Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Fundraising Update
Now that I'm getting on top of my training, I thought I'd better start fund raising in earnest...
My Justgiving website has been up and running for a few weeks now and I'm already at the £250 mark.
Saffron Villas (www.saffronvillas.com) have agreed to donate £150 if the purchase of my house goes through. Fingers crossed it will and this will boost the fund raising...
I'm also about to running an auction on eBay for a signed Sheffield United football pennant that the club kindly donated. The auctions goes live at 8pm BST on Sunday 1st October, so go to eBay and search for "Sheffield United Pennat" and bid or visit http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=004&item=140035516072&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1.
I'm hoping to raise at least £20 from the auction. Fingers crossed.....
I'm also helping out at Brook Farm Playgroup's Halloween Disco - some other Dad's and I will be poisoning everyone with hot dogs and murky coffee! I'm planning to fill a jar with sweets and run a "guess the number of sweets in the jar" competion. Can't decide what to charge. My aim is to raise £50 after the cost of the sweets, so I think I'll need to charge £1 a go but I'm worried this might put people off. What do you think?
Other ideas I have for fundraising are:
Now that I'm getting on top of my training, I thought I'd better start fund raising in earnest...
My Justgiving website has been up and running for a few weeks now and I'm already at the £250 mark.
Saffron Villas (www.saffronvillas.com) have agreed to donate £150 if the purchase of my house goes through. Fingers crossed it will and this will boost the fund raising...
I'm also about to running an auction on eBay for a signed Sheffield United football pennant that the club kindly donated. The auctions goes live at 8pm BST on Sunday 1st October, so go to eBay and search for "Sheffield United Pennat" and bid or visit http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=004&item=140035516072&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1.
I'm hoping to raise at least £20 from the auction. Fingers crossed.....I'm also helping out at Brook Farm Playgroup's Halloween Disco - some other Dad's and I will be poisoning everyone with hot dogs and murky coffee! I'm planning to fill a jar with sweets and run a "guess the number of sweets in the jar" competion. Can't decide what to charge. My aim is to raise £50 after the cost of the sweets, so I think I'll need to charge £1 a go but I'm worried this might put people off. What do you think?
Other ideas I have for fundraising are:
- Car boot sale - hope to raise £100 selling off old Playstation games, clothes and other quality used items
- Get my suppliers at work to sponsor me £100 each. I hope to raise at least £450 this way. I've already got an OK in principal from one of them so this should be a successful route.
- Beg my colleagues at work to sponsor me via the Justgiving site. If I can get 50 people to sponsor me £10 that's £500.
- I'm also going to ask friends and family to donate instead of buying me Christmas presents.
- I've put some business case templates I developed for a holiday home investment on a forum and asked people to donate if they found it useful. I already got £20 this way, so maybe there's more to be earned that way?
If you have any other ideas, let me know.
I'm hoping to raise £2,500 for my two charities so it'll be challenging but we can do it!!!
If you want to donate it's easy and safe.
Visit www.justgiving.com/londonpariscycle
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
There Ain't No Stoppin' Me Now - I'm in the Mood...
Today I mostly rode my bike to work... I had a meeting in the offices in Ipswich, so got a colleague and neighbour to take a bag of business clothes into the office and jumped on the bike.
Almost twenty miles dead, and whoever said there are no hills in Suffolk has never been to this lovely corner of England... Still, I'm pleased with the milestone. It was quite hot even though I set out at 7am. It's been humid these last few days and this morning was no exception. So here was I zooming along the country back-whacks with the sun creeping up through the mist over the sea, a few miles to my left.
I started off at a fair old pace and was averaging around 18mph for most of the trip. There was a long (about a mile and a bit) climb, although it wasn't that steep it took some hard pedalling to keep the speed above the 16mph mark. At around the 3/4 way mark I started to wain. The heat was becoming a problem accentuated by my bad decision to wear my fleece lined lon-sleeve cycling jersey (well it was freezing when I first left)... Still, the energy drink went down a treat and I carried on averaging 16.7mph over the whole journey. In true 'Tour de Suffolk' style, the final two miles included quite a long and reasonably steep climb followed by a lovely straight sprintable stretch.
However, the best entertainment came at the half way point. I was storming along a flat at around 24mph when I saw a climb approaching. "Time for a quick burst of Isotonic carbohydrate" I thought, so came off the gas a little and reached down for my bottle. It slipped and fell onto the grass verge. Instincts took over and I hit the brakes so I could stop and go back for it but compeletely forgot that I was still getting used to my clipless pedals. Of course, I stopped too quickly and didn't remember to unclip my feet from the pedals and as the bike wobbled to a halt and in slow motion I toppled over like a dead horse about to be flogged!
Luckily there were no cars about and as the first car came around the corner I managed to make myself look suitably cool as if I'd pulled over for a quick lie down on the dew wet grass as you do. Hopefully the driver didn't realise that my feet were still attached to the pedals and that my legs were at painfully hilarious angles with the bike held aloft in the air by my feet so I didn't get the gearing wet!
Anyway, I met the milestone and cycled to work. The first day of the challenge will be 90 miles so that means 4 and a 1/2 more of the same trip. I'm glad I've got 9 months to go still! Seriously though, although I was tired, I believe I could have gone on a lot longer. Maybe another twenty but little more... And it wasn't long before my muscles and strength had recovered so the ride home would have been possible had David not agreed to shove the bike in the back of his car!
I met another milestone on Sunday. I passed the 30mph barrier, hitting 33.5mph on a slight downhill. I then managed to sprint at 32mph on a flat. I was well chuffed as they say up North. I'm now officially a speeding cyclist as both milestones were met in a 30mph limited zone... Luckily cyclists don't have licenses on which to get points on....
Anyway, next challenge is to cycle to the office and back (40 miles). Better get practicing...
Almost twenty miles dead, and whoever said there are no hills in Suffolk has never been to this lovely corner of England... Still, I'm pleased with the milestone. It was quite hot even though I set out at 7am. It's been humid these last few days and this morning was no exception. So here was I zooming along the country back-whacks with the sun creeping up through the mist over the sea, a few miles to my left.
I started off at a fair old pace and was averaging around 18mph for most of the trip. There was a long (about a mile and a bit) climb, although it wasn't that steep it took some hard pedalling to keep the speed above the 16mph mark. At around the 3/4 way mark I started to wain. The heat was becoming a problem accentuated by my bad decision to wear my fleece lined lon-sleeve cycling jersey (well it was freezing when I first left)... Still, the energy drink went down a treat and I carried on averaging 16.7mph over the whole journey. In true 'Tour de Suffolk' style, the final two miles included quite a long and reasonably steep climb followed by a lovely straight sprintable stretch.
However, the best entertainment came at the half way point. I was storming along a flat at around 24mph when I saw a climb approaching. "Time for a quick burst of Isotonic carbohydrate" I thought, so came off the gas a little and reached down for my bottle. It slipped and fell onto the grass verge. Instincts took over and I hit the brakes so I could stop and go back for it but compeletely forgot that I was still getting used to my clipless pedals. Of course, I stopped too quickly and didn't remember to unclip my feet from the pedals and as the bike wobbled to a halt and in slow motion I toppled over like a dead horse about to be flogged!
Luckily there were no cars about and as the first car came around the corner I managed to make myself look suitably cool as if I'd pulled over for a quick lie down on the dew wet grass as you do. Hopefully the driver didn't realise that my feet were still attached to the pedals and that my legs were at painfully hilarious angles with the bike held aloft in the air by my feet so I didn't get the gearing wet!
Anyway, I met the milestone and cycled to work. The first day of the challenge will be 90 miles so that means 4 and a 1/2 more of the same trip. I'm glad I've got 9 months to go still! Seriously though, although I was tired, I believe I could have gone on a lot longer. Maybe another twenty but little more... And it wasn't long before my muscles and strength had recovered so the ride home would have been possible had David not agreed to shove the bike in the back of his car!
I met another milestone on Sunday. I passed the 30mph barrier, hitting 33.5mph on a slight downhill. I then managed to sprint at 32mph on a flat. I was well chuffed as they say up North. I'm now officially a speeding cyclist as both milestones were met in a 30mph limited zone... Luckily cyclists don't have licenses on which to get points on....
Anyway, next challenge is to cycle to the office and back (40 miles). Better get practicing...
Friday, September 01, 2006
Now I'm a Proper Cyclist
Friday, 1st September 2006
What is it with god-damned motorists?
Now I feel like a proper cyclist. I'm complaining about motorists already. I've been a motorist for over 19 years now, I even admit to driving a little fast in my RX-8 sometimes, but I like to feel I'm always considerate to cyclists.
Having ridden a horse on the roads before, I'm certainly curteous to anyone trying to control the giant beast whilst a rasping exhaust flies by. I'm the same with cyclists. I give them a wide birth and bide my time before passing them if the road's too narrow or there's something coming the other way.
Why is it then that some numpty drivers (the van drivers are the worse offenders) insist on hurtling past me at 5omph plus, within inches of my handlebars. Don't they realise I may need to swerve slightly to avoid a pothole or protruding drain cover? Don't they realise that the wind they cause makes my light-as-a-feather aluminium framed bike wobble alarmingly?
Most importantly, don't they realise that if my bike catches the side of thier £20,000 motor, I may get knocked off and die, but worse still, their pride-and-joy metallic paintwork will inherit a ruddy great, deep scratch down the side...?
Motorists. If you're reading this, next time you have to pass someone on a bike, take it easy and give them a wide birth. I know you pay your road tax, and there's not tax for bikes, but remember most cyclists also have cars and so pay as much tax as you...
Cheers
Simon
What is it with god-damned motorists?
Now I feel like a proper cyclist. I'm complaining about motorists already. I've been a motorist for over 19 years now, I even admit to driving a little fast in my RX-8 sometimes, but I like to feel I'm always considerate to cyclists.
Having ridden a horse on the roads before, I'm certainly curteous to anyone trying to control the giant beast whilst a rasping exhaust flies by. I'm the same with cyclists. I give them a wide birth and bide my time before passing them if the road's too narrow or there's something coming the other way.
Why is it then that some numpty drivers (the van drivers are the worse offenders) insist on hurtling past me at 5omph plus, within inches of my handlebars. Don't they realise I may need to swerve slightly to avoid a pothole or protruding drain cover? Don't they realise that the wind they cause makes my light-as-a-feather aluminium framed bike wobble alarmingly?
Most importantly, don't they realise that if my bike catches the side of thier £20,000 motor, I may get knocked off and die, but worse still, their pride-and-joy metallic paintwork will inherit a ruddy great, deep scratch down the side...?
Motorists. If you're reading this, next time you have to pass someone on a bike, take it easy and give them a wide birth. I know you pay your road tax, and there's not tax for bikes, but remember most cyclists also have cars and so pay as much tax as you...
Cheers
Simon
