.

“But I must admit it was awful to cycle all the way to Plymouth and see that shocking game we played in the LDV, having taken the trouble to get there.

“That was one of the times I just thought, ‘Why am I bothering?’”

Jer you go – Exhausted Boon in front of the…erm…majestic Bradford stadium.

Unbelievably, when Dolman Stand season ticket holder Jer gets to an away game he prefers to STAND if there is terracing.

The superfit fan quit his job in I.T. to fulfil his ambition, and stays in youth hostels, bed and breakfasts, pubs or with friends when he’s on the road.

He cycles up to 130 miles a day on his away trips but is trying to cut down by taking longer to avoid wear and tear on his body.

Jer said: “The biggest problem is really my body breaking down. It was going okay and the weather has been great for the past three months. I’ve barely seen any rain.

“But when we played Plymouth, Wrexham and Wycombe in the space of a few days my body really struggled.

“The of course, I’ve had Bradford and Brighton back to back. The fixture list hasn’t been too kind in how the games fell.

“It has been a bit of a struggle, and I haven’t really seen many goals to be honest. I have been doing my sums. To get up to Bradford and back was about 40 hours cycling.

“The team, in total, must have put in less time than that on the pitch this season.

“At the moment, it hurts. Any part of the leg you care to name hurts.

“But I love terracing. If I can, I stand up. Sometimes after riding hundreds of miles it’s actually harder to sit down – a bit painful.”

However, the past few months will seem a breeze compared to what Jer faces over the coming months

He said: “The biggest challenge is going to be the weather when the winter gets bad.
“I await with relish Hartlepool on January 24. That is definitely going to be the worst place to get to. It’s the furthest distance and at an awful time of year.

“I’m dreading it, yet looking forward to it in a challenging way because apart from anything else I hope to get a bit more publicity for that one.

“In a funny kind of sadistic way I have enjoyed it all. I know I must be a bit nutty to do this.

“Everybody who speaks to me about it – everybody - the first thing they say is that I must be mad.”

One of Jer’s best moments was when Danny Wilson phoned him the day after he got back from the league game at Plymouth to check he was okay.

He said: “That was a total surprise. I thought it was someone winding me up. I had to listen to him speak again to check it was his voice.

“He said he was checking up on me to see how it was going and see I was okay. To be honest I was a bit star-struck and was struggling to think of what to say.”

He added: “I know roughly how many miles I can cope with.

“There are times when I feel like stopping, but just getting on the bike and doing it gets me by.

“It’s not like running. If you run for an hour your body starts to stop, but on a bike you can just keep going. Sheer bloody-mindedness gets you through.

“It’s very lonely. What I miss most is being warm. But it’s very nice being away in the middle of the countryside with the peace and quiet. It beats working.”

Despite the sore legs, Jer is determined to complete the 7,000-plus miles it will take to see it through to May to raise cash for Breast Cancer Campaign.

He chose the cause when his mother was diagnosed with the disease while he was training for the 2001 London Marathon.

She had a life-saving op and has now fully recovered. But Jer freely confesses it is not the only reason for his bizarre quest.
As he says: “Spending nine months in the altruistic pursuit of financial aid for such a cause is no excuse for also subjecting oneself to nine months of rubbish second division football.
“I could just as easily not quit my job and donate nine months of salary to the charity.
“I'm following Bristol City because I want to.
“Every true football supporter knows that there's never really a game that you don't want to be at, but for a whole bunch of reasons it's almost exclusively the home games that I get to be at these days.
“I've always reconciled this tragedy of circumstance by promising myself a complete season of following my team everywhere. One day. It just so happens that this is that season.
“And why do it on a bicycle? Well you've got to do these things with a bit of style, haven't you?
“So it's all about me really. The charity thing is just an extra. But what the hell, my mum thinks of me when I'm at the City, so why shouldn't I reciprocate?
“She wasn't born a City fan, and doesn't go to watch them, but like before she'll have the radio on for every game and she'll know when to be happy for me and when to be sad.”
So if you see a City fan with a pained expression walking towards the turnstiles at Hartlepool, Stockport or Grimsby like a gunslinger at the O.K. Corral, buy him a cup of Bovril or just give him a cheer to spur him on.

And in the meantime, why not help give him a real boost by joining The Incider in sponsoring his good cause?

After all, we all know it’s painful enough watching City play at times – without the added agony of cycling thousands of miles piled on top.

* You can sponsor Jer Boon by going to his website www.bcfcbybike.com.