Lies, damn lies and statistics

Oh alright I admit it, there are no lies or damn lies in this blog but there are some statistics (which I find interesting anyway and will look back on fondly).

My latest post (A moment of reflection, another dose of reality) has had 91 hits already since I posted it at midnight, making it the third highest read page in less than 20 hours since it was published. I wonder how many of the 91 have had some experience of loss when it comes to cancer (it was about a MacMillan event in case you were wondering)? Show of hands please (or at least add a comment on the blog; it would be interesting).

That made me look at the latest readership figures as a whole. I was pretty impressed when my 'cycle across Cuba' attracted 600 page reads in its short life but currently I am burning a hole through that figure like a blowtorch in a paper mill. Err ..... yes I know it didn't read as good as it sounded in my head but give a guy a break huh?

Top 10 for this blog are: -

UK has generated 2 287 page reads

USA has 368 page reads

Germany, 32

Canada, 18

Russia, 12

Australia has 11

Ireland has 7

China has 6 (come on China, you're lagging a bit behind for goodness sake. Thought you were booming?)

Hungary, 6

France, 5

And then there's Estonia, Singapore, India, Slovakia, the UAE, Iran, South Korea and a host of other on 4 or less.

You know what, it would be GREAT if I could know the names of all of you !! Your forename and the country you're in. Anyone? Hello? Err it seems to have gone quiet. Oh well, back to my celebration; the birthday cake is courtesy of my eldest daughter and her boyfriend.

It was lovely although I think the Michelin stars are still an aspiration rather than 'already in the post'. Oh yeah and if from time to time you feel you need some variety, free to check out the latest edition to the blog suite -

European A to Z in 2014 on a 7-seat circular bicycle

A moment of reflection, another dose of reality

Clara White from Macmillan Cancer Support was kind enough to invite me to the press launch of what is known as em2ee; 5 actors from Emmerdale Farm who have trained to be able to cycle 224 miles from the Woolpack Inn (Emmerdale) to Queen Vic (East Enders), non-stop in 24 hours.

The event was held at The Loft in Leeds and the location was trendy, the audience trendier and the level of luvvie-factor was through the roof. I spotted 5 faces that seemed familiar, I assume from my married days when Emmerdale was a feature of most weekday evenings in the house (albeit NOT for me; more of a Camberwick Green man myself). I was so impressed by the set-up, assuming it was a standard MacMillan press launch, that I got my iPhone out and video'd the small reception room as the first guests arrived.

Apologies for both the darkness of the video (it was a dimly lit room; ambiance and mood setting I'm told) and the abrupt nature of the ending; someone 'asked' me not to take any photos as the organisers had an exclusive magazine deal.

Really? MacMillan are also striking exclusive magazine deals? Blimey I've GOT to get me some of those !! It was then I was informed that the whole set-up was primarily the product of the Emmerdale team and their professional network; MacMillan has been their chosen charity since their series producer died fairly suddenly at the age of 42.

The TV stars did their bit, big cheers from the lads with too many Peroni's or too much testosterone ... or both ... and polite hand claps from the young women in all sorts of male-attracting outfits. A lady from MacMillan pointed out some of the key facts including that on average 832 people would have found out today that they had cancer.

The 5 cyclists approached the stage and had laughter rippling around the room, mainly their own, and a Tour de France cyclist went on stage to be announced as a co-rider, but the room fell silent as James Golding, a cancer survivor and all-round challenge cyclist, told his story. A story you can't believe and it hasn't ended yet.

At 6' 4" tall, about 31 years of age, good physique and (evidently) 14 stone (~90kg) he looked the picture of health; a little bit 'Mark Wahlberg'. His story began (and apologies if I don't get this completely right as his story was one to listen to, not to takes notes of) in late 2008 when he was having back pains.

The medical professionals told him to take pain killers and sleeping tablets and he'd be fine but things just got worse. A couple of months later he was admitted to hospital and they discovered an 11cm tumor trapped between his spine, kidney and another vital organ.

Subsequent chemo had little effect and so with less than 5% chance of surviving the surgery he endured a 6-hour operation. Waking with two pipes in his left side, two in his right, one in his abdomen, one in his chest, one in his arm, one in his throat, one up his nose (to feed him) and one somewhere no man wants a pipe sticking, he weighed less than 6 stone (~40kg).

The surgery left his bowel damaged which required emergency surgery again as all his medication, food and liquid were 'falling out' into his body cavity.

His story of recovery continued over many months and he eventually had the strength to lift his own head off the pillow on his hospital bed, his first attempt at standing lasted for 5 seconds before he blacked out and he learned to walk again. He learned to ride a bike and did numerous cycling challenges, leading up to an audacious attempt to cycle from LA to Miami.

On his first attempt, as he cycled near New Orleans a truck hit him from behind at 70mph causing multiple rib fractures, a skid on the road surface of over 120 feet and much of the skin on his legs torn. Yet he made another recovery from this trauma and re-started the ride from LA several months later, completing the ride and raising £95 000.

James's story (click on this hyper-link)

Further cycling events took place and tonight James announced he had two more challenges in his sights; the first was riding with Team Emmerdale on this exciting adventure and the second is ....... 6 weeks ago he was told he had another tumor.

One woman stood near me was fighting back the tears, others simply stopped doing anything and everything as the room fell silent. Even gasps were not possible as his words revealed the reality of this amazing recovery held such a bitter twist. Hopefully it is not right at the end of the story, simply another chapter in an amazing fight by an amazing human being.

And so with that story came a memory for me; that of my Dad. Someone who seemed simply indestructible, someone who seemed to resist all life threw at him and fought cancer so bravely for nearly 6 years before it took him in its grip. Sleep well Pops, the pain is over and my fight to help in some small way to rid us all of the fear and pain of cancer begins.

Ken Major 1929 - 2010
http://youchangedmyworld.com/view_memorial.php?id=63

'A week in the life of' idea

Had a lovely evening tonight at the Yorkshire Mafia evening in Doncaster (if you live/work in Yorkshire feel free to check out http://www.linkedin.com/ and search in 'Groups' for Yorkshire Mafia) and met some new and some familiar faces.

Gary King, Keith Williams, Mark Longbottom and the SMSmiles teams are all great to see plus met with the crazy but lovely Sarah Louise Walker (congrats on the new role as Sales Manager for YM .... so jealous) and a bunch of newbies including Darren from http://www.wakstudio.co.uk/.

The main purpose of tonight for me though wasn't to just say hello and down a Red Bull in good company, but it was also to promote my Twitter account for the North Pole Trek and see if I could start my climb to 1000 followers; not because I'm an ego maniac (err who sarcastically coughed at the back of the room .... just remember it's not big and it's not clever) but because the more followers I have the more likely one of them will re-tweet something and someone may know someone who may know someone who wants to get involved in supporting me on the Trek. Hey, it's a plan anyway.

I also found myself trying to explain (briefly) but failing (miserably) about how complex it can be to juggle everything in my life so here's a thought; I'm going to pick a week and list all the headline activities for that week. Maybe I'll sit back and think "What's all the fuss about?" or maybe I'll re-read it again and again and think "What ARE you trying to fit into your life you flippin' nutter?"

Anyway whatever the outcome it will be a true reflection but tonight I'm tired so it's bedtime. I'll go to sleep with the memory of laughter from those people who found it funny that my colleagues at work are discussing a sweepstake on how I'll die at the Pole; Andrew (recently back from a three week holiday) added 'whiteout madness' to the list.

I'll also go knowing that on Saturday 30th July I'm 50 and feeling pretty smug that I believe I'm capable of doing something so extreme, so arduous and yet so amazingly brilliant before I turn 51.

Good night.

Ahoj Katka, special message for you (špeciálny odkaz pre Katku)

Piatok 22 jul 2011

Toto treba už brať vážne

Viete, zoparkrát sa mi už stalo že som prehltol veľmi NAHLAS, keď realita Treku na Severný pól doľahne na mna úplne a celou váhou: napríklad kedď som prvý krát ťahal pneumatiky, alebo keď som prvý krát dostal email, ktorý nás všetkých zvolával na prvý tréningový víkend na severný pól, ktorý sa uskutoční na konci októbra v divočine Dartmooru.

Neprehltol som nahlas, ale poyastavil sa na moment keď som videl stan pre dvoch včera večer v B&Q (pozn.prekladatela obchod s výstrojou,stavebninami, športovými pomôckami).

No keď  priložený text prišiel do mojej mailovej schránky, prehtol som znova a veľmi zťažka. Od charity Simon @ Charity Challenge.

North Pole

disclaimer

popis

Už celé desaťročie sa Charity Challenge úspešne zaoberá organizovaním charitatívnych výziev vo viac ako 30 krajinách na celom svete. Niektoré z výziev sa uskutočňujú v divočine, či vzdialených a ťažko dostupných oblastiach. Práve vďaka našim dlhoročným skúsenostiam sa nam podarilo identifikovať a zaviesť niekoľko opatrení na čo najlepšie zvládnutie výzvy severného pólu a mnohých potencionálnzch problémov, ktoré majú bezprostredný dominový efekt na každodenné manažovanie a logistiku.

Prosím prečítajte si nasledovné:

Prečítajte si prosím nasledovné informácie v plnom rozsahu a opýtajte sa akékoľvek otázky s nimi súvisiace. Ak nieste stopercentne istý, že akceptujete charakter tejto výzvy v plnom rozsahu, tiež prostredie v ktorom sa uskutočňuje a body jasne uvedené nižšie, prosím nerezervujte si miesto na tuto výzvu.

Prostredie- info:

1.      Trek cez severný pól sa uskutoční v jednej z posledných skutočných divočín vo svete.

2.      Teplotz sa môžu pohybovať kdekoľvek v rozmedzí medzi -45 stupňov Celzia až do +30 stupňov Celzia.

3.      Barneo Ice Camp a pristávacia dráha je spojazdnená len jeden mesiac v roku (apríl), práve vtedz nastáva naša šanca pre trek/ski k zemepisnému severnému pólu.

4.      Cela výzva Severného Pólu sa odohráva na zamrznutom ľade v hornej časti Severného ľadového oceánu. Doska oceánu ma tendenciu posunu a ľad sa môže popraskať a spôsobiť otvorené tlakové hrebene či prepadliny.

5.      Pohybujúca sa ľadová doska má efekt na čas našej cesty. Ak sa pohne vo váš prospech a teda smerom k Severnému Pólu, budete mať menšiu vzdialenosť na dosiahnutie vášho cieľu, no ak sa pohne vo váš neprospech, môže sa stať že sa ráno zobudíte a zistíte, že musíte prejsť pár hodín navyše len abz ste sa dostali na miesto kde ste v posledný večer skončili.

Základňa Barneo je vybudovaná tak že najprv je vzduchom dopravený buldozér na ľad, vztvorý sa pristávacia dráha a pristane lietadlo s potrebnými nástrojmi na výstavbu a vybudovanie základne. Základňa  je vzbudovaná iba na jeden mesiac v roku,počas sezóny na severnom póle. Problémy so zlým počasím, najmä zlá viditeľnosť pre helikoptéru ktorá uskutočňuje počiatočný presun, či pre lietadlo ktoré môže mať problém s pristátim v akomkoľvek okamihu,môže spôsobiť meškanie celej Výzvy Severného Pólu. Dokonca aj keď je už základňa postavená, akákoľvek prasklina či poškodenie pristávacej dráhz, može spôsobiť čakanie na opravu a dokonca premiestnenie samotnej dráhz na vhodnejšie miesto.

Dôsledky

Všetko uvedené vyššie znamená že dokonca ešte pred samotnou Ski Výzvou môžu nastať obrovské meškania a zmeny v programe.

Akonáhle sa dostaneme na ľad a teda samotná Ski Výzva začne, váš progres bude z veľkej časti záležať na poveternostných podmienkach, fyzickom stave skupiny, či je ľadový povrch hladký alebo nerovný s trhlinami a popraskaninami, či narazíte na nejaké prepadlinz alebo dokonca ľadové medvede.

Existuje neskutočne veľa premenných a vz musíte bzť pripravený na zmeny a oneskorenie, ktoré môžu nastať.

Počasie môže oddialiť váš let alebo návrat domov z polárneho ľadovca.

To be taken seriously

You know there have a been a couple of times when I've swallowed HARD as the reality of the Trek hits home; when I first dragged the tyres, when the e-mail arrived calling us all to our first ever training weekend on the wilds of Dartmoor in late October.

I didn't gulp but I did take a moment after looking at a two-person tent in B&Q last night.

But the attached just arrived from Simon @ Charity Challenge and I've just gulped again. The extract of a disclaimer states: -

North Pole

disclaimer

introduction

For over a decade Charity Challenge has been successfully running challenges across more than 30 countries worldwide in some incredibly wild and remote locations. As such, we have identified and put in place a number of measures to best manage our North Pole challenges and the many potential issues that have an immediate knock-on effect for the day-to-day logistics involved.

.

please read…

Please read the following information in full and ask any questions that you may have. If you are not 100% prepared to accept the nature of the challenge environment and the points clearly detailed below, please do not book on to the challenge.

background

1.      The North Pole trek takes place in one of the last true wildernesses in the World. 

2.      Temperatures can range from -45 degrees centigrade to +30 degrees centigrade.

3.      The essential Barneo Ice Camp and runway is only set up for one month of the year (April) and this is when we have the very narrow window of opportunity to trek/ski to the Geographic North Pole.  

4.      The whole challenge takes place on the frozen ice on top of the Arctic Ocean. The ocean ice pack is moving and the ice can and does crack causing open leads and pressure ridges. 

5.      A moving ice pack has implications for journey times.  If it moves in your favour (towards the North pole), you will have to walk less distance to reach the Pole. If it moves against you, you can go to sleep and wake up to find yourself with a few hours walk just to get back to where you were the night before.

6.      The Barneo base camp is set up by first airlifting a bulldozer on to the ice, creating a runway, landing a plane with the equipment and building a base camp for the duration of the one month North Pole season. Issues with poor weather, mainly visibility for the helicopter to make the initial drop, or for the plane to land at any point, can delay flights on to the ice to start the challenge. Even once the base camp is set up, the runway can crack and have to be repaired or relocated.  

implications

All of the above means that even before the ski challenge itself begins, there can be major delays and changes to the programme. 

Once on the ice, your progress will depend on the weather conditions, the physical state of the group, whether the ice is flat or broken up, whether you encounter any leads (breaks in the ice) or encounter polar bears. There are so many variables that you absolutely must be prepared for any changes and delays that might occur. Weather can also delay the flight home, or your return from the ice cap may have been delayed.

A stray dog beats more training updates

Well so much for great plans huh?

After the 4 miles in Heaton Park sunshine on Thursday I knew the forecast wasn't great and the idea of doing another 4 miles on Friday evening, Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon got washed down the drainpipe so I reverted to the gym but clearly not for 4 miles given they close at 8pm on a Friday and 3pm on a weekend (I do actually support the idea that their employees would like a bit of a weekend as well). This post though starts with Saturday and the tale of a lovely dog.

After the gym on Saturday morning (oh before I forget, thank you to the Flanagan family for adding £5 to the pledge sheet that Iveridge Hall have so kindly put up, as well as all the previous pledges of course) I just had time to get home, freshen-up and collect my eldest from her morning team meeting before we were due at my Mums for lunch. At least that was the plan but as we drove along Canal Lane we saw a black Cocker Spaniel wandering aimlessly up, down and across this busy road.

A car slowed to avoid it, a lorry had to brake and wait to see were it wandered and I was hoping the little thing would hop onto the pavement and disappear back from where it came .... but no .... and it remained in serious danger of being squelched.

Years ago we had a black cocker Spaniel called Pepsi (see below) mad as a bloody hatter she was ......

circa December 2003

..... and so there was an extra little bit of affinity with this dog's plight, no  more so than when Bex said "Dad we have to do something". There was a plea as well as a statement in there so we pulled over in the drizzle and she leapt out of the car. She picked up the dog (pretty heavy and clearly in need of some exercise) and walked back to the car with it, her sports hoodie damp from the rain and the wet fur, the dog looking calm but slightly bemused.

"Help, it's flipping heavy" she mouthed so I got out of the car, opened the boot and placed an old towel in the centre of the tyre I still had in there from Heaton Park. We placed the dog inside the tyre (bit like a rubber basket I guess) and I began to call a variety of organsiations to ask her help as the poor thing had no collar on. The dog just looked up at me totally unphased and unemotional as I stroked it under the chin and tickled it's ears as if to say "Dunno what you're doing Mr, not sure I've ever had this done to me before. Can you tell me where I am?".

After Becky had knocked on a few doors and I had spoken to the Police, a dog warden and finally Wakefield Council, we got support from a guy who worked for them and we agreed to meet him so he could take the dog into care.

In the meantime Becky insisted on texting her sister to tell her; cue the flurry of texts and messages "Can we keep  it if no-one else wants it?". I even had Lucia texting me from Ireland saying she would have also wanted to keep the dog but no, Mr Sensible realises it was a calm cute dog but it needed daily love and attention, regular exercise and (like all Cocker Spaniels) it had a 'smell. It's just not something I could commit to.

Stop it with those sad doggie eyes will you?!?!

Lauren had hoped we could have taken the dog home first to show her and she gave me her best fake drama-queen impression (with a smile) as she said "You gave my dog away" but we all realised that no, we really wouldn't be able to ensure someone was at home every day to walk the dog nor poop-scoop etc etc but yes I will ring the Council on Monday to find out if the dog was chipped and the owner found.

Other than that the weekend has been training, confirmation from Mark at the human-size snowglobe company that I can have a free photo in November inside one of their snowglobes; probably in the Manchester area but central London is also a possibility (Peter, start planning your fundraising and Stephen, start searching for a penguin outfit for yourself) and now I have to set-up my new printer and have 15 e-mails to write.

You know it never fails to surprise me how much time it takes (and money) to do all this Trek stuff. The only consolation is that if I think THIS takes a lot of organising just WAIT until I start planning the 2014 challenge; a 7-seater circular bicycle doing an A-Z tour of Europe, and I'm finding that prospect pretty exciting already!

(Photo from http://www.conferencebike.com/)

One challenge at a time Geoff, you're a long way off the £100 000 donations total so let's put the effort into that first. Speaking of which I have a few more ideas: -

- Piccolino's in Sheffield, Restaurant Bar & Grill in Harrogate and a restaurant in Leeds are all happy to support a fundraising evening

- PPiK (the indoor karting people) are happy to talk about an event

- There's got to be something we can do at the SnoZone at Castleford surely (by the way, their PR agency STILL has not contact me despite Emma's efforts)

- In terms of PR exposure, Virgin Money Giving is going to feature me on their blog and Co-op Financial Services have an internal UK-wide magazine that will carry a small article; they will both be interesting as will the efforts of Tottenham Hotspur FC to feature me in their matchday programme (one before and one after the Trek). Hmm need to buy an updated Spurs scarf as the one I've got still has Hoddle, Ardiles and Crooks on it - err, awkward

Right, better get on then. I'll be back on here sometime next week

Tyre dragging abroad

Hello again; yup it's me after another eventful North Pole-related day.

Let's get the important stuff out of the way first before we turn to the subject-matter of the title. Today the Trek suddenly came one step closer to feeling real, and then another !

- Our first training weekend is confirmed; Dartmoor on 29th-31st October and by using the word 'our' it means I now know there are at least 4 others signed-up to do the Trek. The weekend was going to be in September but I and another guy are on holiday and one of the others flys out, for 3 weeks in the Himalayas - that's some serious sh*t !!!!!

- The flights for the Trek itself are now confirmed as 3rd April and a return on 17th April. Evidently we have a connection and therefore an unwanted few hours stop-over in Stockholm airport when we fly out on the 3rd as they just don't have connecting flights to Barneo on the 4th April. Simon Albert (MD of charitychallenge.co.uk) cheerily typed ".... but getting a few hours sleep on a bench in Stockholm might just be the best nights' sleep you will get over the next few weeks!!!". Sobering rather than cheery would be my take on that statement.

And so onto this evenings' overseas adventure; a tyre drag in a Manchester park. Well come on, for a born-and-bred Yorkshireman it can't get much more overseas than that can it!

MVS Photography came to Heaton Park to take some photos as I STILL hadn't got a decent photo of me training with a Candlelighters t-shirt on and I wanted some other 'neutral' shots for press releases and letters to possible sponsors.

After 10 minutes of shots Mark succumbed to the fact that being in a park with me AND the tyres means you HAVE to have a go yourself. Fortunately for him I'd forgotten one of the ropes so we just had the one large tyre to drag yet, in his shirt and suit trousers, he made it look pretty easy.

Once Mark had gone I set off around the Park and did (estimated) 4 miles in total, meeting some interesting people on the way including this young girl who was trying to sneak onto the tyre. I spotted her just in time before she potentially had a serious accident ......... and then gave in to my parental playful side (oh and there's no need for any comments about how white my legs seem are, especially compared to the colour of my face).

And finally there was these two who were happily on the 'pop' but decided to have a go. They were very impressed about how easy I found it to pull the tyre (even though I didn't have anyone sat on it at the time ... as I said, they were on the 'pop'). Oh yes and ... err ... for those of you with good hearing, apologies for the lack of a 'bleeper' to cover-up the word used.

In addition, one little girl and her Dad waved happily, one guy had a little laugh, one boy asked what I was doing and then his parents wanted to know more about why I'd decided to go to the Pole (darn good question; keep asking myself that) and after a few more stares and a remarkable discovery, I finally got back to the car.

I was tired, hot but relieved because when I lifted the tyre into the boot and started to undo the knot in the rope that tied the tyre to the harness I noticed enough wear and tear on the rope that with the lightest tug, it snapped. How lucky that didn't happen at the farthest corner of the Park.

What was that? Oh the discovery I mentioned above. Hmm, well I only saw one piece of dog pooh on the whole drag (well done people of Manchester and/or the Park Wardens) but I did see five (5) pooh bags dotted around the pavement. Some kind souls had apparently poop-scooped but then decided to leave the full bags on the floor. Bizarre.

Right, off to plan a PR release to try and get the Manchester Evening News to run an article and use one of the MVS Photography shots, and then bed.

And the audience votes are now in .....

First and foremost let me say hello to the reader in Estonia, the one in Latvia and I also see I have one from Indonesia. Now either they're people on their travels that know me/about my Trek or they're searching the Internet for information about 'the insanity of the aged' and Google quite rightly pointed them to here.

Secondly thank you to James Marsden for allowing me the chance to use his stall as a base this morning. Below is an account of the highs and lows of my part-day at the Great Yorkshire Show.

**********************************

I got up feeling remarkably refreshed at 6am, showered and threw on my Helly Hansen cycling under-top and put my Candlelighters t-shirt over the top. Casual but themed I saw the sun streaming through the Velux in my room and, even though I hoped the Young Farmers stand wasn't going to be tucked away in the shade, I figured better warm with something that could be removed than just plain hopeful that it was going to be tropical.

The drive to Harrogate was smooth and my spirits were high although I did have a moment of panic when I wondered whether it was de rigeur to wear a t-shirt and jeans ANYWHERE in Harrogate (unless they were in fact horsey cotton jods that looked like jeans and a rather suave chic t-shirt that said 'I don't NEED branded clothing to inform you I'm stylish and rather well-off' on it ...... just under the ever-so-subtle Platinum Member; Val d'Isere Elite Ski Village logo).

Of course that's a sweeping stereotype so I apologise to the lovely people of Harrogate; please let me come back to do a fundraising event. Pretty please?

Anyway the Show had a huge variety of people attending; farmers in tweeds and wellies, very stylish people in all manner of dress (some clearly ready to be part of the official welcoming party for Charles and Camilla), families enjoying dragging their children away from the rides and toy stalls so they could take them to watch the horse jumping or visit the M&S food hall and buy the things they'd usually buy in Briggate (Leeds), but this time have to carry round with them all day.

On my way in I saw several charities had 'tents'/stall set up including the Samaritans and Help for Heroes so I introduced myself. The guy from Samaritans seemed somewhat bemused by my boldness but the Help for Heroes trio were welcoming and happily took some leaflets to distribute if a suitable moment arose.

Other stalls included such wonders as the Retired Greyhound Trust, the Traditional Molecatchers Association (with a rather appealing opportunity to train as a traditional molecatcher even though one of the posters just looked like a photo of 3 shotgun shells), the Countryside Alliance with its fly fishing lessons and gun-dog display that started with a 10-week old puppy chasing a ball and possibly ended with a pack of hounds dragging a sorry carcass along the green paddock area; a horseshoeing competition and sheep shearing displays. Oh yes and a huge showjumping arena

All these alongside 4 well-known supermarkets, more country clothing stalls than you could shake a stick at and food stalls that primarily sold bacon, burgers and sausage baps mingled in with a great Co-operative stand and a Country Living marquee that had what looked like a 'No chavs allowed' bouncer stood outside.

I finally got to James' stall and gave him the much-needed roll of sellotape. It's a short story but not very interesting; besides the intrigue in your eyes makes me think I've told you just enough to make you want to know that little bit more (which is always a good time to stop typing).

We popped into the Young Farmers building just in time to find Marie staggering in, hangover evident. "I've tried 4 times to get here already. Managed to actually get here this time and I didn't even throw up" she said, collapsing onto the desk and, I think, still wishing she'd failed to get up at the 5th attempt.

The Young Farmers team took 30 of my 47 leaflets (see printer failure reference in previous blog entry) for their stand and so, with a poster advertising my Trek strapped to my back, I set off to find the Show Office to ask if they did photocopying. I felt a warm feeling that today was going to be successful. All these people were bound to be hypnotised by my epic adventure, racing to get their hard-earned cash out and thrust it into my hand, smiling warmly.

Rich farmers deciding to forgo the chance to invest in a prize heffer, businessmen who were offering stocks and shares, investment advice, selling £multi-million properties and sports cars would be keen to discuss mutually beneficial PR opportunities, families weeping openly as they told their young child they had to give his lollipop money to this gentleman who was going to risk life and limb for charity.

On my way to the office I passed the BBC Radio York tent and broadcasting vehicle, the ITV Calendar News van and the Minster FM stand. All were dutifully offered a leaflet, all smiled and I was waiting for the event-wide announcement of "Could the gentleman going to the North Pole please come back, be interviewed and sign autographs?"

Okay so maybe I really wasn't expecting that but ...... I did expect a little less indifference. Having said that I would like to thank the following people: -

a) The lovely lady from Harewood House estate who was trying to get some leaflets added to the Welcome to Yorkshire.com stand. Her interest was genuine and my initial 27-word garbled answer to her questions of "Are you with Candlelighters?" didn't appear to put her off.

b) The lady in the Show Office who told me her daughter had whispered "Have you seen what that man's going to do?" and was impressed evidently. Her daughter had wanted to do Kilimanjaro this year but (rightly) her Mum said revision for her A-level exams came first. As I said at the time, Kilimanjaro isn't going anywhere so she could always go next year. I'd also like to say thank you to the other photocopy 'customer' who asked for a leaflet - rude of me not to say thank you but I was too busy cutting 100 sheets of A4 into 2 without doing the same with my fingertips to be my usual polite self. Sorry.

c) The guy at the Goodyear stand who not only told me the tyre on display for the front wheel of a combine weighed 400kg but that yes, he would pass my leaflet onto HQ in case they wanted to do some PR

d) The guy at Redmayne Bentley who knows and works with 'Cosmic' (real name Colin Day); Colin and I went to Boston Spa Comp'. I think the guys name was Rob but I apologise if it was actually a woman called Edith - my mind is weary from walking and smiling for 5 hours.

e) The woman at the Skoda stand who smiled warmly and got the guy in the Yeti outfit to jump back into his outfit for a photo opportunity - it was the closest thing there was to a Polar Bear although given it was a straight choice between that and an inflatable kangaroo I guess the decision was fairly easy.

f) The 'voice' at the cattle arena who sounded just like Michael Palin in Life of Brian when he was the preacher with the dullest voice in the world. Apologies for the rubbish quality of the YouTube video but close your eyes and imagine you're going to spend £5000 on a cow because of this guy ?!?!?!? His voice will remain with me as an inspiration for seconds.

Finally, in summary, the day was interesting. An experience for sure but at £22 to get in plus I spent £10 on photocopying, £50 in the Show on 'stuff', handed out 40 leaflets of which I'm sure 25 will probably go straight into the bin, lost a days' income and was handed precisely zero in donations ..... I'll have to assume this is a slow-burner, an investment in time that will come good in the next couple of months.

Or not.

Err, hang on let me do the maths

Good morning

Several weeks ago I was invited to attend the Great Yorkshire Show by the lovely Sue from Candlelighters (Harrogate branch), At first I was excited but then realised it would mean taking 3 days away from work (and therefore no income) if I went for the full duration. Sue, understanding this, offered me the choice of days and so yesterday (last minute I know) I decided to go on Wednesday this week.

Last night I began to wonder how it would all work, as I've never been to such a huge event in the capacity of fundraiser. Am I allowed out of the designated stall with my 'bucket', can I approach the other exhibitors as well as attendees, what if someone says they want to donate to one of the other 9 charities I'm going to the North Pole for?

Will I be thrown off the site, dis-owned and shamed by the kind Candlelighters team, plastered all over the front page of the local rag as a villain, begging and harassing the good citizens of Harrogate (and beyond) for money with some wild and unlikely tale of Polar exploration?

But then it came back down to earth with a more fundamental 'return on investment' question and that is if it's costing me £22 to get into the event (yes, everyone has to pay), plus fuel plus the loss of a day's income then how much money will I have to collect to be able to turn around and say it was a good business venture?

If I collect (say) £100, whilst that's ok I have to admit it would have been a better investment of my time to go to work and donate half a day's income; I would not have been out of pocket and the Polar charities would have been just as well-off.

I'll let you know how it goes. Oh and if you're coming, I'll be down Avenue 7, next to the food tent ..... no, that's where the Candlelighters stand is (cheeky) !!

Eclectic posting and a little opening of the soul

The last couple of days have been a real whirlwind and I'm currently sat here, starving, knowing I should go and eat yet eager to share the cacophony currently exploding in my head. In no particular order .....

1. Jon from Greggs Pantry asked if I was going tyre pulling tonight (he has a fascination and wants to get fitter). I said probably not as I wasn't feeling too good today and 20 minutes later, this happened !!

And it lasted over 15 minutes, including the thunderstorm that came with it. Think I'll stick to the gym in the morning before assessing what to do over the weekend.

2. Had a troubled nights sleep on Wednesday and couldn't get the £100 000 fundraising target out of my mind. Whilst I'm pleased I've collected £5 500 already and have £7 000 pledged in total it's still small-fry so I think the quiet period of July and August, when people are away on holiday, is going to be a planning not doing time of year. Could do with 3 or 4 people to take on some of the organising as I've got the ideas but it's implementing them.

I have to say it may have been partially down to my weary state but it all seemed such a long way off, TOO hard to even contemplate and after the local supermarket said "No" to me doing any fundraising there ("All our available fundraising days are taken this year") I wondered how on earth am I EVER going to reach the target?!?!?!? A sense of despondency swept over me and for a minute I mentally caved-in to the fact that I probably wouldn't. I'd fail and let all those people down.

Panic over though and normal determined service is now resumed. Teeth gritted, aims set high and a nice mackerel salad about to be scoffed while I type the rest of this because we men CAN multi-tas .............k (sorry just had to pause to pick up the fork full of food).


3. Had a good meeting with James Buckley on Thursday and an AMAZING session with Ed Ryder. Sadly I'm not a £millionaire (although I've yet to check my Lottery ticket tonight; an unusual purchase for me) because if I was we'd put ALL those things into play Ed from Monday (and the stuff JB and I discussed later that day) and life would just be stunning fun. albeit fun with purpose.


4. Have you checked these out? NOTHING to do with the Trek but simply stunning http://uk.news.yahoo.com/photos/breathtaking-british-landscapes-in-photos-1308756643-slideshow/#crsl=%252Fphotos%252Fbreathtaking-british-landscapes-in-photos-1308756643-slideshow%252Fposnett-photo.html

5. My list of things to do just keeps getting longer so tonight, before a DVD and sleep, I'm running through all my emails and I've spotted 7 that offer opportunities so I'm responding to all. I know that means I have even MORE things to juggle/plates to spin but I've just GOT to keep going, I've just GOT to reach all those targets (financial and training) and work and have time for my girls and continue to build a relationship and get my life back to where it was 3 years ago; balanced and perfect with everything in my life in its place harmoniously.

And that's why it's worth all the effort because I know what it's like to be amazingly happy in life, mentally engaged in the work that I do and to be everything I want to be.

That includes doing amazing things for amazing people like Dr Jon Hastie and Aaron Pask, like George who recovered and like Ella's parents Jo and Steve who are coming out of a very dark tunnel now they see Ella's ongoing recovery, like two people I can't name because one is too embarrassed to say she had to use the Samaritans 11 years ago and one dare not tell her child she has the terrible degenerative MS. Like all those who I'll never get to meet but who are the reason people like me do stupid things. Because we're just so incredibly lucky already.

6. Rob Worrall you made the figure of £23 legendary today; thank you for rounding up the 'National' charity group to £4 000. Who fancies rounding up the Yorkshire pot to £2 000? It's only £102 short of that target right now.

Food, a DVD and bed for me. Busy day tomorrow; got to start to get these plastered everywhere I can locally .....

Enjoy your weekend.

Chris, Jack, Jon, Paul and a cast of thousands (or maybe a little less)

(Note to Jack - your video is right at the end)

Eight miles ...... let me say that again ... EIGHT miles I did on Sunday. One tyre and the searing heat, and I did EIGHT MILES. My only regret was I couldn't try to do another eight miles again today because I SO wanted to but work beckoned on a Monday morning.

Yes it was tough and yes after 5.25 miles (sorry, that's 8.44905km's for our European readers) I had to sit under the shade of a tree for 15 minutes as I was seriously overheating but I did it. Not least without huge thanks to Jon Gregg (Greggs' Sandwiches on Wood Lane near where I live; they're fantastic in taste and fantastic value) who brought me a cold bottle of water and spent the best part of 45 minutes trying to explain why fishing was such amazing a pastime. Errr .... nope, still don't get the appeal. Sorry Jon.

Anyway we'll come to that in a minute but here's an announcement ..... drum roll please .... I'm passed the £5500 fundraising mark and have a total of £7000 pledged so far. Long way to go but I think a few people were surprised I got this far this quickly. Oh and my thanks to Sue Carter at Barclays Corporate and David Miller at Bartfields for sorting out a little problemette regarding the depositing of cheques.

By the way, given this posting is jumping around all over the place here's my current list of things to do ...

a) Speak to Glenn @ Piccolinos (Sheffield) to arrange to meet re. a fundraosong evening
b) Chase the contact at (can't tell you where) about possible involvement/sponsorship
c) Collect the LOVELY £1500+ cheque from Zinc Bar & Grill and send to Sue Carter
d) Collect £165 from others (done today, to be banked next week)
e) Arrange to meet Tina B about fundraising event
f) Confirm date with Claire McCulloch re. room availability for the above event
g) Chase Richard at the magazine who asked for more info on the trek; is there another article in the offing?
h) Find that flippin' e-mail that has the telephone number for the inflatable life-size snow globe provider and call them about its whereabouts.
i) Plan the photo opp that Sir Ranulph Fiennes has agreed to in Bradford
j) Emma Avhede promised me a free massage. Book it !
k) Sandra Nundy, the ever patient Sandra still wants to meet to help if she can
l) Think about the double0stand at the Yorkshire Mafia exhibition next March; some providers of props may need months and months of lead time
m) Which charity can get us some exposure on local TV?
n) Tyre-pulling is fast becoming an interest for people; arrange 6 'events' (see quote from Jon Greeg at the end of this posting)
o) Get 3-5 logo'd polo shirts organised
p) Mark Evans you are a star!! He's offered me a telesales person for an hour a week to fundraise so plan, communicate and thank (again and again)
q) Remember to call Jane Wicks back (done)
r) Paul has offered me a chance to be featured on his corporate blog (40k+ subscribers); arrange !
s) Ski equipment guy; chase again (nicely and hopefully)
t) Can I fit in attending the YCR 'Bounce' Guiness Book of Records event on my birthday?
u) Chase the supermarket who promised to respond to my fundraising request; could be worth £4k
v) Remember to give out the cheeky fundraising Moonpig cards to the Starbucks teams in Leeds on Thursday given Starbucks in Manchester have already fundraised and another branch is offering to.
w) Think about PR event at SnoZone at Xscape (my deliverable in order to get free use of the slope)
x) See Jen in Leeds and Anna in Harrogate soon to organise fundraising events at their restaurants (Leeds is hopefully the 28th September)
y) Prepare for the announcment on October 1st; it could be a great boost !!!!
z) Save a bit of time for yourself

Oh yes, there's a couple more things but they can wait to be added to the list. So on to yesterday (is that a oxymoron?)

The heat was topping 75 degrees (that's 24 degrees Celcius for our European readers) but I had my car loaded with the equipment, a bag of food/fuel, a spare t-shirt and a few bottles of liquid

(On my PC this photo is 'landscape' but it stays 'portrait' on here - help)

I set off and after less than a mile a figure popped into view a hundred yards ahead (although how a guy who is 6' 4" tall can 'pop' into view I don't know). It was Chris, my youngest daughters ex-drum teacher. He'd seen me and wanted to wish me luck ... but declined to have a go. The bigger they are the more scared they get? Anyway he had dinner to cook so it was still lovely that he took the time to say hello; it started the drag off wonderfully.

Then there were three girls, one at least who'd seen me before and asked if I'd "done my thing yet". Bless, yes and that's why I'm still walking round with a tyre strapped to me in the searing afternoon heat. Still their interest was genuine and their intentions nice enough. Thank you girls for taking the time to say hello.

Following them were: -

* a couple of polite lads who asked what I was doing

* a lovely young German-with-an-Australian-accent-living-in-Leeds woman who I forgive for not bringing me a cold beer because she had such a lovely accent, pretty face and a dazzling smile

* no-one from Peroni to actually deliver a chilled bottle; does anyone know the address to write to and complain?

* a couple who'd seen me before and asked how it was going

* the girls stood in the beck who simply asked why I just didn't use huskies when I went to the Pole instead of having to drag my equipment in a sled. Isn't youthful innocence unnerving sometimes?

* the group of lads who seemed keen to have a go with the harness but decided not to when it came to the crunch

* the young ladies who applauded me as I went by, admitting they didn't know why I was doing what I was doing (but hey, what the heck, a fan club is a fan club right??), and ...

* the really nice guy in the motability scooter who chatted to me for a while as I rested between miles 3 & 4 and 5 & 6 . I really should have asked your name - I apologise.

Yes there were a few wise cracks from passing motorists, two of whom I hope are reading this; to the two lads who shouted some abuse from a crappy little car .... my suggestion is when you can pull a tyre for eight miles as part of your training to go to the North Pole and you're trying to raise £100 000 for charity, then you can laugh and shout but ... until then ... please feel free to add both your single brain cells together and maybe put your combined brainpower into thinking about driving or perhaps fundraising for me.

Then there was Jon Gregg; he promised he'd try to turn up and just spend some time with me in case I was bored and you'll not meet a nicer guy. He was thrilled to be offered the chance to have a go so I let him try out the harness on the flat. For his sons, please take note this is your Dad doing some light exercise.

Oh yes and typical; while Jon was pulling the tyre Paul (my PT) arrived to see how I was doing. He was just passing and wanted to see my progress & there I was, sat on the grass pulling up daisies and texting. NOT a good impression; I'll pay for that at the weekend when I'm back at the gym with him.

After that Jon walked with me, then had a go with a tyre up and down a slight incline for 600 yards (550m) and once I'd finished I offered him the chance to try both tyres up and down the hill near the gates. This is the view from the bottom.

Now I'll not tell you everything Jon said but, as he paused for the third time to catch his breath going back up the hill, he said "You do know I'm going to give you £50 towards your fundraising don't you? I was going to anyway but after trying this and realising just how hard it is .... you know you should get more people to try this and see just what you're going through." I will Jon, I will.

(Note - the yardage Jon did was as well as my 8 miles, just in case some smartypants thinks Jon did some of it for me ... Peter)

And so that leaves just the entry about my new friend Jack. What a lovely polite little boy, out for a walk with his Mum and Grandma. "What's that man doing?" I heard him ask so I told him and then asked if he'd like a go. Talk about a face beaming with delight !!!

Here is Jack, doing amazingly well with the tyre ... until he stopped for a breather and then I think it got a bit hard. Jack, you're a little hero. It took me 5 minutes to get this to download from my iPhone and, at one point, I was worried I was going to have to let poor Jack down but I did it eventually.

As we caught up with each other at the car his Mum explained where I was going and Jack asked if I was going there today or tomorrow. Youthful innocence rocks !!

My final thanks tonight goes to the lady at Iveridge Hall Health Club who simply smiled and said "I saw you yesterday. I was passing in my car and noticed you". Think I'm becoming known to more than just the 'Twitchers' - celebrity status it isn't but it's so nice to know that your efforts are noticed. I worked pretty hard at the gym tonight after that.

Good night

Jack, your video is coming soon

Just a quick message to the young boy called Jack who had a go with the tyre harness yesterday - Jack I will put your video on tonight but it will probably be after your bedtime so you can tell all your friends about it tomorrow.

I was a bit tired last night after my 8-mile drag. Sorry from Geoff