Story
Dear Friends
FEB 10 2009
Well, thats it. The last 16 months have disapeared a bit fast, I must say. If we haven't done it by now, it's not getting done. No time for anything else, except to pack the bags and get gone!!!
We've bought all the gear, medical bit's and bob's, gel seats, sunglasses and a jar of bum cream each for when it gets a bit rough. Gavin flatley refused to share his, so I had to buy my own!!!
Well, jokes aside, We will take this last oppurtunity to thank everyone who has supported us in any way at all. And a huge thanks to all those who have contributed financially, both through this web page and any of the other schemes we managed to come up with along the way.
Thats it for now, and we look forward to our return, where we will be glad to bore you all with the stories and photo's of this crazy trip :-))
CHEERS !!!!!!
April 2008. WOW, 3 months have passed already. Its frightening how fast its gone. Now I am attending the Gym, its not always easy to find the time and sometimes the motivation. But I must make good use of the time, because soon it will be gone. I am currently doing 25 to 30 Km per session at the Gym, plus any rowing and swimming as an extra. Its all new to me, but I tell you, after an hour or more, you certainly build up an appetite. I head home and raid the fridge....nothing is safe.
Only problem is its too easy to find some other urgent problem that needs attending to. I will have to be stern with myself, and not make any excuses. Lets see!
Gavin has so far chosen a different tack. He gets out into the outside on his bike at weekends and cycles about 30 miles at a time. Now that British Summertime has arrived, he says he will also begin to cycle during the week. He hopes to notch up something like 100 to 150 miles a week.
I should also begin to bike to work again, as its brighter in the mornings.
Our next big event will be our charity fundraising night in our local Ex-Servicemens club as mentioned above. Now this is only about 12 weeks away, we need to concentrate more effort into this.
Jan 2008 Well, where to start. I never really got involved in a big charity event before. And when I have, it’s been at the edges, rather than in the thick of it. I also have never been outside ofEurope before, so I think I may be in for a bit of a surprise???
It all began with our employer asking us to exercise a bit, by walking or riding or swimming for 30 minutes a day. So I thought to ride to work. Then Gavin approached me with the idea to do a ride for charity.
So here we are a couple months down the road. I joined the gym, and we enrolled to help jointly raise a minimum of £6000 for Mencap. Who would believe it? One minute I have a nice sedentary lifestyle, the next I am off to the gym and planning to bike ride up over theAndes for charity.
And that’s just the start. Because to get there we have to spend the next year raising the money for this good cause ,Mencap.
We have planned a charity night at the local club in June which we hope to have lots of activities, raffles, kids face painting, and a disco. I will be having the obligatory head shave as is usually the custom, and Gavin is the very reluctant volunteer to have his legs professionally waxed. Both of them as well, we hope. This should prove to be a great night for all, with a little time at the end for a few beers and a dance, since we managed to arrange a late bar :-))
We also hope to have several car boot sales during the warmer months, and Gavin has set up a weekly bonus ball using the national lottery.
I must add that our employer has also pledged a generous donation. All of these we will post as offline donations, as the months progress.
Here are a few words from Gavin.......
"I needed to get fit, I'm a little over weight so I started cycling again. I have never really done anything major for charity, so when I found a website for charity bike rides I thought lets combine the two. What a great chance to do something memorable and raise money for a great cause".
So while we can capture locally a lot of support, I thought this page would be great to get our message out to our friends, family and colleagues on a wider scale.
Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Mencap will receive your money faster and, if you are a taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.
So please sponsor us!
So for now, many thanks for your past and future support. Kevin and Gavin xxxx