Meet the Bristol doctor cycling to Glasgow for COP26
Jet McDonald says he's worried about the future for his son
A Bristol doctor is preparing to cycle all the way to Glasgow next week to raise awareness of the climate emergency.
Jet McDonald has decided to take on the challenge during the COP26 climate summit to highlight the issues we face.
He'll complete the whole ride while towing a block of ice in a trailer behind him.
We caught up with him to hear all about it.
How did the idea come about?
"I think like a lot of people I've been worried about the climate and the future and I was thinking how I might begin to engage with that," he told us.
"And of course I was cycling along on the road and the idea popped into my head that I could make a bold statement by making a link between melting ice caps and the climate, by actually having a melting ice block that I was carrying with me and turn it into a bit of a challenge by cycling that ice block all the way from Bristol to Glasgow."
Jet tells us he's already a big cyclist, using a bike to cycle to and from work and across Bristol.
He calls his bike "a pair of circular legs" that take him around the city.
Why are you so passionate about climate issues?
"I think like a lot of people I've been worried about the future and particularly worried because I have a son, and like a lot of parents you worry about the future for your children," he says.
"I wanted to find a way of having a voice, a personal voice, and making myself heard and I enjoy cycling, I love cycling and I felt that by doing this I could make my voice heard in a way that I knew how to, which was through cycling, which I've got such a passion for.
"I've written about cycling, I've cycled across the UK and different parts of the world and I could make that statement real and passionate by following this road trip all the way to Glasgow."
How long will it take and will the ice last?
"I'm expecting it to take seven days," he says.
"That's quite a challenge for me, that's 100 kilometres a day towing a trailer that's going to be quite heavy with an ice block in.
"I did lots of experiments with ice blocks to find out how long they would last, and the reality is that carrying an ice block that's safe enough to carry in a trailer and light enough for me to carry, will last about a day.
"So what I'm going to do is, the people I'm staying with are going to freeze the ice blocks for me and I'll replenish my ice block every evening.
"Then hopefully I'll have some ice block by the time I reach Glasgow, but the point is those ice blocks really do melt quite fast, surprisingly so, so I'm not expecting it to last to the end of each day really.
What do you want to see achieved at COP26?
"I'd like to see world leaders act rather than just talk and do something now," he said.
"I suppose more specifically for me, I'd like to see real, proper investment in sustainable transport.
"We can build back roads after the pandemic but lets build back a sustainable transport system and make bikes the heart of that because they're so efficient and they can make our lives more positive and more healthy just by getting from A to B."
How are you getting home again?
"I've got a train booked back from Glasgow to Bristol, in which I'm going to enjoy looking out the window at all the places that I've passed with my ice block."
Personally, we don't blame him for not cycling both ways.