Sunday 22 June 2014 10:00 GMT + 1
Wow! How fast the time has gone. It seems almost like yesterday that I started planning this ride, although I first started on it shortly after I rode to Geneva in 2009.
Maverick, you are starting to come up to scratch! TheCyclist is most pleased with you. Keep up the good work and you shall be greatly rewarded with a most excellent service when we get back from Nice. Is that fair? In addition, I'll even give you a really great wash 'n' polish before we go to the BBQ tonight. Does that sound good? Mmmmm, I think so, too. So glad you agree with TheCyclist, though. :-)
On a slightly serious note and in response to what so many people have asked me, I'm unable to upload photos instantly, as I don't have a smartphone at all. I only have the loan of a digital camera. As & when I'm able to, I shall be posting messages and photos online.
Not long to go now. I leave after Church this afternoon for JOG and the RATT ride itself starts on Tuesday morning at about 05:00. Yes, yes, I know. "5 o'clock? Who on earth starts riding at 'stupid o'clock' in the morning?", I hear you ask. "Maverick & TheCyclist, that's who!"
"Whaddaya mean, TheCyclist AND Maverick?", wailed Maverick, miserably.
"Oops, sorry, M. That wasn't meant for your ears. Just pretend you never heard that last remark and we'll get along fine."
Checklist:
TheCyclist, Maverick, satnav, bluetooth, charger, mobile phone, kit & the rest. (I know not what. Way too many things to make a list of...) Finally finished packing (almost) at 01:45 this morning.
What more can I say? Time to get moving. All prayers for trafficked victims would be greatly needed and prayers for Maverick & TheCyclist are also very much appreciated.
Thank you all.
In the meantime, all that's left to say is "YEEHAA!" Watch this space.
Sunday 22 June 2014
Tuesday 17 June 2014
It's all in the Numbers
Numbers are always interesting and play a major part in everyones' lives. Some are listed below:
Number of miles left for training: 0
Number of days before I leave for JOG: 4
Number of days before the RATT ride starts: 6
Number of miles left to cycle before I leave on Sunday: 30
Number of days the RATT ride lasts: 32
Number of friends I've made since telling people about RATT: 100 (about)
Number of miles in the RATT ride: 2400 (approximately)
Number of miles ridden in training: 3500 (give or take)
Number of hours in training:More than I care to remember!
Please sponsor me here
Read other comments here
Number of miles left for training: 0
Number of days before I leave for JOG: 4
Number of days before the RATT ride starts: 6
Number of miles left to cycle before I leave on Sunday: 30
Number of days the RATT ride lasts: 32
Number of friends I've made since telling people about RATT: 100 (about)
Number of miles in the RATT ride: 2400 (approximately)
Number of miles ridden in training: 3500 (give or take)
Number of hours in training:More than I care to remember!
Please sponsor me here
Read other comments here
Monday 9 June 2014
Two Intrepid Cyclists
Monday 09 August 2014
Well, my 1 1/2 hour walk to work at 3:00 am this morning only took me 1hr & 5 minutes, with which I was quite pleased. My leg muscles were starting to ache by the time I arrived, but it was a speed walk, as I did not wish to be late at all. I did not mind, though, as it was such a beautiful morning, even at 3:00 a.m. By 11:00, however, I was, I must admit, struggling, I was so tired. But heyho, my (work) day was done by 2pm. Off to the bike shop then, to which my great friend, Dave, very kindly drove me to get a new tube and then even more kindly, drove me home afterwards. Thank you so much, Dave. You are a real blessing to me.
TS, I shall look after you better in the future, I promise. Beef steaks, pizza, ice cream, all for breakfast, ok? All right, make that new tubes, tyres and oil and maintenance, you being a bicycle. ;)
A quick fit of the new tube and job done. Then out for a ride on Maverick with my other superb friend, Mark. As usual, Mark stretched me, taking TheCyclist and Maverick into places where no man (Me & M, that is...) has been before; viz, via traffic free routes, down footpaths, canal paths right next to rivers, muddy paths, what more can a Maverick wish for?
Two swans and their 3 signets, that’s what. Not! These two lovely, graceful swans and their young were relaxing on the towpath next to the river, right where we were riding. (I’ll tell you something for nothing, if you promise not to tell the whole world, that is...)
The Maverick and Mark were scared, as the instant we tried to edge (very gently, quietly and gingerly) past the family of swans, a loud hissing and wings being very widely spread out rapidly became the order of the day. We backed off and normality reigned once again. "Try again", I suggested, but the swans were having none of it. One then attempted to attack one of our bicycles, so we backed off again. Mark said, “Have you ever seen two scared cyclists before?” to which I replied, “Not before, but I have now!”
Anyway, after about 7 or 8 attempts, we finally succeeded in getting past them in one piece, but we did have to ‘skedaddle’ somewhat hastily away from them, as they started to give chase after us. Oh, the joys of off road cycling.
Mark, that was a brilliant ride. It was only after we finally arrived home, that I realised we had cycled about 18 miles, or so. That definitely made up for the errant behaviour of TS yesterday. Watch this space for more, adventures, thrills, spills and mishaps of Maverick & TheCyclist.
Yeehaaa!
Well, my 1 1/2 hour walk to work at 3:00 am this morning only took me 1hr & 5 minutes, with which I was quite pleased. My leg muscles were starting to ache by the time I arrived, but it was a speed walk, as I did not wish to be late at all. I did not mind, though, as it was such a beautiful morning, even at 3:00 a.m. By 11:00, however, I was, I must admit, struggling, I was so tired. But heyho, my (work) day was done by 2pm. Off to the bike shop then, to which my great friend, Dave, very kindly drove me to get a new tube and then even more kindly, drove me home afterwards. Thank you so much, Dave. You are a real blessing to me.
TS, I shall look after you better in the future, I promise. Beef steaks, pizza, ice cream, all for breakfast, ok? All right, make that new tubes, tyres and oil and maintenance, you being a bicycle. ;)
A quick fit of the new tube and job done. Then out for a ride on Maverick with my other superb friend, Mark. As usual, Mark stretched me, taking TheCyclist and Maverick into places where no man (Me & M, that is...) has been before; viz, via traffic free routes, down footpaths, canal paths right next to rivers, muddy paths, what more can a Maverick wish for?
Two swans and their 3 signets, that’s what. Not! These two lovely, graceful swans and their young were relaxing on the towpath next to the river, right where we were riding. (I’ll tell you something for nothing, if you promise not to tell the whole world, that is...)
The Maverick and Mark were scared, as the instant we tried to edge (very gently, quietly and gingerly) past the family of swans, a loud hissing and wings being very widely spread out rapidly became the order of the day. We backed off and normality reigned once again. "Try again", I suggested, but the swans were having none of it. One then attempted to attack one of our bicycles, so we backed off again. Mark said, “Have you ever seen two scared cyclists before?” to which I replied, “Not before, but I have now!”
Anyway, after about 7 or 8 attempts, we finally succeeded in getting past them in one piece, but we did have to ‘skedaddle’ somewhat hastily away from them, as they started to give chase after us. Oh, the joys of off road cycling.
Mark, that was a brilliant ride. It was only after we finally arrived home, that I realised we had cycled about 18 miles, or so. That definitely made up for the errant behaviour of TS yesterday. Watch this space for more, adventures, thrills, spills and mishaps of Maverick & TheCyclist.
Yeehaaa!
Sunday 8 June 2014
The best laid plans of mice and men
Sunday 08 June 2104
As you all know, I love cycling. I take all sensible precautions to prevent accidents and ensure I have all reasonable spare for routine and essential maintenance. Or so I like to think, anyway. Well, today, on the way home from work, I realised that I had a flat tyre. I pumped it up, and it stayed inflated for about 10 minutes, before going down again. I then realised that I had no repair facilities for that bike at all. BOO! :( So I had the bright idea of stopping at a friend’s home on the way, except he wasn't there. :( Tried pumping the tyre up, worked for 5 minutes and deflated again! Walked the rest of the way home (about 45 minutes) Arrived home and pumped the tyre up with my super dooper high pressure floor (bicycle) pump with gauge. Success! And it didn't go down at all. So I took it for a spin to see how well it behaved. Stopped after 19 minutes to check the pressure and it felt fine.
Brilliant!, I thought. It just needed some loving high pressure TLC. Right! 30 Exactly 30 seconds later, the tyre had gone flat again. “What on earth?” I wondered. “What's happening?” I pumped it up with a hand pump this time and it stayed up. I decided to try riding it home and it stayed up all the way! “Why?”, I wondered, yet again. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I found a puncture – I had also forgotten that I had long ago inserted some a sealant in the tube, which did the job it was designed to do – to seal the tube, albeit on a temporary basis.
However, therein my plans and care all started to fall apart. After repairing 5 punctures next to each other, I then saw that both the tube & tyre are worn out. Oh well, time to replace it with a new one. Fetch the new one, only to realise it’s completely the wrong size. Ouch! It is the correct size for Maverick, but has the wrong valve, so I cannot use it at all! Neither do I have a spare tyre at all. Big BOO! How that happened that I have no replacement for those two items, I have absolutely no idea at all. Mark, it looks like you have a new tube for your bike. So much for a nice long, training ride this afternoon.
Being Sunday, all the bike shops are closed! Even more painful, since I start work at 05:30 tomorrow morning. I will need to walk to work and leave home at 03:30, being a 1 & ½ walk to work. Such is life.
And now for the good news. The RATT ride starts in 14, yes, that’s right, FOURTEEN days time.
YEEHAA!
As you all know, I love cycling. I take all sensible precautions to prevent accidents and ensure I have all reasonable spare for routine and essential maintenance. Or so I like to think, anyway. Well, today, on the way home from work, I realised that I had a flat tyre. I pumped it up, and it stayed inflated for about 10 minutes, before going down again. I then realised that I had no repair facilities for that bike at all. BOO! :( So I had the bright idea of stopping at a friend’s home on the way, except he wasn't there. :( Tried pumping the tyre up, worked for 5 minutes and deflated again! Walked the rest of the way home (about 45 minutes) Arrived home and pumped the tyre up with my super dooper high pressure floor (bicycle) pump with gauge. Success! And it didn't go down at all. So I took it for a spin to see how well it behaved. Stopped after 19 minutes to check the pressure and it felt fine.
Brilliant!, I thought. It just needed some loving high pressure TLC. Right! 30 Exactly 30 seconds later, the tyre had gone flat again. “What on earth?” I wondered. “What's happening?” I pumped it up with a hand pump this time and it stayed up. I decided to try riding it home and it stayed up all the way! “Why?”, I wondered, yet again. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I found a puncture – I had also forgotten that I had long ago inserted some a sealant in the tube, which did the job it was designed to do – to seal the tube, albeit on a temporary basis.
However, therein my plans and care all started to fall apart. After repairing 5 punctures next to each other, I then saw that both the tube & tyre are worn out. Oh well, time to replace it with a new one. Fetch the new one, only to realise it’s completely the wrong size. Ouch! It is the correct size for Maverick, but has the wrong valve, so I cannot use it at all! Neither do I have a spare tyre at all. Big BOO! How that happened that I have no replacement for those two items, I have absolutely no idea at all. Mark, it looks like you have a new tube for your bike. So much for a nice long, training ride this afternoon.
Being Sunday, all the bike shops are closed! Even more painful, since I start work at 05:30 tomorrow morning. I will need to walk to work and leave home at 03:30, being a 1 & ½ walk to work. Such is life.
And now for the good news. The RATT ride starts in 14, yes, that’s right, FOURTEEN days time.
YEEHAA!
Tuesday 3 June 2014
Fun instead of training
Tuesday 03 June 2014 21:26 BST
Another ride today, this time a 35 mile (56 kms) one. On this occasion, it was to do someone a favour and also to get some more training in. However, after yesterday's ride with Mark and being at the stage where I am so sick of training rides, I decided to change my whole attitude. From today, my training has stopped completely. No, that doesn't mean I've stopped riding at all. On the contrary, I now do even more, except the riding I'm now doing is simply 'fun' riding. It helps me enjoy it more, as all the riding had become a chore, because it became something that I had to do, instead of something that I normally love doing.
So today, I had a fun ride to a pub that seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere, but what a great pub it is. The Dewdrop Inn, Hurley near Burchett's Green & Hurley, it is. Tomorrow? Who knows wher I shall have another fun ride to? I shall exercise that stuff called patience and see what tomorrow brings.
Watch this space for more exciting adventures of M and The Maverick!
Just remember, my sponsorship page for this very worthy cause is at Riding Against The TraffiK
Yeehaa!
Another ride today, this time a 35 mile (56 kms) one. On this occasion, it was to do someone a favour and also to get some more training in. However, after yesterday's ride with Mark and being at the stage where I am so sick of training rides, I decided to change my whole attitude. From today, my training has stopped completely. No, that doesn't mean I've stopped riding at all. On the contrary, I now do even more, except the riding I'm now doing is simply 'fun' riding. It helps me enjoy it more, as all the riding had become a chore, because it became something that I had to do, instead of something that I normally love doing.
So today, I had a fun ride to a pub that seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere, but what a great pub it is. The Dewdrop Inn, Hurley near Burchett's Green & Hurley, it is. Tomorrow? Who knows wher I shall have another fun ride to? I shall exercise that stuff called patience and see what tomorrow brings.
Watch this space for more exciting adventures of M and The Maverick!
Just remember, my sponsorship page for this very worthy cause is at Riding Against The TraffiK
Yeehaa!
Stinging Nettles
Monday 02 May 2014
Yeehaa! Three weeks to go today before RATT ride starts. Training is going good. Had a marvellous ride with a great friend, Mark, yesterday. Went on an off road route to Dorney, alongside Dorney Lake (where part of the 2012 Olympics water races were held) and came back along the banks of the River Thames via Eton. Apart from a fall into some stinging nettles, when I had to stop somewhat suddenly, Mark & I really enjoyed ourselves. At the time of writing this post, my arms are still stinging. But, heyho, such is life.
We covered a total distance of 20 miles and hardly felt it. As the song , 'I could have danced all night', goes, well, I could have cycled all day, I was enjoying the ride so much. Certainly, it is one cycling route I shall use again.
Monday 12 May 2014
RidingAgainstTheTraffik (RATT): Another day, another ride
Monday 12 May 2014 18:25 BST
Another day, another ride. A great mix of friendship with my great friend, Phillip and a magnificent ride of 32 miles (51 km) comprising distance, hill and speed training, all in one. Great weather too.
M, you did me proud today. You not only climbed a steep hill not once, not just twice, but three times. You then not only set a high speed early on to start off with, you not only beat your previous best speed once, but twice in 15 minutes.
In fact, you latest top speed is now only slightly down from TS's overall top speed of 43.5 mph (69.6 km/h). Your own top speed is now 38.7 mph (61.9 km/h) Well done, you!
And the best part? Coming home and finding my lovely wife, Dalletta, has made the most delicious chocolate bread. Yummie!
What a great day!
Watch this space for more delightful tales, adventures (and stories of M & The Maverick!)
Please support the charities I am raising funds for by sponsoring me at the website below.
http://www.justgiving.com/RidingAgainstTheTraffik
The charities I am supporting are:
http://www.thea21campaign.org
http://www.ecpat.org.uk/
You can also look at all the 'gory' details of my RATT ride at:
https://www.facebook.com/RidingAgainstTheTraffik?ref=hl
The Maverick Rides again!
Another day, another ride. A great mix of friendship with my great friend, Phillip and a magnificent ride of 32 miles (51 km) comprising distance, hill and speed training, all in one. Great weather too.
M, you did me proud today. You not only climbed a steep hill not once, not just twice, but three times. You then not only set a high speed early on to start off with, you not only beat your previous best speed once, but twice in 15 minutes.
In fact, you latest top speed is now only slightly down from TS's overall top speed of 43.5 mph (69.6 km/h). Your own top speed is now 38.7 mph (61.9 km/h) Well done, you!
And the best part? Coming home and finding my lovely wife, Dalletta, has made the most delicious chocolate bread. Yummie!
What a great day!
Watch this space for more delightful tales, adventures (and stories of M & The Maverick!)
Please support the charities I am raising funds for by sponsoring me at the website below.
http://www.justgiving.com/RidingAgainstTheTraffik
The charities I am supporting are:
http://www.thea21campaign.org
http://www.ecpat.org.uk/
You can also look at all the 'gory' details of my RATT ride at:
https://www.facebook.com/RidingAgainstTheTraffik?ref=hl
The Maverick Rides again!
Friday 9 May 2014
Progress
Friday 09 May 2014 17:10 BST
Shoes, train ticket, satnav bought, all set to go now. All set to leave for JOG on 22 June 2014; well, almost - just a camera, money (for me) and... yes, you guessed it - more training needed... Am I excited? You bet I am! Am I apprehensive? Yes! Am I scared? Don't know. Yes, I know, I know, perfect love casts out all fear. Maybe it's just nerves, not having done such a major event like that by myself before, I don't know. Time will tell.
On the 23rd, the countdown for the start of RATT ride begins (it starts early in the morning of 24th June) Watch this space
M in Training
Saturday 12 April 2014 16:00"M, you lied to TheCyclist! That is totally inexcusable! What do you have to say about yourself?” asked TheCyclist.
“Well, Guv, I couldn’t help it that you chose to go up so many hills, or that it was so cold.” relied M.
“What did any of that have to do with you not wanting to go any further than the miserable 27 miles you had ridden so far, instead of the 50 miles you had been bragging about these last few days, then?”, TheCyclist countered. “It simply meant that instead of riding 100 miles, you only rode 50. I am so disappointed in you, especially using the cold weather and hills as an excuse for turning round and going home. Just because TheCyclist had been unable to get warm at all in 2 ½ hours, had lots of muscular pain, a sore neck, a headache and was just plain tired, was no excuse for you to refuse to go on any further. I can see that further action will have to be taken to prevent such occurrences in the future from taking place again. Consider yourself sternly admonished!”
“But Guv, there were loads of them cyclists out on their fancy super lightweight road bicycles, riding at about 25 miles an hour, all just leaving me in the dust. They were so disheartening and discouraging.” wailed Maverick.
“Excuses, excuses! We’ll have none o’ that defeatist talk from you, young fella me lad! Now, as the sayin’ goes “ON YER BIKE!”
Watch this space for more exciting (and humorous) adventures from Maverick & TheCyclist to come.
Saturday 12 April 2014
Preparing for the journey
“The Maverick” (also known as 'The Cyclist' elsewhere) has a
daunting challenge before him. “Riding
Against The Traffik” is a 2,300 mile bicycle ride, which begins at John O’Groats, Scotland and ends in Nice, France. “The Maverick” is schedule to leave John
O’Groats on 23rd June and arrive in Nice, France on 26thJuly.
In 2009, “The Maverick” completed a supported, 730 mile
ride to raise support for another charity.
Learning of the work of The A21 Campaign and ECPAT, which battles the
insidious practice of human trafficking, “The Maverick” was determined to get
back on his bike for a second charity ride.
The A21 Campaign works to prevent trafficking through
education; provides rehabilitation to victims of human trafficking and legal
assistance. Their objective is to
Abolish injustice in the 21st Century. For more information visit their
website: http://www.thea21campaign.org
ECPAT, which stands for End Child Pornography, Prostitution
and Trafficking, uses various programmes to focus on the protection of
trafficked and exploited children and the prevention of such crimes. ECPAT International provides international
connections for Children’s Rights Organisations in over 70 countries. More information is available at http://www.ecpat.org.uk/
To join in the fight against modern day slavery, and to help
“The Maverick” raise awareness of the life-changing work of The A21 Campaign
and ECPAT, you can make a donation at http://www.justgiving.com/RidingAgainstTheTraffik.
You can follow “The
Maverick”’s progress on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/RidingAgainstTheTraffik?fref=ts
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