charity update & gloves

Well Almost there ....raised extra £70 in sponsorship - thanks from friend Barry and my Gran - so now I have raised £910 for Great Ormond Street childrens hospital and 200 euros for temple street childrens hospital - so the total raised is now £1060.

Today is last day of packing for trip - had a nice lunch at the thai terrace with Jon and Munch.

Jon says he can give lift to airport tomorrow - I could probably cycle but problem is I have to also take the box to pack the bike in - so driving up is only way. I Brought some disposable gloves today - SO that when I get bike ready at airport for plane journey I wont get covered in cycle oil.

Cycled a bit today - weather here is pretty nice and roads are flat - perhaps not really the best preparation for what I have heard is a hilly, cold & wet ireland ! still some cycling is better than none ...

Packing and punctures

Well the time has come to start thinking about packing the cycle for air travel....So far this week the Tyres needed replacing and I brought some from cycle shop only to find they were too wide ! luckily new set arrived yesterday so bike is back to working order again ...and shop felt a bit sorry for me so kindly fitted them for me ...I have been a bit rushed this week so no chance to go out fully loaded with panniers so I imagine first few days in ireland will be back braking stuff ...Travelling by plane I imagine will be a bit of a pain - turning in handlebars and removing wheels and pedals - letting down tyre pressure all a bit of a pain. Main problem has been how to get cycle to airport - I could cycle up to the airport and then do all the adjusting and packing at the airport or pack before and trying and fit cycle boxed into car ...something to think about over the weekend .... my fitness levels need to be higher but they will have to do for now ...I have of course had a few problems getting internet access here but hopefully things will be of in ireland ....5 day forecast is showing rain followed by rain !

Current sponsorship is now at £860 for GOSH - UK response in my home town has been extremeley poor -mainly beacuse there are so many charity events - however the support from teacher in Kuwait and friends around the globe has been on the whole fabulous.

I have set target for 1000miles to cycle-and would like to raise 1000 pounds for GOSH - it looks like I can cycle a fare bit of the ciculraler route but wont have enough time to do the 4 corners cycle ride

only a couple of days until the green dragon visist the emerald isle - dont feel ready but will just have to make the best job of it ...

Green dragon

leg protectors

Well I am thinking it might be wise to carry some waterproofs in ireland. The main problem is that wearing waterproof trousers over cycle shorts can make one sweat a lot in a very short time of cycling in the rain. This was a big problem when I was cycling last year especially as it rained EVERY day of my cycle ride. However I have just come across something called leg protectors - you can get them from a cycle shop called wiggle.co.uk .These seem to be a much better idea than waterproofs and I will make or buy some neoprene over shoe covers for my shoes. These I think I can get from evanscycles.

CHARITY UPDATE : had a donation of £60 from friends Tony & Louise Gardener today. Also many thanks to Jane Harrison from thailand for her support. This takes the total donated to The Great Ormond Street Children's Hopsital to £830 . The total donated to temple street children's hospital is still at 200 euros. This means total donated so far has now reached £960 only £40 away from the original target. I am really happy that people have been so very kind and generous towards these two worthwhile charities.

Since the orginal target has almost been reached and I have a few more donations to collect I have now raised the target to a new amount of £1200 so I hope to get as close to this as possible.

TRAINING - well we still have heavy dust storms here in kuwait so no cycling outside for the moment. I did try and do some exercise by playing an 11 aside football match on the weekend. However I was coughing up quite a lot of dust the following day.

WEIGHT- This seems to be ok at the moment. I am 5.5 kgs less than my weight this time last year - WHEN I REALLY WAS A FAT MONKEY- and I am only about 2kg heavier than at the end of my cycle ride last year. My target is to try and stay near current weight or lose 0.5kg before the cycle ride. I have tried to keep to the diet with no junk foods or sweets. Only takeaways have been a couple of subway sandwiches and salads. However a little tip for anyone travelling on a plane DONT eat a big salad with lots of lettuce before you get on the plane as it tends to generate a lot of wind! very painful stomach pains if you have to sit down for more than 4 hours ! This happening to me on plane to thailand, LESSON LEARNED!

Green Dragon

Dust storms

This why Im not getting any outdoor cycling done in Kuwait for cycle ride in ireland

A cycle training idea for ireland

It was suggested to me today by a a couple of 'friends' here that they would be willing to help me in my cycle training for the sometimes inclement Irish weather. AT the moment in Kuwait we are in the middle of a huge dust storm that has been going for the last 3 days- although I have been away for a couple of days in Thailand on a work training course. This means not possible to cycle outside- anyhow they suggest I get on the cycle stand why they throw buckets of ice cold water at me !!!

While I was on leadership course for duke of edinburgh award in thailand I had donation towards the cycle ride from chappie called Doug who is based in Doha college- qatar.Thanks Doug and I have added your donation to the Great ormond street fund, today. Hopefully one or more of the other people I met in thailand will find it in their heats to donate online.

It was interested to see some of the findings from Great Ormonds streets research department - on cot death and a link with bacterial infection - check out this site for a story by guardian newpaper on it at http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/may/30/health.children?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

While in Bangkok I tried to do at least some training and went out one morning for a run with Doug- however bangkok is a very humid place at this time and my body had the shock of its life ! it was hard to get the metabolism back down to normal and took at least 1 hour after the run for body to stop sweating and cool down - even after one of two cold showers !

I have had a nice reply from flybe about transporting the bike on the plane.

Bicycles

We accept the carriage of bicycles on a standby basis only.

Carriage will thus only take place if there is sufficient space available in the hold.

A carriage charge of GBP20.00/EUR30.00/CHF47.00 is also levied for each single flight.

Please note that your bicycle must be prepared as follows:

Handlebars must be turned and locked in line with the frame.

Pedals must be removed or turned inwards.

The front wheel must be removed and securely attached to the frame.

The tyres must be fully deflated.

The bicycle should then be bagged or boxed if possible.

I do hope this answers your questions and good luck with the ride.

I was happy to get a reply and it was more than I expected.

Money raised so far £750 for Great Ormond Street and 200 euros for temple street - however it could be more as there is no quick (electronic) feedback mechanism for temple street so I dont know if the people have donated online more than this ...they say on their website that they will send a letter -which will of course will be sent to the uk address- I dont think they planned on having someone 3000 miles away trying to raise money for their hospital !

Rosemary at work has given me two email addresses of people - who used to work in KUWAIT -who may be able to put me up for a day - during my charity cycle ride -so tomorrow I will try to send them an introductory email.

Blogging on the move- It looks like I may be able to do this on the move in ireland - so I will have to try and find out from either Ciara or Rosemary if there is a pay as you go service that could offer this in ireland - or else I may have to try to do updates to this blog at internet cafes along the route. . .

Route planning - I have a basic idea of the route but reluctant to fix all the dates in stone at this point until I have had a bit more time to assess the terain I might be facing and try to increase my fitness levels - it looks like a few hills on the way!