Well, we only blinkin’ did it! The plan was to cycle from mum and dad’s house to Cosmeston Lakes in Lavernock and back. A round trip of 14 miles and we did it! Penni said that there was never any doubt – I had to disagree, and it’s not that I was wrong, just that on this occasion, Penni was right!
This was our first training ‘mile stone’ and something that a good few years ago my sister, my father and I were in training for. Every Sunday Dad would take Pen and I for a bike ride and every week we would go a little further, the plan was to eventually get fit enough to get to Cosmeston (remembering that we would have to get back as well) but for whatever reason, we didn’t get there. So last Saturday, when Pen and I rode into the car park I think we both felt a huge sense of achievement and although we didn’t say it, we were a bit proud of ourselves!
Over the last few weeks, Penni has been very busy emailing and writing to various companies for sponsorship but so far a number of the larger companies have been unable to help us. It would seem that generally they choose to support a specific charity each year as they are inundated with requests for money and they can’t help everyone; but Pen has had some luck with the smaller companies and she recently approached the local newspaper (the Barry and District) who are going to write a couple of articles on our adventure! They are sending a reporter and photographer tomorrow (28/10/08) to write the initial piece and will follow it up before we set off and finish the story when we return so hopefully this will generate a fair amount of local interest. Pen has also approached a friend who works at our old primary school and they have said that they will hold a non-uniform day to help raise funds for us, so all in all, fundraising has really started! There is still a long way to go but Pen is doing a brillo job so far!
While we are on the subject, although money is never a nice topic, the other BIG news is that we have set up a webpage for folks to sponsor us, the URL is www.justgiving.com/joandpenni and it is really quick and very easy to use. If you could sponsor us that would be fantastic, any amount from 50p to £50 would be gratefully received by the MS Trust and anything that helps us on out way to £2,500 would be a huge help!
So – until the next time, take great care
Loadsa love, Jx
Monday, 27 October 2008
Thursday, 16 October 2008
Things are Certainly Moving!
Well, things are getting very exciting! I am now ‘officially’ part of the cycle challenge for July ’09 – my application has been, as far as possible, accepted, I have filled in all the relevant forms to tell people who my next of kin is and how old I will be when I do the challenge and that if I die in during the event I won’t press any charges against the organiser! I have my travel insurance, I have my cycle helmet and I have a funny feeling this is going to be amazing!
Yesterday (Wednesday 15/10/08) was my first proper experience of cycling on the road for about 10 years! All the training we have done so far has been on closed roads through parks and gardens and very quite streets and for the first time I had to deal with 2 roundabouts, several right hand turns and the Barry Island causeway! Now, this may sound reasonably OK, you may be thinking ‘what’s the big deal here?’ but even when I am in remission (as I have been for the past 11 months) balance is one of my biggest problems; when we are riding up the quite side streets near the house, it doesn’t matter so much if I am all over the road but along the causeway – a route that is favoured with both learner drivers and boy racers, it is a little more problematic! I have been quite worried about riding on the roads, a fear that I knew I should face sooner rather later, especially as on day one of the challenge we have to ride out of London and on day five into the centre of Paris to have a photo taken under the Eifel Tower and I don’t think there will be many quite side streets involved! Anyway, now that I have done it once – I feel more comfortable about doing it again.
The plan was to cycle this weekend to Cosmeston Lakes and back as the first proper challenge of our training, however, this is a deadline we aren’t going to make. I think that we could physically do it and it would be good to see how we manage, but I am going away for the weekend. There are so many things going on at the moment, Penni was away last weekend, I am away this, work often means that I am so tired when I get home that the last thing I can do when I get home is cycle however many miles and as the evenings are drawing in, the need for lights and high visibility attire is ever increasing, but time to go and buy the blinking stuff keeps running away from us. Anyway, the plan is that we will do this landmark trip the weekend after (25/10/08). That is the half term week and we are planning to get a fair amount of training in then to really kick start our programme!
As I mentioned in the last instalment, I bought to help us in our training, a 6 function wireless cycle computer – but another bonus for not going to Cosmeston this weekend is that I still haven’t been able to get the blinkin’ thing working properly! Pesky! After the ride we did yesterday it would be nice to know exactly how far we did but we haven’t a clue. We can’t even drive the route and measure the distance with the car’s trip because cars are not allowed along the prom or in the old harbour! It should be brillo! It should tell me how far I have done since I ‘installed’ the computer, how far I have done in a day and how long that has taken me, what my average speed it and all sorts – but I am still in the dark! Never mind! By the next time I write I will have it working! (Or I will have bought another one!)
Until then, take great care all,
Loadsa love, Jx
Yesterday (Wednesday 15/10/08) was my first proper experience of cycling on the road for about 10 years! All the training we have done so far has been on closed roads through parks and gardens and very quite streets and for the first time I had to deal with 2 roundabouts, several right hand turns and the Barry Island causeway! Now, this may sound reasonably OK, you may be thinking ‘what’s the big deal here?’ but even when I am in remission (as I have been for the past 11 months) balance is one of my biggest problems; when we are riding up the quite side streets near the house, it doesn’t matter so much if I am all over the road but along the causeway – a route that is favoured with both learner drivers and boy racers, it is a little more problematic! I have been quite worried about riding on the roads, a fear that I knew I should face sooner rather later, especially as on day one of the challenge we have to ride out of London and on day five into the centre of Paris to have a photo taken under the Eifel Tower and I don’t think there will be many quite side streets involved! Anyway, now that I have done it once – I feel more comfortable about doing it again.
The plan was to cycle this weekend to Cosmeston Lakes and back as the first proper challenge of our training, however, this is a deadline we aren’t going to make. I think that we could physically do it and it would be good to see how we manage, but I am going away for the weekend. There are so many things going on at the moment, Penni was away last weekend, I am away this, work often means that I am so tired when I get home that the last thing I can do when I get home is cycle however many miles and as the evenings are drawing in, the need for lights and high visibility attire is ever increasing, but time to go and buy the blinking stuff keeps running away from us. Anyway, the plan is that we will do this landmark trip the weekend after (25/10/08). That is the half term week and we are planning to get a fair amount of training in then to really kick start our programme!
As I mentioned in the last instalment, I bought to help us in our training, a 6 function wireless cycle computer – but another bonus for not going to Cosmeston this weekend is that I still haven’t been able to get the blinkin’ thing working properly! Pesky! After the ride we did yesterday it would be nice to know exactly how far we did but we haven’t a clue. We can’t even drive the route and measure the distance with the car’s trip because cars are not allowed along the prom or in the old harbour! It should be brillo! It should tell me how far I have done since I ‘installed’ the computer, how far I have done in a day and how long that has taken me, what my average speed it and all sorts – but I am still in the dark! Never mind! By the next time I write I will have it working! (Or I will have bought another one!)
Until then, take great care all,
Loadsa love, Jx
Wednesday, 8 October 2008
Our First 'Real' Week of Training
‘They’ say that you never forget how to ride a bike. Well, I would like to challenge that and say that this saying is incomplete and lulls you into a false sense of security. It may be true that you never forget the theory of how to ride a bike, but just because you remember how to do it, doesn’t mean that you can! I don’t think I have ridden a bike in about 15 years and the thought that I might not be able to do so, never crossed my mind!
The weather has not been our friend over the last few days – heavy rain and cold winds have not made the thought of cycling very exciting at all! However, we did manage a bit of training although this was not without its problems!
On Friday (03/10/08) when I got home from work, Penni, my dad and I went out on the bikes. (Dad has decided that he is going to come training with us and offer moral support). We went, goodness knows how far – we think it was probably about 2 miles around the ‘old harbour’, the Knap and Romily park, then up through ‘slug lane’ and home for a cup of tea and a warm before the rain started! This all sounds nice enough doesn’t it – an autumn’s evening bike ride and not a sign of the aches and pains that we had the week before when we rode our then brand new bikes home from Halfords. It’s only when you consider the fact that my chain came off the cog because I am not used to ‘Shimano’ gears, steering around winding paths is very difficult for an adult who has not sat on a bike for a very long time and remember that balancing on a two wheeled device in very narrow lanes was never easy anyway, that we start to realise just how much training we need!
Nevertheless, we were both more than pleased that we had done a reasonably long bike ride without feeling totally ‘dun-in’. That is, until the following day! On Saturdays, I like the fact that I can sleep until I wake – I imagine most people do – and after a bit of a lie in, a reasonably long bath and a trip to the supermarket (which is always the down side to the weekend in my opinion!) my mum’s invitation to join her, my dad, my granddad, sister and brother in law for lunch was very much appreciated! Well, a few too many sausages and some rather nice Mr Kipling’s are not the best things to have before going cycling! It wasn’t until we got onto the bikes that we realised the effects of the day before!
Once we got going, nearly got blown into the sea, worked out a new signal with our bells (person one ring the bell once and it means “are you OK”, person two rings back once for “yes” and twice for “no”) and again got home just as the heavens opened we again realised that we have a lot of training to do! With this in mind we have made a plan which is to do plenty of cycling between now and Saturday the 18th in readiness for our first ‘big push’ to Cosmeston Lakes. A 14 mile round trip and the start of our achievable goals on the way to Paris – I mean, if we are setting ourselves up for 270 miles and we manage 14 we only need to practice to go another 256! I have bought a computer to help us and will tell you all about it, when I have it up and running!
Till the next time!
Take great care all,
Loadsa love, Jx
The weather has not been our friend over the last few days – heavy rain and cold winds have not made the thought of cycling very exciting at all! However, we did manage a bit of training although this was not without its problems!
On Friday (03/10/08) when I got home from work, Penni, my dad and I went out on the bikes. (Dad has decided that he is going to come training with us and offer moral support). We went, goodness knows how far – we think it was probably about 2 miles around the ‘old harbour’, the Knap and Romily park, then up through ‘slug lane’ and home for a cup of tea and a warm before the rain started! This all sounds nice enough doesn’t it – an autumn’s evening bike ride and not a sign of the aches and pains that we had the week before when we rode our then brand new bikes home from Halfords. It’s only when you consider the fact that my chain came off the cog because I am not used to ‘Shimano’ gears, steering around winding paths is very difficult for an adult who has not sat on a bike for a very long time and remember that balancing on a two wheeled device in very narrow lanes was never easy anyway, that we start to realise just how much training we need!
Nevertheless, we were both more than pleased that we had done a reasonably long bike ride without feeling totally ‘dun-in’. That is, until the following day! On Saturdays, I like the fact that I can sleep until I wake – I imagine most people do – and after a bit of a lie in, a reasonably long bath and a trip to the supermarket (which is always the down side to the weekend in my opinion!) my mum’s invitation to join her, my dad, my granddad, sister and brother in law for lunch was very much appreciated! Well, a few too many sausages and some rather nice Mr Kipling’s are not the best things to have before going cycling! It wasn’t until we got onto the bikes that we realised the effects of the day before!
Once we got going, nearly got blown into the sea, worked out a new signal with our bells (person one ring the bell once and it means “are you OK”, person two rings back once for “yes” and twice for “no”) and again got home just as the heavens opened we again realised that we have a lot of training to do! With this in mind we have made a plan which is to do plenty of cycling between now and Saturday the 18th in readiness for our first ‘big push’ to Cosmeston Lakes. A 14 mile round trip and the start of our achievable goals on the way to Paris – I mean, if we are setting ourselves up for 270 miles and we manage 14 we only need to practice to go another 256! I have bought a computer to help us and will tell you all about it, when I have it up and running!
Till the next time!
Take great care all,
Loadsa love, Jx
Friday, 3 October 2008
An Awfully BIG Adventure!
My sister and I have decided to cycle from London to Paris next July! 270 miles in 4 days making an average of 67.5 miles a day and all in the name of charity! We have our bikes, we have our helmets, we have the registration forms, we have the drive to succeed and we have to raise £2,500 between us! (Hint hint!) This blog is going to be a working diary, somewhere to record our progress while we train for our challenge and is a way of publicising the event.
I have a number of personal reasons for wanting to do this. Some of them may seem a little extreme or unreasonable but they are all centred on the one issue. In 2005 I was diagnosed with Relapsing and Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a degenerative disease of the Central Nervous System (CNS) but a condition that, for whatever reason often generates a lot of bad, overindulgent and extremist press. I would like to present another side to the story and show that not everyone affected by MS is trying to work out the most legal way to kill themselves, that a lot of us are taking one day at a time, trying to get on with things in the best way that we can and deal with the, lets be honest, lousy hand that we have been dealt.
I may have MS but I am not writing this because I want sympathy or because I want the country to know that it is such a terrible condition that I should be pitied for having it. I am writing this to tell everyone that although it can be terrible it doesn’t have to be doom and gloom all the time. People with MS can often lead reasonably ‘normal’ lives, we can buy houses, have families, look after pets, keep working, studying (or both), ride bicycles and we can still be counted on to help our friends and family whenever they need us.
So, in conclusion to my first ever blog entry: my sister and I are going to train for a year, ride our bikes to Paris, I am going to record our progress on this blog and always remember that if it wasn’t me it would be someone else and we are going to raise an absolute fortune for the MS Trust! Always remembering that I love Marks and Spencer’s, I may have MS, but I also have an MSc!!!
Until the next instalment – take great care all,
Love, Jo xxx
I have a number of personal reasons for wanting to do this. Some of them may seem a little extreme or unreasonable but they are all centred on the one issue. In 2005 I was diagnosed with Relapsing and Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a degenerative disease of the Central Nervous System (CNS) but a condition that, for whatever reason often generates a lot of bad, overindulgent and extremist press. I would like to present another side to the story and show that not everyone affected by MS is trying to work out the most legal way to kill themselves, that a lot of us are taking one day at a time, trying to get on with things in the best way that we can and deal with the, lets be honest, lousy hand that we have been dealt.
I may have MS but I am not writing this because I want sympathy or because I want the country to know that it is such a terrible condition that I should be pitied for having it. I am writing this to tell everyone that although it can be terrible it doesn’t have to be doom and gloom all the time. People with MS can often lead reasonably ‘normal’ lives, we can buy houses, have families, look after pets, keep working, studying (or both), ride bicycles and we can still be counted on to help our friends and family whenever they need us.
So, in conclusion to my first ever blog entry: my sister and I are going to train for a year, ride our bikes to Paris, I am going to record our progress on this blog and always remember that if it wasn’t me it would be someone else and we are going to raise an absolute fortune for the MS Trust! Always remembering that I love Marks and Spencer’s, I may have MS, but I also have an MSc!!!
Until the next instalment – take great care all,
Love, Jo xxx
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