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.

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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

Early to bed, pain and a wave across the road

It's only 10:08pm and here I am, back from another 3-mile tyre drag tonight and suitably fed and watered so it looks like it could be an early night which is good because I slept like a log last night after the gym but looked tired today .... according to Dora the Explorer.

So it's just a quickie tonight.

Started the drag tonight with one tyre again to maximise the distance in the time I had and it requires a much shorter warm-up for my muscles to avoid problems. In fact it was so short .... err I didn't do one so you can imagine my surprise (not) when I got a pain in the bridge of my foot and then a burning sensation in my lower calf after about 1.5 miles. That got me wondering, how would I react if I got an injury?

What would happen if my Achilles snapped or if one of the yapping dogs in the park decided to take a chunk out of my leg or if, while racing 'Grandad Vickers' down the stairs at work, he pushed me and I tripped up and broke my leg?

I think that follows on from the theme at the weekend when my Mum said she'd shown a friend and one of her neighbours the article in the Yorkshire Evening Post; one of them said he admired my courage and determination .... especially with the crevices that can appear at any time and 'woomph' you've suddenly fallen down a 200ft drop. Nice and encouraging : /

Of course that can't top the talk amongst my colleagues about some morbid bl**dy sweepstake they're planning (polar bears, thin ice or Trek lead getting whiteout madness and turning on us all seem to be the leaders at the moment). And just when you thought team spirit was dead.

The 'drag' tonight started poorly after I met a woman walking her dog. She asked what I was training for and I puffed my chest out with pride, smiled modestly and said "Oh I'm training for a trek to the North Pole next year". Well if I was expecting a sharp take of breath and a 'wow' look in her eyes I couldn't have been further from the truth. "Oh one of the blokes at work is training for that next year" she said nonchalently.

I suddenly felt like a balloon in a cactus farm, my pride popped a million times but towards the end of the drag the nicest thing happened and it's made me smile ever since. Rather than tell you about it, check out this 'special messages' video clip.

Fame ...... fame at last !!  I'm ready for my close-up now Mr deMille. Thank you whoever you are for shouting me, waving like mad and saying those encouiraging words. At least that's what I THOUGHT you shouted.

And so dear reader I'm heading to bed; busy day tomorrow at work and then got to talk to my girls over the weekend about my upcoming 50th birthday. Strange isn't it that at the age of 47 I suddenly decided to ramp up the element of adventure in my life by training to cycle across Cuba and now I'm going to go to the North Pole.

Can't WAIT for my 53rd birthday to do the next wild thing on my list !!!  Good night.

A summers eve; what an idiot !!

Dont .... stop it ..... I can hear you now; some of you are tutting, some are laughing as you finish off another cold drink now the BBQ has died down, some are simply shaking their head in disbelief but yes, this evening I went out with one tyre and did a 3-mile drag.

I had hoped to spend as long as required to cover 6 miles but it was far too hot today and it would simply have been madness. Instead I stayed in the back garden and read the Sunday Times, did some VAT analysis and completed a report.

But as the afternoon came and went I had clearly been stalling for time, almost putting it off until tomorrow but I decided enough was enough and suddenly felt a surge of determination. Oh don't worry, it will pass quickly but boy was I suddenly up for it. Here's a little clip of just how much fun I was having ......

I was going to talk about the physical pain, the psychological torture, the brief but good chat with 4 lads who looked as if they could drag five tyres before breakfast, and the two very pretty young women who were brave enough to ask what I was doing but no, I'll sum up the 'drag' with the briefest of text exchanges with Stephen: -

GM - "It's still at least 75 degrees; what the **** am doing I pulling a tyre for 2 hours?"

SV - "Or you will die in the ice"

GM - "Fair point well made"

And so I carried on, not for 2 hours (as the midges were starting to feast on my legs) but I did 3 miles and yet, at the end, I was left cold and saddened ...... the 'Twitchers' are moving house. It's the end of an era, the crumbling of our national pastime, the signal for a dynasty to fade away.

Oh well : )