No Teeth!

I'm no stranger to falling off my bike these days although, fortunately, it only happens when I am stationary or manoeuvering slowly and damage is usually limited to cuts and abrasions to my legs and elbows and bruising of my dignity. But one particular tumble last year, when I measured my length only a few yards from my garage, was to prove mightily inconvenient and expensive. I was carefully, or so I thought, negotiating my way down the rough track that is the access road to the rear of my house when my front wheel sank into loose gravel and I was launched face first onto the stony driveway. My composure in tatters, I refused all help from a neighbour, who seemed overly worried about me especially when I announced that I was going to continue on my ride. It wasn't until a couple of hours later when I returned home that I discovered why the neighbour had been so concerned. One side of my face was dark grey, the colour of the driveway, and the other was covered in blood from a wound on my lip where a tooth had gone through. I subsequently learnt that three front teeth had been so damaged by the impact with the ground that they would have to be removed and a plate fitted until my gums thoroughly healed and settled down – about 6 months.

That time has, thankfully, now passed and I can begin the process of aquiring some permanent replacement gnashers so that by August/ September time I should be able to jettison the plate and flash a Hollywood smile: all for the price of a new small family car.

With that level of investment in my gob and given my propensity for unconventional, involuntary dismounting perhaps I will have to consider riding with a gum shield.

Hell's Teeth!

Hell's teeth! I've committed myself to something now. If this blog is going to be worth reading, I'm going to have to keep it well stoked with fascinating stuff or, failing that, develop the ability to make the mundane sound rivetting. Whichever it is, I'd best be getting on with it ...

The planning for the big ride is well under way . Much of my time in recent weeks has been taken up with getting the message out there to raise funds for a Parkinson's cure and getting the team kit sorted. Our corporate image is a fetching shade of blue (called cyan) with white, as shown here, which are the house colours of Parkinson's UK who are supplying us with a couple of jerseys each.

A state-of-the-art cycle clothing company, Owayo, are producing further kit – shorts, wind breaker jackets, long sleeve jerseys – which has been made possible by the support given by Tarmac plc who have generously donated a sum of money for this additional kit that will enable us to remain comfortable and looking good throughout whatever weather Mother Nature decides to chuck at us as we pedal for Parkinson's 2011.

And here it is:

Been there, done that

(Above) Sunshine in Peebles,

End-to-End 2008

This double End-to-End up mainland Britain and down through Ireland will be an oppportunity for me to relive some of the cycling experiences that I had during an End-to-End ride in 2008 with the Old Portlians cycle club for the Cure Parkinson's Trust. Read on for the resume report of this ride.

The End-to-End 2008

"We rolled into John O'Groats Friday afternoon on 28th June, 12 days and 1030 miles after leaving Land's End. We started in bright sunshine, we ended in bright sunshine but in the middle we encountered conditions as severe as anything that I have ever experienced on a bike before. Sod's Law, naturally, dictated that the foulest weather coincided with the most topographically demanding stages. Up the Trough of Bowland and over the Pennines on days 6 and 7 and then again on day 10 when we had to tackle the Caingorms were particularly grim sections containing a good number of sustained gradients greater than 15% to overcome in high, gusting, sometimes gale-force winds and torrential rain. The windchill meant that we were all forced to don full winter gear but it was barely enough. At the top of Shap Fell my heavier team mates insisted that I let the back-up transport take m down the mountain as they feared for my safety in 70 mph winds after seeing me twice blown off my bike on the ascent. At the top of the infamous "Devil's Elbow" (Arsehole more like !) at Glenshee, I again had to take a ride and be ferried to Braemer at the bottom of the mountain to buy some more effective gloves as my totally numb hands would have been lethal on the 5 mile, alpine-like descent.

It didn't help of course, to be aware all the time that down in the South it was for the most part warm and sunny! I reckon this side-tracking caused me to miss about 30 miles (mostly downhill), so I think that I can still reasonably claim mission accomplished; I was perfectly fit enough to ride on those occasions but there was the wider picture to consider - namely, the effect my circumstances and actions would have on the peace of mind and well-being of the others in the team.

Given the circumstances, I reckon this was the most demanding piece of athletic activitiy that I have ever done. On some of the climbs my exertion to overcome the steeper sections far outstripped what I put into that 60 second last lap that took me to victory in the 5000m at the Vets World Track Athletic Championships in Rome in 1985 or indeed anything I have ever endured running marathons: it was harder and more prolonged! I can't tell you how gratyfying it is to discover that boundaries can still be pushed back even at this stage of the game.

They say that the most frequently heard phrase in John O'Groats is "where next ?" And it's absolutely true; it really is impossible not to utter these words when you get there. But this is not because you are immediately inspired by the setting to start planning your next major Odyssey or display of intrepidity but simply that this one-eyed little hamlet with the allure of a Canvey Island caravan site is such an anti-climax."

One ride ends, another begins

In the event,"Where next ?" took place in 2009 when I joined a slightly different group made up of current and former members of the Old Portlians and rode from Dieppe to Marseille in just 6 days: loads of fast miles every day and loads of laughs thanks largely to the two support drivers, Steve and Graham, who accompanied us. But more of that trip another time.

The Dithering Cyclist

Any runners or cyclists reading this blog will know that the hardest step in training is the first one... out the door. It's always easy to find a reason to delay departure, even when the sun is shining gloriously. So it has been with me these last few days. Take for example Sunday: the weather was perfect for a bike ride, I got myself ready, shoes on, helmet on , track-mitts on, but just as I was leaving I made the mistake of turning on the television to see what was happening in the Paris-Roubaix. We can get French television, which covers the Enfer du Nord in its entirety. I was immediately drawn into a very exciting race taking place in conditions not normally associated with this event, sunny, and dry, which made it incredibly dusty and added a new dimension to a race noted for foul weather, lots of mud and gore aplenty.

The first time I moved was some 6 hours later – and then only to the edge of my seat – to cheer on to victory Johan Van Summeren, an unfancied domestique. The action on screen certainly raised my pulse rate from time to time but I don't think this will have added a great deal to my fitness level. Had we had visitors they could have been forgiven for thinking they had stumbled upon the ultimate armchair sports fan sat there, as I was, all day wearing all the gear, including helmet, and drinking from a bidon filled with orange juice and designer water which I had in my hand when I made that fateful move to turn on the TV.

If I am going to get anywhere near successfully completing my own personal Hell of the North coming up this summer I am really going to have to find a way of overcoming this dithering and lack of focus. By the way, do you know what to dither, shilly-shally, prevaricate, is in French? No? Tut tut ... I thought everybody knew that. You ignoramus! It's tergiverser - je tergiverse, tu tergiverses, il/elle tergiverse, nous tergiversons, vous tergiversez, ils/elles tergiversent. It is said, though, that the definition of an ignoramus is somebody who doesn't know something you learnt yesterday: as here of course. Laurent Jalabert, one time superstar bike rider himself, commentating on the Paris-Roubaix for the French TV, went on at some length about the apparent inability of many of the star riders to make firm decisions about when to attack which led to the surprise result. So at least I got something out of the day – a new French verb, which you can rest assured I shall endeavour use at every opportunity whenever I find myself across the Channel or am trying to chat up Annie McDonough.

Although today has been cloudier and the temperatures significantly lower, I did manage to show a bit of resoluteness this afternoon and drew myself away from the computer and actually went out for a ride around the hilly lanes of the North Downs – through Otford, Ightham, Ivyhatch, Hildenborough, Leigh, Bough Beech, Four Elms, Ide Hill, Sundridge, Polhill and home. I clocked 48 miles and was going reasonably well averaging just under 16mph and I didn't fall off: quite an achievement for me. Knowing my capacity for involuntary dismounting and leaving lumps of myself on the tarmac, Hannah usually sends me on my way with the bidding "try to stay on your bike today," which is an apt choice of words because as a rule I only end up on the deck when I stop. Today I kept riding but I did trip over the rowing machine in the garage. Plus ca change ...

On this day in 1755

James Parkinson was born 11th April 1755. He is most famous for a text, published in 1817, entitled "An Essay on the Shaking Palsy" in which he describes a condition that would later take his name: Parkinson's Desease. The 11th April is now World Parkinson's Day. 1817 ! That's nearly 200 years' ago... it's time to find a cure.

Change Attitudes. Find a Cure. Join us!

In 2008 I was part of a small group of cyclists from the Old Portlians CC, which rode from Land’s End to John O’Groats in aid of the Cure Parkinson’s Trust. This raised £14,000 for the Trust, which, true to the name of its subsidiary company “Movers & Shakers”, has managed to persuade the Parkinson’s community to focus on the need for clearly defined goals that reflect patients’ desires and expectations. You will not be surprised to hear that a cure is at the top of the wish list.

The money raised in 2008 was spent very effectively. The search for a cure is becoming evermore intense; there are a number of research projects currently well into the final trial stage and there are other very promising lines of research in the pipeline.

Apparently, more has been learnt about Parkinson’s over the past 2 years than during the previous 40. All the specialists I have met recently seem genuinely excited about the prospect of finding a cure very soon. This momentum must be sustained.

All this is why I shall be taking to the saddle again this June and joining 5 other (fool-?) hardy gents to undertake the longest self-propelled journey of our lives from Lizard Head in Cornwall, the southern-most point of GB, to as far north as you can go on the mainland, Dunnet Head. Then we will pedal back down to the Mull of Kintyre where we will take a chartered boat across to Northern Ireland ready to ride from the two extreme points there, going from Malin Head down the full length of Ireland to Mizen Head in the south. Finally, after a sea crossing to Swansea, it’s back to London to finish what has imaginatively been named “The Challenge”. We will have covered 2000 miles over 26 days; I suspect I will feel I have aged much more than that by the time we reach the Mall!

Information on the ride, the route, the schedule, maps, riders, patrons and supporters, news about the build-up to the event and ultimately our progress as our journey unfolds, can be found on the following link: http://pedalforparkinsons.co.uk/

The other key link is to our fundraising site:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=pedalforparkinsonschallenge&isTeam=true Pedal for Parkinson’s 2011 ("the Challenge") is being widely publicised and is using the Parkinson's UK supporting tag-phrase: Change attitudes. Find a cure. Join us!

So, with this rallying cry, I am once again asking friends and family to join my latest fund-raising quest and the fight to find a cure for Parkinson’s. It would be wonderful if, as before, you are able take up this call to arms and make a donation. Thank you.