Mission Statement

Welcome my little blog, my name is Martin Hookway and this blog is a way for me to log my personal thoughts & views as I am attempting to complete personal & physical challenges each year with other like minded people.

The next Challenge's:

LONDON MARATHON (21st April 2013)
EDINBURGH MARATHON (26th May 2013)
YORKSHIRE MARATHON (20th Oct 2013)

THE ADIDAS THUNDER RUN 24 hour Race
#PROJECT100in24 (27th to 28th July)

I will be running as usual with GPS with Runkeeper & tweeting as I run on @TEAMB_O_B as long as I have phone coverage so all your support will be gratefully received.

I am currently funraising for Rainbow Trust so please dig deep if you can to help this amazing charity.

Rainbow Trust is a Children’s Charity that provides emotional and practical support to
families when their child has a life threatening or terminal illness; immediate
help is available for families 24 hours a day. Support is offered from diagnosis
through treatment and, should a family become bereaved, we continue to support
them for as long as they need us. They help family members cope with the present
and prepare them for the future.
So please dig deep & help this great charity, just think £10 is a meal at KFC so by donating £10 you will not only be helping yourself but you'll also be helping others ;o)

Cheers for taking the time to read my blog, its greatly apreciated, fingers crossed it will bring a smile to your face. My challenges never quite go to plan... ENJOY.

Monday 5 September 2011

WAY OF THE ROSES (DAY 1: No Training, No Support Vehicle, No Turning Back)

So I was talked into riding Way of The Roses, 170 miles from coast to coast (Morecambe to Bridlington) by friends who were doing it as a fundraising event for Yorkshire Cancer Research. In true Team B.O.B style (No training) I accepted the invite & dusted off the bike. On checking out their facebook page I realised they planned stuff like me:



My 1st challenge was packing a 20ltr back pack to last me 3 days.
form this

to this
Yes I cheated, I put my trust into the British summer & left my water proofs behind taking only a lightweight gillet kindly borrowed to me by Neil Taylor (@NIEL33).

Thursday I woke  feeling like death, the fear of MAN FLU loomed as I got the sniffles, manning up I got ready & in no time Spud arrived in the van to load the bike & off we went...

Me, Shanni & Spud were in the van with all the bikes, while Ian (in 1st Class) & Sue (in common class) caught the train (Ian refused to lower his standards leaving Sue in her cramped seat while he ate complementary rolls & tea by the way). The journey consisted of texts between the 2 groups, oh & a "quick" phone call from The Wife as I had put our work keys in a "Safe Place" & she could not find them *cough* & I could not remember where the safe place was.

ANY WAY... Arriving in Morecambe we went to kill some time before Ian & Sue's train arrived by going for breakfast, after being ripped off at Eric's Morecambe's Cafe on the front we all met, donned our gear and headed for our pics to be taken with Eric... Then searched another 2 miles or so for the actual start point.
4 months out of the saddle, 170 miles to go, we were all in high spirits as we rolled out of Morecambe at a chilled out pace, fancy little cycle paths took the place of the usual busy A roads I was used to riding, bliss, I was really going to enjoy this ride.

It was not long before we were forced to stop as Ian had drunk too much complimentary tea in 1st Class. To his disappointment though he was put off by passers by & forced to nip & get back on his bike. Time passed & miles flew by as we laughed & joked along the route, the roads got steeper but our high spirits helped us over the peaks, then as we innocently passed through grazing land we were confronted by a not so happy cow. As Spud & Ian rang their bells the cow / bull (I'm sure it was a bull without horns) stepped back, but as I approached it positioned itself to charge at me, scraping the ground with its hoofs... (See I even had time to take a photo!) ... I gave a "manly" shout (Yes it was Manly @ Spud) & it backed off. So the fun had started, this was soon followed by our next set back, the bridge we had to cross was closed due to construction work. So the options were to either swim across the stream (Ian was stripping off ready), ride another 10 mile diversion, or send Shanni to "have a word" with the site manager, luckily for us he was in a good mood and after telling him they were doing it for charity he made his workers let us pass. So the sun was shining down on us & lady luck was happy to oblige. Sadly although the sun kept shinning, lady luck did one! As Spud, Ian & Shanni passed a standing HGV in the next village, the driver got a little inpatient on my approach & decided to indicate while simultaneously pulling out on me, jamming on my brakes & trying to evade the trailer I inevitably went head over handle bars, planting my left elbow into the ground followed by the rest of my body & my bike to everyone else's amusement. Apart from a bruised ego & snapped iPhone mount I was fine, Shanni on the other hand somehow ended up with a puncture, so a short break consisted of me super gluing my mount back onto my bike  & Shanni fixing a puncture. A puncture that ended taking longer that it should due to the fact that she was adamant that one of us (Spud) had picked up her repair kit! After 10 mins of "it was not me, are you sure you took it out of your bag? Did you put it in your pocket? Have you checked your pockets????" & "OF COURSE I DID!!!!" Shanni was persuaded to re check her pockets & bag, I'll say no more other than we were soon on our way.


Its just a scrape people nothing to worry about.



Back on the bikes we rolled through the village onto the hills!!!

AND MORE HILLS...
And some more hills
Until we reach a hill that was not even a road!!! The road soon turned into a path that was basically sand with a few rocks thrown on top of it for good measure, even Spud with his monster truck tires had to bail off of his bike. Me on the other hand was left in every one's wake as I had to push my road bike over the rocks. Now this would have been hard enough at the best of times due to the steepness of the climb, but when you throw in my footwear being road shoes with cleats.... Well lets just say I can imagine how women feel walking over cobbles in high heels.

If Carlsberg made roads, this would not bee one of theirs!

Hey don't leave me, oh wait, it seems they already have as that is not them...
Eventually we meet up at the end of a lane, by this time they have kindly found an alternate route so I can get back on my bike, cleats in bits due to walking in them over "rough" ground I struggle to keep my feet in the peddles. With the hills only getting steeper & our biggest climb of the day literally around the corner I needed to find a bike shop in Settle to buy some new cleats. Luckily as we roll into Settle we stop directly outside one. £20 out of pockets I change them ready for the hills.

As we roll around the corner we hit cobbles on a slight incline, as we all grumble an old bloke shouts over to us "The best is yet to come" & laughs. I look aver my shoulder at him & thank him, as I look forward again I instantly slow, he was bloody right!!! I was in the wrong gear & had hit a 1:5 climb!!!!! Dropping my gears like hot coals my bike made some right noises under the strain. Spud blasts past me and there is a chorus of  ***F%*&$£*%^£***!!!! No Training, A 20ltr ruck sack full with gear, up against a monster of a hill was just too much. I bailed before the hill kicked me off. Pushing our bikes up the hill was painful too, in hind site I should have just put my trainers on as my new shiny cleats were again getting wrecked. The climb was huge! It levelled off every now & then allowing us to get back on the bikes & ride the hills but every now & then it would kick one of us off, again & again.
More hills in the distance :o)
with hills on hills

Thankfully the hills turned into rolling hills
Tired & unfit we continued, we were still climbing but there was the odd down hill part that helped break the climb up. As we reached the peak looking back was a "feel good moment" knowing we had just rode over that was a great feeling!!!!! All was good as good we hit the decent everyone way in high spirits....

looking back
... until disaster struck loooooooooooooool *cough* . So we reached the summit then started free wheeling down, well 3 of us did, poor Sue let out a yelp as her shoe laces got caught in her chain. Seeing our friend land in a heap in the middle of a country road we did what all good friends would, and reached for the cameras. Of course as soon as cars came from both directions we used one hand we waved at the traffic to slow them down & the other clicked away.



A day of constant climbing was soon at an end, we had had a couple more painful climbs and were all ready for a pint when we rolled up to our digs... OR NOT! After arriving at the Devonshire Arms, we found out that we were not booked into this one & that there were in fact 2 other Devonshire Arms, in & around the village. After another 5 miles we found the correct one,
The Wrong One
The Correct One




53 miles of hills, hills & more hills brought it home to me that I was, lets say out of shape, there were groans of "I cant wait to sit in that North Sea" a fun day ended with a laugh even once we had stopped, when we found out that our rooms were named after sheep, I felt sorry for the poor landlord when he showed Shanni up to her room:

Quote: "What are you trying to say like?!?!"
End of Day 1: A great day had by all, our bikes were safe in the cellar while we had a great meal & a couple of pints that went straight to our heads. Not the best preparation for a morning on the hills & a longer ride to York, but why spoil a trip by planning ahead...? One more beer wont hurt, will it Ian????

Still to come, More Hills, Angry Farmers, Ice Cream, Smells, Guinness sweats, MONSTER SCARY DOWN HILL, Ian Pulls, Angry Toll Man, We wind up some other cyclist the wrong way & set a challenge. Oh & I race a speed boat! All this just in day 2!


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