Saturday 30 April 2011

Good Morning America

After a great nights sleep in the biggest bed lve ever seen. This hotel is superb. The room is  nearly as big as my flat. Americans must be so disappointed when they come to the UK compared to the standards over here.
Put the bike back together this morning and everything is working fine. Had a bit of a wander this afternoon to the local shopping mall. This pla,e is not designed for pedestrians. Everybody drives around in cars so ctrossing roads on foot is quite scary. Shall have to keep my wits about me on the bike!
Tomorrow I shall be having my first cycle on American roads. 50 miles to Williamsburgh wbere we all meet up on tuesday.






Friday 29 April 2011

On my way

After a flying start from York at 6am this morning I arrived at Manchester airport and everything ground to a halt.

All the computer systems were down so check in had to be done manually. This meant that instead of having a leisurely breakfast with ken and Irene I spent 3 hours queuing and then straight onto the plane. They also tried to charge me extra for the bike which was supposed to be included in the flight. However by the time I reached thr check-in desk they seemed to have forgotten about it.

A smooth fairly uneventful flight, no problems with immigration and an easy transfer to Richmond. Most importantly bike and luggage made it too and finally arrived at the hotel about 12 30 am UK time.

So the adventure begins!

Didn"t see anything of the Royal wedding. Did I miss anything?

Tuesday 26 April 2011

Not long to go now!

All of a sudden this trip that has always been in the dim and distant future is suddenly upon me. I shall do one more training ride and that's it. If I am not ready now I never will be. Was probably a mistake though to go out walking in the Dales on Easter monday. Can hardly walk today. There has clearly been some interference with my finely honed cycling muscles!

Training Log

Rides                   28
Miles                   1307

Average               47
Tea Stops            48

Friday 22 April 2011

And now something completely different

This lovely group of ladies are known as The White Rosettes. They are currently the European Barbershop singing champions and I had the pleasure of seeing them on Saturday night. As far as I know they have nothing to do with barbershops but if you ever get the chance to see them do so. They are brilliant!
If you know my friend Ken Guest, see if you can spot his wife Irene. she's in there somewhere.

Thursday 21 April 2011

Today I bought a Dell streak Tablet

And it is completely doing my head in. It has come very close to being launched at high speed out of my bedroom window today. However I must persevere or I wont be able to blog while I'm in the States.

Wednesday 13 April 2011

A weekend in the land of the Concrete Cow

. . . also known as Milton Keynes which was my home for over 20 years and which probably accounts for my strange Yorkshire accent. It was great to catch up with old friends before my departure but after over eating and drinking for most of the weekend I thought some exercise would be in order. So Saturday was a 27 mile ride to Stoke Goldington with  'Sarah the Spinning Queen'  where I had the pleasure of meeting her Mum and sister Rachel again (who now has two lovely children) who I had not seen for at least 15 years.
Monday was a 45 mile ride south of Milton Keynes with my Godson Jack. All I can say that if you're an old bloke on a bike and you think you're quite fit go out on a ride with a 16 year old teenager to give you a reality check.

Oh and Noel Edmonds will be pleased to know that the concrete cows are still there although they seem to have been relocated to the city centre

Training Log
Rides                   24

Miles                   1107
Average               46
Tea Stops            48

Tuesday 12 April 2011

If your freehub breaks 25 miles from home and you've forgotten your wallet

. . . it's really useful to have Spa Cycles finest mechanic riding with you and a friend with a credit card. Apparently it's very rare but it happened to me on the Wednesday EG's ride last week. What appeared to be a harmless little click 10 minutes before lunch escalated to full freehub breakdown. That's the bit that the rear wheel spokes attach to for the uninitiated.
After a detailed inspection by Norman (of Spa Cycles fame) the prognosis did not look good so a trip to the nearest cycle shop was needed. And as luck would have it, Easingwold Cycles was just round the corner.
For a bargain £24.99 they came up with a new rear rim, and they very kindly fitted the cassette tube and tyre from the old wheel free of charge, so I didn't even get my hands dirty!
Problem was I didn't have £24.99 but fortunately Eric the Mad (see EG's ride report Feb 2nd) came to my rescue and stumped up the cash.
Otherwise a very enjoyable ride and another 55 miles on the log.

Training Log

Rides                   22
Miles                   1035
Average               47
Tea Stops            47

Monday 4 April 2011

Only 25 days to go

. . . and my training continues with two more 50 plus rides under my belt. Mother's Day duties meant I had to cut short Sunday's ride so I took out the expedition bike fully loaded and clocked up 35 miles. A very pleasant ride to the cafe at Thorpe Arch and back.

It's been a great week for sponsorship though so I think the features in the Yorkshire Press ( and now the Harrogate Advertiser) are having an impact. Currently over £2300 raised so nearly halfway towards my target. So thanks very much to all of you have donated and of course those of you that are going to but haven't quite got round to it yet :-)

But the best news for me today is that the broken crown that has been giving me grief for the last four weeks has finally been fixed. Thank you Dentist and I hope I don't hear the sound of your drill again for a very long time!

Training Log

Rides                   21
Miles                   980
Average               47
Tea Stops            45