Life punctures my bike challenge

I am extremely sad to say I won’t be taking part in the C2C Challenge next month.

The plan was to take on the 140-mile, two day ride along one of the most challenging routes in the UK.

The deal was, I do the ride and you donate 10 minutes of your time to help me raise awareness about two very important issues – ME/CFS and the role of carers in the UK.

There is a certain irony that both these issues are behind my decision to abandon the challenge.

The simple truth is I have been finding it increasingly difficult to perform my juggling act of being Rachel’s carer, as well as her husband and friend, home-maker, gardener, shopper, cleaner, bread winner and C2C challenger.

Something was about to drop with an almighty clang and I know exactly where my priorities lie – they begin and end with Rachel.

So, as certain people are fond of saying, it really was a no-brainer.

The one to drop is the bike ride.

Rachel and I are still adjusting to the fact that I now go out to work every day, rather than set up office on our sofa. Why I thought it would be easy to make it any easy transition in just six months when it has taken us the best part of three years to get used to me being her carer is anyone’s guess?

Although I have seen an improvement in Rachel’s health compared to say 18 months ago, she still needs to rely heavily on me. And in the last few months the very slow progress she had been making has stalled, possibly because I have not been at home as often as before.

I still need to go out to work. But I need to devote more time to being Rachel’s carer…no, that’s not strictly true. I need to devote more time to being Rachel’s husband, friend and lover.

As much as I’ve enjoyed every turn of the wheels on my training rides, some things are and always will be far more important.

There are some alternatives I’m currently taking a look at, which could mean my attempt to encourage people to donate time rather than money has not been completely wasted.

There are a few one-day rides later in the year, which wouldn’t require the level of intense training the C2C Challenge does. They range from 50 to 100 miles and I’ll be talking it through with Rachel over the weekend to decide whether it is realistic for me to consider any of these one-day rides.

I don’t want the generosity of anyone who has pledged time to be wasted.

The fact is there is still a pressing need to raise awareness of these two issues that are so close to my own heart and so I’m determined to do something to help in any way I can.

So, watch this space.

I’m reminded of something Rachel’s GP said shortly after she was diagnosed with ME/CFS. Rachel was experiencing various health problems and the GP could offer little in the way of treatment, but plenty of sympathy.

“Its shit, isn’t it?” was how the GP summed up Rachel’s illness.

Yeah, it is.

And so is this.

So to everyone who has pledged support, sent messages of encouragement and generally put a smile on my face with their kind words, I can only offer a sincere apology for not completing the original challenge.

And I only have two heartfelt words left to say – thank you.

Two wheels or not two wheels…?

Another week, another national event to support.

This time it is National Bike Week, a celebration of all things two wheels.

It is a week to inspire those who have forgotten what fun they used to have on a bike.

And having spent a lot of time sitting on my bike over the last few months I can honestly say the fun factor is still high.

My training programme for the C2C Challenge continues apace and I’m currently tackling a few local routes with some tricky little climbs – all good preparation for my attempt to ride from Whitehaven to Sunderland (140 miles) in two days.

I’m embarking on the challenge to encourage people to donate 10 minutes of their time, rather than £10 of their money and so help me raise awareness of two issues that have become very important to me – ME/CFS; and the role of carers in the UK.

The key to all this is fun. I enjoy being out on my bike and I’m enjoying the training.

I’m excited about taking on the C2C Challenge and by the generosity of all those who have so far pledged their support.

Thanks to the efforts of so many organisations, such as the CTC and Sustrans, as well as countless smaller regional clubs and associations, Bike Week is now a massive national event.

More importantly, there are now an ever-increasing number of traffic-free cycle routes and paths around the country and lots of events that take place throughout the year to encourage you to get back on the bike.

Have a look at the National Bike Week site to see if there are any events local to you.

But, remember, a bike is for life not just a week.

How much do you care this week?

Facts and figures, don’t you just love ‘em?

In this fast-paced world when the soundbite is everything, here’s a few little numbers to consider:

• There are almost six million carers in the UK.
• One in eight adults in the UK is a carer.
• 3. 3 million people juggle work with caring responsibilities for a disabled, ill or frail relative or friend.
• The main carers’ benefit – Carers Allowance – is £53.10 for a minimum of 35 hours, equivalent to £1.52 per hour.
• People providing high levels of care are twice as likely to be permanently sick or disabled.
• Every year 2 million people take on new caring responsibilities.
• 1.25 million people care for more than 50 hours a week.
• 58% of carers are women, 42% are men.
• 1.5 million carers are over the age of 60.
• Carers’ unpaid contribution is £87 billion each year, yet the decision to care can mean a commitment to future poverty. Many give up an income, future employment prospects and pension rights to become a carer.

I still struggle to class myself as Rachel’s carer. But that is what I have been for the last three years.

It has led to huge changes in our life together and yet some thing never change – I still can’t wait to walk in the front door and see her smile.

The fact I’ve been able to juggle a career and my caring role throughout this period makes me very lucky – something I am acutely aware of and a “luxury” I cherish.

Others are not so fortunate.

It is National Carers Week and by happy coincidence it is just over a month before I embark on the C2C Challenge – it is almost like I planned this or something!

As some of you already know – because you have so generously made a pledge of support – I am looking to raise awareness of the role of carers in the UK and of ME/CFS, the illness that forced Rachel to give up work and that has such a significant impact on her life and our life.

I am hoping people will donate 10 minutes of their time, rather than £10and learn more about caring and ME/CFS.

I’m a firm believer that there is strength in numbers and the more people who are aware of issues and willing to lend their voice and their support to a campaign, the more likely it is to be heard.

Closer to the challenge itself – July 11 and 12 – I am planning to outline some ways in which people can use their donated time.

But, for now, clicking on the link above for National Carers Week is an easy, quick win.

Have a read of some of the facts and figures and other sections if you have the time.

I better get back to the day job.

Life is like a box of chocolates for The Apprentice

Oh, is that it?

It is all done and dusted on The Apprentice for another year.

Sir Alan has got his new £100,000-a-year dynamo and we can all sleep a little easier in our beds.

But where were the fireworks? What happened to the entertainment?

I found last night’s finale a bit like the whole series – underwhelming.

The big bearded boss man might have told Adrian Childs that he thought the 2009 “mob” was the best collection of candidates so far, but that clearly wasn’t true. The standard has dropped consistently since the show started five years ago.

It is fair to say that in comparison to some that have gone before, this year’s finalists Kate and Yasmina were shining stars amidst a collection of black holes. They both made a good job of launching a new range of chocolates and either would have been a worthy winner.

It was Yasmina who triumphed for offering more of a business spark than the very presentable Kate.

And yet this series, like Yasmina’s winning chocolates, was a bit unpalatable. She wanted her product to shock, she wanted lightening bolts going off.

Those who tasted the chocolates seemed to want to grimace, rather than look shocked. Whilst the low rumble the product provided was more likely grumbling stomachs than a roll of thunder before the lightening strike.

But, like the second task of the series, Yasmina triumphed despite creating a product that her customer’s simply didn’t like.

Kate’s box of chocolates was pretty much created in her own image and so gives a good indication of why she didn’t win.

The product was cute, it seemed like a good idea but the final box of chocolates didn’t quite work.

There was plenty of style, but it seemed too expensive for what it actually was and didn’t actually offer anything substantial enough.

She was a worthy finalist given the standard of competition.

But Yasmina was probably the worthy winner.

Last night felt a bit of a damp squib. A bit like the whole series, there was nothing to get truly excited about.

There were a few moments to entertain. Ben always seems good value for injecting a fair dose of nonsense into proceedings.

The man who declared making money was better than sex seems to bring everything down to a fairly base level. He turned an idea of a box of chocolates for a couple to share into a sex act.

Maybe the reason he thinks making money is better than a bit of bedroom fun is not that he’s doing the deed badly, but that he simply hasn’t done it enough (or at all)?

There were some good ideas last night and both finalists led their teams effectively. We had no evidence of bitching, people simply got on with the roles they had been assigned.

As a result, the pitches went well and the invited audience was impressed. It didn’t necessarily help provide the sort of dubious entertainment we have come to expect from The Apprentice though.

Sir Alan got the right winner, but did we get the right programme?

The formula will change next time simply because the blessed Margaret is standing down. Hopefully the programme makers will opt for a wider make-over for a show that has lost its fizz.

But, for now, congratulations to Yasmina Siadatan.

At the start of the series, Yasmina told the Apprentice website: “Business is about a simple formula. Make more than you spend. That’s what I do, I keep business simple and it works. I’m good at it.”

Finally, someone talks common sense on The Apprentice.

Finally, we may have a worthy winner.

Rain + Bike = fun?

With a little over a month to go before I take on the C2C Challenge, training is still going well.

With both National Carers Week and National Bike Week now almost upon us, I’ll be adding a few more regular updates here and on the Facebook group page about how those who have generously offered their support can donate some of their time.

I’m managing to fit rides around work, household chores, being a guest at a wedding and spending time out and about with Rachel.

I’ve taken a number of days off recently, sometimes combining a longer training ride in the morning with taking Rachel out, but most of the days off I’ve reserved for days out with my wife. The problem with having a day job, rather than working mainly from home, is the time away from Rachel.

It is tough. As is juggling everything from work, looking after the house, caring for Rachel and getting the training rides under my belt.

But I’m managing…just about.

Days like today don’t really help though. I still ventured out at 6.30am and still managed the route I had planned, tackling a few tough climbs along the way. I made sure the grimace looked like a smile to anyone who saw me.

I had a sense of achievement when I returned home, although it was nothing compared to the authentic drowned rat impression.

Rain is not my friend. So what that makes the type of heavy rain we’ve had this morning is anyone’s guess.

But if the weather is like this on July 11 and 12 there is no pulling out, so I may as well get used to the clinging wet uncomfortable sensation I experienced within a few hundred yards of leaving the house - yes, the rain was that heavy!

I’m not alone in ploughing on regardless. I know there are others who are showing plenty of determination and dedication at the moment - some of their challenges dwarf my own 140-miles in 2 days.

The likes of James Gillies are pounding out twice as many miles in a day than I’m hoping to do in two days – and that is just their training ride.

Then there is the likes of Iain, who has pledged an hour of his time in support of me whilst training to complete the Land’s End to John O’Groats route in just six days.

His Race Against Time challenge, with eight other riders, is in support of of the Bishop Simeon Trust who do vital work in South Africa dealing with the social and economic effects of the AIDS/HIV pandemic. A great cause and an amazing challenge worthy of support.

Iain’s wife Bryony has also been hugely encouraging and I remain overwhelmed by the support of them both and everyone else who has pledged to help me.

It is the main reason I set out in the pouring rain this morning.

Thank you all!

Fright night on The Apprentice

Every series we go through the same torture on The Apprentice.

We have to endure weeks of mind-numbing idiocy from the wannabes and then in the final two weeks we finally get something close to reality.

The interview week is arguably the best of the series. Although still an artificial scenario, at least we start to see the candidates put under real pressure.

The hot air is dispersed with a withering stare, the meaningless boasts are shot down with a pithy one-liner, egos are well and truly busted by people who have seen it all before and sacked people with more talent in their little fingers than all the Apprentice mob combined.

The interview panel are a suitably fearsome and unlikable bunch.

By this stage we are baying for blood and the angry mob of interviewers are more than happy to oblige. They look like business people, but they’re really monsters.

Over the years the interview panel have managed to weed out a few losers, even if they haven’t picked out a winner.

This year is no exception.

We had some classic Apprentice moments once again. The five remaining candidates were full of their usual bluster when they set out to attend the interviews.

But it didn’t last long. It rarely does.

First to crumble was the village idiot, the joker in the pack, the man capable of putting the whole world’s feet in his mouth when he speaks. Ladies and gentleman, I give you James.

The man who did a little wee in his pants in the boardroom, who was as happy as a monkey with a new tool and thought one of the tasks was a load of cod shit, was utterly useless in the interviews…and in the boardroom when asked to justify his place in the final.

Next to feel the wrath of the interviewers and be sent packing by Sir Alan was Lorraine, a lady capable of antagonising someone with a shrug of her shoulders. She showed plenty of sparks during the various tasks, but had never provided much substance.

During her interviews she talked a lot, but said little of note.

The same couldn’t be said for Debra. You knew exactly what she was saying right throughout the series – and most of it was really obnoxious.

Debra claims to work in a tough environment and that is reflected in her attitude. But her attitude reflects her immaturity and her unwillingness to learn, a fact reinforced by the references provided by close colleagues who work in the same environment and maintain she is a poisonous individual.

She clearly thinks she knows best and despite assuring people she was willing to take criticism on board, it is unlikely she will change too quickly. A statuesque six-footer, she stretches seven-foot tall with her mouth open.

But, do we really get an accurate portrait of any candidate from this series? It is clearly carefully edited to provide us with entertainment, not necessarily reflects someone’s personality or character traits.

At the same time, the programme-makers have to start somewhere and the candidates provide plenty of material.

Which brings us to the final two.

This year’s Apprentice will be a woman, the only given this time around.

It will be Yasmina vs Kate. A battle between the budding entrepreneur and the vacant smile.

At the start of the series, Yasmina told the Apprentice website: ”Business is about a simple formula. Make more than you spend. That’s what I do, I keep business simple and it works. I’m good at it.”

Her rival said: ”My CV speaks for itself. I’ve always excelled academically and I have really achieved within a corporate environment across sales, marketing and a number of different aspects of business.”

So who would you reward with a £100,000-a-year job?

Britain has got a talent…

Further confirmation – if any were needed – has come in the last week or so about our ability to ignore the important issue and focus on the meaningless.

In one breath we are told the public is getting bored with the on-going revelations about how our MPs have been joyously playing the expenses game in recent years.

In the next, one of the lead items on BBC news is a talent show runner-up buckling under the pressure of being in a very harsh media spotlight.

Are we really bored with how our elected leaders have been coining it in whilst telling the rest of us of the need for prudence?

Are we happy that the lives of everyday people are dissected to the minutest of detail for our entertainment, or that a 10 year-old girl is put under huge pressure to perform a song live on TV and to keep trying until she gets it right?

We have a talent alright – for celebrating the superficial.

In recent years politicians from all parties have talked in increasingly strident ways of the need to crack down on benefit fraud. But they have used a big blunt stick and in the process have swiped merrily away at countless genuine and deserving benefit claimants.

In the meantime, the career criminals gleefully milking the system for tens of millions of pounds carry on regardless.

Yet politicians speak triumphantly about tackling the scroungers playing the system.

The revelations of the last fortnight prompted by The Daily Telegraph prove our politicians are most adept at insisting that we should “do as they say, not as they do”.

When it comes to playing the system and fleecing tax payers of money, our MPs are ahead of the game.

And when it comes to expressing our anger but failing to follow that through into decisive action, the rest of us are past masters at bending over and taking whatever comes our way.

So a talent show runner-up’s personal problems becomes the main talking point, not the Cabinet ministers insisting they’ve done nothing wrong but still agreeing to pay back tens of thousands of pounds in expenses.

It is time we had a proper opportunity to have our say and a chance to vote out those unworthy of representing us.

Shop soiled on The Apprentice

We enjoyed the return of one of Sir Alan’s favourite tasks on The Apprentice last night.

He got the two teams of remaining wannabes to choose products and try and sell them on a TV shopping channel.

Watching him give a running commentary as the teams attempted to flog a suitably bizarre collection of goods, I can just imagine him sat at home in his PJs with a nice steaming cup of tea and a few slices of toast picking up bargains.

He doesn’t strike me as a hobby bloke. So you won’t find him on the golf course or pottering in the garden, but you will find him wheeling and dealing.

He no doubts picks up bargains on such shopping channels then flogs them at a small profit down the local car boot, probably.

Yet he wasn’t overly impressed with the efforts of either team – no surprise there. He obviously couldn’t find much to satisfy his need for retail therapy.

Did we learn anything new from this week’s efforts?

Not really. Everyone pretty much carried on in the same way they have since the series started.

Howard talked the talk and looked organised, but didn’t actually deliver anything worth investing in.

Kate looked smiley and sassy and…well, she looked smiley and sassy.

Lorraine was antagonistic, talked sense when she was able to stop herself from babbling on inanely and fought her corner.

Yasmina was combative, managed to sell well enough and stood her ground when she needed to.

James engaged his mouth before his brain, but proved the most likable of the lot. He has a knack of saying inappropriate things, or plain nonsense. But he manages to come out smiling and often shows a brief spark of something.

Although I’m still not sure what that “something” he might possess actually is.

Debra was ghastly.

One team outsold the other by a couple of hundred quid, but neither reached anywhere near the levels this particular shopping channel would normally expect.

The choice of products lurched from the ridiculous to the almost inspired. Alas the sales techniques weren’t up to much, even with those products that would normally fly off the shelves.

Each candidate managed to make themselves look a bit of a tit on screen and lost the plot when manning the control desk. But they muddled along.

We didn’t get some of the pure comedy moments of this type of task during previous series. It was all quite uninspiring, which is exactly what we have come to expect from this year’s selection of Apprentice hopefuls.

Yasmina impressed this week, simply for standing up to the horrible Debra. She also managed to get the statuesque harpy to work for the team and for that alone she deserved to lead the winning team.

I’m still to be convinced that Yasmina offers more than toughness and arrogance, but she’s certainly developed into the strongest candidate so far.

At the start of the programme, Sir Alan blathers on about pressure. And this is probably why he likes this task so much – apart from it being on his favourite TV channel.

He is asking the teams to display some of the basic skills and experience he wants, but taking them out of their comfort zones and putting them on live TV. They might think they can present, but doing it in front of a camera is very different.

So after another week of mediocrity, who did we actually bid farewell to after the shopping channel ordeal?

It was, thankfully, Howard – although any one out of Kate, Lorraine, Debra and James would have been on shaky ground this week.

Howard has taken over from Noorul as the invisible man on this series. He’s been easy enough to spot on occasion and always manages to open his mouth and sound as if he knows what he’s talking about.

But he invariably goes missing at crucial points throughout each task. He slinks into the shadows, or plots and schemes to put himself in a more favourable position – whispering to Kate about stitching Lorraine up last week; or pleading with Debra to let him have a sale a few weeks ago to ensure he didn’t have an empty order book.

He lasted this long thanks to this strategy, but as I warned last week he needed to step up this time as Sir Alan had marked his card. He didn’t manage that.

On The Apprentice website, Howard tells us: “I am a credible businessman who wants to go far. I’m incredibly ambitious. If I don’t go far down this route I shall go far down another route.”

But will we see him go down whatever route he finally takes?

No room for cry babies on The Apprentice

It is enough to make you bawl like a baby.

The Apprentice is hurtling towards yet another finale and this year’s weekly theme looks like being: the less crap team will win.

So does that translate to a conclusion that the less crap candidate will eventually land the £100,000-a-year top prize working for Sir Alan?

If these people do genuinely represent the brightest of British business talent then we are in big trouble. But they genuinely and clearly don’t represent the next generation of business leaders - if they did, they would be too busy being successful to go on a reality TV show.

Last night’s task – identifying baby products to sell at a major trade show – provided yet another display of mediocrity on a staggering scale.

It was enough to make you scream out loud.

There is a fundamental flaw in The Apprentice format. The programme makers want the candidates to function as a team, yet they are competing hard for the top prize.

If they were actually helping to run a business, differences and rivalries could be put aside and a project team would attempt to function to achieve the best possible results. But this is rarely (if ever) evident on The Apprentice.

Instead you get two candidates (Howard and Kate) whispering: “We have our excuse (if we fail),” after finishing a call from their less than convincing project leader Lorraine, who made some pretty appaling basic mistakes. And yet her team still won the task, so Howard and Kate can save their plotting for another day.

Or you get the poisonous viper Debra insisting on going for the most ridiculous, over-priced product to try and sell in one day and rely on basic selling techniques which have largely been absent throughout this series.

Debra has done a great job so far of upsetting everyone – all the candidates, the blessed Nick and Margaret, the viewing public and Sir Alan himself.

How long would that be tolerated in the workplace? Nowhere near as long as it is on reality TV, where the entertainment value is far more important than the level of antagonism.

Debra survived yet again, despite showing a complete lack of business sense and bullying to get her way.

Sir Alan has form in this regard, he has allowed others like Debra to prolong their stay on The Apprentice. Or, more likely, the programme makers have asked him to grant a stay of execution as they keep a watchful eye on ratings.

It has got me writing about her and the show yet again, so it is obviously a tactic that works.

A tactic that doesn’t work, however, is invisibility. Noorul got found out fairly early on, but now it is Howard who is treading a dangerous path.

He does stand up from time to time to get noticed, but he doesn’t actually contribute anything remotely worthwhile or impressive when he does become visible. His principal contribution so far appears to be supplying questionable shirt and tie combinations.

Howard is clearly conniving to win this competition by any means necessary (his whispered plotting with Kate is further proof) and at least he is doing it in a far more subtle way than others.

But he will get found out unless he starts to show some sort of creative business spark. Won’t he?

Looking back at previous winners, you could safely argue that Howard is possibly in pole position at the moment.

I realise I haven’t written much about last night’s task itself, but that is because apart from some more glaring mistakes and prime comedy moments – losing project manager James trusting Debra’s judgement and his triumphant counterpart wrestling with an easy fold down pushchair – there was nothing of worth to say in this latest business failure.

The team that made less crucial mistakes and which were marginally less useless won. Great business, Sir Alan.

At least the bearded multi-millionaire made one good decision this week - he fired Ben Clarke.

Baby Ben’s immaturity provided yet another boost for the ratings, but would have seen him shown the door far more swiftly in the “real world”.

He showed some typically juvenile get up and go – all action, yet little in the way of substance – and told us endlessly about his army officer credentials. But this was a wannabe boy soldier who would think that sophistication was represented by the joke “Where does a major keep his armies?” *

It was way past Ben’s bedtime.

On The Apprentice website, Ben showed his true colours by declaring: “To me making money is better than sex.”

But he proved he doesn’t know how to make money, so by that token he is clueless about the other too.

What a cock.

(* Answer: Up his sleevies)

Take care on your bike

There are two important events happening in June.

Actually, I’m sure there are lots of important events happening in June, but two of the most significant for me are being launched next month.

The first is National Carers Week – June 8-14

The second is National Bike Week – June 13-21.

They overlap, which is great for me and my attempt to persuade people to donate ten minutes of their time, rather than £10 when I take on the C2C Challenge.

I have a foot in both camps this year. I’ll be attempting to survive a two-day, 140-mile ride from one side of the UK to another as part of my attempt to raise awareness of their hidden role of hundreds of thousands of carers in the UK.

The central part of the challenge is raising awareness about ME/CFS, the illness that Rachel was diagnosed with shortly after we got married three years ago.

I would urge all who have offered their support so far to donate a bit of time to both Bike Week, but especially Carers Week.

Did you know, for example, that around 1.25 million people are providing over 50 hours of unpaid care per week for a family member or friend?

I’ll provide more links and suggestions closer to June 8.

In the meantime, my training continues to go very well.

Despite too many early starts, a very busy working week and some dispiriting weather, last weekend I was pleasantly surprised at how fresh my legs felt as I ventured out on Saturday and Sunday for my training rides.

(pic by RachelCreative)

With this weekend being a bank holiday, I’ve also booked Friday and Tuesday off work to make it an extra long weekend and provide a few more training ride opportunities.

I’m planning on returning to Derbyshire on Friday morning for another ride along the Tissington Trail, maybe extended along the High Peak Trail for a few miles too.

Saturday, Sunday and Monday will all provide some great early morning, relatively traffic-free rides and I can add a fourth morning on Tuesday.

It remains fun, which is the most important thing.

Thanks again for your time!