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Showing posts from 2016

December Dayz

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A gig down in Exeter provided the perfect opportunity to throw the bike on the back of the car... put on my cycling kit (layers people layers) and head down to Haldon forest and their mountain bike trails. With 2 blue trails and 1 red it provided an excuse to try out a new bit of kit... but more about that later. A slight delay whilst I waited for my pet snake Dusty to finish engulfing the rat I fed her meant that kit packing was done in a hurry so that I could get to the forest with enough time for a couple of hours hard work. As soon as I stuck my head out the door I added a few layers because my car was solidly iced up and the mercury was barely registering 2 degrees C... EEK!  My new toy ... an Ion air pro lite cam with wifi was charged up and ready to go having undergone preliminary testing the day before out on the Ridgeway. The videos which I had downloaded to my computer were of good quality... capturing sound and motion with something akin to professional quality... henc...

Lakeside Jaunt

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Ok so Im lying... it wasn't a jaunt. Training just got tough... bloody hard in fact... and the funniest thing of all is that it was all totally self inflicted. I cant quite remember exactly how the whole thing started but as usual (whatever David J might say) this plan had its roots firmly in the sensible camp. As you probably know by now, next year my aim is to ride from Banff in Canada to Antelope Wells, a small border post between Mexico and the U.S.A. Not only that but the ride is off-road... crosses the continental divide 30+ times ... is 2700 miles long and just to make it that little bit more challenging... is a race. Crazy right? Yup! The thing is I had no idea what exactly was possible in terms of milage for me off road in a day... so it was time to find out... see exactly how much tougher than a day on tarmac it would be. Somehow... and not sure exactly how.. Id managed to con .. I mean ... pique the interest ... of two slightly barmy friends of mine into joining me...

Ride the trail... be free!

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The last few weeks have been a bit of a blur... no time to think... and no time to blog. So thought Id catch everyone up in the goings on in One Challenge At A Time World. I got a new bike... it wasnt cheap and had a few 'accessories' added with The Tour Divide Race in mind (more about those later). For those of you that missed previous updates... the Tour Divide is an underground race from (shhh say it quietly) Banff in Canada to the mexican border in New Mexico. 2700 relentless off road miles... with possibilities of (included but not limited to) snow covered passes... hike a bike sections... grizzly bear encounters... mud... rain... searing heat and freezing cold. Add to that altidude (11000 ft passes) and 39 crossings of the continental divide mountain ranges and no wonder its billed as one for the crazies! 😀 Having the wonderful opportunity to follow Mr Mike Peters on tour round the country for a week or so whilst swabbing people for the bone marrow donor list... it w...

New chapter

Its been a while since I have blogged... admittedly cos a) I havent felt like it and b) Id just be boring you. I dived back into work trying to make up for skiving off for a month and nights followed by more nights with the odd day shift shoved in there ensured that the last month or so has been a blur. Add into that.. The Stranglers/The Alarm tour and finding time to breathe was a challenge. Busy was good though and has been a welcome distraction. Recovery from the ride itself was pretty swift with just the odd, very painful hand cramp as a lasting reminder of the sufferring! So I thought Id bring everyone up to date with my new crazy plan. You may have read that I intended to enter the Tour Divide next year... a very long... very uphill off road race from Banff in Canada to the Mexican border. The film Ride the Divide (trailer on my facebook page... www.facebook.com/OneChallengeAtATime) fired my imagination and got me dreaming of miles of gravel road... endless vistas and the odd ...

Day 27- There's still so much more to be said...

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Day 27 ... all the lines are in my head..... But organising them and getting them onto 'paper' is difficult... yet I cannot give up the blogging just yet... I am not yet right back where I started from... Perhaps this is the beginning of yet another chapter in the book of my life but Im not quite ready to turn the page from the last and desperately cling to parts of it... my arms tightly around  as long as possible. I received message from a very good friend this morning which not only tipped me over the edge into tears again ... blaming lack of sleep this time... but part of what he said I wish to share with you (I hope he doesnt mind) as it struck me... He said that they were on the outside looking into my journey and that they only got to see and feel a small part of the journey... like watching the film version of a book where you dont really get the story the author wrote. And part of me wished I could explain bits better or hadnt been so tired at the end of the...

Day 26 - Time to believe

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Day 26 ... Part 1 There comes a point in any journey like this that you have to believe you will make it to the end.... I hadnt reached that point yet when I woke up this morning. Determined to leave early in case anything should befall me or my bike in the last 40 miles... I went for breakfast at 06:45 only to find that it was too early... so instead I got my last bits and pieces together and head out the door.... 20 miles to Invercargill then 20 to Bluff Keep all fingers and toes crossed.. The words of Mike Peters running round my head as they have every day and through every emotion of this ride... A tailwind to Invercargill saw me there in just over an hour!! Texted Lorraine... 'Get your arse out of bed... Im at Invercargill'. Invercargill... quite a nice little town... First traffic lights in a while... must remember to stop... Reading cinemas (my town!) ... disjointed thoughts... Must take everything in... last day on a bike... some tears... some smiles .. ...

Day 25 - Spiritual Regeneration Every single time we breathe...

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Day 25 The second longest day in terms of mileage and coming after 2 long climbing days... this was not an 'easy day'. Im not sure this country has any of those in it.  97 miles but only 2700 ish feet of climbing... this was a wind dependent day... a lot hung on the wind direction and strength. I admit... I pushed my bike up the hill from the hotel... and if you'd seen it... you would understand why... 20% gradient is a good way to break yourself for the rest if the day... as it was,  pushing the bike up that hill hurt!! I then coasted down and rejoined SH6... having shunned breakfast in the very expensive hotel.. I knew that there was a cafe to be found 25 miles down the road at Kingston... First though I had to go along Lake Wakatipu.. With a bit of road called Devil's Staircase.. this could be bad. A tailwind pummled me along to the lake... I hesitated to even think about it... because I knew if it changed... I could be in for a ridiculously hard day. But...

Day 24 - Let it Raindown....

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Day 24 I struggled to wake up again this morning... a fact demonstrated by the squeezing onto my toothbrush... of Bepanthen!!! Fortunately noticing before applying it to my teeth... I cleaned it off and applied toothpaste instead. It didnt have its usual minty taste. Not a great start... things were looking up with breakfast (thanks bev) and the news that she had contacted a friend who was a reporter for the Wanaka Times... who wanted to meet me and write an article for the paper. It was arranged for the morning on my way to first Cromwell... then through the gorge to the outskirts of Queenstown. All on SH6... this road that had been with me since Greymouth would carry me all the way to Bluff. Bev assured me that it was pretty flat from here to Wanaka (definately the kiwi version of flat Bev!!!! ) and the plan was to get there by 08:15.. but on setting off and climbing the hills as they appeared.. my legs werent in the game this morning and Wanaka town would be a detour too far ...