Saturday, February 03, 2007
Do the Tour de France Cyclists Have This Problem?
The fantastic weather we've been having in Suffolk over the last week or so has meant I've been able to get out on the bike every other day. I hit my January goal of doing a 20 miler in less than 1hour 20minutes by cycling to Dunwich beach and back, with only a couple of stops when the chain came off. It was so warm I could have been on the Giro d'Italia, circling around the Appenines in mid May...
Anyway, my revitalised training regime may have come to a sudden stop... Thanks to H5N1 - or Bird Flu...
Mr Bernard Mathews is not intent with simply acosting our palates with his god-awful turkeys and other pre-prepared, mircowaveable heart-attacks in tin foil trays... No, he now wants to kill us all by becoming the first large scale commercial farm to be affected the frst major bird flu incident in Britain (of course - Mr lawyer sir, I understand it's not Mr Mathews fault that his birds caught bird flu, but you'd have to be a fool to contest the fact his food is disgusting!). Luckily Saxmundham, where I live, is about 4 miles outside the "observation zone" that DEFRA have imposed, although large areas of my training grounds are within the zone. My route for my first 30 miler (which is my February goal) are even within the exclusion zone immediately around the farm where the birds are affected...
Looks like I'll have to revisit the maps and find some alternative routes for training.. Not that this is a problem though, as being a typical male, I can pore over maps for weeks on end without food or water, looking up only to check if Top Gear is on TV or to check Teletext for the latest footy scores...
The more observant of you will have noticed a significant increase in the amount I've raised for RIPPLE Africa so far. This is thanks to ActivIdentity who have agreed to sponsor me £250. Well done guys and thanks, your faith in my cycling abilities is much appreciated. ActivIdentity are a French owned company, so maybe I can call in at their offices whilst I'm over there in June...
Speak to you next time.
Anyway, my revitalised training regime may have come to a sudden stop... Thanks to H5N1 - or Bird Flu...
Mr Bernard Mathews is not intent with simply acosting our palates with his god-awful turkeys and other pre-prepared, mircowaveable heart-attacks in tin foil trays... No, he now wants to kill us all by becoming the first large scale commercial farm to be affected the frst major bird flu incident in Britain (of course - Mr lawyer sir, I understand it's not Mr Mathews fault that his birds caught bird flu, but you'd have to be a fool to contest the fact his food is disgusting!). Luckily Saxmundham, where I live, is about 4 miles outside the "observation zone" that DEFRA have imposed, although large areas of my training grounds are within the zone. My route for my first 30 miler (which is my February goal) are even within the exclusion zone immediately around the farm where the birds are affected...
Looks like I'll have to revisit the maps and find some alternative routes for training.. Not that this is a problem though, as being a typical male, I can pore over maps for weeks on end without food or water, looking up only to check if Top Gear is on TV or to check Teletext for the latest footy scores...
The more observant of you will have noticed a significant increase in the amount I've raised for RIPPLE Africa so far. This is thanks to ActivIdentity who have agreed to sponsor me £250. Well done guys and thanks, your faith in my cycling abilities is much appreciated. ActivIdentity are a French owned company, so maybe I can call in at their offices whilst I'm over there in June...
Speak to you next time.
