12 days and counting..

Long time no blog. It's been a whirlwind two weeks, and not always for the best, in fact decidedly for the worst. Blogging has been far from my mind -but I shall attempt to make up for that.

I've been training - and hard. But it's been against the odds, as my Nan died suddenly. I won't show a public outpouring of grief right here, but you can imagine it's not been easy to think about training/fundraising/going to Ethiopia in the midst of such family sadness.

However - thanks to some very kind people (Tom, Kath, Sheila, Panna, Lucy thank you!), my fundraising quiz night went on at the Duke of Norfolk in Brighton without me, and raised £120. Sponsorship has been pouring in from lovely individuals, and I'm massively grateful. At the time of writing, I only have £101 left to make! Check out my fundraising site for all the lovely messages left for me: www.justgiving.com/lee_cycles_ethiopia.

Training... talk about hills! I went on a ride in the South Downs last week organised by Steve, the Maternity Worldwide cycle leader. Very hard work, and brought home the reality that I STILL struggle on hills, and I'll never be at the front of the group. I don't care about that.. I just don't want to hold people up!

I managed to bring my bike up to my parents' on the train, and yesterday met my friend Mark for a ride to Chatsworth House. I cam honestly say it was the hardest bike ride I've ever done. Mark is fast, and strong - and luckily for me very patient :-)

So as the days are counting down, I'm in the north for work (with my bike) and looking forward to finding cycle routes in and around Blackpool, Liverpool and Cumbria. It's tough at the moment, for plenty of reasons, but I'm really determined to keep going - and all that sponsorship really helps.

Thanks! xx