Dahlink you'll haf to tok to my agent

Hello and happy Halloween from the newest media luvvie in town. Yes the world has finally discovered 'me' ... or rather the people who tuned-in in Leeds and, as part of a six-month trial, in Sheffield and York heard me on BBC Radio Leeds on Friday.

You can listen to it yourself for a few days more by clicking on this link: -

One on One with Liz Green; Geoff Major

But hold on, I'm jumping ahead of myself so I'll start at the very beginning, which is a very good place to start .. yeah I know, hardly Julie Andrews huh.

Clare Young (of 'The Apprentice' fame) sent a tweet to Liz Green suggesting she features me on her 'One on One' slot; an hour talking with the 'great and the good' of Yorkshire (apparently) and lo and behold I got the invite.

The producer Kim (photo below) and I swapped a few emails and it was done, although I have to say I think she let me down over the promised changing room with flowers, space for my entourage of 14 and the fresh Alaskan water I've now started demanding. I mean it's not as if they've created a monster out of me is it?

Oh and before you answer that rhetorical question, just remember I know how to 'tweet' Max Clifford so watch your answer buddy or there'll be lawsuits and counter-claims about your sex-life with Freddie Starr's hamster !! We fledgling celebrities have rights you know.

Anyhow, back to the plot; I duly replied to their questionnaire, selecting 10 songs and exposing the minor highs and some of the significant lows of my life and suddenly the day was upon us.

I tried to recruit a hairstylist called Gaston afor the event and a Feng Shui guru called Miss Teek-Anong-Patayatu (evidently her real name is Shirley Hegginbottam but she found it tough to get gigs what with the name and the floral stripey wallpaper in the background of her Facebook photo). If they had been available along with a rent-a-PA I found on Yellow Pages and the trio of bald bodyguards called the Cannonballs, my entourage just needed a few hanger-oner's and groupie's and we were there, but no, all busy 'washing their hair' that day, including the Cannonballs.

My travel plans were fraught too. Evidently there is no such thing as a 1st Class Day Rover with the local bus company, something to secure a seat next to the window, so I decided to use my car instead only to find that NCP don't do valet parking!

I finally arrived at the door to fame some 25 minutes later ....

.... only to find them locked.

Fortunately a lovely lady behind reception caught my eye and pointed me to an open door. Asked to sign-in I spotted a huge bouquet of flowers on the reception desk and, naturally, assumed someone had simply forgotten to take them up to my changing room. The lovely lady saw me looking at them and said "Oh do you know Agnes from the dining team? She's leaving today and is really well thought of; they're hers".

Ok first Gaston and the Cannonballs were a disappointment and now these weren't my flowers? Thank goodness I had brought my own bottle of Alaskan water with me, fresh from the 3000-year old ice glaciers and bottled without touching human sk ........... oh yes you're right, you CAN see the Nestle label. Err I must have picked up the wrong bottle in my haste.

Kim arrived in reception all smiles and energy and enthusiasm, and whisked me upstairs into the production suite. A short chat and words of advice before I would be invited into the studio, as soon as the news bulletin started. I glanced inside the hosts booth and recoiled in horror - my god Liz Green looked butch !!!

Just as I turned round to Kim a male voice boomed out of the booth asking "What's her surname?" The other lovely lady in the production suite, Jo, replied "Seth, it's Jackson". Seth?

"Liz has had to go to a funeral sadly so Seth is standing in. He's really good too" said Kim.

Seth was closing a feature on 'first dances at weddings' and some guy (Tom I think) had just phoned in to say his was 'Smoke On the Water' by Deep Purple. Ooooooo-kay then.

An attractive young woman with a lollipop stuck in her mouth glided past and smiled, disappearing into booth 4 to read the news (without the lollipop in her mouth); she looked fresh out of University (am I getting THAT old??) and then I was swept into the booth to meet Seth.

Seth smiled warmly and we chatted a little bit as the news, travel and sport were read; Seth intro'd them seamlessly from his control desk ... and then we were on. I tried to get as many of the 10 charities I'm supporting mentioned, I mentioned the organisers charitychallenge.com twice, Bartfields the accountants once and Iveridge Hall once as well. Not sure their client numbers will go through the roof but hey 'every little helps'. You know I'm sure that's a great catchphrase for SOMEBODY to use.

And so the hour simply flew. Soon it was a final photo shoot and time to depart. I looked back at the glistening building and smiled as I'd clearly managed to sneak out before the paparazzi arrived to grab the photos of me for next months 'Hello' magazine.

My greatest fan and harshest critic (my Mum) rang that evening to ask why I hadn't told her I was on and then promptly said she'd heard it and thought I was great. My brother in California is going to listen to it but will probably give me some grief for complaining about his incessant talking through Match of the Day ... but he does.

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

As I type this attempt at a humorous blog entry, I have to remember that there are people out there suffering daily issues due to one of the dreadful diseases we need to find a cure for, like my Twitter friend Sarah who suffers with MS. Tonight her first tweet simply said "I can't cope with this much longer".

She went on to explain she'd had a relapse due to a chronic infection; the relapse was affecting her breathing (described as "... right now it's proper pants") and due to lack of sleep the previous night she doesn't feel well enough to do the exercises which would help her get temporarily better.

And so, whilst I started to create this blog, while many people out there were tweeting about the 'X Factor' show that was on tonight, of making impressive salads and drinking too many cups of tea today, and about wanting to get so drunk tonight in Blackpool that they can't move, Sarah was having a shit night. One of many she may face.

It wipes the smile off my face, and so it should.

RIP Sir Jimmy Savile, sleep well tonight Sarah and now I need my beauty sleep too. According to a friend (Lesley) I have the ideal face for radio so maybe even the extra hour won't do me any good.

One can always hope zzzzzzzzzzzz

A shameless plug for PR (for you) and donations (for charity)

A fellow Polar Trek participant, attempting the Trek with me next April, has persuaded 2 companies to each pay £10 000 to an epilepsy charity to have their company flag/logo photographed at the North Pole.

Now I'm not suggesting many of you are willing or able to pay that much (or are you?) but you may know someone interested in one of the following two propositions: -

a) Highest bidder gets their logo photo'd at the North Pole (closing date for entries is the end of day 1 at the Yorkshire Mafia conference 2012 (March 21st-22nd) - reserve price of £2 500 and it all goes to charity, so it's a tax write-off for your company as well folks)

b) Are there 500 companies who will each pay £100 to have their logo in a patchwork with the winner of a raffle getting the PR of being awarded the patchwork once I return?

That same business will also be featured as a Foundation Sponsor of the Trek - got to be worth a great feature in the national and local press at the VERY least.

Anyone who has already donated £100 or more to charity through me will automatically be included in the 500 (so thank you already to Hermes Europe, iSource Group, 3CO's, Rullion, Journey Management, TouchPoint Change Consulting and The Individual Restaurant Company). Anyone who wants to top-up a donation they have already made to make it £100 can do so.

Provision of the logos will be at your expense and need to be in a format that one of my creative partnering companies can use. Creation of the patchwork will be funded by using up to £2.50 from each £100 (given I've already PERSONALLY committed to pay £26 000 to go on the Trek).

If the patchwork costs more than the £2.50 per donor, I'll personally fund the difference.

I will require a minimum of 100 companies to make this sufficiently eye-catching to the media folks so please, don't be shy.

Your donation can go to ANY ONE (or more) of the charities; you don't HAVE to donate to a group of 5. It's your hard-earned money and you have the option to decide where it goes.

All donations that are not placed over the Virgin Money Giving sites I've set up are placed in a client account at Barclays that Bartfields the Accountants have set up for me, with Bartfields assuring all sponsors, donors and charities alike of integrity and transparency. Cheques should be made payable to Geoff Major Polar Trek and sent to: -

Polar Trek

c/o BlueDucks Limited

Round Foundry Media Centre

Foundry Street

Leeds LS11 5QP ............ with a covering letter expressing which charity (or charities) you want the money to go to (out of the 10 I'm supporting).

Please send your bids there as well.

Thank you. Lots.

And lots and lots .... and lots ...... and lots. Honest.

You are the weakest link ... hello

Friday 21st October at 4pm saw the start of the first day of our 48-hour (over 3 days) training weekend on Dartmoor for the North Pole Trek. The first time all 6 intrepid explorers would meet and all under the wise and watchful eye of our trek lead, Alan Chambers MBE.

Despite a dud Sat Nav I arrived wonderfully early at Brimpts Farm in Dartmoor National Park; the weather was mild and sunny and exactly what I WASN'T hoping for (given I'd primarily packed for a bleak wind and hopefully some frost). Having had a quick cuppa and read the scandal and international intrigue in the local rag I went for a stroll to find a mobile signal.

On my return a slender white haired mild mannered gentleman entered the room and introduced himself; Geoff Somers our new Trek lead. Err hang on, where's the stereo-typical 'trek lead' I was expecting; hands like paving stones, 6' 6" tall with fingers missing and a scar down his face from the last polar bear encounter?

Would we really be entrusting ourselves (whoever 'ourselves' were) to this lovely gentleman who looked like he could bend in a breeze but take great care of your grand-children (if I had any, which I don't)?

This is about as stern as Geoff S. looked all weekend & I think it's because his tea was cold.

Next to arrive were friends Rob and Rowland (Rowlie for short, although as a standard rugby player with shoulder blades like the back of a wardrobe the word 'short' didn't enter my mind), who are doing the Trek as a 40th birthday challenge. They were closely followed by David who was recently back from mountain climbing, glacier walking and river rafting in India and who would have been diving off Egypt if it were not for this event. Who said Action Man was only ever a toy?

Of course it became clear from David's huge smile that despite his adventurous nature he had struggled with his Sat Nav which had led him past the Farm and on to Tavistock (about 15 miles too far) but what he doesn't know about kit, given his experience etc (and that he's a nice guy too) probably isn't worth knowing and makes him a great polar colleague.

For me the weekend was one for learning and for testing myself against a few benchmarks so I knew just how far I'd come and how far I still had to go. I knew I had a long way to go yet but this afternoon really demonstrated JUST how far!!

It started well as I declined the 'soft' option of an 8kg tyre and went for something more akin to the weights I'd been pulling across the local park. Enter a bl**dy large tyre stage left, and the initial drag felt ok despite the thick brown outdoor-type jumper I was wearing and the jeans, even up the initial incline ....

For the first few hundred yards I kept pace with Rowlie (who looked physically capable of dragging a tractor tyre, with the tractor still attached) but Rob, David, Geoff & soon Rowlie were making far quicker progress and I had suddenly started to sweat, gasp for breath and my legs felt like lead. What was going on??? I'd pulled 28kg for over 2 miles before albeit on the gentle slopes of Rothwell Park or Heaton Park.

I started to curse; getting hotter and more irate I began to repeatedly growl at myself "Come on you old fat b*^%£$d" but it was no use I simply wasn't able to keep up and they disappeared round a corner on what seemed like a never-ending incline of dirt, rocks and ruts. I had made a few fundamental mistakes including not being kitted out for a drag and not warming up beforehand. Lactic acid rules KO !

Rob was good in that he offered to swap his slightly smaller tyre for mine (hmm did you notice Rob that we were near the top of the incline ha ha) but I thanked him and said I needed to grind through this to learn a lesson.

David was good in that he dropped back and supported me verbally until we got to flat grassed ground and then Geoff Somers walked and talked me through the last 1/4 of the tyre drag, pointing out that the weight I was pulling was far in excess of the effort required to pull the pulk (sled) at the Pole.

When we returned Douglas had arrived from the States and soon after Peter arrived from Newcastle; a relatively quiet guy who I think will be a massive team member and a great boost to morale as when he does say something it's bl**dy useful, and so the team was complete. A quick chat from Geoff S and we headed back to the hotel up the road, showered, talked, ate and quickly disappeared off to our rooms to rest.

It was at that moment I had my 'Anne Robinson' moment; I was unexpectedly rubbish at the tyre drag and I seemed to be the weakest link. I needed to buck my ideas up so I didn't perceive myself as a possible liability in the Arctic circle .... 

I truly felt I had failed miserably so when I laid down I did 3 things (oh please, let's keep it clean): -

- firstly I told myself I was here to identify how much I needed to improve and learn my current failings and therefore learn I would !!
- secondly I was paying hard earned money to go on the Trek and I wondered if anyone would doubt the validity of me being there, but I was determined that it bl**dy well wouldn't pop into my mind.
- thirdly I took out a photo of me in the year 2001 that I carry with me to remind myself how I once was (the first photo below has only ever been seen by 8 other people in the world, and shows me aged 40 and clearly wearing a 'tent' for a shirt. The second photo shows me aged 45).

Portland (Oregon) at a trip to see a Scottish Power subsidiary in 2001; the 'grade 4' haircut didn't help : (

Primrose Hill in London, 2005, with two possible recruits for http://www.tribewanted.com/ (well one could always hope)

The next morning after breakfast we had a short discussion with Geoff S and set out for a brief 'drag'. I took two smaller tyres this time and felt prepared to trek up the hill. Douglas made great company at the front of the pack whilst Rob effortlessly dragged the tyre I had tried the day before.

L - R: Geoff S, David, Rob, Peter and Rowland

After food and discussion, Geoff S told us it was time for the afternoon 'drag' but he had a little surprise as part of this one. for a mild-mannered guy he had a cheeky evil glint in his eye !!

We had only walked a relatively short distance when an upturned fibre-glass kevlar sled came into sight and Geoff S revealed the surprises; we were to load the sled with 6 of the tyres we had and, as a team of 6, cross some water and take it to the top of the hill ahead of us. Geoff S would help by loading rocks in along the way for additional weight (so helpful).

And yes it dipped down a lot before you got to the foot of the hill

Douglas and Rob were keen to load the pulk and rig four people in a fan up front with Peter and I providing lift at the side and rear over the numerous large rocks and outcrops. Rather than describe the uphill effort I'd let the next few photos do the talking but just say Rob and Rowlie in particular are just dragging machines; add Douglas and David's power and then finally Peter and I, and we got to the top.

Packing the sled with tyres

Inclines, scrub, tracks and rocks (although the rocks got less as Geoff S loaded them into the sled)

Some of the incline felt extremely steep (but fortunately some of the rocks 'fell out' all by themselves on the way up)

Pack horse at the back, powerhouse in front

Near the summit (and just before Geoff S sat on the back of the sled to compensate for 'lost' rocks)

The white dot, centre right, is near where we had come from

I'm sure David would correct any error I make in this statement but just over 2 hours elapsed time from start to the peak which was 1.83 miles (almost 3km) with us only physically moving for 58 minutes of that time.

Heading back down was far easier to pull, but the navigation was terrible guys : )

Going down was much easier although the team decided to cross the small river at a point where I was unsure I could stay out of the water. At the start of the weekend Douglas had asked what worried us most about the Trek and I said thin ice; I can have an irrational fear of small sections of open water and so this crossing presented a personal challenge.

At one point 3 people were over the other side, I was stuck on the 5th of 9 rocks and 3 people were queuing up behind me feeling like impatient buses waiting to pull out of a junction. Again Douglas helped, this time by passing me one of his walking poles to use as a balancing aide to stick into the river bed. What a frickin' wuss !!! The rest of the guys then followed me, just striding effortlessly from rock to rock.

On the return to the Farm we met Ann Daniels, a female legend of polar expeditions, who gave us an insight into the very modest Geoff Somers. Having checked his profile today (website link below) it soon became clear that mild-mannered Mr Somers was in fact an outstanding living polar legend and I had to smile to myself and momentarily thought "Sir Ranulph who??" (no offence Sir Ranulph).

Geoff Somers' profile

That evening we had dinner back at the hotel, Geoff showed us some of the gear being custom-made for us in Russia and we all then headed to bed to rest after a heck of a day.

The next day we had a presentation from Geoff on polar expedition history and heard about his (literally) face to face experience with a polar bear, then finally learned about and tried putting up and taking down the 2-person tents we'd be using which can be put up in just a few minutes.

After a hearty lunch this bunch of would-be polar explorers all headed in our different directions and the next time the motley crew get together will either be in Norway in March 2012 for some training and trying our kit, or at Heathrow Airport on 3rd April 2012 as we head to Longyearbarn via Oslo, to prepare for our trek to the North Pole. It seems to get more real every time I say it. 

And perhaps David will have learned how to avoid Tavistock by then.

Good night.

Head's all over the place tonight; this is blog entry #3

BEFORE I FORGET AGAIN ..... hello to the wonderful Mandy Barwick and here's hoping you're well on your way to recovery after an exhausting operation for breast cancer. My thoughts and best wishes are with you.

BEFORE I FORGET IN ADVANCE .... thank you to @MargoJMilne and @sarahransley (the Hinge & Brackett of Twitter) for their offer to write a blog entry to help us understand more about a 'day in the life of someone with a sense of humour & MS'. Whenever you are ready ladies; you know the art of the possible better than I.

FINALLY ......... At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'm running one more fundraiser this year to get me shifted past the £10 000 barrier and that fundraiser is at Harrogate Restaurant Bar & Grill. See leaflet below.

Thank you to  Anna 'risky' Fitzsimmons for her amazing help and generosity at reducing the cost of a special menu and guys, a trip to the fundraiser is well worth the effort as Glenn the 'sharpshooter' is suggesting Anna puts herself up as a dinner date for a silent auction prize - someone already offered £5000 if she wears a ski outfit (and no it wasn't me).

So, back to the thorny issue of fundraising; when my Mum, at 79, became my 8th biggest source of donation (after asking at her indoor bowls club members for sponsorship and getting over £100 in total), and my boss offers to bake a cake to help it's all a bit sad from my perspective so I'm doing this event then taking 2 months off to focus on training.

Sod the low response to fundraising, Sod it if MacMillan Cancer Support offered me 8 days of collecting at supermarkets but all I could get was 3 volunteers (although thanks also to Tina Bonetta for TRYING to get a weekend drinking in Leeds aligned to collection opportunities) - I mean I have to learn to ski and shoot and train bloodt hard and see my friends but most importantly my fantastic two girls and Lucia (and my Mum of course) - and work !!

Sod the fact that 4 different volunteers, different to the supermarket ones, stepped forward and then stepped back. It's ok, they have busy lives too and they haven't committed £26 000 of their own earnings to pay for the Trek of a lifetime. I did and I set the aspirational target of £100 000 for charity thinking it would be possible.

I mean it's not as if I'm just trying to organise a tea party or taking part in a 6k fun run - THIS IS THE NORTH BLOODY POLE I'M GOING TO !!!!!!!!!

Rant over.

Sorry.

It's late and that's the excuse I'm sticking to right now.

Maybe the appearance on Radio Leeds on Friday 28th October (Liz Green's 1 to 1 session at 2pm) will create a small blip but it's really then down to 2012 and: -

a) An event in Leeds, late January 2012 (probably at 'Create', the social enterprise restaurant).

b) An event at Piccolino's in Sheffield, February 2012, where my friends and I will ABSOLUTELY fill all 120 seats and generate the best fundraiser ever in my fundraising history !!!!

c) The stand at the 2-day Yorkshire Mafia Conference and Exhibition in March, just 2 weeks before I leave for the Pole. Thank you Geoff Shepherd and Sat Mann for your amazing and undying support and efforts regarding my charity challenge.

d) A goodbye event at Zinc in Manchester, a week before I leave for the Pole.

e) The amazing work Smiles SMS have done to line up 60 organisations and counting to promote my Trek in March and April 2012.

So let's see but, in the meantime, feel free to book seats for here ...............

...... please ......

Page views this week; welcome to the Latvians

Page views this week have been interesting again from a world population' perspective: -   United Kingdom = 77   Latvia = 38 Where did all my Latvian readers appear from (but it's great to see you here guys and girls). United States = 9 Germany = 6 Vietnam = 5 Russia = 2 Brazil, Canada, Ireland and Mexico all = 1

Bedtime, good night

Training itinerary for this weekend

Dartmoor beckons on Friday; 4 tyre drags in some pretty inhospitable terrain.

Can't wait !!!!!


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

Brimpts North Pole Training Weekend

Suggested Programme

Date: Friday 21 to Sunday 23 October 2011

Location: Brimpts Farm, Dartmeet, Dartmoor, Devon, PL20 6SG 

From Exeter (40 minutes) take the A38 towards PlymouthTake 2nd Ashburton turn off onto the B357 to Two Bridges/ Princetown. Follow the road for 7 miles, past Dartmeet, up the hill; we are the 1st drive on the right.

From Plymouth (40 minutes) take the A386 towards TavistockTake B3212 at Yelverton to Two Bridges (via Princetown). At Two Bridges turn right onto the B3357 towards Dartmeet. Follow the road for 5 miles; turn left immediately after the Hexworthy turning.

Friday 21 Oct 2011 (Arrive: 1600hrs)

·         Issue sledge harness rope trace ski poles tyres

·         Chat about weekend using flip chart if need be

·         Housekeeping & safety brief

·         Tyre haul 1: one hour (possible head torch needed)

·         Evening meal in farmhouse

·         Transfer to Forest Inn

Saturday 22 Oct 2011

·         Breakfast

·         Transfer to Brimpts Farm

·         Tyre haul 2: long haul two hours up over fields and moor

·         Shower change

·         Lecture 1:  clothing equipment

·         Lunch at Brimpts Farm

·         Tyre haul 3: with twist & sledge via river

·         Lecture 2: tents and cookers in large barn

·         Dinner at Brimpts Farm farmhouse

·         Polar talk slideshow from Geoff Somers

·         Transfer to Forest Inn

Sunday 23 October 2011 AM

·         Pack bags and transfer to Brimpts Farm

·         Hot drink no breakfast

·         Tyre haul 4; up over fields 90 minutes

·         Shower wash up

·         Brunch at Brimpts Farm and q&a in barn

·         Pack up and depart 1300 hours

It just gets that bit more real but thankfully there's no overnight camping. That's what really worries me ... I know, weird huh?

Thanks also to Howard at Rushfirth Creative for this ..................



People tell me it looks more like me than I do !!



P.S. Welcome to ....

a) Jason who read a blog entry from the Maldives; check out http://www.kurumba.com/ ... a-mazing!! (but insist on accomodation on the non-Male side of the island; that's the capitol of the Maldives, not a sexist statement)

b) Hello Sweden; think you're a first (but trailing Denmark in page views)

c) Who are my Russian readers? 20 page views so far this week and that's beating the USA.

NOW I'm going to go to bed. Honest.

No blood, lots of sweat, some tears (oh and Sam and Olivia as well)

Darn it, been trying to publish this blog for a while but I'm still having technical issues uploading videos from my iPhone onto my PC; it's usually taking 3 or 4 attempts. Anyway, in reverse order, let's get a couple of  videos up here starting with my two newest tyre-pullers; Sam (9) and Olivia (err, 10?).

Part way through my third mile today (full winter kit on too, but more of that later) a lady was walking a dog and what I assumed were her two children home. The boy and the girl (Sam and Olivia as it turns out) were clearly inquisitive but like most people, were a little too shy to ask so I prompted the question by saying "And just as I thought you might be wanting a go".

Sam's Mum (oh how rude, I never asked her name .... sorry Sam's mum) asked me what I was doing; I explained and she smiled broadly and said "Told you it might be that" to S & O (so much quicker than writing Sam and Olivia). Anyway it turned out that they did want a go and so, without further a-do, I present Sam's attempt first.

After that Olivia asked if she could but there was a hitch; the lady with no name (blimey I feel really bad about not asking it now) wasn't Olivia's Mum. Olivia had that '... but I'm in the harness now and want to have a go ...' look on her face. "Please?" she asked.

Sam's Mum (I'm going to call her Kate because that might not be her name but she deserves more than anonymity) pointed out QUITE RIGHTLY that it wasn't her place to say but she pulled out a mobile phone and dialled Olivia's Mum. This is what I imagine the two-sided conversation sounded like (as I only heard Kate speak): -

Kate - "Hi it's me. Bit of a strange one this but .... we've bumped into a guy who's training for the North Pole by dragging tyres around the park ....."

O's Mum - "Have you been drinking the Christmas sherry already Kate ... or is he a bit bonkers?"

Kate - (trying to ignore the obvious answer to the latter question that is clearly yes, probably) "He's letting them have a go if they want to. I've said yes to Sam but he's said he wants to upload the video onto the internet ......"

O's Mum - "Yes that's right Kate, act normal, I'm calling the zoo right now. They'll probably have a tranquiliser gun to deal with him ... keep him talking as long as you can"

Kate - "Well it's just Olivia now wants to have a go but I can't say yes as she's not my daughter"

(Olivia in the background "Please say yes. I'll ask the teacher tomorrow if we can have a look at the internet")

O's Mum - "The zoo have said they're a bit busy right now and the Police say they've seen him often so .... err .... oh alright".

Cue the video of Olivia .....

On a VERY serious note, thank you to 'Kate' for being such a good sport but ALSO for being suitably safety conscious!! If only all parents were as responsible as 'Kate' ... but then the arson attack on the children's wooden play area in Harrogate is another story (8 teenagers questioned about arson evidently; thanks to PCSO James Skaith for the Twitter updates).

So Sam and Olivia, thank you for having a go and you now join 8 other people (children and adults) who have had a go at the tyre-drag.

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

Okay, so that's that bit over with. Today's tyre-drag for me was a new phase insofar as I was wearing my full winter training gear of base layer, boots and Berghaus waterproofs; all the stuff I'll be taking with me to Dartmoor for the training weekend on 21/22/23/24 October, including the old chicken-leg leggings ... but check out that calf muscle definition.

No Fitz' I haven't stuck a sock down the back of the leggings

Putting the base layer on brought back memories of my winter training regime for the Cuban cycle ride (November 2010 - photo montage below)

Lunch on day 1

Our bikes parked on day 4

The Barry Sheene of Cuba, cornering hard (me, not him)

One of the many types of 'buses' in Cuba

It's like stepping back in time

The last night get-together

Ah those memories of sunshine, humidity, alcohol and saddle rash. I'm going all misty here folks. Of course I guess I probably sweated just about as much today as I did in Cuba given it was 15 degrees Celsius and I was wrapped up as if it was -15 .....

And so I'm now thinking back to the happy smiling people I saw today, plus the 3 people who smirked or stared in bemusement, the van passenger who started to shout something and then gave up when I looked up at him, the woman who said I should go to Kwik Fit with my tyre problem (soooooo funny), Dave the elderly gent who was on a 3-mile run in shorts and a running vest, whoever the woman was who told her dog to 'cross over' after fleeting eye contact with me and the INCREDIBLY rude woman who avoided eye contact and didn't even respond to a polite 'hello'. Hope you tread in some dog poo next time you ignorant human being !

Oh yeah, and here's hoping the girl who dropped her Samsung into the beck managed to dry it and get it working again. So sad to see someone crying in public - bless : (

Night

Amuse and views; a schizophrenic posting

Hello. Now before you begin to read this, if you really cannot be bothered to trawl through the usual drivel feel free to page-down to where it says BEAUTiFUL COASTAL VIEWS I'VE SEEN (note that the 'i' in BEAUTiFUL is lower case? A sneaky personal tribute to Steve Jobs, although now I've told you it's there it's hardly sneaky is it).

Hang on hang on, you don't ALL have to scroll down to those photos; typical, give someone an opportunity of a short-cut and they take it. You might be missing out on something up here you know!!! For example the GREAT work done by Rushfirth Creative of Leeds to produce a cartoon logo for my Trek ....

"Dear Howard Rushfirth, does this cartoon make my bum look big?"
http://www.rushfirthcreative.co.uk/

Right, now where were we ................. ah yes. Whilst daughter number 1 treks around Europe for another week and a half (here she is with her boyfriend about to depart from Leeds Bradford International two weeks ago) ......

..... I have been training pretty regularly (7 times in 11 days) and intend to train tomorrow (Monday), tyre-drag Tuesday, and gym or tyre-drag Thursday.

I had really hoped to go tyre dragging today in my winter training gear but it was just too darn warm! I know I know you all crave a little more of the Indian summer but look at it from my perspective; I need to suffer !!!

Hmm that got your attention didn't it.

I mean the week hasn't exactly been a success in every other way for the Trek: -

a) Had to postpone the fundraiser at Zinc from the 26th October due to lack of interest (half term school holidays quoted by most).

b) Asked for 24 volunteers to help collect for MacMillan Cancer Support (they offered me 8 days at Leeds supermarkets which could nett my Trek fundraising another £5000); 2 responders. Thank you to Mandy Barwick of Bibi's in Leeds and Clare Young (finalist in the 2008 series of The Apprentice) for offering some of their valuable time.

c) Tweeted (and got re-tweeted to over 7000 Leeds United fans) about this silent auction prize, with nil replies thus far

Signed shirt by Lucas Radebe, ex-captain of Leeds and South Africa. Nelson Mandela called him "My hero"

d) Banked my first set of donation cheques today; seven cheques in total for ....... £235. Disappointed to say the least but what the heck. can't stress about something I seem to have little influence over.

e) Apart from the wonderful work done by @suebecks with Hallam Uni, I've approached 4 Secondary and Primary schools to ask if they want to use the trek for educational purposes. Nil response.

f) Bought a ski balaclava from CostCo today but had a bit of difficulty putting it on at first ...

Still at least one thing went well today; I found out that I DON'T have to bring my own bodily waste back from the North Pole. That's a great big fat 'phew' (evidently it's only the last degree to the SOUTH Pole that has to be poo-free).

And with that I say good night and RIP young Harry Moseley who died today at the age of 11 from an inoperable brain tumour. Sometimes it's good to keep a perspective on life.

BEAUTiFUL COASTAL VIEWS I'VE SEEN

Well you got here eventually. Just fancied reflecting on some of the great memories I've had in the run-up to creating even more amazing memories in the future. Enjoy ... or not.

Hey you could always hit the 'x' up in the right-hand corner of your PC screen (or the equivalent on your handheld device). No, I was only joki ........

Fishing harbour in Lanzarote (2007)

Sunset off Kurumba (Maldives) 2009

Beach bar on Kurumba

Sunset on Maui (2010)



Same view on Maui, but at noon



Approaching sunset at Trinidad, Cuba (2010)

'The Sun Voyager' at Reykjavik harbour (2004)

La Caleta, a fishing village on Tenerife (2011)

Part of the majestic view from our villa; Royal Garden Villas Tenerife (2011)

The basics are coming to the fore

I have a very stubborn nature sometimes; if someone says or implies I'm incapable of achieving something then sometimes (if it's a suitably emotive thing) I'll forego SO MUCH to be able to prove them wrong ..... and this is where I found myself last week.

Now before I go into all that, here's a quick update. I'm back in training and feel so much better now the cough seems to be subsiding; 45 minutes in the circuit room on Thursday evening, 3 hours 10 minutes on Friday afternoon/evening and a PT session on Saturday. Not that the PT session was great but it was bl**dy good for the first time in several weeks.

The 3 hour+ session was 10 minutes on the cross-trainer to warm-up, two circuits and then a monster treadmill session (the display showed this just as I hit the 10km mark, looking to complete 15km although I stopped just over 13.65km with legs stiffening): -

I was going to go tonight but had too much on my mind including a pretty fundamental debate (as I said, more to come about that soon).

In the last two weeks I've had really good meetings with @suebecks, Clara White from MacMillan West Yorkshire, @joboardman, @karenasemper, bought my youngest her first car (evidently called 'Polly'), took my eldest and her boyfriend to the airport (@lbia) to head off for a months' backpacking around Europe, had a wonderful update from SmileSMS that 60 companies and organisations are going to promote my Trek in March and April, been in the Yorkshire Evening Post again thanks to Heart Research UK (see photo below which has YEP article and, to the right, a teeny photo that appeared in the Saturday Mirror) .....

.... completed a couple of thank-you cards for the Manchester Fort and New Cannon branches of Starbucks and had some charity and some 'charity neutral' photos taking by @mvsphotography, such as .....

Muscular Dystrophy Campaign (for the wonderful Sara Wilcox nee Benson)



Dave at Manchester Fort Starbucks just LOVES this yellow jacket 



Now whilst I was prepared to be proudly photographed in my Samaritans t-shirt ....





.... even with a sense of humour there are limits Sarah ......



....... so let's not push the Health & Safety limits (or the fashion one) eh?

.... but the most interesting thing in the last two weeks were the words from Mandy Barwick and Karen Asemper ............................. and the following is a statement I'm mulling over right now: -

My priorities in life are my children, my health, my relationship, my work, my friends and returning from the North Pole Trek successfully (as Alan Chambers MBE, the leader of the expedition says "Train hard, fight easy") ... and the fundraising activity therefore comes last !!

To complete the Trek I must earn money to pay the balance, I must be fitter and stronger physically and mentally than I have ever been in my life, I must learn new skills, I might learn to shoot, and my desire to push a verbal custard pie in someone's face who said I would never reach the £100 000 fundraising target I set myself MUST therefore come last again.

But I have yet to let go of that 'custard pie' aspiration and could be in danger of trying to do too much of the stuff that feels good and not the stuff that's right & needed. My big question is ....

Do I forget driving at the fundraising target, just raise whatever is possible and be satisfied the statement "Do what you need to do and the rest will naturally flow" (as encouraged by Andrea, Mandy and Karen at different times this year) will come true ..... or do I try to do EVERYTHING and either succeed or fail, and possibly burn out?

Answers on a postcard please (or as a comment below, on an e-mail or via my Twitter address of @northpoletrek will be much appreciated) .... but I think I know the answer. Hmmm.

In the meantime, here's what I dream of EVERY night. Sad, I know ......