Story
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So please dig deep and donate now.
In life it's all too easy to forget how lucky we are and how certain Charities are forgotten. I've know that the Hampshire Autistic Society is a Charity which depends on the generous help of the public, so I'm looking for your support in raising funds for them.
I need to raise 80% by the end of May 2010 so please help me to reach this target in time.
The role of the Hampshire Autistic Society is to help both the people with this disability, and the families & helpers to cope and provide the care, help and assistance as and where it is required.
For further information on how your money will be used and help, please go to www.has.org.uk
My Training Blog
18/08/09
Started training with a 20 mile cycle ride. The first 10.5 miles went like a dream, then I came off my bike and spent 4 hours at the QA hospital getting cleaned, X-rayed and stitched up.
So glad that Kerry, one of the fund raising team from the Hampshire Autistic Society, took the photo before I started my training (hence the photo caption). Not the best start to my training, but I hope with your help, my fund raising will do a lot better.
The bike is in for a check up and yes I was wearing a cycling helmet. I hope to get the bike back within the week and get back in training soon.
31/08/09
Back in the saddle & training at last, now my face has healed. Did 22 miles today in 1hr 46 minutes, so quite pleased with my training.
21 March 2010
Just waiting for the good weather so that I can get back in the saddle and train again.
So far the amount raised has reached over £600, thanks to family & friends as well as The North Camp Methodist Church who raised £132 during a coffee morning last Feb.
If you wish to donate and help me reach my target you can either do via this site or by sending a donation annotated/marked in support of Chris Furner London to Paris Bike ride. Please send it to;
Hamshire Autistic Society,
1634 Solent Business Park,
Whiteley,
Fareham,
Hants,
PO15 7AH.
Onec again many thanks for your kind support and help.
Chris
2/4/10
Thanks to family and friends for the £235 as this has pushed my total collected both on this site and at the Hamshire Autistic Society to a new total of £849.
At last the good weather seems to be just around the corner so I will be out cycling soon.
Onec again thanks to all those who have helped me raise money.
9/4/10
Well thats a further £13.83 raised from collection tins, so a big thank you to all those kind people who donated loose change.
1/7/10
I know from this blog that it seems I’m not doing any training but I can assure you that in between signing on at the job centre, searching for jobs and attending the learn direct centre I’m still clocking up the miles on my bike. Touch wood I’ve not come off again although I have had some adjustments carried out on the bike to raise the handle bars and that’s given me more stability. So if you’re reading this, then please think about digging deep and donating some cash to this worthy cause. Thank you for taking time out to read this page. 9/8/10 Well life can be strange sometimes as I found last month when I applied for and got a job and started on the 1st August out here in Greece, all in the space of 3 weeks. So I’ve had to hire a bike for 90euros until the 5 September when I fly back to take part in the bike ride London to Paris. The weather is very hot and I need to drink plenty, the hills are not easily and the bike has strange handle grip shift gears which I hate with a passion plus the bike will only go into top gear when it wants to and not when I want, so you can see it’s very hard cycling especially when the bike changes into top usually when I’ve given up on it and I’m not expecting anything. All good fun honest.............. 6th September 2010 Well today has arrived and I’m on my way home to try and do this ride. 7Th September 2010 Tube are on strike so I’ve had a fun day. Collected my bike from the bike shop all serviced ready for tomorrow then travelled by rail to Crystal Palace. Met Richie the bike mechanic for the London 2 Paris trip really nice guy and so very helpful, if the rest of the staff are like him this will a very well supported event. Admitted to Richie that I having doubts about my fitness level and he has reassured me that based on what I done I’ll be here at the end, although what condition he’s not saying. 8th September 2010 What a day, woke at 5:30 ish and went for breakfast which just made me feel sick, must have been nerves. Well we left about 7am and quickly got into my pace for the ride. I had very polite young lass asked me if she could use me as her pace maker as she found my pace steady and just right for her. Vanessa and I then rode along just chatting while maintaining a speed of 10 – 12 mph, which was ok until we missed a pink arrow and added a good mile to the trip. It was at this point that Ian joined us on his bright yellow racing bike and we became the 3 amigos. Later on we came across one of Ian’s mate and Ian stopped to help him, we met up again at Dover some 25/30 miles later but I think this was down to a miss turning again (note to self must cut back on the chatting) At the last water hole in a place I can’t remember I used the local scout hut toilets and had the good fortune to have a back massage on my right shoulder where the muscle had knotted by the lady tidying up the hut. Well Vanessa & I made it to Dover just before 5 so we had to go over on the second ferry which meant it was gone 11pm when I fell into my bed. My roommate was Muhayman Jamil a very nice & quiet person, who ensured that I was up for the early start in the morning. 9th September 2010 All 132 riders set of about 7ish and Vanessa & I were soon told off by the local police because we were riding side by side never mind. The country side was very hilly and everyone soon spread out and I found myself on my own. Every so often one or more riders would come by and give me loads of encouragement and on some of those hills I felt every bit of my 52 years. When I arrived at the 1st stopped Richie changed my tires to the type for road use and although I was amongst the last to leave the water hole, I started to enjoy the peace and quiet and found the cycling a lot easier. Lots of encouragement along the way from Team Nathan, James, Andy and James and plenty of others which is what this is all about. You see someone in trouble and offer help because you might need it yourself although I not going to tempt fate by mention the p word or lack of it happening. Great lunch by some large ponds then back on the bike for more chafing of my rear end and sore knees. The second day over I had a couple of well earned beers. 10th September 2010 3rd day and what a killer that was. The first leg went like a dream for me so when Ian, Vanessa & not long after we all set off after the water stop I got left behind. I was surprised by how much I struggled. The wind was in your face all the time so you felt you were going nowhere, and the country side was very barren. I hit the mental wall twice on that leg and it was thinking about why I was doing this that helped me carry on, doing this in memory of Denise my wife, all those people who sponsored me and all those who will benefit from the money raise by the kind generous sponsors, so thank you. I was really glad to make it to the lunch stop where I teamed up with Vanessa again except this time we took it slowly as we both hurting. I think we both glad to see the hotel after that day. The one funny thing for us both that day was Vanessa exchanging moo’s with a cow and me having crowing match with a cockerel in a French village, I don’t know what the French people thought of us but you have to do crazy things now and then. 11th September 2010 Well I woke up glad that at last we were on the last day and also dreading getting back on my bike as my legs were chaffed and it was very sore to sit down. My knees were hurting a lot and Vanessa was suffering with her hip joints so we teamed up with Lucy and Hillary for a gentle slowish cycle. We had a great cycle to the water stop, with everyone encouraging each other along the way. Vanessa & I lost Lucy & Hillary along the way and arrived at the lunch stop before they even had lunch ready which was a first for us. Sitting by the river Seine eating lunch, what a perfect backdrop, and then the four us teamed up again onto the last water stop where we were one of the last as Vanessa had a puncture and Lucy showed our group of 4 how to sort it in quick time. Once we arrived at the water stop it was a quick change into blue T-shirts then all 131 rider’s set off together in convoy through Paris for the last 3 miles amid much cheering and hooting of car horns by the wonderful French people, you couldn’t help thinking that this would never happen in London, we went around the Arc de triumph (or whatever way they spell it) onto the Eiffel Tower. Although we didn’t end underneath it we did end it right in full view of it at roundabout which we went round a couple of times while Family & friends wave and cheered us all, the French were also cheering & hooting their horns. It’s an amazing feeling that you get as the French people come out of restaurants and take photo’s and cheer or clap you all along the final 3 miles. At the end of this challenge I’m sore but elated; I’ve learned about myself and found some peace regarding my late wife Denise in whose memory I did this event. I met some amazing people and made some special friends along the way, so if your reading this and wondering if you could do this then all I can say is try it and your be amazed by what you can achieve for yourself and your chosen charity. A big Thank You to all those who sponsored me, you helped me when I struggled because I was determined not to let you down. To everyone who encouraged me thank you and to anyone reading this and feeling generous please donate as this site stays open for a little longer. Thank you to Kerry James & the Staff at the Hampshire Autistic Society for your help and encouragement right from the moment I decided to do this, I couldn’t have done it without your help. Thank You Chris