Marti-thon update

Well, first off it's been a busy old time since i finished the York - Derby bike ride!!! In the end the Sunday was a a fine day although i spent quite a bit of it riding alone in order to make the most using tarmac routes. After lunch in Edwinstowe the last section was like riding home and as i passed through Kimberley, couldn't resist a surprise visit to our friends Sal and Keef. On arrival at Pride park in Derby in the rain, i was overwhelmed to see Amy and Geoff from the Derby jugglers who had come out to welcome me back. It was then hasty goodbyes to Amie and Alice from the Lymphoma Association and a couple of my fellow riders before racing off to catch my train home to Prestatyn.

In the meantime things have been going well with training for my other events. A few weeks ago whilst camping i tried out my first open water swim which was a good, if somewhat humbling experience! The first few attempts i couldn't get into a rhythm at all as i struggled to get used to peering in the gloom of a lake rather than the smooth tiles of a pool. The Carneddau Tri club do open water swimming sessions every Friday night at Llyn Geirionydd so i may have to spend bit of time over there with them prior to the Bala Tri. All in all the swimming though is finally coming together and i'm feeling steadily more confident about the mile swim in September.

Last week Manu, Mark, Mike and Myself (alliteration!?) all climbed up Snowdon via the Pyg track and reccied the route down Crib Goch where we were met with strange looks from other climbers as it's far more common to climb UP Crib Goch. The weather was amazing and is the first time i've been able to see anything other than cloud from Snowdon's summit. Now, we are putting finishing touches to plans for the 15 peaks in two weeks time.

Also in the news, my great friend Alwyn has completed his 'Golfy Marti-thon' by playing 3 rounds of golf in 24 hours in 3 countries. I joined him and his pals Alywn and Wod at the first tee in Denbigh golf club at 5 am on Friday June 18th for a beautiful start to the day. They then went on to complete a round in Wigan where the club had not only provided them with a free round of golf, but had also asked all the other club players to let them through if they caught up, which they did as well as applauding!! Their final round was in Dumfries where they finished up at about 9pm having played 54 holes and walked roughly 20 miles!! I'm sure the pint at the 55th hole tasted sweeeeeet. They have done an amazing fund raising effort and raised well over £1000 to add to the Marti-thon pot - thanks guys Diolch yn fawr iawn.

Finally, massive thanks to Sal's step Grandmother, Laurie, who is a lovely person as well as being an internationally renowned author. Following a lovely blog post about me and Marti-thon *blush*, several of her fans have donated to Marti-thon so huge thanks. You can read Laurie R Kings blog here; (and if you haven't read any of her books i can highly recommend them).

Lymphoma Bike ride - Part ONE

So, i'm frantically writing this in the lobby of the Holiday Inn in Rotherham before my 15 minutes t'internet session runs out!!!

Having arrived in York last night following a a reasonable train journey via Manchester i met with some of the representatives from Lymphoma Association and some of the other riders and was immediately made to feel welcome - especially as there were empty beer glasses littering the tables!

Dinner was served at 7pm following a briefing from the Alice and Amie from the Lymphoma Association - reminding us of relevant pit stops and issuing our super groovy race t-shirts (not a dayglo number unfortunately). Duncan Preston joined us and happily chatted to anyone about Dinner Ladies and of course what Julie and Victoria are REALLY like. A couple more cheeky stella's with Tel (one of my new chums) and it was time to head to bed.

As i settled in my with eager thoughts of the next day I slipped into a beautiful slumber . . . . and then . . . . WEEEEOOOOOWEEEEOOOOOWEOOOOOO - FIRE ALARM!!!!!!

So we all dutifully trooped outside as FOUR fire engines turned up to tell us there was nothing wrong.

Breakfast was served efficiently and the Duncan (first name terms) wished us on our way and then went off to do lovey things while we started out on our 57 (read 70) mile trip.

Now, it's clear that Sustrans are an amazing organisation but also that the significant funding they were given in the last 90's has not gone as far as updating any of their maps. So we've basically bimbled out way to the Holiday Inn in Rotherham by way of fields and motorways and as i write this waiting for the delights of dinner and an England match there are still 14 people MIA . . . sure they'll be fine ;o)

Better go as only have 3 minutes left!!!!

Love to everyone - will write more when i return home. Love you all thanks for your support.

Martin xxxxxxxx

Warming up for the Lymphoma Annual Bike Ride!!!

So . . . . challenge number 5 is rapidly approaching and the weather forecast is starting to look like it might be half decent on Saturday and Sunday.

When I signed up for Lymphoma Association Annual Bike the original intention was that the ride would go Coast to Coast, in the end the Lymphoma Association have had to change the route from the last few years to go from York to Derby - two of the UK's most haunted cities. Along with other supporters i will be riding approximately 126 miles over the two days, stopping over for the night in Rotherham. The route follows much of the Sustrans routes No's 6 & 62 so will be mostly off main roads and will take in some lovely countryside through the Earth Centre, Sherwood Forest, Newstead Abbey and Clumber Park. In many ways this will be a nice trip down memory lane for me as we pass through many of our favourite spots to walk and cycle when we lived in Notts. The finish line is at Pride Park, a spitting distance from my old offices in Derby so i think will very much fit into the 'Life Affirming' category. (I wasn't particularly happy in that job) ;o)

I'm really looking forward to this challenge for a number of reasons. It's not strictly a race so we can enjoy the scenery and i'm really looking forward to sharing stories with the other riders as, to date, i've not met many other people who's lives have been affected by Lymphoma. Also, somebody else is taking all the strain in terms of planning this event so all i have to do is find my way to the hotel - er ... taxi!

I'll post more next week giving a full account of my experience but in the meantime please wish me good weather and no punctures!