10 weeks tommorow (71 days)

Counting down.since coming up with the idea 2yrs ago, time has flown bye.Now I'm getting daily reminders that its fast approaching,

I do keep tweaking my plans, thanks Pete for the advise of try and keep my route as flat as possible with being on a recumbent,

Although going from one end to the other there is bound to be a few inclines and despite what people think north to south ain't down hill,in fact in relation to the earth axis its pulling up hill away as you head toward the equator(rambling)

Dave(tosh) came round yesterday to remind me he would sponsor my overnight camping fees,so thank you to his company MAN METALS,SHEFFIELD

David dean has agreed to drive my van to John o'groats to drop me off then plan is for him to meet me at my first camp site bettyhill on Saturday night before him and Ann his wife returns to Sheffield,i had planned on getting dad to drop me off but sue my sister says it would be too much for him.

just for fun

more or less out on bike every night now and sat/sun this week,
legs getting stronger and stronger so just for the hell of it i went over Jenkin road from Brightside end,
all the way without stopping 315 ft of climbing 1 in 4 at the steepest part and about half mile long,and still had room for more,
stopped at the top to look at the new monuments to commemorate the Sheffield blitz and days gone bye, later end of the 19th century poems nice sculptures but bad positioning, as you are just over the brow of the hill when stopping to read them.and no mention of the iron age fort that once stood on top of Wincobank hill well disappointed it does not get a mention its as though Sheffield ignores this once prominent hill fort.

NIGHT RIDER OR UFO

fishing meeting last night so,of up to the acorn at burncross,nice leisurly ride up whiteley lane.when you think your the only daft bugger on an unlit country lane in the pitch black its comforting to see a bright light coming up behind as slow as you, ufo was my first thought,cant be some one on a bike at this time of night, the light he ommitted was imense made my led light look like a candle in a jar.as he overtook me,I stepped up my pace it was so nice to have the road iluminated ,want one will have to talk to my financier julie,top of the hill i was cast back into darkness as my leading light turned left and i turn right.

at the acorn a welcome drink and a sponser donation from judith thankyou very much.now that it getting down to weeks rather than months away its amazing how many people are actualy taking intrest or is it just my excitment showing through when they talk to me about it

cough cough cough

well that's another course of antibiotics done,i seem to be fine till i start riding the its cough cough cough.it don't seam so bother me its just annoying for any one round me,if i keep of the milk it does help keep the mucus production down.

new shoes are bedding in,wore them yesterday and they seam to be loosening up,mind i did smother them in dubbin sat night,might try dubbin on the saddle tried everything else and in the absence of a volunteer to break the saddle in desperate measures required

panniers back from being altered will have to try pack all luggage in trying to prevent taking trailer if poss save on weight,going to purchase a bar bag for the right hand side plus extra bottle carriers for tool buddy etc.

leather ouch

new saddle ouch

new shoes ouch

after Sundays ride went out on recumbent last night,the seat was lovely to sit on so just to prove i am a masochist i decide to put new shoes on(very nice shoes bought by julie and gemma for Christmas)let hope they break in quicker than the saddle

twas a bit drafty

Saturday saw me running round cycle shops looking for brooks prof hide,using road bike sunday and new saddle bought last year ain't no sofa,desperate measures,(it didn't help)

Sunday morning up with the lark and of to the meet at millhouses cafe,cheated thought took van as far as millhouses,after drinks of tea we all mounted and agreed to regroup at the top ,owler bar roundabout.we all set of at a nice steady pace climbing through totley but as we moved into open country,boy did it get hard legs were burning and the wind was in our face,nearing the top it got stronger and stronger,resulting in a couple of stumbles as the wind blew two riders from there saddles,lucky to get their feet down quick,at the top 4 of our party decided it was to dangerous to carry on and return down the hill,four of us battled on having to pedal down hill to baslow is wrong,cafe on the green was a welcome cuppa and a decision to re route as we had lost our leader(one of the returnees)it was a joint decision to head for grindleford and on to hathersage ,were we had another cafe stop.after refueling i decided to head up the surprise towards my van,the others carried on round to return vie moscar,
surprise certainly expecting a tail wind home it didn't materialise instead i found myself battling wind yet again until fox house were by i was blown all the way back to millhouses

but even though twas a bit drafty i still enjoyed my day out.quite proud of the fact i battle on rather than surrendering to the wind

pale rider

does this world revolve around me?

i remember headmaster edwards from hinde house in a morning assembly saying"you can only prove that you are real and every body else could be a figment of your imagination"

you think about something it happens!

i read somewhere that pale rider was fast becoming someones favorate drink(never heard of it before),then today at work we got into a conversation about real ale pubs and low and behold we are talking about pale rider!
is it in my head or is it real?

at the begining of 2011 didnt feel like celabrating the new year,so am i just having a crap year because thats what im imagining,
so if i think of happy joyful things will it get better.do i control my destoney as edwards hinted.

i dream of winning the lotto, but only on weeks when i dont buy a ticket. is this were im going wrong,should i be planning my dreams

drival am i getting good at it,who knows, who cares,i think the only people who read my drival are the people who know and care for me anyway,or should i have carers and a sleeveless jacket,dreams do keep coming back lately,perhaps i should try not dreaming

so thanks for looking one day it may actualy get intresting.

bye for now all my imaginary followers

a ctc welcome for a slow climber

after best part of 25 years yesterday i thought it time to try a proper club ride,over the past 18 months i have rode with other cyclists but not with a club,so i used to ride with the sheffield da ctc,so found out they were meeting meadow head

so 9.30 on time to be welcomed with the gift of thier latest magazine,thankyou.

a familiar face in pat wilson,and the rest of the crowd welcomed me with coments that they had never had a recumbent trike ride with them before and over the day i found out why,recumbent and road bikes dont mix with hills ,recumbent was far too slow up hill,but credit due they waited (regulaly)for me to catch up at the top.

ctc still means cafe to cafe glad to see, with 3 cafe stops things havent altered that much,realy enjoyed myself,but as the afternoon wore on i decided to let the bunch go ahead and i opted for the main roads home.(thanks for the concerns over my welfare but i honestley felt fine just needed to let you lads and lasses get on rather than waiting for me on every hill)

up the a61 may sound a bad choice of roads but on the trike i do find traffic does not bother me even climbing dronfield by pass i was not alarmed,arriving at the top to catch a glance of two of the riders on a side track that i had left earlier so im glad i let them get off without me.i arrived back at meadow head just before dark,fine result.although riding in the dark doesnt bother me as most of my cycling is done after work in the dark.

once again if anyone from the sheffield ctc is reading thanks for the day out.

how low can you go

well thanks to lombard finance i had to make my self bancrupt on tuesday 25/1/11.

thought i would feel better when it was over,but it was like a birthday it comes it goes but you dont realy feel much different.

realy need to get out on bike to cheer me up or atleast get away from it all for a day.

restarting my diet this week may have been a mistake looks like its going to cost me tonight when i get on the scales.at least ian will be pleased

roll on may

25 days into 2011 and im wishing it away already.with every day i wake(or should i say get up from where i lay) i seem to get another problem,stressing me out.its 10 past 2 in the morning i cant sleep,i so want to sleep.im just hoping that come dinnertime today the pressure is off.i just want 14may here so i can go into my own little world,20 days of nothing more than wondering which way to go south,east, west but hopfuly not north after arriving at dunnit head(most northerly point on british mainland),roll on may,

feel like a condemed man waiting for my punishment,had my last drink,had my last meal,no sleep for the wicked just time to ponder where i went wrong,can i turn back time sell my soul if it would work i would but it wont,but one day i could be a millionaire,might even get to wear a bat man suit,they had a dream too(but whos my rodney or am i just some elses plonker)

tangents,neshlectavarda just to stop me swearing.is my jogle a way to the past or a route to my future,

people keep asking why,but then admire my intentions with out me answering their question,or does every one get to a point they need a jogle,a piontless excersise with little meaning apart from self indulgent satisfaction(although st lukes will benifit).

are you still here i havnt bored you yet with my meaning less drivel,laid here writting this listerning to vintage pop on tv,nostalgic, julie would say depressing cos im sure they have took the play list from my ipod.so someone out there has a simular taste in music mind it is 3am so perhaps its just for me,is there anybody out there,8 hrs to go and counting,no one on facebook must be all asleep,why are waiting hours longer than busy hours,why even ask i ask myself.

back soon reputation in tatters no doubt

competition dieting back on

ian the brother in law and myself have started dieting again,and just to make it intresting the loser each week pays the difference in pounds,the losser pays in sterling to our respective carities.
working in morning,wide load to ponds street then out on trike,did try using road bike for winter but the trike maybe slower but boy is it much cumfier
got new panniers so may not need to take trailer trying to all tackle on trike next week as a practise

MICHAEL HOPLEY is fundraising for St Luke's Hospice (Sheffield)

MICHAEL HOPLEY is fundraising for St Luke's Hospice (Sheffield)