Going, GROWING, gone!

Just when you think thing are going exceptionally well, they get even better...

Massive sense of gratitude and pleasure when yesterday's adding-up exercise revelaed a total well in excess of £6000.

And then today's post arrived, bringing with it a donation that sent the total whizzerating up to the speech-stifling total shown above.

Thank you again!

I'm doing my best to send a personal 'thank you' to everyone who supported the Summer Cycling Saga - and have a set of personalised postcards to hand for that purpose.

Happily, the 'total so far' part of the printed text is now SO behind the times. Like the cyclist.

I'm closing down the JustGiving site at the weekend.

As I write several Falcon Camps are under way - many more to follow over the next few weeks.

Children and young people from tough, challenging backgrounds are having wonderful, fun-packed hoildays in the unique, caring ethos fostered by the Falcon philosophy.

And the cost of many of these life-changing experiences has been underwritten by fabulous SCS supporters.

Hurrah for you. Thank you.

Benissimo!

Yes, that is the total-so-far, raised by the amazing supporters of this wacky project.

And where better to celebrate than Edinburgh's legendary Italian grocery and eatery Valvona & Crolla, well-known to foodies and fans of Alexander McCall Smith's novels.

A million thanks and more to everyone who has helped get us this far - financially, and in terms of push-behind-the-pedalling motivation!

The V&C cafe is filling up. Nearby two young orchestral musicians are discussing (earnestly) their feelings about Mahler and Beethoven.

Another cyclist has arrived...

Almost Shakespearean

'Hey ho, the wind and the rain...' sang one of the Bard's characters...


It was one of his clowns to be specific. Appropriate?

Today had moments of major moistness, but many more of cool misty cycling. Up, up, up from the Ironbridge Gorge.

Then through a maze of lanes and tiny communities over many miles of gently rolling countryside: hamlet after hamlet after hamlet.

Finally as my enthusiasm was draining away came the village of Audlem on the Shropshire Union Canal.

Top-notch public house with a warm welcome for the dripping cyclist. Roast beef sandwich with home-made red cabbage coleslaw.

'For this relief, much thanks.' (Hamlet, Act 1, Scene1)

The 65-mile day ended with a welcome whizz into the Cheshire village of Davenham along a well-marked cycle track.

Until the track crossed a farmyard, necessitating a dismount and a short but deeply squelchy walk across a morass of bovine effluvium.

Slurry seems to be the hardest word.

But - hurrah! - my kindly B&B hostess allowed me full use of her garden hose. And my room features a massive shower cubicle and a heated towel rail.

For this relief, even more thanks.

Epiphany of the day: receiving a surprise donation from one of the people I have encountered along the way. Wow!

The road goes ever on and on..

As Bilbo Baggins was fond of remarking...


Top marks and exuberant cheers today to:

• being in Devon, my county of origin
• the weather
• high hedgerows flanking endless traffic-free lanes with views out across rolling countryside
• Bay Tree Cafe, North Tawton: kind staff, gargantuan sandwich, friendly service
• North Tawton itself - and unwrecked gem.

The mildest of disapproval to:

• headwind - cooling but discouraging
• brisk cafe lady in Oakhampton. Do NOT approach the counter!

And one is a wee bit pooped tonight. 159 miles so far.

Thanks, all supporters, for wonderful messages.

Remember this is all for Falcon Camps - fab hols for children and young people facing disadvantage.

Look to the right for the JustGiving link!

The podcast begins with 30 seconds of silence - probably its best feature...

A bit of an up and downer

Sunshine nearly all the way...


Switchback coast road north to Padstow, a very fishy Steinopolis, home of the famous seafood empire.

A deliciously flat scoot along the Camel Trail.

A dodgy mis-read of the map took me out of Wadebridge in the wrong direction.

Lifesaving cake and tea at Four Seasons Cafe, Camelford. I recommend the banana bread - it has healing properties.

End-of-day magical whizz down long leafy lanes on edge of Bodmin Moor.

Rose Cottage B&B in Launceston - delightful. Could I book in for a few extra days..?

No more swanning around...

The bike's ready, the paniers packed - over-packed, naturally. And I'm more or less ready for the train to Penzance.


Mild pang of regret as I bid farewell to my neighbours (above). Their cygnet is growing apace: more or less doubled in size in a fortnight. He/she will be an argumentative teenager by the time I get back.

So, here we go. I've talked up the ride since the end of 2009.

Now it's time to put foot to pedal and hit those 1080 miles.

Thanks to all Summer Cycling Saga's supporters for getting me this far. You have been terrific.

Here we go...

Er, woo hoo!

You heard the hoolering and  ululating? That would been us as the total-so-far whooshed through the £3000 barrier.

What can we say? Thank you. Shock and awe - in the nicest possible manner.

Hurrah!

Meanwhile another splendid break for Summer Cycling Saga - we're featured on the front page of the prestigious, internationally acclaimed website OK in the UK.

And how generous of the webmaster to consider us a UK 'attraction'. Possible in the style of Stonehenge: ancient and in ruins?

And - as if you weren't aware - all of this is for Falcon Camps, brilliant hols for children and teenagers facing disadvantage.

In black and white

We've gone a bit film noir as the total grows and grows....


But we promise an over-the-rainbow return to dazzling Technicolor when the total reaches £3000.

Could we reach that yearned-for threshold before start-of-ride day 1 June?

On their current form, Summer Cycling Saga's sensational supporters will be responding: 'Yes we can!'

Thank you!

Brewing UP!

Up, up and little more up...


A pose on a fairtrade coffee machine marks the total at the beginning of the last full week before zero hour.

Could we perhaps reach £3000 before the start of the Summer Cycling Saga?

Oh, random clothing news: in a moment of deluded self-boosting I purchased a yellow T-shirt at the weekend. One's very own maillot jaune to be worn at strategic moments en route.

And a new podcast...

Hot stuff!

Wild whoops as we break through the two-and-a-half-thousand ceiling!


Only - yikes! - 10 days to the start of the ride. Massively encouraged by the wave of kindness and good will that is taking the total for Falcon Camps skywards!

Many thanks to all our fabulous sponsors!

By the way, I'm also posting regular updates about the ride on the popular social networking site Facebook. Check me out there where I use my 'proper' name of Roderick Keegan. If you wish to, of course!

Look to the right for other helpful links!

Up, up, up

Aquiver with anticipation as we approach the yearned-for £2000 threshold...


Only three weeks until the start of the ride and more and more people are supporting this mammoth huff-and-puff-athon for Falcon Camps - amazing holidays for children and young people facing disdavantage.

Want to join in? Please check the panel to the right to link to my JustGiving site. Or download a sponsor form and map. Or contact me and I'll send more info to you!

Thank you!

Alpacas, absent aliens - and Jenny Agutter (almost)

An abundance of A-related associations on this weekend's 90-mile training ride.

High and dry

Sensationally generous sponsors continue to, er, sock it to us for Falcon Camps, fantastic holidays for children and young people facing disadvantage.

Thanks again to all who have donated. I am awed by your kindness.

Here comes the May holiday weekend.

I'm off training: a wiggling route to Oxford on Sunday. A night at the YHA. A wiggling, but different, route home on Monday.

The weather forecast? Don't ask.

On course!

Today's totally terrific total! No wonder the narrow-boat lady turned her head.

Thanks, sponsors, for such big boost at the start of the weekend.

More training, more prep, more huff, more puff.

Five weeks to go.

Springing up

Yes, that's the astonishing total as of today. Thanks to all our sponsors, with timely cheers for today's donor of £100!

By the way, it is now possible to download a route map and sponsor form from this link.

Once again, all funds raised enable children and young people who face disadvantage to enjoy a fabulous holiday through the work of Falcon Camps.

£1000 +

Double click on the image - you should see a larger version of my route map!

This small post celebrates a big moment in the progress of my Summer Cycling Saga: today we broke through the £1000 barrier.

Totally amazing supporters have so far given a glorious £1073, taking me more than 10% of the way towards the target of £10,000 for Falcon Camps, fab holidays for children and young people facing disadvantage.

What can one say?

Hurrah!

Thank you!

More, less - and undress...

Apologies for a few weeks of silence from Summer Cycling Saga, my June 2010 bike ride from Lands End to John o'Groats - and beyond - for Falcon Camps, terrific holidays for children and young people facing disadvantage.

More

The generosity of supporters continues to amaze and motivate me. The total in 'the vault' has reached a fabulous £883.90 (including Gift Aid). Wow! Thank you all so much.

Less

With the start of the ride getting scarily near I'm busy making practical arrangements for accommodation and rail travel for the front and back ends of the ride. Wild jubilation for stunning bargain rail fare home on 26 June: Thurso - Leamington Spa (roughly 580 miles) for £20.50. Thanks are due to Lisa of the Travel Shop at Birmingham New Street Station.

Undress

Today's ride started immediately after the morning service at St Mary's, Warwick. This historic church doesn't have an overt dress code, but one feels cycling shorts might be a step too far.

So, having donned my lycras at home, I put on a top layer of trousers - and all was seemly. After the service I hastened to my bike's secluded parking space where briskly, and modestly, I removed the trouser layer.

As I re-tied my trainers, a voice came from behind me: 'Are you planning to take off any more clothes while I'm standing here waiting for my lift home?'

The questioner was a charming elderly lady who, I think, was relieved when I assured her that nothing more was in the offing.

Turned out she'd been an enthusiastic cyclist as a teenage evacuee to Lydney in the Forest of Dean. A day's ride from Lydney to Hereford was nothing to her and her chums. Respect.

Upwards

Atop Dover's Hill, near Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire - my first big ascent of the year.

Sunday's ride took me out of Warwickshire and into the corrugated Cotswolds - a respectable 52 miles. Apologies for windy blusterings in the podcast...

Serendipity

Honestly, I meant to do at least 40 miles - but kind friends unexpectedly intervened.

It would have been churlish to turn down a spontaneous invitation to lunch.

STOP PRESS: Counting the Gift Aid element, my fabulous-beyond-belief sponsors have so far raised a sensational £678.92 towards the work of Falcon Camps, tip-top holidays for children and young people facing disadvantage. Thank you!

Podcast 4

Another Sunday, another ride. Historical info about Joseph Arch, worth a look.