Blogs from Chudleigh, Devon, England, United Kingdom, Europe

I have just received some photos of the school roof project in Malawi which was the beneficiary of you support for my ride earlier this year and a note from Sally Ewings, who with her husband Peter Lee and son Ben visited and assisted with the project this summer. The following is part of her email to me;- " We are home safely from our big adventure and wanted to show you what the group of Exeter builders did in 3 long days at Chalizya School. The whole community got involved with the building work and everyone was delighted with the two new roofs on buildings which had previously been completely open to the weather. We had a great welcome, the chiefs came from the surrounding areas for a ceremony of speeches and thanks to all ... read more

Occasionally my children ignore my injunction not to buy me a Father's Day present. The result is often very a nice surprise. An example was yesterday when James presented me with an appropriately themed cycle shirt to take on the JoGLe. By the way don't panic as it was an early Father's Day present. I think I would have got it anyway irrespective of Father's Day but he only called it that to wind me up. James gave me the present after completing the Shakespeare Marathon in 3hrs. 36min. This was his first marathon and he had done a lot of preparation, including reading and runs in the region of 20 miles. Like having a baby however I don't think that any amount of preparation can give you a clue as to what it will be ... read more

At the insistence of my sponsors I have published a few photos to show the results of my preparations for the JoGLe. I cannot overemphasise the help I have got from them and can recommend them all. Nearly May and the dreaded 13th when I start the ride. I have been running quite a lot as wells as riding. I recently did the 100 mile Dartmoor Classic route which is 100 miles and climbs over 11,000 feet. This is more than twice the amount of climbing I will need to do on any of the days altho' I will have to ride near 100 miles on a couple of days. ... read more