Month: June 2005

Woo – that was one warm weekend! It hit 32 degrees in London, and while my Aussie mates will go “aah, that’s nothin’, mate – just a spring morning!”, it’s pretty bloody warm for England!! I spent Sunday in my biking gear, slowly melting in the heat as I made my way home from sunny Gloucestershire, and reflecting how good weather isn’t *always* good biking weather…

But anyway, it was a very fine weekend, in more ways than one. I spent it in the company of my mates Matt & Saz and rugrats, and Saturday was a country pub blues/beer festival with barbecue – most enjoyable, even if I did end up with the reddest neck you’ve ever seen – well, I’m a country lad at heart! 😀

It was quite cool to spend the time out there, away from computers and in the depths of the countryside where Orange can’t find me – lots of messages on my phone when I came back into their reception area, but otherwise it was very serene indeed. And of course, the real ales didn’t hurt. Not until much later, anyway! Oh, and dropping my bike while parking it on a ludicrous camber behind Matt’s dad’s house fairly hurt (broke the mirror clean off). Not physical pain – emotional, you understand… 🙂

But Sunday was something else. I slipped into my one-piece thermal suit, which is designed to wick the perspiration away from my hirsute posterior, then donned my armoured waterproofs. Oh – my – gawd! Travelling at speed on the M4 was bearable, until I got past Slough and the temperature ramped up. As did the traffic, which slowed me down and stole my cooling breeze (such as it was!), until I got into London proper and began to melt. Opening my jacket fully in an attempt to cool myself with the (very warm) breeze was pretty futile, and by the time I got home I was *soaked*! Coming up the stairs, I met one of my neighbours, who remarked “not a good day for biking, then?” – I must have looked a mess… I need a cooler outfit for the bike!

In other news – literally! – I’m almost famous!!! My article in the Bromley Times was printed, complete with image of yours truly dressed up in hiking gear, prancing like a tit around the gardens downstairs for the photograper’s benefit. You never know, somebody might actually take pity on me and sponsor me. Wishful thinking, perhaps… Anyway, the article has been duly scanned, and is available for your mirth and merriment here! And hopefully I’ll be in the News Shopper this week. That should be more productive in terms of sponsorship, for the simple reason that it’s free and more people read it. Hmmm – maybe they *won’t* sponsor me, on that basis…

I’ve actually got a full team now. My mate/colleague/boss Peter has come on board to join me, John & Phil in our fundraising efforts and to share the pain, he he… Go to the Walking Wounded fundraising page to drop us a few pennies. Ah, go on. Go on, go on, go on, go on, go ON! [ahem!]

Must go – piles of work to do. And photos of the weekend and Matt & Sarah’s lovely brood to post in the gallery. Yes, I know I haven’t updated the gallery in centuries, but I don’t get paid for this, you know!

A brief note, to mention a link for those who’re not au fait with the MS condition: visit the MS Society website if you want to find out a bit more about it. It has all the details, facts and figures – for example, 2,500 newly diagnosed each year in the UK, and over two and a half *million* people worldwide are estimated to have it. Phew!

On a more cheerful note, I’m going to be plastered all over the local press! Yes, the trek organisers have put together a PR team, who’ve been plying the local rags with threats and bribes to run an article on yours truly walking himself into the ground in the name of raising money! The Bromley Times and the News Shopper, respectively – watch out for them! Although I’ll probably post the clippings up here for a giggle…

Oh, and the route for the Sussex walk has been finalised – click here to have a gander at it. Some spectacular scenery has been promised, and it certainly looks like a good hike. The need to get out there training grows by the day! Don’t forget the fundraising page on justgiving.com/walking_wounded, if you have a few quid to spare. Oh, and it looks as though my main man John will be joining me too, so you’ll be sponsoring a bona fide team! 🙂

In other news, I had the second of my assessments in the hypnotherapy course last Sunday – this time with members of the public, rather than fellow students. And believe it or not – I was first up in my group again! Complete with hangover and not the faintest clue what I was doing; I hadn’t studied at *all* during the previous month… Anyway, my client was suitably complicated, but I did for her what I could – and she left the place exceedingly relaxed, if nothing else. Cured? That’s an entirely different story. But I spent the weekend collaring my classmates for donations, so it wasn’t a complete failure! 😀

This weekend, I’m off out West to spend a couple of days with mates Matt & Saz, and my lovely godchildren Ella & Louis (who’s one year old this Friday – ahhhh!) – apparently there’s a gig of some description on there, and the weather is looking exceedingly clement for the event. And for the bike ride down there, of course. My wanderlust is coming back in style, with the advent of my new two-wheeled friend…

Tune in next week, for more ridiculous randomness.

Yes indeedy – I’ve just signed up for this year’s BIGFoot walk in aid of the Multiple Sclerosis Society here in the UK. It’s a 50-mile hike through various terrain, this year in Sussex, and it’s all for an extremely good cause! To give you some idea, there are 85,000+ people with MS in the UK currently, with more diagnosed all the time. Quite a few of us, huh?

To those who aren’t aware of my link to this particular charity, let me bring you up to speed: I have MS. OK, not severely, but it does cramp my style occasionally. My mother had MS before she died; my uncle (her brother) has MS, as I’ve recently discovered – and this year my younger sister was diagnosed with it, on top of the diabetes she’s already saddled with. Not cool…

So there is a website set up, where you can go and sponsor me to make myself a shambling wreck as I did two years ago (you laugh! It’s true, just ask Dew!) – at www.justgiving.com/walking_wounded. I’m teamless so far this year, but as a solo effort I’m aiming for the £1000 mark. Anything at all that you can sponsor me will be hugely appreciated!

But enough of the serious stuff (serious? I’ve got to get training – that’s pretty bloody serious!) – in other news lately, I’ve managed to upgrade the two-wheeled wonder, to a thing of spectacular beauty: a 1995 Suzuki RF900R. Pics will be posted in due course, but believe me it’s a monster. 130mph on the M25, no less! (I’m just saying that, officer, I didn’t actually *do* that speed, honest!) He he hee…

And plans are coming together, bit by bit. I’m heading to the Emerald Isle in July, where I’ll be embarking on a two-wheeled road trip with my dear old dad. If you think my bike is cool, you want to see his CBR600 streetfighter (the Demon Duck) – now *that’s* cool! Puts me to shame, really! But it’s been many years since I had a decent biking road trip, and needless to say I’m *well* looking forward to it.

I haven’t been able to update the website in a while, as I’ve been mondo busy at work – which is a good thing, but terribly distracting. I’m hoping to get tons of photos uploaded to the gallery at some point fairly soon – and I do have quite a few to share. Not least the new bike! I’m sorry, am I boring you?! Hm – care… Anyway, watch this space. Well, come back and visit sometime, anyway.

Ooh ooh – further to my last post, it’s come to my attention that Lord Sefton of Jenkins will be gracing us with his presence for a few weeks, while he severs his ties with this sceptred isle and repairs to his bejewelled mansion near Bondi in NSW, Australia. At least we’ll have a few weeks of horrendous alcohol abuse before he disappears, ha haaa! In case I don’t get it organised, here’s the epitaph for my gravestone: “One for the road, begorrah!” Famous last words indeed…

OK, all you delicious people – it’s past my bedtime. Please sponsor me something for my Sussex trekking mental adventure, and help a good cause – at the very least, you can come around and laugh at me afterwards, as I bathe my poor, poor blisters!