Well, it might not surprise you to hear that training has not been going so well recently. Not just because of the thorns on the cycle paths but I have (not) been enjoying an “MS hug” from just above the waist down for the last two weeks which has not been the most comfortable of things! If you imagine getting into the shower with all your clothes on, or the feeling you sometimes get when you get out of a bath that has been too hot and your skin feels too tight – that’s the best way to describe this feeling. I know that this could last a while and so at the moment I am just getting used to walking (especially in the cold) before I think about going out on the bike! And if this weren’t enough, the days are always short at this time of year and through the week, like a lot of people I leave the house to go to work in the morning when it’s dark and don’t go home until it is dark – in fact, I hardly see daylight at all during the week! This can make cycling very difficult, but it’s OK – Christmas is coming and Santa has promised both Penni and I some lights for our bikes so soon, there will be no excuse!
Otherwise, there is not much to report – we are still a long way off on our sponsorship www.justgiving.com/joandpenni our story was in the Barry and District newspaper the other day and can be seen on this link: http://www.barryanddistrictnews.co.uk/news/latestnews/3863985.Sisters_ride_out_for_charity/ and that’s about it!
Sorry for not being able to up date you a bit more, but things will start moving again soon I am certain and then there will be no shutting me up!
So, until the next time, take great care,
Loadsa love, Jx
Thursday, 27 November 2008
Thursday, 13 November 2008
The Girls have Thighs!
The title of the last instalment was called, ‘the hills make thighs’ and I can now confirm that this is true!
On Saturday last week (08/11/08) as planned, we cycled to the church in Victoria Road Penarth. We got there in good time and in good spirits, the weather was on our side but it would seem that fate wasn’t!
Having stopped for a moment to take some creative photos we made to start on our way home only to find that Penni had a flat tyre at the front of her bike. Being very well prepared we had an Allen key with us, but unfortunately no pump! Having phoned home for someone to bring a pump to us we stood behind a tree to try and keep warm as the wind had started to pick up and we were beginning to get cold. Seconds before David arrived with the pump I noticed that my rear tyre was flat – there’s a coincidence for you we thought, but it’s OK because help is on the way!
Dave and Penni pumped up the wheels and we tested them around the green area that surrounds the church. No problem – back to Barry we set! 200 yards we get and my tyre is flat again. Luckily Dave is only in the next street and we are able to get the two bikes and three people squashed into his car. So much for our 20 miles.
When we got home and looked at the tyres properly, we found a number of hawthorns in them. Probably from the cycle paths in Lavernock where people have been cutting bushes at the bottom of their gardens and not cleaning up the mess, but both mine and Penni’s tyres had a number of holes in the inner tubes. Typical!
So, all in all – the day was something of a disaster! Especially when we consider the work that we had done getting up the hills on the way to Penarth – I think it is safe to say that we were both looking forward to the ride back knowing that it is down hill most of the way! Anyway – hopefully next time!
On a more positive note – our total is gradually going up on our donations page www.justgiving.com/joandpenni we are up to £325.00 and we have about £170 in cash/ cheques from various folks, giving us £495 – only £2,005 to go – so spread the word for us! As you know we have to get the cash by April the 1st next year – so spread the word!!!
Until the next time!
Take great care, loadsa love, Jx
On Saturday last week (08/11/08) as planned, we cycled to the church in Victoria Road Penarth. We got there in good time and in good spirits, the weather was on our side but it would seem that fate wasn’t!
Having stopped for a moment to take some creative photos we made to start on our way home only to find that Penni had a flat tyre at the front of her bike. Being very well prepared we had an Allen key with us, but unfortunately no pump! Having phoned home for someone to bring a pump to us we stood behind a tree to try and keep warm as the wind had started to pick up and we were beginning to get cold. Seconds before David arrived with the pump I noticed that my rear tyre was flat – there’s a coincidence for you we thought, but it’s OK because help is on the way!
Dave and Penni pumped up the wheels and we tested them around the green area that surrounds the church. No problem – back to Barry we set! 200 yards we get and my tyre is flat again. Luckily Dave is only in the next street and we are able to get the two bikes and three people squashed into his car. So much for our 20 miles.
When we got home and looked at the tyres properly, we found a number of hawthorns in them. Probably from the cycle paths in Lavernock where people have been cutting bushes at the bottom of their gardens and not cleaning up the mess, but both mine and Penni’s tyres had a number of holes in the inner tubes. Typical!
So, all in all – the day was something of a disaster! Especially when we consider the work that we had done getting up the hills on the way to Penarth – I think it is safe to say that we were both looking forward to the ride back knowing that it is down hill most of the way! Anyway – hopefully next time!
On a more positive note – our total is gradually going up on our donations page www.justgiving.com/joandpenni we are up to £325.00 and we have about £170 in cash/ cheques from various folks, giving us £495 – only £2,005 to go – so spread the word for us! As you know we have to get the cash by April the 1st next year – so spread the word!!!
Until the next time!
Take great care, loadsa love, Jx
Friday, 7 November 2008
The Hills Make Thighs
300 miles, mountains to the right of them, beaches to the left of them and no way out of Barry other than up at least three massive hills! What were we thinking?!
We recently had new bikes for our ride – both Pen and I asked for bikes for our birthdays for the first time in about 18 years! Excitingly enough – this was what we got! They are very pretty bikes and are made all the nicer by the flowers that are on the frames, but most importantly they are ‘hybrids’ meaning that it is possible to change almost everything on them to make them more appropriate for the kind of ride we are doing. For example, at the moment we are riding with the wrong tyres – we should be using road tyres but as we know we will have to do more work on mountain tyres, we are using these initially so that our training is as effective as possible. Both Pen and I felt that we should make our initial training as difficult as possible so that we appreciate the amount of work that we will have to do! I don’t know whether this is a sensible option or not and no doubt we will find out before too long!
All in all our training isn’t going too badly. Since our trip to Cosmeston the other week we have been doing a few miles as and when we can in readiness for the next BIG push. This one will be from the house to the church on Victoria Road in Penarth (where our parents got married) and will mean a 20 mile round trip. We are planning to do this journey on Saturday (08/11/08) and are hoping to be back within about 2 hours. This will obviously mean an average of 10 miles an hour, but considering the hilly nature of the Vale of Glamorgan and the fact that we are still in the early stages of training– 10 miles an hour isn’t as easy as it might sound!
Otherwise things really are starting to hit home. Our official fundraising packs have arrived, complete with T-Shirts and stickers and we have been given £255 so far by friends and family towards our adventure on the www.justgiving.com/joandpenni page that we set up. Because people have been so generous we really feel that we are getting somewhere, all of a sudden the adventure seems very real and 2009 seems very close. Still – we are 10% of the way to our target and are really starting to enjoy the experience. We still have a long way to go, but the ball is rolling and things have really started!
Until the next time,
Take great care,
Loadsa love, Jx
We recently had new bikes for our ride – both Pen and I asked for bikes for our birthdays for the first time in about 18 years! Excitingly enough – this was what we got! They are very pretty bikes and are made all the nicer by the flowers that are on the frames, but most importantly they are ‘hybrids’ meaning that it is possible to change almost everything on them to make them more appropriate for the kind of ride we are doing. For example, at the moment we are riding with the wrong tyres – we should be using road tyres but as we know we will have to do more work on mountain tyres, we are using these initially so that our training is as effective as possible. Both Pen and I felt that we should make our initial training as difficult as possible so that we appreciate the amount of work that we will have to do! I don’t know whether this is a sensible option or not and no doubt we will find out before too long!
All in all our training isn’t going too badly. Since our trip to Cosmeston the other week we have been doing a few miles as and when we can in readiness for the next BIG push. This one will be from the house to the church on Victoria Road in Penarth (where our parents got married) and will mean a 20 mile round trip. We are planning to do this journey on Saturday (08/11/08) and are hoping to be back within about 2 hours. This will obviously mean an average of 10 miles an hour, but considering the hilly nature of the Vale of Glamorgan and the fact that we are still in the early stages of training– 10 miles an hour isn’t as easy as it might sound!
Otherwise things really are starting to hit home. Our official fundraising packs have arrived, complete with T-Shirts and stickers and we have been given £255 so far by friends and family towards our adventure on the www.justgiving.com/joandpenni page that we set up. Because people have been so generous we really feel that we are getting somewhere, all of a sudden the adventure seems very real and 2009 seems very close. Still – we are 10% of the way to our target and are really starting to enjoy the experience. We still have a long way to go, but the ball is rolling and things have really started!
Until the next time,
Take great care,
Loadsa love, Jx
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