A 30th Birthday party to remember!

29th Septemeber 1979, the day I was born. 30 years on we celebrated the big 30 in style by having a party at May Towers.

A 12x3 mtr Gazebo with Lights, Live Band (or two brothers and guest drummer "Birthday Boy" and Harmonica player "Senior May"), 35 close family and friends, lots of food and drink topped off by one the warmest days of the year. The party kicked off about 2:30pm. We had the Dunwell brothers from Leeds starting at 2:30pm and they played on till about 7ish. Having them there added a great atmosphere to the bash. I had set up my drum kit and played about a dozen songs with them. I had forgotten how good it is just jaming away. Its certainly given me that bug again to kick start my drum lessons. Senior did a handful of songs on the harmonica which sounded awesome, especially when he was taking the lead.

I really couldnt have asked for a better day and as always it was great having everyone together and having a good catch up. Pretty short update in terms of comments but im show the pictures tell the story better...............................

Pro Tour Ride - 145km - 6th Sept 2009 Stoke on Trent

For me and Ben, this was the ultimate challenge. The opportunity to be one of the first ever amateurs to ride an actual full stage of the Tour of Britain, the very same the pro's will ride.

The venue was the Stoke on Trent Stage 5 on the 6th September, 145km described as a "rollercoaster ride of ups and downs."

I left the house on Saturday at 3pm and arrived at Bens around 5pm. Anoushka has only 5 weeks or so to go before they have a little daughter in the family so it was great to see her looking so well and all baby! Me and Ben went straight out on the bikes for 10 miles just to stretch the legs. Felt good on the bike and followed by a massive bowl of pasta, a steak and about 3 litres of Isotonics I hit the sack for an early night in preparation for the 5:30am start the following morning.

I didnt really know what to expect of the day as I guess this is the first time I have done a ride like this but I can 100% say it was one of the best sporting experiences I have taken part in. The organisation was first class from turning up and registering to completing the race and getting our medal and our free pasta meal.

We set off around 8:30am in a pack of 40. It was amazing to be riding with a group this big and the first 10 miles or so just felt effortless as you were just slip streaming from the person in front. One thing I was concerned of and had in the back of my mind is the training I had done and how much that had prepared me the ride. The most we had done in the run up to the ride was 67 miles. We had another 30 miles to do on top of that and the terrain was different to what we had experienced before. I was really concious to not go out at full tempo then to be struggling at the end. I would have much prepared to have started steady and finished strong.

The first third of the stage saw us take in 60km which reached a maximum gradient of 200mtrs. It was from this point the hard work really started. We hit Wootton Hill which at the base starts at around a gradient 100mtrs but works its way up to 500mtrs in the space of 26km. The gradient and hills are just relentless and continuous across thgis section.

The thing with training at home in and around Selby is that it is the flatest place in the world. The nearest thing we have to a hill is a speed bump. This is great for continuous pushing yourself and keeping your heart rate at a steady rate but then when it comes to hills of this degree, it can take its toll if you havent trained for it properly.

The steepest hill we undertook on the course and the main feature was the well known Gun Hill near Leek. This hit us at 86km and had an incline of 150mtrs to 350 mtrs in the space of 5km. It was an absolute killer but with only 2 cogs still managed to climb the hill without stopping. We were rewarded after this climb with a fantastic downhill to Leek which I managed to get 42mph.

What only felt like a handful of downhill sections

The long climb up Wootton Hill...............

In the zone focusing on getting up Gun Hill

We then had a much needed stop (MULE BARS!) at the top of Cheddleton Hill before the final 34km to the

finish

The great feeling crossing the line knowing we had achieved what we had set out to do which was ride the 94 miles. While 6 people had lost their lives to Prostate Cancer while doing the ride as around 1 perosn every hour dies from this form of cancer, for me it made it even more worthwhile and an achievement.

Its strange because out of all the blogs I have wrote, I thought this would be the most detailed and clear in my memory. In a situation like this when your primary focus is completing the course, when I look back it all seems to have rolled into one because you are constantly looking forward.

Let me share some of the highlights of the day for me:

• Nikki, Nyah & Ciara's voice message at the start of the day saying "Come on Daddy, you can do it!"
• At the start line when me and Ben were getting really hyped up shaking each others hand and hugging each other wishing each other the best of luck while everyone else was looking at us like we had 3 heads between us!
• Setting off at the start line with the pack of a 40 strong peleton for about 15 miles, awesome!
• Been overtook by a woman. Me and Ben looking at each other saying has that just happened. Picking up the speed to overtake her and grin only to be overtaken by her again a mile down the road and never to be seen again!
• Some of the downhills - 42mph!!!!!
• Getting to 1 mile from the finish and seeing a dad with his young daughter of maybe 5 riding this little pink bike. I just though of my girls and cant wait for the day we can all go out together on our bikes and do something like this.

• Crossing that finish line with BT, Mega

I guess you are only as good as your last adventure / race so heres to planning of the next one.......................

Thanks for a great memorable day BT.

Brief Update - A week to go to the big ride.......

Evening All, Brief update tonight as I'm a day late updating the blog and conscious with less than 5 days till the big race I didn't have an update of this weekends events.

The August Bank Holiday weekend was an eventful one both training and spending time with the family. Myself and Ben G had an early start Sunday morning and headed out on a ride. We covered 38 miles with an average speed of 18.2mph in just over 2 hours. We did a new circuit I ha vent done before and it was excellent and something I would do again soon. I have talked abut it in previous blogs how flat the area is were we live. This is great for riding continuous with no let up.

The August Bank Holiday on the 31st always sees my dad and fay celebrate their birthdays so this year we had a shindig at ours on the Sunday afternoon. It was great to have the family together and felt like ages since we had last done it. The bad weather didn't stop us having a BBQ and a good time!!!

The Monday saw us head up to the coast and spend the day on the beach at Filey, having fish and chips on the front, ice cream for the girls and watching the RAF helicopter from Leconfield save someone who had fallen down the cliff edge, exiting stuff.

Well, 5 days till the big race, just going to take it easy this week, couple of gentle rides for 30mins or so to keep the legs ticking over but more importantly making sure I eat the right stuff. The hard work of training has been done now its just down to the day and the hope of some good weather and a good race. Until the next update.............

September Challenge - Minimum of 100 sit ups everyday.

140 Miles on the Bike in 2 days

Evening! Im writing this blog laid in bed with my feet up feeling the effects of a grueling 67 mile ride with Ben that was quite different to the one of last week!

The start of this blog replicates pretty much last weeks update. This week at work has yet again been a combination of driving (700miles not including Coventry) and pretty long days out with the team but all has ended pretty well with the team finishing No.1 on a period focus we have every month. On the back of this we have £400 to spend on a day out so will let you know how we get on and what we decide.

This weekend we had planned to do back to back long rides, this time down in Coventry at Bens. Ben has planned this route after doing several stages himself but not all at once. We were really proud of our ride, time and average speed but didnt want to led into a false sense of security as the ride we did last week, although 65 miles was relatively flat. The challenge Ben had set this early Sunday morning was a 67 mile route that took in the surronding countryside arou8nd Coventry, including Foss Road (the longest Roman built road in England).

The route Ben had done looked as follows:

1. BT Towers (approx 1-2 mile cycle to coombe abbey then clear countryside)

2. Brinklow village

3. Kings Newnham (short climb to a farm top)

4. Little Lawford road (fast rolling descent approx 1mile)

5. Harbourough Magna (steady queit rolling roads to the village)

6. Pailton (possibly via Easenhall back roads)

7. Monks Kirby (fast exit from Pailton 1mile stretch)

8. Claybrooke Parva/Magna (country back roads to villages in a loop)

9. The Fosse Way (Most famous Roman road in England! Runs all way to Bath)

10. Withybrook (mega country lanes rolling virtually never seen a car!)

11. Fosse Way

12. Bretford

13. Kings Newnham lower village = continue down to Church Lawford village

14. Cross and down to A45

15. Dunchurch

16. Draycote Water (Lunch stop 30-45mins?) X2 5mile loop velodrome style if we feel up to it to clock up the miles)

17. Draycote Water to Kites Hardwick

18. Leamington Hastings to Birdnigbury

19. Frankton to Streton on Dunsmore

20. Streton = Fosse Way

21 . Wolston

22. Binley Woods to Binley = Home to BT Towers

67 Miles

Summary of the Ride:

1/ 67 Miles done

2/ Average Speed of 16.9mph

3/ Completed in 4hrs

Credit to BT, the circuit we did was great. Great in the respect of it pushed us again to new limits and was quite different to last week. The roads were very quite, with some really challenging hills. My preparation going into this ride wasnt that good in terms of training and diet. For me the build up to any ride like this you have to be well prepared in both training and diet for the ride so you can reach your full potential. Once again I felt we worked really well together as a team in terms of taking the lead and the other in the slip stream for half a mile at a time. This ensured that at the more difficult areas and also the sections we could get ahead of ourselves, we did just that.

The wind played a major part in the ride as well. It was very windy in places, no more so than at Dracote Water. What a beautiful this is. A 5 mile cirucit of this against the wind at full pace (after 45 miles) was a real test of both our legs. By the end of it we were both ready for the bacon and egg sandwich that awaitied us!

Another learning from the ride today was that on race day we must try and limit our stops to only toilet ones. In your mind sometimes all you want to do is stop and have a break but in practice, when we did this for 10 mins we would seize up quite quickly and it would then take us a couple of miles to get back in the rythmn.

Overall, a really enjoyable ride and with 2 weeks to go one which we both really needed.

Objectives for the next two weeks are:

Light training every night this week (minimum of 20 mins on the turbo) and light wieghts.

Big ride at the weekend at some point (70 miles)

The week after will be one of taking it easy with just maybe a couple of 20 mins cycle to keep the legs stretched and ticking over.

PS. Ben G - Thanks for letting me borrow your Trek over the last few weeks. Although the frame might be a little too small i just love the bike and feel I can just keep pushing and pushing. I promise to look at getting one soon!

Other great news is that BT and Anoushka are having a baby girl in about 7 weeks. Congratulations, cant wait for you to join the world of parenting!!!!!

This week has a been combination of both good and bad. Work has been one of those weeks where the to do lists and the priorities have just got bigger and longer and on top that the new dasboards came out for the sales managers and the TSR's for the seconf half of the year which has meant disecting the information out of there to ensure they are correct but at the same understand where we are and where we need to be and what we need to do to get there so yeah, pretty challenging week. Good news on the sales manager dashboard front is that I am currently 2nd out of 31 sales managers nationally. We still have the rest of the year to go but the quicker you get out the blocks the more effective you can be later on in the year driving the specifics.

The weekend has been a great one. With the ever closing bike race on the 6th Sept coming up, me and my best buddy Ben made a big milestone this weekend. Dr Ben lives in Coventry and the nature of his job can be quite long hours so from that point of view we have both been doing similiar amounts of training. Last weekend we both did 30 miles on Saturday and Sunday so we seemed to be both going in the right direction.

Saturday morning saw my alarm go off at 05:45am although i felt like i was awake for the majority of the night due to heat and the prospect of doing a 60 mile ride with Ben in the morning. I had planned the route from Bens mum and dads house in Willerby which saw us take in the following route.

1/Willerby - Cottingham - Skidby - Walkington - North Newbald - Sancton - Market Weighton - Holme Upon Spalding Moor - Bubwith - Wressle - Howden - Gilberdyke - North Cave - South Cave - Brantingham (Spout Hill!) - Elloughton - Willerby.

In the run up to the 94 mile race on the 6th Sept, me and Ben this year have done no more than around 30 miles on the bike in one ride. We used to ride every week when we were at home, trips to Lakes where we would do 70 miles (with my front brake rubbing on the front wheel for 50 of those miles). Resistance training I called it! I had this ride at been about 64 miles so quite a big jump from what we have done recently and 10 years on from those biking days in Hull we where both wondering how our bodies would react!

I could detail the ride stage by stage but in trying to keep my blogging short and sweet, Ill just highlight key areas.

1/ 65 miles Completed

2/ 3hours 40mins

3/ Avg Speed 17.6mph

4/ We thought we had prepared well by taking onboard plenty of fluids, energy bars / gels / shots! but what one key learning was that at around 40 miles we had nothing really substancial to eat like a tuna sandwich etc. We had plenty of energy in the form of taurine / glucose / caffeine but nothing really substancial in the way of protein for the hours we had been on the bike and more importantly the calories that we had burnt. On the day of the race we will be looking at burning 4,000 calories so it is vitally important that we get that extra protein before its too late. Big learning curve.

5/ The big positive for me was how well we both worked as a team as we are both very similiar strength and stamina wise on the bike. For sections we took it in turns leading for a mile while the other had a rest and so on. One of the highlights for me was when we left my mum and dads, 7 miles from Bens. As soon as we set off my legs were really struggling and we headed for a long stretch of road called Great Gutter Lane. Its relatively flat but really open and if you hit a head wind the legs really take a battering over the 5 mile stretch. The wind was behind us though and this seemed to give us the energy to give a massive push. For this 5 mile stretch we averaged the 30mph mark non stop. It was amazing, the bikes just glided and it was a great end to what had been a fantastic ride.

Our next planned ride together is next weekend. Me and the girls are driving down on Saturday and we are going out again, early in the morning to do the same amount of miles.

Objectives for this ride.

1/ Ride 70 miles minimum

2/ To complete in less than 3hours 45mins

3/ Increase our average speed to 18mph.

4/ Take onboard key proteins at the half way stage and energy bars / gels / shots ongoing to prevent muscle and energy fatigue.

My aim is to do 3 nights this week on the bike trainer for 30 mins at a time to keep the legs ticking over and really maintain the focus on the diet to ensure I am well prepared again for 6 days time...................

Link to our Prostate Cancer Charity Team X-Treme website is

www.prostatecancercharity.org.uk/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=276730

Slack on the blogging front...........

Hey all, its been seriously slack on the blogging front on my part. Why? well just a number of reasons. 1/ Work over the last few months has just been manic and spending so much time during the day on the laptop dosent really want me entice me to then spend another hour updating the blog. so going forward my aim is to try and update ongoing, short and sweet.

So whats happened over the last few months???????

Charity Bike Ride for Prostate Cancer - Me and my best buddy Ben had originally set out to do coast to coast in one go. Thats around 140 miles from Whitehaven to Sunderland. Whilst surfing the net BT came up with a great idea of doing a different ride for Prostate Cancer instead that the professional riders do on the tour of britain. It is an actual leg of 94 miles we are doing so the last few weeks have been a real focus in getting into shape, focusing on the diet and the training in which both have been successful. We are doing this on the 6th Sept and to make any donations then please visit www.prostatecancercharity.org.uk/personalpage.aspx?registartionID=276730

It really has given me the bug again for training and even more so to get on the bike. Last weekend I covered just under 60 miles by doing two 30 mile rides. I felt really comfortable with both rides and am really looking forward to this weekend and meeting up with Ben to do a ride we have set out to do (64miles) so will update on sunday to see how we got on. We are aiming for 4 hours door to door.

The Girls! - Nyah and Ciara are growing faster than ever. Nyahs personality is really starting to come through and she is picking up on so much. Ciara is now starting to stand up and its not going to be long till she will be taking her first steps. We have taken the girls swimming, on the bikes and on longs walk which Nyah is always leading the way!

Retirement - My father in Law Dave has retired after an amazing 50 years services with his company. If that wasnt enough he is going back to work part time after a couple of offers so that should still keep him busy.

IOM TT - This was a couple of months ago now but me and my Dad had a great time. On the back of our 7th year visiting the island we decided to do it differently this and we went over on the bikes without the engines. We stayed a mile out of Ballaugh with a lovely family. It was amazing to do the visit on the bikes as it just gave such a different dimmension to the island and its beauty, not to mention the racing. We viewed from the Gooseneck which was awesome. Guy Martin was unlucky not to get his first win on the island, John McGuniess was denied his 2nd victory on the week in the senior after his chain came off on the last lap. Spaking to him the following day he said that cost around £50k! Steve Plater as the man of the week for me. Only been a relative newcomer to some of the more experienced riders to win two races was a fantastic achievement. We will certainly do the bike run again next for our 8th year!

Career - I have been made permant as middle manager which I am made up with. My new team are based around the North East in Newcastle and Teeside so after a strong to finish to the half year finishing 8th out of 34 Sales Managers I am aiming for that No.1 position by the end of the year. Watch this space..........

How do you make a proper cup of tea? Milk in first or last? First of course........ an imulsion is a much better combination than a mixture right??????????

2nd Birthdays / Pregancies / Wedding Anniversary / Back Training

Wow, this chapter is going to include a serious amout of updating. Its been nearly 6 weeks since I last updated the blog. I usually update the blog on the weeks events every Sunday but this just hasnt happened recently. Alot has happened in this time and I would first of all like to congratulate my best buddy Ben and his wife Anoushka on finding out Anoushka is due at the begining of October. Its great news for them both and me and Nikki are over the moon for them. Ben should cope with Fatherhood alot better them me as he is used to getting about 6 hours sleep every night so getting used to 4 hours a night wont be to difficult for him! You guys will make awesome parents and it will be great for the girls to have a little Thurlow to play with.

We have also celebrated Nyah's 2nd birthday! Nikki had arranged for some of Nyah's friends to come round for a party. I came home about 4:30pm to a house that looked like a bomb had hit it! Kids running around the house, food everywhereand crayon marks all over. You could hardly move for the amount of toys but everyone looked liked they where having a great time and lots of fun.

We have also celebrated Pam and Mikes wedding anniversary. We had arranged for James and Lauren to stay at ours and we had booked Pam and Mike to stay at Monk Fryston for the night. We then had Sunday lunch followed by a walk around the gardens. It was really good visit Monk Fryston again and especially when Pam and Mike were celebrating a milestone occassion.

Well the IOM TT 2009 is fast approaching and with me and my Dad biking over there this year for the first time, I spent this morning out on the bike with Nyah. We did our usual circuit of 15 miles but it took a bit longer today as Nyah's helmet kept following off, then when we stopped to feed the horses I noticed her hat had gone missing so we had to bike back a mile to collect it, then we stopped off at the park at West Haddlesley for 20 mins while Nyah played on the swings, the slide and the climbing frame. It not far I know, but my legs and lungs felt really good. We are going over to Hull tomorrow to have an official house warming for my sisters new apartment I am hoping to do the circuit again in the morning before we set off.

At some point over the summer period me and Ben are planning on doing coast to coast from Whitehaven to Sunderland. Its 140 miles and in doing something different for charity we are planning on doing it non stop. This is something I am really looking forward to and in particular the training running up to doing it.

Well thats pretty much the last 6 weeks updated! Ill try not to leave it as long next time................