Eight hours, 100km and a big grin

So, this is how I spent my day on October 3:

It is 9am, there’s 30 seconds to go before the start hooter sounds, I’m three rows from the front and I’ve got 100km (65 miles) and eight hours of pedalling ahead of me.
It is dry, cloudy and the wind is gusting at around 20mph.
Despite all [...]

My wife made me do it

So the last training ride is completed and now I’m literally counting down the hours until my Minutes Not Money bike ride finally gets going.
I’m looking forward to covering the 100km (62-mile) route starting and finishing at the Coate Water Country Park near Swindon.
Someone asked me the other day why I’m doing this.
The answer is [...]

This week I will be mostly juggling and cycling

The run up to this Saturday’s bike ride challenge has generally been a lot smoother than the lead-in to my aborted attempt at the C2C Challenge.
I’m feeling very relaxed about taking on the 100km ride and managing to juggle everything else - even if the weather forecasters are predicting the Indian Summer we have been enjoying [...]

Have t-shirt, will ride

Look at my fab new t-shirt.

It will make its official public debut - on me at least – on October 3 when I ride the 100km I’ve promised to do for the Minutes Not Money idea.
There is less than a fortnight to go now before I take the Just-Bike challenge.
I’m quite excited about it all.
But I figured [...]

The creation of time

A wise old guru probably once said that time is the enemy of…well, something or other.
I’ve certainly felt the full force of time’s deathly grip over the last 18 months.
No, hang on. That’s a bit of an exaggeration.
But it is fair to say that time has not been my friend.
It seemed such a good plan to [...]

Getting a grip

As ever, I’m more than a little humbled at the response of people.
This time it was to my last post concerning a few local difficulties that Rachel and I are experiencing.
Thank you again to everyone who took the time to offer advice, encouragement, a rallying cry, a dinner invite (!) and who reminded me how [...]

To cope, or not to cope…

Hi, my name is Paul and I have a problem.
I’m not very good at sharing.
You know that old expression, a problem shared is a problem halved?
I think its right, but I’m just not very good at putting the theory into practice.
I’ve been struggling with various things for the last 18 months, all of them revolving [...]

1,000 becomes 19,000 very quickly

Admittedly I was a bit slow in blogging about the campaign against proposals to shake up DLA and AA payments.
But, still, what has happened in the first couple of weeks of the campaign is extraordinary.
Organisers had hoped to persuade 1,000 claimants, carers and support workers to back the campaign as part of a 100-day fight [...]

The 100 day fight

Politicians of all persuasions have tended to resort to the blunt stick approach to many issues in recent years, not least the UK’s labyrinthine benefits system.
There is little doubt that a major overhaul is long overdue, but the Government and opposition parties have all veered towards the soft targets rather than focusing their suggestions for [...]

Not willing to be a bloke in a bubble

Here’s a question for a dreary, rain-soaked summer afternoon – what happens when a carer gets swine flu?
Prompted by a tweet from @carersdirect about the need for carers to have a plan of action in place, ready to roll at a moment’s service, I figured I’d share a few thoughts.
Rachel and I have already discussed what [...]