In order to raise the profile of Team 14’s Sponsored Ironman event on 28th August, I thought it would be a good idea to have a logo to bandy about. Knowing very little about graphic design I thought this was best left to the experts – so I asked Emily of E K Graphics to see what she could do.
Emily’s business has been established since 2008 and predominantly produces high quality work for the music industry; amongst her portfolio are flyers for night club venues, DJ & club logos and album artwork. The image below was featured in issue 88 of Advanced Photoshop magazine (October 2011), a more technical description of how this image was created can be found on the EK Graphics website. I’m a bit of a sci-fi fan and the futuristic feel definitely caught my eye.
Emily’s work is not just limited to the music business; she offers all the usual graphic design services around branding, advertising and office stationery. Having worked with her to produce the Team 14 logo, her customer service and understanding of what clients actually want is second to none. I received a large choice of logos and it was difficult to make a decision as I liked most of them!
The Team 14 logo really captures the essence of the challenge (and I like the futuristic font!).
If you need a graphic design service, look no further than www.ekgraphics.co.uk, a professional and friendly approach is the order of the day! More examples of Emily’s work can be seen on her website.
Thank you Emily for supporting this local charitable event, your help is much appreciated.
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!
I’ve been very fortunate in the past to get help from the right people when it comes to long challenges. The people I ride/train with are always the first point of call, their experiences and detailed knowledge of what it takes to be successful is invaluable. Mark P, Steve P, Ray, Phil T and Simon S, I count myself lucky to know these chaps, they have the endurance mind set.
Then there are the fitness professionals who share my passion for being healthy and raising money for good causes.
My gym, www.tfdgym.co.uk provided me with a place to train for the LEJOG ride in 2012, they also provided lots of expert knowledge to help me build up to the ride. I am in no doubt that things would have been a lot harder had I not had the right guidance. I met with Lisa and team in early January to float the idea of the Ironman, they have stepped up to the plate again, I was over-whelmed with their offers of help.
At various times over the next few months, I’ll be posting about the people supporting this event which I have chosen to name Team14 (more on that in another bog).
The Boss
Lisa is a swimmer; in fact, we both were, swimming at the local club as kids. The word ‘legend’ is sadly over-used in today’s world but it is apt in Lisa’s case. She attempted to swim the English Channel in 2011, was fished out after 15 hours in the water with both eyes swollen shut, protesting that she was in the right place mentally and everything was good…that speaks volumes. The tide had turned within 3 miles of France, that is cruel. I know this was a warm up for the main event though, to gain experience for when she achieves it at the next attempt!
Psychological Edge
Lena is Sports Psychology student and will be helping me to focus on achieving my training goals plus improving my concentration; pacing is key for an event like this and energy margins are slim, I can’t afford to take my eye off the ball. Her holistic approach covers all aspects of training and life; her help will provide a good base to see this challenge in the bag.
Strength & Conditioning
Martin will be working on a specific strength and conditioning programme. I like the idea behind this; it’s all about functional fitness, compound movements that employ many muscle groups. Martin is a stickler for correct form and execution, which ticks my OCD boxes nicely!
All-round Core Strength
Clare is helping me with core strength and flexibility, one of which is awful! I’ve never been the most flexible person there is but I have adopted a programme of stretching to help. Additionally, I attended my first Pilates class on Wednesday to get an idea of some core exercise alternatives. My first impression is that anyone can do Pilates but it is difficult to do really well. The foam roller plus a tennis ball have become my best stretching buddies in the last few weeks!
I have been training with the event in mind since Christmas; the additional input above will ensure that the programme becomes focused on the end goal. It’s great to be working with Team14!
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!
Christmas provided some spare time for thinking and planning, I have been wondering about doing another fund raiser for a while given it’s been nearly 3 years since I rode LEJOG. I believe I have come up with a challenge that should capture people’s interest, a solo Ironman – with a twist.
The first problem I had (albeit a nice one) was to decide on a charity. I set myself two simple criteria: small and local. I cast around a few friends for ideas and I also asked colleagues at work. They came up with a cracking charity, www.14club.org.uk based in Wantage. Their website said they provided a social club for people with Learning Disabilities, so I popped along to a club evening to meet Gary and Mark.
It’s a small world, I knew some of the members and the organisers but I had no idea that the club even existed. The atmosphere was relaxed, people were choosing what they wanted to do. There were a number of activities available from chatting with friends, watching a film or doing a craft; a cup of coffee was offered to me and I didn’t say no. My daughter was also along for the ride and she genuinely enjoyed chatting to people.
Volunteers are the mainstays of the club, from drivers (they do not claim fuel) who get the members to and from club night/events to those who help on the night. They do this with a calm, cheery approach which is infectious; they aren’t seeking reward or acclaim, they just want to make sure people have a great time. To do this, they raise all the money they need by themselves; 40 members enjoy what the club has to offer and it costs around £3k a year to run.
The rising cost of essential things like insurance means that fewer events can be run, it’s a simple equation: more cash = more activities, this is where the Ironman comes in.
I will train and undertake to complete an Ironman distance but with one amendment, my knees don’t like running so I will swap the run for an indoor row of the same distance. I am under no illusion as to how hard this will be, that’s why I have been training since Christmas. The distances are:
Swim: 3,900 metres (2.4miles)
Ride: 180km (112miles)
Row: 42,195 metres (26.2 miles)
The swim is my strongest leg, when I am training for an event for example a swim/bike, a typical session would be around 2,800 metres involving some speed work and longer swims; the focus of these sessions is about improving stroke efficiency. Adding on another 1,100m should be OK but I still need to train sensibly for this.
The bike distance is longish but not something that is out of the ball park, again, sensible preparation will ensure that I can complete the mileage in the required time with something in the tank for the row.
The row is a major issue (at the moment), I will be fatigued in the shoulders (which will have stiffened after 8 hours of riding) and my backside tires after about 10,000 metres becoming painful. I think the key here is plenty of interval work at threshold pace and then very slow, long rows to condition my rear end. The combination should get me through to the end. There is no doubt about it, I will need to be much fitter and stronger to get over the finish line, but I have plenty of help.
I will be posting more details of progress and events, in the meantime, more information can be found at
I am not pushing for donations at this stage given how far away it is but I am looking for a commercial sponsor to be associated with the event, if you think you can help in this respect, please contact me here. However, I’m not going to complain if you want to bung me a few quid, you can donate here
Watch this space; the whole day should be fun with lots of opportunity to be involved!
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!
The Tour of Britain was coming to town…Wantage Town that is! The event as a whole had stirred up a lot of media and public interest, a fantastic chance to see the great and the good competing on your door step albeit for a few seconds as the peloton flashes past. I was lucky enough to see it and soak up some of the atmosphere.
The week before the Tour, I had spent a few hours on a turbo trainer outside of the local Sainsbury’s raising money for a cancer charity and also a local defibrillator fund, the bikes and turbos were provided by www.bikelux.co.uk, a local company helping with the charity event. Richard from Bikelux explained that, on the following Friday, he would be setting up an awning on Chain Hill to watch the Tour approach and then sweep down into town. There was also a chance to have a go at the quickest 1km on the turbos, this sounded great fun so I booked the day off.
Steve, me and Nobby cycled up to Chain Hill from Steventon to find Sarah and Phil Tynan already there chatting to the TV and radio guys. It’s always interesting to hear presenters ask the questions, they never seem to run out of things to say. Richard did a quick interview too and then it was on to the important issues of the day: finding some food and also deciding where to stand.
Food was easy, bike folk always have food whether it be jelly babies or Spanish omelettes and today was no exception. Personally, I think you can never have too much food so once we had sampled the usual fodder we wandered over to the Umami tent and destroyed his stock of pork pies – they were handmade, full of calories and extremely tasty.
More people began to arrive, most were cyclists out for ride as well as taking in the Tour. There were a group of riders from Yorkshire who had been touring and had ridden from the Cotswolds to watch the stage. A welcoming message was chalked on the road for the riders and the scene was set; the excitement was building and the weather was being kind, it was hard to imagine a better place to watch a cycle race from.
The road management side of things appeared to be running well, plenty of police motorbikes and race marshals zipping up and down. About 5 minutes before the leaders came through, a car rolled slowly along giving race information over a loud speaker. This was a great touch and helped to build the excitement further; 3 breakaway riders (including Alex Dowsett) nearly 7 minutes ahead of the peloton….we waited.
The TV helicopter appeared overhead, the lead group of three were moving in a staggered line cycling towards us on an incline. It’s difficult to estimate pace but I suspect they were doing at least 22mph – uphill!. Dowsett got a warm welcome and a cheer from the crowd; the group came and went in a flash, all the riders were looking relaxed, as if they were on a Sunday ride-out. The peloton was next.
Finally, a dark mass of riders appeared near the Ridgeway, it swept down the inclines preceded by the lead cars and police bikes. We were positioned at the roadside, within touching distance, as the main group came through at a comfortable pace. I was struck by the noise of the tyres and also the clicking hubs. Cav and Wiggo got a massive shout but the applause and cheering were meant for all, people that ride know the effort required to sustain any sort of pace, these guys were demonstrating that in spades…almost superhuman.
And then it was done, pictures and videos were appearing on Facebook in large numbers, the race had captured the imagination of the town and was well supported. Stage finish in Wantage next time…bring it on!
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!
