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A New Challenge but am I up to it?

Despite best intentions my blogging activities have declined over the last couple of months. There are a number of excuses around time spent training, cricket and family holidays etc.; marketing of Point North and Pedal has also taken its toll but that is a good thing!

I have been in discussion with Phil Tynan over the last 6 months or so about his proposal to ride to the Isle of Wight and back in 24 hours, a distance of approximately 250 miles. Happily, this is coming to fruition now due to a lot of hard work by Phil and our fellow rider Mark Popkiss. Our goal is to raise money for a reasonable new charity Delete Blood Cancer

 

www.deletebloodcancer.org.uk

 

Phil has a very personal story attached to this challenge and his motivation to achieve it is boundless. His invite to ride on the challenge was gratefully accepted but with some self-doubt on my part. Once again, I know I have the fitness but I am worried one or more of the worn out bits on me might suddenly fail.

The ride is in 3 sections: Wantage to Lymington, circumnavigate the Isle of White and then reverse the first leg. The total is 241 but there are always the ‘phantom miles’ that seem to attach to long rides however careful the mapping is in the planning stage.  Whatever the total is when we get back, we will ensure it is at least 250 miles. The time margins are very tight on this one as it includes transit time to and from the island.

Phil has lent me his 2nd road bike for the trip. The name of the game is completing the challenge and there are no medals for hauling a heavy mountain bike around the course. I like riding it but I have developed a ligament issue in my left foot, I’m still not sure if this is to do with an unfamiliar bike or an over-training issue.  I’m sure Adam at Revolution Sports Injuries will tell me when I visit him later this week.

I’ll post more about the ride in the coming weeks, in the meantime, please feel free to sponsor us at

 

https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/bibb2013

Further reading…..

If you liked this blog please take a moment to check out my book describing the solo Land’s End to John O’Groats ride in 2012, all profit from sales to www.criduchat.org.uk

Please click the cover image for the Kindle version or click here to order a paperback copy. Thank you!

 

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Some things just have to be blogged!

Not much to do with cycling I grant you but I had to blog about Commander Chris Hadfield’s video from the International Space Station.

There is a vague connection in terms of my book as I mention the Apollo Programme a few times, drawing parallels between my experiences of solitude compared to the astronauts’.  I think there is a lot more going on in the video than just solitude; I was struck by a sense of finality and sadness; maybe even hopelessness at the state of planet due to human activity. Whatever the driver for this, you just have to watch it and immerse yourself in the general hugeness of it; as Douglas Adams said, ‘Space is big, really big…’ and he was probably right!

Apollo provided a launch pad for science and engineering at a time when technology was stagnant, it also kick-started a flagging economy and gave Americans something else to think about instead of bombing jungles with Napalm. But the reason for setting foot on the Moon was never for science as an end in itself.  Harrison Schmitt, a proper geologist/scientist finally flew on Apollo 17, the last of 6 flights all crewed by test pilot jocks that had been schooled by scientists to collect data and samples. Apollo was more a game of political posturing during the cold war, if you could be the first to land safely on the Moon, you had somewhere to launch bombs from; plus it meant your technology was superior and you were ready for war.  Thankfully, we live in a slightly different world these days but maybe without such a threat hanging over us.

One thing the politicians of the day may not have expected was a realisation by many people that our planet appears fragile when viewed from a long way away, in fact some go as far as to say that it kick started the environmental movement of the early 70’s. At crucial times in the missions, powered descent to the lunar surface or re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere for example, people came together as a human race. Borders were not important, colour and creed didn’t seem to matter, there was a feeling of awe and concern for the 3 fragile humans in a ‘tin can’ breaking new ground in space exploration. Kind of a nice feeling, well, better than wanting to bomb the crap out of each other.

For me, there are two striking images from Apollo: Earthrise taken from Apollo 8 in December of 1968 and a picture taken from Apollo 17 (December 1972) during transit to the moon looking back at the Earth as a whole disk in space.  Jim Lovell (Apollo 8 and Commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13) said that when you can cover the entire Earth with your thumb, occluding everything and everyone you have every known, it makes you think about what we have; it also makes you think that maybe we should look after it a bit more. He did this from lunar orbit on Apollo 8 and would have done the same from the lunar surface had Apollo 13 not experienced issues with a thermostat in one of the two oxygen tanks in the Service Module.

Some of the Apollo astronauts report spiritual experiences on their coast between the Earth and the Moon. I guess they asked themselves the question ‘why are we here?’ and ‘what is it all about?’ Ed Mitchell (Apollo 14) was particularly affected by his trip, he went on record as saying that UFO’s were real and he has a deep understanding of the paranormal. Feelings of inner peace were not uncommon but only spoken of years afterwards; test pilots don’t do emotion and if they did, they would probably have been binned from their next flight assignments. I have no faith, but resting in a silent church after miles on the road brings a sense of peace and renewed strength. As far as I know, this is not a religious experience but there certainly is a tangible effect.

So, what is all the fuss about this video shot on the ISS….take a look and see for yourself bearing in mind all the preamble above. I thought it was something amazing, emotional and noteworthy, I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.upworthy.com/the-final-epic-act-of-the-departing-commander-of-the-international-space-station-truly-rocked-2?g=5

Further reading…..

If you liked this blog please take a moment to check out my book describing the solo Land’s End to John O’Groats ride in 2012, all profit from sales to www.criduchat.org.uk

Please click the cover image for the Kindle version or click here to order a paperback copy. Thank you!

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Pause for thought and reflection….

I recently found out that a local fire-fighter was planning a holiday of a life time with his wife for a 50th birthday celebration; Niagara Falls was one of the places they especially wanted to visit. The only issue being that Jim has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, time suddenly became of the essence.

One of his colleagues, Tony, decided that they had to go on their trip and it had to be soon. He has put together a donation’s page and urged our local community and wider friends to come up with £3,000 in 30 days. You can find out more at:

http://www.youcaring.com/mission-trip-fundraiser/making-it-happen-/57077

I was pleased to contribute in a small way and so were many others. The result was that, along with two chunky donations, £3,000 plus was in the pot on day 4!

This is another amazing example of what can be achieved when there is a need; it proves that we are good at doing things which are urgent but not necessarily so good at doing things which are important. Cancer doesn’t go away so I guess we need to keep doing all we can to support those suffering and those trying to find a cure.

To Jim and his wife….fill your (fire-fighters) boots and enjoy a special holiday!

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A week of fundraising…and a few books sell!

The last 7 days have been busy but rewarding; we have been raising funds for 3 charities via a number of events plus I have been selling the book to all and sundry.

I have already blogged the Breakthrough Breast Cancer bake sale that was held last weekend; this raised an amazing £669 for our Team Nightrider challenge ride in June. It was great to meet and chat with people who had turned out to support us, in addition, our team captain and his partner turned up from Manchester way to lend a hand. His passion and enthusiasm for fundraising is second to none.

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserPage.action?userUrl=bbcnightrider&faId=261752&isTeam=true

I played cricket on Sunday, enjoying  a freezing cold 40 overs on the hill at Challow. I desperately want to retire from cricket, it hurts to play now. The great irony is that I am fitter now than I have ever been but my joints will not allow me to play like my 25 year old self. It was good to play against Letcombe and chat to players like me who have been around for ever.

Monday saw the arrival of the first 100 books, now the work of fulfilling orders begins. Most of the set-up around posting books out had already been done so it was a case of logging the sale and dispatching them. The next step was to contact those who had expressed an interest and work out how to get their copy to them without posting. Ray took 5 copies to stock at Ledbury’s in Wantage and has sold at least 3, the Village shop in East Hanney also have 5 copies which I hope to sell on the back of a letter to the Hanney News.

Sales have been brisk; the first 100 have almost gone and I need to order a second box. Breakeven is 50 books but I know that I have a dwindling market now. I have saved a lot of the marketing for the second box plus I have a piece coming out in the local press later in May. Facebook is an awesome network when it comes to letting people know what you are doing. I have been contacted by people because of the sharing that goes on, it’s very uplifting when a new e mail comes through confirming a purchase from someone you don’t know.

The third lot of fundraising was completely by chance and I will blog this separately. Once again, our amazing community clubs together to get things to happen.

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