Mission Statement

Welcome my little blog, my name is Martin Hookway and this blog is a way for me to log my personal thoughts & views as I am attempting to complete personal & physical challenges each year with other like minded people.

The next Challenge's:

LONDON MARATHON (21st April 2013)
EDINBURGH MARATHON (26th May 2013)
YORKSHIRE MARATHON (20th Oct 2013)

THE ADIDAS THUNDER RUN 24 hour Race
#PROJECT100in24 (27th to 28th July)

I will be running as usual with GPS with Runkeeper & tweeting as I run on @TEAMB_O_B as long as I have phone coverage so all your support will be gratefully received.

I am currently funraising for Rainbow Trust so please dig deep if you can to help this amazing charity.

Rainbow Trust is a Children’s Charity that provides emotional and practical support to
families when their child has a life threatening or terminal illness; immediate
help is available for families 24 hours a day. Support is offered from diagnosis
through treatment and, should a family become bereaved, we continue to support
them for as long as they need us. They help family members cope with the present
and prepare them for the future.
So please dig deep & help this great charity, just think £10 is a meal at KFC so by donating £10 you will not only be helping yourself but you'll also be helping others ;o)

Cheers for taking the time to read my blog, its greatly apreciated, fingers crossed it will bring a smile to your face. My challenges never quite go to plan... ENJOY.

Saturday 24 September 2011

WAY OF THE ROSES (DAY 3: Off Road Baby)

Day 3 started bright & early, for most of the team. Martin was not in the mood for breakfast / dreaded peeling off the broken skin that was still attached to his backside that had adhered to the cotton bed sheets over night. Roomy for the 2nd night running Ian, soon threw back on his now slightly smelly T shirt, (3 Days of usage had taken its toll) & bolted for the door to meet up with the team that were patiently waiting down stairs unhappy at the fact that breakfast did not open until nearly dinner time.





The planned 7am  breakfast then start unfortunately turned into us rolling out at about 8pm, the ride out of York was at a good pace as poor Sue had to work nights tonight & was being picked up from Bridligton at tea time, the conversations we mainly of who was going to be left behind due to fatigue & how much our backsides hurt & that we would not leave it as long being "out of the saddle" before the next challenge. We started on mainly "A" roads, this resulted in a lot of map checking *cough* & getting lost. Eventually we made our way back to the route only to find it took us onto what can only be described as a farmers field!

Again I had drawn the short straw when it came to choosing the right bike!!! As the rest of the team ploughed through the field on their bikes I was left behind weaving my bike around rocks & pot holes praying not to get my 1st puncture. Well the praying must have worked, not 1 puncture! The field was a pure shock, none had noticed this apparently on the map or while researching the ride "apparently", on the plus side my riding style to cycle over this field eased the pain caused on my backside, but it was not long before we hit tarmac on the way to Pocklington causing me to have to park my rear back on the seat.

Pocklington was our breakfast stop before our last climb of the challenge, fully refuelled Spud & Ian edged their bets on the best route out of Pocklington.
 
Todays Bonus? 50% chance of getting lost maybe??? A short ride soon lead to The Wolds!!! Looking out over the hills here never seems to stop amazing me, I have rode this route a few times although normally in the opposite direction. We have seen some great views over the last couple of days but here seemed special, weather it was the fact they were familiar to me or the knowing that we never had far left I dont know, but I put my head up & enjoyed the steady down hill ride into the valley.

Our route was right through the centre of these hills
The lasses were behind as we rolled down into valley, the elevation rises as you hit the middle of the valley & gets steeper as you climb.


At the bottom of the valley I noticed a couple of bikes abandoned at the side of the road, as I slowed down there were faint sounds of moaning & groaning, slowing further I noticed a body on the other side of the hedge, then I noticed another! "GO ON MY SON" I shouted, bless their little cotton socks, I don't think they expected to see us riding past. Well that lifted our spirits to say the least as we started to climb, the climb was no were near as hard as the climbs that we had done over the last few days but knowing it was all flat at the top made it even more of a challenge. We were tired & soar, the lack of training had certainly taken its toll, I can safely say reaching the top was a relief as the gradient on the last 100 meters just sapped all the energy I had left, using the excuse of waiting for the others I pulled up at the top to rest.


 AT LAST!!!! THE FLATS!!!
It was a strange feeling knowing we were closer to home than we were the finish line at Bridlington, but this was it, we could now have some fun! We were on my bikes territory now! With my backside in bits I had to stand up while riding for a bit, luckily for me the flats pumped a bit a adrenaline through me & gave the perfect excuse to put my camera in my bag, put my head down, backside up in the air & go hell for leather on this straight level road.
Now, now guys, there is no need to be like that
Stopping for water in a little village we just so happened to park our bikes us against a memorial that a photographer was planing to use on some wedding shots. Instead of politely asking us to move on he continued to take his pictures, I feel so sorry for the bride as she looks through her wedding proofs to find a picture of a grotty cyclist (Me)  stretching off behind her husband.



A couple of miles down the road we stopped for dinner & although the bar manager had to send his wife to the shop for sandwich fillings we successfully managed to get ourselves a sandwich without needing a mortgage or upsetting any of the locals in the process.

We compared our butt cheek pain levels then set on out on the final leg, all plain sailing!!! We thought!!!


DIVERSION!!!! But were soooo close to Brid!!! This diversion took us up some hills, yes hills we were not expecting. Dont get me wrong, the "what goes up must come down" saying was true to its word this time, but when a fun down hill section (ON A STRAIGHT ROAD) causes your 1 & ONLY puncture when you have just cycled over rocks, boulders & through farmers fields.... *deep breath* I'm just saying that one may get slightly annoyed knowing that we were so close to the finish.



Changing a flat on what can only be described as the farmers A1 that has no paths, (dam I have not seen as many tractors in one place in such a short space of time!) was not, lets say "Ideal".

Rolling hills followed more rolling hills, none of which could compare with their predecessors, but you have to take notice when you have just cycled (YES I CYCLED) up a hill to find this at the top:

A couple more names were etched to the cross, a couple of photos were taken to lighten the spirits & we were back on our way. Then we saw it! No not the sea, not yet:


BRIDLINGTON! The end was near. I went into a bit of a lull at this point as the fun was nearly over, I played the last few days back in my head as we rolled through the streets to the sea front. We had to stop at another diversion sight that sent us off the road & through a housing estate that had no roads. As we got off our bikes we attempted to push them over a busy main road. There was a chorus of "GO... NO NOT NOW,"  "AFTER THE RED ONE.... NO WAIT" This went on for a bit until Spud & Ian made it first across, Myself, Shanni & Sue made the next gap but only to the centre of the road. As myself & Sue decided to stop, Shanni continued to push her bike across. lol, I know you should not laugh, but seeing the guys face as Shanni just walked out on him, then seeing her "am I bothered face" look straight back at him, followed by Sue Shouting at the bloke as we walked across the road. The poor bloke!


A couple of uneventful miles brought us through the arch & on to the sea front. A brisk weave through holiday makers thinking they own the front parade lead us to the finish post, which happened to look very similar to one we had seen 177 miles ago. Yes I said 177 miles not the 170 it should have been, I blame the diversion at the end my Bridlington council not our self made scenic route we "chose" to take just to see more hills we could walk up! WE HAD MADE IT!!! Well I say we! Me, Shanni & Sue had made it, Where were Ian & Spud? I hear you ask, well I asked the exact same thing. Apparently they had stopped in the housing estate to "Check the map".



We waited...
And waited...

5 mins later they rolled up.

JUST IN TIME FOR OUR GROUP FINISHING SHOT... 
BEFORE ...
Guess who came rolling in behind us with their "We'll ride at this pace all day" tail between their legs?


Bless Their little cotton socks, you should have seen their faces when they saw that we had beaten them to the finish. Talking to one of their Dads, he told us that they had even sett off on the same day from Morecambe. QUALITY!!!!! Eating humble pie we rode our lap of honour down the sea front straight to the pub!


But not before phoning The Wife!!!


A Pint turned into 2/4 *cough* 5? Does that sound about right? As we drunk on the front watching the sea roll in, we never once thought about how bad we smelt or even about how the hell 4 of us were going to get home on the train with bikes (Sue had to shoot off as she needed to get to work). Until we realised the last train was about to leave in 5 mins... That was the fun part, attempting to get our bikes to the station in 5mins after the equivalent of about 8 pints due to lack of food in our system. Arriving at the station with seconds to spare was a bonus until we say 3 other bikes also at the platform. Knowing that a carriage has only 2 bike holders we edged our bets & "squeezed" onto the train. All was well, the train set off, the ticket conductor accepted our request for tickets (even though in my drunkenness I dropped my £20 worth of change on the floor). All was well until a (lets say) "Ten bob Millionaire" made it her mission to get us kicked off the train as a safety hazard. A tirade of abuse came our way, which was returned  with comments like:

 "this is a working class train love, for working class people"
 "your not in 1st class now love, welcome to cattle class"

The poor woman must have walked up & down the train at least 8 times to the toilet on the 2hr train ride, doing her best to push into our bikes every time. I wish I would have seen her face when not only 1 but 2 conductors told her to stop moaning as we were doing nothing wrong or even when after being asked by a child: 

"My Mum thinks you lot are those famous people that are travelling around the world, ARE YOU? Cos she daren't ask."

Shannie replied with:

"No love, we are just friends that are trying to catch a train home after cycling from Morcambe to Bridlington for charity"

LOVE IT!!!!!!! She was very quiet after that. 

So even right to the last breath of the last day, it was an eventful challenge, one that I was no where near prepared for. To be honest, Im so glad I wasn't. Hookway to Hookway was a personal challenge. I needed to complete it in the fastest time, I rode solo & I rode hard, I trained as best I could. This was FUN! Fun as in being a laugh, yes it was hard at times, I was kicked off my bike by hills last year I would have breezed, but I would not have changed it for the world. There were so many points where we stopped to make fun out of each other, give moral support & take make more fun out of the inflicted. WE HAD SUCH A LAUGH! While at the same time Spud & Shanni raised a shed load of cash for Yorkshire Cancer Research & Spuds sons football team.

A great ride with some great people! A ride that has given me the push to ride more, a ride more frequent.

Now time to plan a couple of my own challenges... Watch this space & THANK YOU for taking the time to read my little bog. :o)

Ill Leave you with the best advice I have ever received about cycling, the advice comes from Spud, well Spuds bike to be honest:



Martin


Saturday 10 September 2011

WAY OF THE ROSES (DAY 2: What More Hills?)

Day 2 started with a fond memory of Ian adamant we would be ok to have another pint last night, the nearly persuasive words of "One more wont hurt, surely?!?!" ran through my groggy head as I dragged my unfit body out of my pit. Surprisingly, me & Ian were the first down for breakfast followed by Sue then Spud & Shanni. The Breakfast consisted of laughing about Day 1 & comparing aches pains & sore points..... Oh & a picture of a bloody tractor that hung near our table! The room was full of a local artists work, each one had a label at the side of it with a description of what the piece represents.

This picture of a rusty old tractor in an over grown field never:






Being all intellectual & stuff, we started discussing the fact that it may be the artists depiction of the fall in agricultural farming or... to be honest I cant remember! What  I can remember is that we ended up asking the slightly grumpy breakfast waiter.

"oh the tractor?" he said, walking up to the picture he explained that all the other pictures had an explanation at he side of them, "But this.... Well, its an old tractor in a field?! Apart from that I aint got a bloody clue! Now who wants tea and who want coffee?"

An apt end to good night spent in The Devonshire Arms, at last a great breakfast, comfy bed, great food & beer provided by very friendly & welcoming staff.
We all got our gear on & agreed to meet on the front court asap. As predicted I was the last one down but before long we riding the cobbles out of the court & after a slight downhill out of town the rolling hills started & before long turned into climbs & the beer sweats started!

Everyone is waiting for Martin!

Deja -vu
Come on Sue nearly there
Reaching the last "planned" climb of the day Spud could not resists.
The sign at the top of the climb, now time to free wheel down... (or so we thought!)
As we all met at the peak we all dismounted (if we had not already) & took in the view, even though it was still early & slightly over cast, the view was worth it. But the "Champaign Moment" had to be when Ian decided to take leak in a farmers field!!! In the middle of nowhere, not a sole to been seen for miles, Ian walks across the road & starts to unbolt a gate into field, when out of nowhere a car being driven by a slightly confused & angry looking farmer pulls up. Ian freezes (mind you I think we all did) as he climbs out of his car, then just stares at Ian. After a couple of seconds of uncomfortable silence Spud shouts over, "He's just taking a leak mate" What he expected 5 people with bikes to be doing near his cow field in the middle of nowhere was far beyond us but he still looked quizzical. "oh, ok" he replied, but he still stood there looking at Ian & into his field for a while before getting back into his car and slowly driving off. A bizarre moment that will probably haunt Ian every time he has to stop for a pit stop while walking his dog.
7 miles of hills climbing about 700ft in 1hr gave me a kick up the backside to start training once I got home, but it was such a laugh, but now for the real FUN STUFF, Greenhow Hill was our challenge of the morning & our last big challenge of the ride, but we had done it! NOW we had a 1000ft drop in 4 miles, this was grit your teeth fun!!! With speeds of 30mph with brakes on & a side wind when the trees opened in places, this down hill was a case of letting go of your brakes as much as you dare. Weeeeeee... I followed Spud, I don't mind admitting that he had more balls than me, at one point I quickly looked at my cpu to see I was going 34mph but he was still accelerating faster than a police man who was late for his dinner. This is one hill id like to go down again but next time id appreciate it if the local council would sweep that bit of loose gravel up on the bent that is about 3 miles down!!! Rolling at speed over loose gravel certainly makes you clamp you seat between your thighs tight! As we hit the bottom our brakes thankfully stopped us, the village of Pateley Bridge was littered with parked cars on one side of the road so the voice in my head was screaming " PLEASE DONT PULL OUT OR OPEN YOUR CAR DOOR, PLEASE DONT PULL OUT OR OPEN YOUR CAR DOOR, PLEEEEEEEASE!!!!" One by one weel all made it to the bottom & looked straight back to see if the next person was in tow.

Only Ian left
Now this is a grip of death!!!
Regrouping and rolling off we headed for Ripon for dinner. This should have been a steady ride, but me & Spud shot off in front & while too busy messing around crossed between the joy of seeing another down hill we tucked into our bikes & shot down into the next village, unknown to us the other three had taken a sharp left turn to continue of the "Way of The Roses" track. So our 2 mins of down hill fun soon ended. After a phone call from Ian we realised that we had taken the wrong turn. "Take your next left at the crossroads & we will wait for you" Ian told us. As we turned left we were caught off guard by what can only be described as a wall, the climb kicked us off of our bikes after only a 100 meters, a 500ft climb in only 2 miles was a hard walk that would have been more suited for walking boots not my cycling shoes with cleats. IT HURT LIKE HELL, another lesson learnt?

Riding another 22miles into Ripon hurt, I was so glad it was all flat(ish).

I did say flat (ish)

Ian (still shaking from his downhill fun settled his nerves with a Mr Whippy as I polluted the local supermarket with my smell to buy some baby wipes & BO spray so as I could freshen up before going into a pub for dinner.


So after a quick map check we were informed that there were 4 pubs on our outward ride. As it happened we never saw 1!!!!! We eventually passed a pub, with an outside eating area, perfect. As we rolled up a couple of locals informed us that the landlord was just shutting the kitchens but if we hurried (& asked nicely) he may let us have dinner. Shanni to the rescue!!! Surly Shanni armed with the line, "we are doing this ride for charity" would work in our favour again, just like it did with the closed bridge?

Shanni walked into the pub, then we hear her voice before we see her...

"Get your bikes we're $%£* not putting our money over that counter, what a RUDE ARROGANT $%&$"

So the kitchen is closed then Shanni? After upsetting the locals we rode another few miles until we came across a nice little pub, this kitchen was also closed but the cook agreed to make us sandwiches & chips. £8 for a bloody sarni!!!! I was that hungry I'd have paid £8 for a that scabby piece of toast & the handful of beans we bought in Morecambe. Any way the grass proved a very popular resting place for our soar bits & it was not long before Ian got excited about the wine list & started to chat up the locals, all be it a bit stuck up & stiff Ian enjoyed the one way conversation. We also met a solo rider who was just about to get back his bike as we arrived, he made us a little angry as he proceeded to tell us how he had cycled up ALL of today's hills as he finished his pint of larger & landed his plump backside onto his bike seat & peddled away with a smile.

A quick smell check before going in to order
Ian Pulled (even in his smelly t-shirt)
...And Chill in the sun, Happy Days
So we were soon back on the road & it was not long before we bumped into another group of fellow Way of The Roses'es / idiots or what ever we are called.
These guys were, lets say slightly big headed as we rolled up to them. "we are just having technical problems you know, we have been going faster than this" Bless their little cotton socks, they never liked the fact that 5 misfits sailed by them, they soon proved a point, caught us back up & powered past. This game of cat & mouse passed a few miles on the now boring flats until we hit a toll bridge.

Riding with our new competitive friends
Stopped at the toll bridge (take note of the cyclist hater on the right)
Me & Shanni made it across
So me & Shanni made it across the toll but the rest of the group were held back in the confusion of the debate in which no one was sure which lane a bike was supposed to go down. The Toll attendant was all in a fluster upon seeing 15+ bikes all mingled in with the cars that he changed his mind a couple of times, with shouts of "YOU CANT RIDE DOWN HERE YOU'LL RUN ME OVER" eventually came a "GO, GO, GO, QUICK RIDE" as the car in front never had the right change, to be honest no one could do anything apart from laugh at the "on the buses style" management of this toll.

See you soon lads x
 The cat & mouse fun continued until they took a wrong turn (SUCKERS!!!) the roads turned into pretty cycle paths again going into York, we stopped for a group photo 5 miles out of York at IL TRENO...

IL TRENO (aka the restaurant with a train carriage crashed into the side of it)

... Before more cycle paths along the river...

Where I raced a speed boat (& BEAT IT) BOOOOOOOM river speed limit IN YOUR FACE
The paths turned into a little off road syleee but luckily still no puncture for me on my roady!!!
bounce baby bounce
Passing the Minster
 Arriving in York we had another "Terrain check" (LOST AGAIN), a steady ride along the main roads in York made a nice change, York is a lovely looking place & if it was not for the traffic it would be a joy to ride. Rolling into the Travel Lodge in plenty of time time to shower & put cream on our soars way a welcome rest before re grouping outside to walk to the nearest boozer that had SKY tv, England v Bulgaria was the entertainment of the night & of course a few beers could not hurt...
 
  


COULD IT??????

... OF COURSE IT WONT

Still to come on DAY 3, Off roading on a road bike (this time over a farmers field) One more Climb over the Yorkshire WOLDS ;o), a couple doing rude stuff in a field, fun on the flats, an unexpected diversion, we get lost AGAIN, we meet again with our competitive friends & of course we arrive in BRIDLINGTON!!!