"Bleeding Bikes 2007"

Me on my first ever mountain bike. A Muddy Fox Courier sometime in 1988 (September maybe?) up at the foot of Ben Nevis in Scotland (or should that be down at the foot of Ben Nevis;).

Oh well...I'm committed now...I have named my fundraising page "Bleeding Bikes!" & have even got some donations already;) So what then am I doing? I'm raising some money for The Haemophilia Society. All the details are on my fundraising page at the link at the bottom of this post, but here is a brief outline of what I have gotten myself into;) Approximately 104 miles of cycling over two days in August using The North Downs Way as my route...From Dover (via Canterbury) on the East coast of Kent all the way to Dorking which is just 20 odd miles south of where I live in London. I'll be cycling along with another group of fundraisers called "Blood, Sweat & Tyre's" who are also raising money for the Haemophilia Society. I have created my own fundraising page on justgiving.com and even have my first donations. This is all very new to me this fundraising lark and it seems like something I could get into. I'll have to see how this one goes though and take it from there to really see if it is something I'd want to get into properly. I'm beginning to wish that I got people to sponsor me on the Rough Ride I did recently. I've got some other ideas too, like a sponsored kayak across to the Isle of Wight or maybe even a paddle over to the French coast! Imagine that! That's something I have always wanted to do...kayak across to France.
I think I'm getting way ahead of myself! I don't even know what kind of an impact this 104 mile bike ride in August is going to have on my joints. I know I do a fair bit of mileage already but I've never riden 100 miles over two consecutive days. I'm definitely up for it though...I can't wait! Actually if I'm totally honest I'm more worried about the safety of my bike during the overnight stay!

This post is really just to promote my fundraising page and get it seen by as many people as possible. I will send an e-mail to my local paper too and see if they are interested in sticking it in there paper somewhere. Any other ideas that you might be able to give so that I might reach as many people as possible would be greatly appreciated. You can also find a link to my page at the very top of my blog on the right.

If you'd like to sponsor me on my bike ride then all you have to do is click on the link below which will take you straight to my fundraising page where you can donate as much or as little as you like. Everything about my ride is on my page and there are additional links to The Haemophilia Society & information on The North Downs Way too.

Wish me luck;)

http://www.justgiving.com/jasonpaultolmie

Other stuff...

Some interesting statistics regarding the mileage I have cycled since January 1st 2007. You may or you may not know that I have been keeping count of all my cycle rides (& kayaking trips) and even have a mileage meter right at the bottom of my blog. I stuck in 3600 miles as my target because this is the year that I turn 36 (Jan 23rd) and also the two numbers add up to 9 and after thinking it out in my head and what I did last year (about 3000 and odd miles) I thought that 3600 wasn't an impossible figure to reach and would also be a bit of a challenge too. But what I found interesting was that just as we reached the 21st June which is supposed to be the middle of the year etc, I noticed that my mileage so far was at exactly halfway!! On the 2oth June I reached 1800.16 miles and have 1799.8 miles to go. Now how cool is that? I new I was on course...sort of, but not that close;) And I did another 35.1 miles last night with Ian (Lee was unable to come out last night as he & my twin Nicola are moving into their new house in the next few days and are busy in preparation for that.
Ian & I went round Richmond Park completely off-road and then right across Wimbledon Common (no Wombles I'm afraid) then through Putney High St and along the Thames past Hammersmith Bridge, Kew Gardens & back into Richmond. It wasn't too bad but my arm is killing me now! We had fun giving all the 'Illegal' trails in Richmond Park names like 'Badger Run' Upper & Lower...'Bugsy' Upper & Lower...'Squirrel Run'...'Sawyer's Sauce'...'Bunnie Run' etc. Silly I know but fun;) It's quite funny the things you talk about during a 35 mile ride through some of the Queens finest parks. I won't mention the three rather large rats that sprinted across the tow-path by Barnes/Mortlake that must have been at least a foot in length each! And I won't mention the sleeping ducks on the rivers bank that looked more dead than asleep either, nor will I mention the massive hovering Birds of Prey that had their beedy little eyes on the tiny mice that were hiding in the bushes by Kew Gardens. I could hear the birds tummys rumbling from where I was watching them hardly moving their wings as they hovered fixed in the sky honing in on a Lovely mousey supper;)
Ian is pretty fit! I find it hard keeping up at times! He seems to fly around on his ultra light, highly collectable museum piece! If he took up mountain bike racing seriously he would be a winner...no doubt about it!

Oh, before I go I just wanted to mention that I learned to roll my kayak now just using a single swimming float (absolutely no paddle) and with one arm (my good arm). I got Lee to film me do it in the pool Thursday just gone and might post a link to it maybe. I hate seeing myself on film & in photos...and my voice is awful! I sound like a right twat;)

Anyway...see you soon:)




Jason






(C) JPT 2007.........1835.17 miles.