So why am I doing LEJOG for charity?
Perhaps you have had similar thoughts in the past. Many things swirl through one's mind every day. From what to buy from the shop in the next 15 minutes, to remembering that you have missed someones birthday - again - all the way up to those aspirational thoughts of things normally prefixed with the words 'wouldn't it be great if...'. I have too many of these for my own comfort at times but recurring bike ride ideas rather than the 'wouldn't it be great if I owned a yacht and sailed around the world' were something a little more achievable perhaps.
Simply I am a cyclist. Not avid mad in that I must go out on the bike every day. But where the bike is an alternative to walking or running or taking the bus (like today) then a bike it is simply because it is quicker than the others. Also because I enjoy it. As I've noted before, 40 to 50 mile runs on my bike as a young man were often part of my summer routine. And of late riding a bike in Europe on flat lakeside / river routes has become a regular summer activity again with Kathryn and if her squeaky daughter is up to it, with Julia in tow too. Bikes strapped to back of cars loaded to the gunwales with padded shorts and without the risk of any Imp'ish manoeuvres, we've ridden in various places in Germany, Switzerland, Austria etc.
Each time out I've wanted to push a little more. Knowing that this would not be fun for K and J I've undertaken some rides on my own. Last year for example it was cycling up an Austrian Tyrol mountain valley from Pertisau to the Alpengasthof Gramaialm at its head. Jeez. Drop a lung time again. Short vid here again of a fat man who does not know whats good for him :-)
OK so I failed to make it up to the top in 2015. And I used the brakes on the downhill section to avoid hitting terminal (and I mean terminal) velocity. But I did complete it when we went back in 2017. On my bike. To the top. YAY!
So I enjoy journeys and I enjoy occasionally pushing myself.
Mixed in with all those 'wouldn't it be great' biking thoughts was a thought of doing LEJOG. Impossible to do whist still working at BT simply because of the time needed to prepare and time to do it. But as though bubbling to the surface again in a rather large cracked pot of crackpot ideas, here I am today.
Doing LEJOG will be no easy ride. There's many a racing snake out there who could do it. Easily. I say, yeah, put this 7 stone bag of blubber on yer back and try it again and see how you do. Hah, not easy issit.
Life is not easy for many folk in many ways. For sure I've been close to many painful things but I do often recall massively of the impact cancer has had on many people close to me. For sure the hurt and pain of both mum and dad dying from cancer bit hard and recently being close to Tony Holder and his family and even closer to Barry Windsor through their suffering. It's a hurt that one often internalises.
I do not say we never cried together but it just would be no good if we all dissolved into blubbering wrecks as much as we may want to. Strength and compassion comes to the fore. Whilst not as sudden as a heart attack it's slow progression did weigh heavily on me whilst supporting them. Love and faith and fear and hope was intertwined with the treatment and support for it and like Julia I did let out the occasional squeak when the going got tough.
Additionally I now sail (coastal stuff). It has struck me just how harsh the sea can become. For example one day as a kid on the beach with my brother and cousin, both of them were taken by a rip tide but luckily managed swim to and to grab on to the sea cliff and somehow work their way back to the beach at Flamborough Head. That was close. Also remembering the stories given by my sailing instructor - Nigel. "Why do you think people need to wear life jackets when sailing on the North Sea in April?", he says. "To keep heads above water if we fall in?", we say. Nah says he, "...to recover your body so you can be buried.".
The North Sea in April is a brutal place if you fall in. So many people have no choice; its their workplace. Others do, but still go to sea often not best prepared for the worst of it. The tide and weather both work together to entrap you and make it too dangerous to look after yourself. It is especially at these times where the RNLI, a purely volunteer force supported by charitable donations, do exactly the opposite of what people wrapped up warm at home on a stormy night would do, when a call for help is made.
LEJOG will be a personal challenge for me. For sure. But still so far down the scale to that being experienced by people with cancer or in a storm at sea.
So a fat man on a bike it is riding 1200 miles and with 40,000 ft of ascent in circa 21 days.
With your support, its the least I can do.
Speak soon
As a reminder the Justgiving pages, should you read this and be happy to support me, are here:
Cancer Research UK https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/fatman-on-a-bike-lejog
RNLI https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/fatman-on-a-bike-lejog-par-deux
Simply I am a cyclist. Not avid mad in that I must go out on the bike every day. But where the bike is an alternative to walking or running or taking the bus (like today) then a bike it is simply because it is quicker than the others. Also because I enjoy it. As I've noted before, 40 to 50 mile runs on my bike as a young man were often part of my summer routine. And of late riding a bike in Europe on flat lakeside / river routes has become a regular summer activity again with Kathryn and if her squeaky daughter is up to it, with Julia in tow too. Bikes strapped to back of cars loaded to the gunwales with padded shorts and without the risk of any Imp'ish manoeuvres, we've ridden in various places in Germany, Switzerland, Austria etc.
Each time out I've wanted to push a little more. Knowing that this would not be fun for K and J I've undertaken some rides on my own. Last year for example it was cycling up an Austrian Tyrol mountain valley from Pertisau to the Alpengasthof Gramaialm at its head. Jeez. Drop a lung time again. Short vid here again of a fat man who does not know whats good for him :-)
OK so I failed to make it up to the top in 2015. And I used the brakes on the downhill section to avoid hitting terminal (and I mean terminal) velocity. But I did complete it when we went back in 2017. On my bike. To the top. YAY!
So I enjoy journeys and I enjoy occasionally pushing myself.
Mixed in with all those 'wouldn't it be great' biking thoughts was a thought of doing LEJOG. Impossible to do whist still working at BT simply because of the time needed to prepare and time to do it. But as though bubbling to the surface again in a rather large cracked pot of crackpot ideas, here I am today.
Doing LEJOG will be no easy ride. There's many a racing snake out there who could do it. Easily. I say, yeah, put this 7 stone bag of blubber on yer back and try it again and see how you do. Hah, not easy issit.
Life is not easy for many folk in many ways. For sure I've been close to many painful things but I do often recall massively of the impact cancer has had on many people close to me. For sure the hurt and pain of both mum and dad dying from cancer bit hard and recently being close to Tony Holder and his family and even closer to Barry Windsor through their suffering. It's a hurt that one often internalises.
I do not say we never cried together but it just would be no good if we all dissolved into blubbering wrecks as much as we may want to. Strength and compassion comes to the fore. Whilst not as sudden as a heart attack it's slow progression did weigh heavily on me whilst supporting them. Love and faith and fear and hope was intertwined with the treatment and support for it and like Julia I did let out the occasional squeak when the going got tough.
Additionally I now sail (coastal stuff). It has struck me just how harsh the sea can become. For example one day as a kid on the beach with my brother and cousin, both of them were taken by a rip tide but luckily managed swim to and to grab on to the sea cliff and somehow work their way back to the beach at Flamborough Head. That was close. Also remembering the stories given by my sailing instructor - Nigel. "Why do you think people need to wear life jackets when sailing on the North Sea in April?", he says. "To keep heads above water if we fall in?", we say. Nah says he, "...to recover your body so you can be buried.".
The North Sea in April is a brutal place if you fall in. So many people have no choice; its their workplace. Others do, but still go to sea often not best prepared for the worst of it. The tide and weather both work together to entrap you and make it too dangerous to look after yourself. It is especially at these times where the RNLI, a purely volunteer force supported by charitable donations, do exactly the opposite of what people wrapped up warm at home on a stormy night would do, when a call for help is made.
LEJOG will be a personal challenge for me. For sure. But still so far down the scale to that being experienced by people with cancer or in a storm at sea.
So a fat man on a bike it is riding 1200 miles and with 40,000 ft of ascent in circa 21 days.
With your support, its the least I can do.
Speak soon
As a reminder the Justgiving pages, should you read this and be happy to support me, are here:
Cancer Research UK https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/fatman-on-a-bike-lejog
RNLI https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/fatman-on-a-bike-lejog-par-deux
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