Jeremy Vine
BBC Radio 2 Presenter

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks

Oh my goodness. I mean, you are just a force! You are amazing. You're unstoppable. I think you've got a good 150 years left in you with the amount of energy you've got. So I'm going to add a total indie classic to your Pace Setter playlist. This is such a song and it's just, I was going to say beautiful, that's the wrong word for this song. It's high energy just like you!"

Owain has a moment of relaxation and catches up with Jeremy Vine. He's sitting in a recliner, with an eye mask on and in front of him are seven colourful, crystal sound balls.

Keeping Owain company on his challenge is Faz - a sound healer. She's been helping Owain release the tension in his body and encouraging him to do some breathwork; breathing in through the nose... and out through the mouth.

Owain tells Jeremy: "This is exactly what I needed! This has been a hard challenge for me... this is tricky, but I am just ploughing on through.

Faz is making me feel great with these soundbaths."

Owain’s 4 Nations Cycle Challenge for BBC Children in Need is well underway!

If you'd like to support Owain with a text or online donation, you can find all the details below or at bbc.co.uk/owain.

Image source, BBC / Children In Need

Owain pushed through a tough hill earlier today with some motivational music... The very fitting The Climb by Miley Cyrus.

We have a feeling this song will be playing in his head for the entire week.

Owain Wyn Evans
BBC Radio 2’s 4 Nations Cycling Superstar

I'm feeling incredible, we're in the most gorgeous part of Scotland, the support has been so gorge, people have been out cheering us on, it's incredible.

Radio 2's Owain Wyn Evans has commenced his epic 4 Nations Cycle Challenge for Children in Need.

Here are some of the standout photos from today so far:

Owain will shortly be passing the birthplace of Robert Burns, also known as Rabbie Burns, who is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland. But how much do you know about him?

Burns was born on 25 January 1759 in Alloway, just south of Ayr, in a cottage built by his father, and worked the land from a young age as the eldest son of a farmer.

Despite that humble start, he became a literary powerhouse. His first collection, Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, was published in 1786 when he was just 27. His words are still remembered today, even by some who might not realise it. Burns gave us Auld Lang Syne, the festive favourite sung at New Year, as well as A Red, Red Rose, To a Mouse and Tam o’ Shanter, which was inspired by places in Alloway where Owain will be riding right past.

Burns died in 1796, aged only 37, but in 2009 he was voted the greatest Scot of all time by the Scottish public. Each year on 25 January, he is celebrated with Burns Night across Scotland and around the world - specifically with songs, poetry, whisky and haggis.

Here are some of the messages we've received so far, showing your support for Owain.

Remember, you can send a message by clicking the Get In Touch button at the top of this page.

Owain Wyn Evans
BBC Radio 2’s 4 Nations Cycling Superstar

Owain's starting to feel the burn in his legs, but they're doing alright at the moment. He's making the most of any red lights, and the breaks.

The legs are… burn-y, as I get up those hills. It was a bit of a shock to the system… all of the training you put in, you just have to have faith in it.

If you’re just joining our live coverage of Owain’s 4 Nations Cycle Challenge for BBC Children in Need, here’s what’s been going on…

• Radio 2’s Owain Wyn Evans set off earlier this morning from the BBC’s Pacific Quay building in Glasgow, Scotland, kicking off his five day ride to Cardiff, Wales.
• He’s aiming to cycle almost 400 miles - through Scotland, Northern Ireland, North-West England and Wales - with his trusty Pudsey Bear backpack joining him for the whole distance.

Stay tuned for regular updates, photos and videos as Owain continues his epic journey!

Keep listening to BBC Radio 2 to hear more from Owain during Jeremy Vine’s show between now and 2pm.

You can listen along live on Radio 2 by clicking or tapping the 'Listen Live' button at the top of the page. Or ask your smart speaker to play BBC Radio 2 - get more help with using smart speakers here.

You can also take Owain with you via the BBC Sounds app if you're on the move - if you've not downloaded it, here's some help in getting started.

• 10:08:20 - A message of support from Sir Chris Hoy
• 10:22:00 - Owain reaches the first checkpoint in Kilmarnock
• 11:07:30 - "He gets it from his Mother"
• 11:44:00 - Owain thanks his parents for their support: "I'm a very lucky boy, you know"

If you missed any of these memorable moments, ask your smart speaker to play BBC Radio 2, then 'Ask BBC Sounds to rewind to' the times above. Get more help with using smart speakers here.

You can catch up on Vernon Kay’s show via our Watch & Listen tab at the top of the page for the rest of today.

Next up on Radio 2, from midday: Jeremy Vine.

Owain has reached Prestwick and explained how he got emotionally listening in to his mum and dad's chat with Vernon.

"The reception that we’ve had as we’ve been heading through these towns have been so nice. I was listening in when mum and dad were on with you - it was so lush."

"I’m a very lucky boy... you take it for granted growing up surrounded by love... and that's one of the reasons we're doing this because not all kids are as lucky."

Vernon Kay has just revealed he's been working on a very special surprise for Owain. But he's keeping it all under-wraps for now...

All will be revealed in 24 hours!

Owain has described how training for this 400-mile cycling challenge is helping him reshape his relationship with exercise after feeling out of place in school PE lessons.

Speaking to Kylie Pendleton on BBC Radio 5 Live, he said: “I was one of those people in school who was never good at P.E. I never felt safe because I was just that young boy that wasn’t into that.”

“I'm absolutely not a cyclist,” he added. “I think I had my stabilisers on my bike until I was about ten.”

Now, the demands of training for Children In Need have given Owain a chance to reconnect with exercise and he hopes his experience will encourage others to do the same.

“Hopefully it can also show people that you can get back into exercise and it will do you good!”

Yes!

You can follow Owain's every move with our special tracker which will chart his progress throughout his 4 Nations Cycle Challenge - available now on the BBC Children in Need website, external.

Image source, BBC / Children In Need

Alun and Kathy, Owain's parents, shared how he has always been a committed person, but wasn't always the keen cyclist - how he was the last one in the family to remove the stabilisers from his bike because they helped him keep up with his brother!

"He's very committed and dedicated to something that he likes," they said. "He's committed himself to training and he's not going to let this beat him."

"He gets that from his mother," Alun chipped in, while Kathy agreed: "I'm the one who's a little bit more determined and if it needs other be done, it needs to be done!"

Ahead of his 4 Nations Cycle Challenge, Owain shared his Tracks Of My Years with Radio 2’s Vernon Kay - the influential music that has soundtracked his life.

Over the course of the week we’ll be looking at the songs he picked and what he said about them. First up...

Carpenters - This Masquerade

“I’m a massive Karen Carpenter fan, I think she was one of the best drummers we ever had,” says Owain.

“There's a lovely Welsh word called 'hiraeth' and there's no direct translation. It's kind of like a longing for home, but also a sense of familiarity with something, I guess. And whenever I hear any Carpenter songs, it gives me that kind of hiraeth thing.”

“A lot of drummers love the beat of [Masquerade] because it's got that kind of bossanova jazz thing. And all of those things coming together make this one of my absolute favourite songs.”

Listen to all of Owain’s Tracks Of My Years here:

Owain's mum and dad, Kathy and Alun, had the following words of encouragement. They say they are "bursting with pride".

"Keep on going… one rotation at a time," they said. "Never mind what’s ahead, just do what you’re doing and get on with it and you will be fine."

"Every mountain, every hill you will do it!"

Day 1 of Owain's 4 Nations Cycle Challenge for Children in Need is ticking along nicely.

And if you'd like to support Owain with a text or online donation, you can find all the details below or at bbc.co.uk/owain.

After a quick cup of tea at his first pit-stop in Kilmarnock, Owain is back on his bike and making his way towards the west coast of Scotland.

And, of course, he has his Pudsey backpack...