Category Archives: Travel

3 Capitals Challenge – The fundraising begins

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www.challengebee.org screenshot

I have had my confirmation through, so now I really better start training and fund raising. To help I have put the site www.challengebee.org together, designed by my mate Griff. Hopefully that’ll give some easy methods for people to get money to me. The PayPal option has been quite popular.

I’ll be doing all sorts to try and raise money, from raffles and auctions to gigs and parties, so keep checking for my upcoming events. They will be fun. I hope!

SO there it is, the easy ways to donate are set up and now I can get down to the hard part of making people part with their money and preparing myself for 300 miles on my bike.

Chas ‘n’ Dave were awesome, by the way…

3 Capitals in 3 Days Cycle Challenge

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I’m in!

My GP has signed me as fit to participate so on the 6th-9th June 2008 I will be cycling from London to Amsterdam and onto Brussels. That’s about 320 miles, approximately 100 miles a day 3 days running.

Starting at St Pancras in North London, we move straight onto Harwich, Essex (East coast, East of Colchester) where we will jump on an overnight ferry to Hoek Van Holland. Once in the land of windmills and clogs, the 59 miles to Amsterdam are tackled. Since that is only given 4 hours to be completed in, I think the 3 hours spare in Amsterdam will probably be a little rest for my body. But once 3pm hits we are straight back to the business of 60 miles on to Kinderdijk, near Rotterdam. Now by this point I expect my legs to either be the size of tree trunks or ready to fall off, so naturally the longest stint of the weekend is welcomed. 120 miles from Kinderdijk to Brussels where I assume there will be a huge party and I will be allowed to get extremely drunk and not move my legs for 21 hours until the 1556 Eurostar to St Pancras.

Here’s a rough map of the route to give you an idea of the scale of the task (click to enlarge):

3 Capitals in 3 Days Cycle Challenge route.

Then I’ll probably have to cycle home.

So that’s the itinerary, which I hope I will be able to keep up with – training better start now, but of course there is also the matter of the sponsorship of £1350 I have to raise by then for The Mines Advisory Group. So keep your eyes peeled for the fund raising site and blogs demanding your money that will be starting very very soon.

Please send me any possible fund raising ideas you might have as soon as possible!

Cycling – more trouble than its worth?

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No, is of course the answer but the gear problems I’ve had are starting to get on my nerves a little! I lost the ability to change into a lower gear about 3 weeks ago and this doesn’t help when Wimbledon Hill is between me and work.

Now since I’ve had this problem the former bike mechanic at work was very doubtful it was the shifter (Shimano Sora STI) – but I could see no other problems, the cassette and chain work verifying this. I was going to buy a shifter straight away, but thought I would wait until after I fit my cassette and chain and checked the dérailleur was moving freely.

Having replaced the chain, cassette, cables and cable housing the problem was slightly improved in that I found it was only changing from the very high gears that wouldn’t work. Now this is fine, I have some gears, and know how to fix the rest, so went back to cycling to work quite happily.

However as I joined the A3 at Tibbets Corner, a heard a load crunch and my rear shifter seized. So after wedging a tyre leaver into the dérailleur so that I could get up a hill I got to and from work.

Shiny new cassette and brake lever!
Cassette and tyre lever.
Shiny new cassette and tyre lever keeping me in a friendly gear.

The Sora Shifter is definitely the problem, so now I just need to find £67.99 for a new set (unfortunately they only come in sets, although I have only tried Evans cycles so far, definitely not the cheapest…) so there’s another job for when I get back form working on my mini.

Looks like I’m lucky not to be American

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Sicko poster.

After watching SiCKO by Michael Moore I feel very lucky to be British and have the NHS. Should I have been American, 4 major operations wouldn’t have been cheap and after this who even knows if I would be accepted for insurance followowing my pneumothorax in 2005. Obviously I don’t know all the facts, but based on what I saw and read lately this is what I think.

People often complain about the NHS and , and I know people have, even those I know criticise the treatment I received after getting an infection at a chest drain site, but I think it’s excellent from first hand knowledge. I found a cockroach in hospital after my leg break – so maybe that’s worth criticising – but at least I didn’t have to pay for the priviledge!

Now I know there will be elements of bias and fights for both sides of the story, as Moorewatch.com points out – but I think that I have grasped the fundamentals.

Both systems may need work – but I think that I am better off for being ill in England. You shouldn’t have to pay for healthcare in my opinion, nor insurance in case of illness, nor should the decision of allowing treatment be based on money or decided by anyone that isn’t the doctor treating you.

BMW are EVIL!

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BMW small car.

That is not a Mini Clubman.

This is a Mini Clubman:

Mini Clubman 1275GT.

And so is this:

Mini Clubman Dragster.

It looks like some kind of futuristic concept car, not something that is going on sale on 10th November in Dublin. It is bad enough soiling the Mini name but to also ruin the Clubman image too is unforgivable!

It hasn’t had a bad review on the Auto Express website, however I think it will still bring the same reaction from Mini lovers as the original introduction of the BMW version. You’ll love it or hate it (and BMW to boot)!

I hate it.