It took it's time, but finally, at the end of September, the sun has come out to play. I chose the best weekend of the year it seems to have a serious training ride.
Lucky me, work sent me to the Isle of Wight for a meeting - so I decided to take my bike, cycle between meetings and stay an extra day. I've done 50 miles in the past 2 and a half days - and with all the hills on the island, I now have buns of steel! Ok, well not quite, I'm no cycling pro - but confidence is as important as anything else, and I'm starting to think that maybe - just maybe - I'll make it across Ethiopia! The 'nappy' padded shorts, bought for me by my brother, are a life saver!
And the weekend doesn't stop there - I have Monday and Tuesday off work, and my friend and fellow cyclist Justina and I are cycling to Hastings and back! 75 miles in 3 days.. with stops off to see friends and attend tea parties on the way :-)
Remember - give my training a boost by sponsoring me at www.justgiving.com/lee_cycles_ethiopia
Bring on the hills..
Saturday 27 September 2008
Wednesday 24 September 2008
Fundraising bonanza - a taste of East Africa!
Well, i'm on a fundraising high. Lots of colleagues and friends turned out last night to my Taste of East Africa evening, hosted by Kitfo House Restaurant in Vauxhall. If you're in the area*, you have to go along and try their Ethiopian menu - it's the best. The friendly lads who run the restaurant will give you a demonstration on how to eat the Ethiopian way - with your hands.Thanks to Kitfo House, I raised £200 towards my total! Thanks to everyone who helped, cooked, and to those who turned up and ate! It was a really special night for me - not only did I raise money for Maternity Worldwide, my friends and colleagues got to come and experience a bit of Ethiopian culture, food and music. Getting excited to be in my fave country again :-)
*Kitfo House restaurant is at 49 South Lambeth Road, Vauxhall, London, SW8 1RH.
On another fundraising high - today I had to eat my words! I have revelled in calling my clever little sister a scrounging student for the past 2 years. But now she's started her final year, she seems to have left the 'poor student' badge behind, and has massively generously sponsored me 40 quid. I was really really touched to see that huge amount - and even more touched that she apparently couldn't ask for a better sister. Perhaps a sister who spent less time training and fundraising and more time visiting her in Stoke would be a better sister - but fear not Amester, when this ride is over I'm reclaiming my life!
So.. inevitably, as one thing rises another falls.. and my training is seriously behind! Look at me - more at home in an Ethiopian scarf in London than on a bike in the Ethiopian highlands!
However.. I've got big plans on that front - and this weekend I'm doing some mega bike rides around the south of England. I have to go to the Isle of Wight for work, so Saturday will see me pedalling those feet around unexplored (by me) country and coastal roads, getting those legs in shape. Then come Sunday my co-cyclist and good mate Justina and I are going to cycle to Hastings! The next 5 days will be spent pedalling up as many hills as humanly possible!
Good job my brother bought me some padded shorts for my birthday.. thanks Dan!
Saturday 20 September 2008
A million miles away - and only 6 weeks to go
Today I've never felt further from Ethiopia, it's a strange feeling, and I'm not sure I like it. I'm in Shirebrook, the town where I grew up, visiting my family for birthday cake and a long overdue catch up.
But I've not cycled for a week.. and it's worrying me. I've been drinking too - well it has been my 30th birthday - but it's not great for my training regime. This morning I tried to get back into the fitness thing, and went for a run with my brother. Every step seemed to be a struggle though. I guess there are highs and lows in training, and this is definitely a low!
On the other hand, fundraising is going well. I was in my Mum and Dad's local paper last week, and a few people have gone into the Co-op to tell my Mum they'll sponsor me. And I have a big event on Tuesday - my Taste of East Africa night.. more news on that soon!!
I guess I just need to keep at it.. on both the training and the fundraising sides.. could do with a boost right now!!
OK, from Monday when I'm back in Brighton, I am back on the case seriously!
But I've not cycled for a week.. and it's worrying me. I've been drinking too - well it has been my 30th birthday - but it's not great for my training regime. This morning I tried to get back into the fitness thing, and went for a run with my brother. Every step seemed to be a struggle though. I guess there are highs and lows in training, and this is definitely a low!
On the other hand, fundraising is going well. I was in my Mum and Dad's local paper last week, and a few people have gone into the Co-op to tell my Mum they'll sponsor me. And I have a big event on Tuesday - my Taste of East Africa night.. more news on that soon!!
I guess I just need to keep at it.. on both the training and the fundraising sides.. could do with a boost right now!!
OK, from Monday when I'm back in Brighton, I am back on the case seriously!
Tuesday 16 September 2008
Happy Birthday to me..
Well, it was because I'm turning 30 that I agreed to do this in the first place! By now I was supposed to be svelte, fit and raring to go.
Right now I feel None Of The Above.
No time for even a short cycle for 5 days now, and I'm away without my bike for the next 5! Aaagh, I'm going to be worse than ever. Must take my trainers and fit in a run or two.. how hard can that be? It's so easy to get out of the habit of exercise, and now is so not the time to do that!
Had a lovely birthday.. my friends are the best and made it really special - but now must focus!!
Big hard bike ride right around the corner!
Right now I feel None Of The Above.
No time for even a short cycle for 5 days now, and I'm away without my bike for the next 5! Aaagh, I'm going to be worse than ever. Must take my trainers and fit in a run or two.. how hard can that be? It's so easy to get out of the habit of exercise, and now is so not the time to do that!
Had a lovely birthday.. my friends are the best and made it really special - but now must focus!!
Big hard bike ride right around the corner!
Thursday 11 September 2008
Happy New Year - Ethiopian Style
Great day today - it's Ethiopian New Year (2001 in the Ethiopian calendar), so I decided to organise a bake sale at work. Easy - get a few mates to bake cakes, arrange prettily on a desk and invite people to come and help themselves - leaving lovely charitable donations in the 'honesty box'. Had fabulous cakes, my friends at work really went out of their way with American Spiced Cake, Brownies, Ginger cake, Muffins, and loads more. After doing the rounds with the tea trolley this afternoon, I absolutely sold out of cake, and made a wopping £92.50. To top it off the boss made it up to £100.
A hundred pounds closer to my target of £2,000, and lots of happy cake-filled colleagues. What could be better?
On the training front though I'm far from my bike - staying with friends in North London. First day in 8 days without cycling. I'm hoping that a couple of days off the bike won't take me back to square one!
Anyway, for now Melkam Addis Amet - happy new year!
Remember - to give my fundraising a boost go to www.justgiving.com/lee_cycles_ethiopia
A hundred pounds closer to my target of £2,000, and lots of happy cake-filled colleagues. What could be better?
On the training front though I'm far from my bike - staying with friends in North London. First day in 8 days without cycling. I'm hoping that a couple of days off the bike won't take me back to square one!
Anyway, for now Melkam Addis Amet - happy new year!
Remember - to give my fundraising a boost go to www.justgiving.com/lee_cycles_ethiopia
Tuesday 9 September 2008
First entry - seven and half weeks left
I have never ever blogged before, but then again I have never ever cycled across Ethiopia before, or ever believed I could. And do I believe it now, with less than 8 weeks to go? Perhaps.. on a good day I believe I can 'probably' do it. On a bad day there is absolutely no chance, and I am convinced I will sit in a cloud of my own shame in the back of a four-wheel-drive while 'real' cyclists pedal easily and happily up massive hills all around me.
I turn 30 in less than a week - it's all the fault of the big 3-O, and the silly suggestion by some of last year's cyclists that I should do it myself. I have done the trip - twice - as a member of the staff support team. I have ridden up those hills in a truck, and helped to cook food, put up tents and entertain tired cyclists. I can't kid myself - I know how steep those hills are, I know how hot it gets, and I know that even experienced, 'cycle up hills all the time' type cyclists often struggle.
So why am I doing it? I in fact have a very good reason - and that keeps me going through all the gruelling training and difficult fundraising. Up to 1 in 7 women die in pregnancy or childbirth in some parts of Ethiopia. That figure sickens me to the core. Women younger - much younger - than me, without the access to good quality maternity care or medical intervention when needed, are dying in their millions around the world. Every minute a woman dies somewhere in pregnancy or childbirth somewhere in the world. It's not fair, not fair at all. So I am raising £2,000 for the work of Maternity Worldwide, and hopefully raising awareness of their work as I cycle across difficult terrain to their project in Gimbie, Western Ethiopia.
So when I'm moaning through training rides (which I do!) and cringing at the thought of having to arrange yet another 'charity singles night' (which I also do!), I try to think about the difference all this effort will make to the work of Maternity Worldwide, and ultimately to women in western Ethiopia.
Who am I to wonder if I will "survive" the bike ride? Of course I will survive - it will be really hard work but I'll get there. Much lower odds of survival go to the woman in Ethiopia who just got pregnant, who lives 3 days walk from the nearest hospital, and who can't afford the care she needs when she gets there. Let's hope that she survives.
If you want to support my Ethiopia Bike Ride Challenge, please visit my fundraising page on www.justgiving.com/lee_cycles_ethiopia. Messages of encouragement and support are also really important, and keep my legs turning those pedals!
I turn 30 in less than a week - it's all the fault of the big 3-O, and the silly suggestion by some of last year's cyclists that I should do it myself. I have done the trip - twice - as a member of the staff support team. I have ridden up those hills in a truck, and helped to cook food, put up tents and entertain tired cyclists. I can't kid myself - I know how steep those hills are, I know how hot it gets, and I know that even experienced, 'cycle up hills all the time' type cyclists often struggle.
So why am I doing it? I in fact have a very good reason - and that keeps me going through all the gruelling training and difficult fundraising. Up to 1 in 7 women die in pregnancy or childbirth in some parts of Ethiopia. That figure sickens me to the core. Women younger - much younger - than me, without the access to good quality maternity care or medical intervention when needed, are dying in their millions around the world. Every minute a woman dies somewhere in pregnancy or childbirth somewhere in the world. It's not fair, not fair at all. So I am raising £2,000 for the work of Maternity Worldwide, and hopefully raising awareness of their work as I cycle across difficult terrain to their project in Gimbie, Western Ethiopia.
So when I'm moaning through training rides (which I do!) and cringing at the thought of having to arrange yet another 'charity singles night' (which I also do!), I try to think about the difference all this effort will make to the work of Maternity Worldwide, and ultimately to women in western Ethiopia.
Who am I to wonder if I will "survive" the bike ride? Of course I will survive - it will be really hard work but I'll get there. Much lower odds of survival go to the woman in Ethiopia who just got pregnant, who lives 3 days walk from the nearest hospital, and who can't afford the care she needs when she gets there. Let's hope that she survives.
If you want to support my Ethiopia Bike Ride Challenge, please visit my fundraising page on www.justgiving.com/lee_cycles_ethiopia. Messages of encouragement and support are also really important, and keep my legs turning those pedals!
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