RIP @roadbikedave

What a sad day.  Dave Hargrave from Sunderland died last night. When I heard the news first thing this morning I couldn't believe it.  Here's Dave in Sunderland, the day I met him on my GB Coastal Bike ride - the blog from that day is http://billhoneywell.blogspot.com/2011/06/day-31-seaton-sluice-whitley-bay-to.html

Until April I had never been on Twitter, but thought it might be a good site to make people aware of what I was doing on the big bike ride and keep them updated with progress.

I was soon followed on Twitter by Dave, and his friend Craig Stephenson (@chewbikker) and found his tweets amusing and encouraging in a kind of way.  As I approached the north-east, having battled my way through Scottish gales, Dave tweeted to say he'd try to join me for a few miles.

I didn't expect to see him to be honest - people often promise but don't fulfil, and I'd had the same kind of message before, only to result in a no-show.  On a beautiful Sunday, 12 June, my route was Whitley Bay to Runswick Bay, and for a change I had company - my son Mark, his best man Chris Toop, and James and Jill Alpe from my home town of Clitheroe. A record turn-out.

Good to his word, Dave (with Craig) found us at South Shields, and then cycled with us through Whitburn, his home town of Sunderland (which he knew like the back of his hand and clearly loved), then on to Seaham where we stopped for food and drink at our motorhome. I'll never forget how he loved the fruit cake made by my sister Pat, insisted on sending her a tweet, with a photo, and then asked for the recipe.

Afterwards he kept in touch and we nearly met again on an organised ride from York, but he was delayed at the start and I didn't see him again.

He was so enthusiastic about everything - he loved his bike, his local area, his family, life, everything. I felt like he should be an ambassador for - well, the human race almost - he was clearly such a gentleman.  

All I know so far is that he was cycling home from work in Newcastle to Sunderland yesterday evening, and somewhere in Sunderland he had a sudden heart attack.  I don't think any other vehicle was involved, although early reports spoke of a collision with a bus.  His last tweet was "Just had a pret chocolate pudding. That'll make me good n lean. Aww what the hell eh. I'll ride it off at 6pm." Typical humour from the guy.

Cycling - and the north-east - lost a real gem of a man yesterday. How can I be so close to tears when I write this?  That's the effect Dave must have had on everyone.  My sincere condolences to his wife Hannah and their three young children. RIP fella. Ride safe everyone.

The French Connection

Clitheroe is twinned with Rivesaltes in the south of France and there are regular visits between the two towns, usually involving light hearted football matches, spearheaded by the regulars of the Wagon & Horses pub who style themselves The French Connection.

This April’s visit by the Clitheroe contingent was slightly different in that two regulars – Roger Hargreaves and Pete Parkes – cycled the 1,000 miles there,  taking about two weeks to do the trip and raising money for various charities including the North West Air Ambulance, Riding for the Disabled, Crossroads Care and my Cancer Research UK fund.

They had a celebration on Saturday night in the form of a black-tie ball at the Stirk House, Gisburn, which I attended with Val, Frank & Bern (who drove the motorhome on the penultimate week of my ride).  A good time was had by all, although I was a bit embarrassed because every time the compere mentioned Roger & Pete’s ride, he compared it – not very flatteringly - to my 4,500-mile Round-the-Coast bike ride!  Roger has a great sense of humour and wasn’t in the least bothered.

After the meal it was time to present the cheques and I was thrilled to receive £1,000 for Cancer Research UK.  So a thousand thanks to the French Connection!

On the following day, Sunday, it was my turn to have a post-ride ‘bash’ – this time a barbecue in our back garden. Clearly, I don’t share the same style or panâche as the French Connection guys!  On the guest list were supporters, family, neighbours and motorhome crews; amazingly the weather held off, apart from the high winds, but they weren’t a problem, fortunately.

(Drinks were obtained from D Byrnes of Clitheroe who provide an excellent sale or return service for such occasions – Byrnes’s wine shop, in Clitheroe town centre, is legendary, and if you haven’t visited it yet you ought to put it on your ‘to do’ list.)

Thanks go to Tony Spencer and Frank who manned the barbecue, and to everyone who came and had such a good time – it was an excellent way to celebrate the success of the ride.

The total amount raised for Cancer Research UK, including money pledged from the Rock at the Castle event, has now gone over the £25,000 mark and there is still the Backridge Autumn Fayre to come the weekend after next.  That’s comfortably above my original target – which for a long time I thought was over-optimistic!  You can still donate if you wish by following the links on this blog.

The Adventures of Bat-man

It has rained here all week. I mean, all week. Until lunchtime today, when for a while there were some patches of blue sky whilst it was still drizzling, then it actually stopped and it felt quite warm.

I quickly got changed, pumped up the tyres on the bike and set off around my favourite circuit – about 26 miles around Sawley, Bolton-by-Bowland, Wigglesworth, Forest Becks, and back.  With a nice tailj-wind to start with, I was soon passing the ruins of Sawley Abbey, crossing over the River Ribble and heading along familiar lanes.

Autumn is here and the sloes are ripe on the Blackthorn bushes in the hedgerows. I made a  mental note of where the big crops are in case I decide to make some sloe gin.  Stump Cross Lane featured in the local paper this week when someone described it as the dirtiest road in Britain – full of cow-muck!  Whoever it was hasn’t been on too many roads I guess – I’ve seen a lot, lot worse on my recent travels, but today I was unlucky enough to come across the culprits. The farmer was taking his herd of cows along the road after milking and I got stuck behind them for five minutes.

There’s been correspondence in the national press along similar lines – someone on holiday in Polperro complaining bitterly about the smell of fish (!). One letter replied with a lovely story about a man on holiday in the Scilly Islands. He called at the shop and asked for a newspaper. ‘Yesterday’s or today’s?’ he was asked. ‘Today’s please’ he replied, naturally enough. ‘Well come back tomorrow!’ was the answer. Excellent!

Pipistrelle

On arriving home I found a bat lying on the patio – rather like a bird, stunned after flying into the window, but it hadn’t.  It was alive but very dozy, so I placed it somewhere warm and sheltered, and it soon disappeared into safety.  Pipistrelles (which is what it was) are tiny – a lot, lot smaller than a field mouse. I could see its heart beating; its fur was fine and smooth; the back legs were as thin as needles, with delicate toes and claws; and the wings are incredibly long, folded, with a single long claw on the elbow joint. Bats aren’t blind – it had tiny bright eyes and would blink now and again.

By coincidence, when John came to partition off the shed – to make a compartment for the hens, complete with perches and nest boxes, he found another pipistrelle clinging to a small piece of wood inside.  I put it on top of a wooden arbour nearer the house and soon it had crawled around so that it was hanging upside down from one of the columns.

A lot of bats flutter around the pond at dusk – they’re great to watch from out of the living room window – and as well as pipistrelles we get a larger species which dips down almost to the surface of the water, presumably catching low-flying insects.  I think they’re Daubenton’s bats, but I’m not sure.  Must get one of those bat-call gadgets so that I can identify them.

Just as predicted, the weather looks like it will get wild for Sunday when we have the post-ride barbecue.  I need to get the meat and booze tomorrow, and also pick up the motorhome which has been in the garage since the day after I got back, for repairs to the damage caused when the tree fell on top of it near Fort William. Brother-in-law Keith will be pleased – he wants to borrow it tomorrow night to go down to the Stock Car World Championships at Northampton!

Finally, BBC Radio Lancashire rang when I got back from the bike ride this afternoon – they are doing a piece on Monday’s Breakfast Show with Graham Liver, on surviving bowel cancer, and want me to do a telephone interview just after 8.00 am.  I’m getting used to these radio appearances, they’re good fun!

The Skokholm Island Appeal

You may have seen a news report today about hundreds of young Manx Shearwaters being rescued from rough seas off the Pembrokeshire coast.  The weather has certainly been severe – but even so, it seems odd that birds which should be used to such conditions got in such trouble.

Probably the biggest breeding colony of Manx Shearwaters in the world is just off the coast of Pembrokeshire, with roughly 50% of the world’s population – 165,000 pairs - nesting on Skokholm and Skomer, its near neighbour.  Quite a few people visit Skomer as it is easily accessible by a daily boat service, but Skokholm is a different matter.  From Broad Haven the Dale Princess would travel across to Skokholm on Saturday and not return until the following Saturday.

The Dale Princess arriving at Skokholm

I’ve been three times to stay for a week.  For some reason, Val has never been interested in accompanying me.  This could be something to do with the fact that there is no running water and no electricity.  Lighting in the old farmhouse, originally occupied and renovated by Ronald Lockley many years ago, is by gas, and the only way to get a wash is to do the dishes and then use any unused hot water left over in the boiler!  The chemical toilet doesn’t sound too enticing but spirits are lifted by the paintings of birds which people have doodled on the walls!

It is a magical place though, despite the privations.  Measuring only a mile or so long by half a mile wide, it’s easy to walk around in an hour or so, but the main thing is that it’s a fabulous place for relaxation whilst enjoying the bird life which is all around – as well as the Manx Shearwaters there are Puffins, Guillemots, Ravens, Choughs and lots more.

A Puffin

There’s only room for a dozen or so visitors, and the accommodation is pretty basic – I’ve stayed in the outside huts, and also a dampish room in Lockley’s farmhouse.  The first time I went there was an evening routine of reviewing all the birds seen during the day.  As the names were read out on the first evening, Gus, a Dutchman and keen birder holidaying with his girlfriend, said “Loos and I had a Shag on the boat on the way here.” and wondered why the room erupted into laughter.  I told him you can ‘have’ a Gannet, or a Razorbill, or a Cormorant, but you ‘see’ a Shag – and explained why.  Lovely language, English.

Skokholm is owned by the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales, and recently they have undertaken an ambitious programme of refurbishment, which was well overdue. Now the lighthouse on the island is for sale – Trinity House want £100,000 for it – and the Trust is doing its best to acquire it to safeguard the future of the island and return it to its original status as a bird observatory.

If you want to know more, you can visit the Trust’s web site at http://www.welshwildlife.org/skokholmIntro_en.link

Rannock Sheep (and other breeds)

I started the morning with a bit of Breakfast TV (as usual) – today there was a piece from Skipton Auction Market on the rise in sheep prices.  Skipton is only 18 miles from where I live, and as it happens I know the auctioneer there – or more correctly I did know him, because John Hanson retired this year.  He doesn’t look old enough.

The reason I know him is because a few years ago he asked me to speak at the Annual Dinner of the Rannock Sheep Breeders Society - now held at the Millstones near Blubberhouses, between Skipton and Harrogate - but at that time the venue was the Hopper Lane Inn (also at Blubberhouses).  I’d spoken to Ribblesdale Farmers and Settle Farmers before, but hadn’t heard of the Rannock Sheep Breeders, and thought it must be a breed of sheep I’d never heard of.

On the Pennine Way near Keld three years ago - these are Swaledales, by the way...

That’s because I’m from Lancashire. I can hear you Yorkshire tykes laughing already.  A rannock sheep is just another name for a bad ‘un.  Or, if you don’t mind me mixing metaphors, if you’ve bought a rannock sheep, you’ve bought a pup.  Hence the subtle Yorkshire irony in the name of the organisation – because clearly no-one would set out to breed rannock sheep.

Anyway, I turned up at the Hopper Lane Inn to find a group of around forty farmers, auctioneers, cattle dealers and so on congregating in the bar, ready to give me a warm welcome. After a hearty dinner, which consisted of a Yorkshire pudding starter, main course of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, and finally, Yorksh apple pie and custard, it was time for me to stand up and entertain the assembled throng with around 45 minutes of amusing anecdotes and the odd risqué joke.

It seemed to go very well. When I’d finished, John Hanson stood up to thank me and then, to my surprise, asked if anyone else had any good jokes to tell.  There then followed at least another hour of side-splitting humour as members recounted their own stories, and several jokes which were a lot more risqué than mine!  It was without doubt one of the best nights-out I’ve had!

I was then given the heart-warming news that I was a lifelong honorary member of the Rannock Sheep Breeders Society, entitled to come to each Annual Dinner, with or without a guest, and it’s now an annual fixture in my diary. The format remains the same, so I always go armed with a few new jokes for the after-speaker entertainment!

My favourite sheep photo - on Gayle Moor, while walking the Ribble Way, 2007.

Getting back to the original subject of sheep, I’ve known for a while that the cost of getting sheep clipped (sheared if you’re from down south!) has been more than the price obtained for the fleece – about £1.20 against around 40p. It’s a disgrace.  Now the price of the wool has tripled and it’s possible almost to break even.  The price of sheep has also gone up because of the value of the meat.

What I found difficult to understand was the carpet manufacturers (who take  most of the wool) saying that it was getting too expensive and that they would have to look at other (synthetic?) materials as a substitute. Well, £1.20 a fleece still doesn’t sound that bad to me, when a good wool carpet can cost well over £30 a square meter! But then, what do I know about economics?...

…There was a bit of a furore a couple of years back when it was discovered that the question paper in the final Economics exam at Cambridge Universtity was identical to the paper about five years earlier. Clearly, students who studied the past papers would have had an unfair advantage. The day after the story appeared, there was a letter in the Daily Telegraph from an economics professor. In his view there was no problem – the questions might have been the same, but after five years – the answers would be completely different!

Hen Huts and Bothies

I’m alright today.

I had a good response to my ‘revelations’ in yesterday’s blog.  A couple of weeks ago I was able to help an old friend – recently diagnosed with bowel cancer – on what to expect, and following my explanation yesterday I was contacted by someone else whose close relative is finding it difficult to come to terms with their recently-created ileostomy – and of course if I can be of any help I’ll be delighted.

Another important matter taking place yesterday was the relocation of our garden shed from near the house to the bottom of the garden, in anticipation of Val acquiring a few hens – an ambition she has held for some time.  I got out of the heavy labour due to my frail condition!  My main concern, when in due course the chucks arrive, is to keep them out of the grip of Monsieur Reynard.  I’ve already seen foxes nonchalantly strolling across the field behind the house, so I’m sure we’ll get a visit before too long.  A friend of mine has a security hatch on his hen hut which is controlled by a photo-electric cell – as it’s going dark, it shuts tight. Chickens only get left outside once, apparently – after that (assuming they survive) they make sure they obey the electronic curfew!

It’s surprising how much wildlife there is – on the day I got back from the Big Bike Ride there was a Roe Deer in the field behind the house, whilst on Saturday I looked out of the kitchen window just in time to see a male Sparrowhawk fly off with a Blue Tit in its talons – nature ‘Red in Tooth and Claw’ indeed.

Last night my brother Richard and his wife Sue called in on their way back to Macclesfield from a day in the Dales which included climbing Penyghent. He mentioned that there might be another ‘Bothy Trip’ in October. The last one, to an awesome, snowbound Ben Alder in March last year, was great fun but hard work and soooo cold, as the photos will hopefully testify.  Bothies are about as primitive as you can get – no electricity, water or even any kind of toilet (just a spade – don’t ask!) – but there is no escaping the sense of adventure.

Ben Alder bothy

Cornices on the descent of Ben Alder (3,766 ft) - March 2010

It was little consolation to learn that Richard Dugdale, Len and Steve had a good day on the Manchester 100 yesterday – with an average speed of 17 mph, which was exactly what I was aiming for. So frustrating not to be taking part.

Talking of cycling, I did say that I’d get some statistics sorted out from the Cycle Round Britain’s Coast, and my confinement gave me the ideal opportunity.  Here they are:

Total mileage:                     4,440 miles (7,190 km)

Total height gained:  205,000 ft (62,500 m or 39 miles)

Total time spent pedalling:    392 hours, 19 minutes

Total pedal revolutions:        1,412,340 (approx)

Average speed:                   11.32 mph

Average daily mileage:          64.3 miles

Average daily ascent:            2,970 ft (906 m)

Total calories burnt pedalling:   230,000 approx

Average total daily calorie burn:   4,500 – 5,000

Shortest day:       18 miles, 2 hours

Longest day:     99 miles, 11 h 45 m (including time spent with police after assassination attempt!)

Oh - and the total amount of money raised for Cancer Research UK has now reached £24,300 - if you want to help the figure reach £25,000, click here -http://www.justgiving.com/Bill-Honeywell

Under the weather - an explanation

Here I am, sitting at home feeling sorry for myself. Not because I’m another year older today, but because I’m not feeling at all well.  I’m not sure whether to spare you the full details or not, but suffice to say at this stage that yesterday afternoon I started with an upset tummy and by this morning I’d managed to lose 3 lbs in weight!

Today I was due to cycle the Manchester 100 for The Christie – one of Britain’s largest cancer centres – but when my alarm went off just after 5 am I knew that there was no chance I could make it, so I went to the loo (again), rang Richard Dugdale (who I was supposed to be going with) and then got back into bed.

Of course, the weather has been perfect for cycling, but I could have predicted that!

I can’t believe how many people have sent birthday wishes via Twitter and Facebook – several also wished me good luck on the bike ride and I felt a bit of a fraud having to tell them that I was stopping in bed for most of the day!  I hate that, just as I feel really awkward if anyone calls on the rare occasion when I’m out of sorts. I just want to be left alone to be honest: Val finds this very difficult to cope with, when she wants to take care of me and I don’t want to be her ‘patient’!

No, I won’t spare you the details - I ought to explain a bit more. Outside my circle of many long standing good friends and family, I guess most readers of this blog won’t know much about me.  Even the bit about being a double cancer survivor seems to have gone missing from the introduction to this blog, although I could swear it was on there earlier.  Well, in 1999 I was diagnosed with a bowel tumour and had to have a pancolonectomy – or in layman’s terms, a big operation involving removal of the large bowel and the creation of an ileostomy – an outlet on the body surface with a discreetly hidden pouch which collects – well, you can work the rest out for yourself.  Sometimes this operation is reversible, though not in my case.

This operation is a lot more common than you might think – it’s used in the treatment of severe Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Crohn’s Disease as well as bowel tumours.  I bet you probably already know a few people who have either a colostomy or an ileostomy without having any idea – after all, it’s not the kind of thing that one normally shouts from the rooftops.

But maybe we shouldn’t be so reserved and secretive. If it was more widely realised that an operation like this isn’t the end of the world, doesn’t stop you from leading an almost perfectly normal active life, then perhaps it would help. I wonder if some people needlessly put off getting their symptoms diagnosed for fear of this kind of operation – only to find, tragically, that they’ve left it too late.

Just occasionally – twice in twelve years in my case – something goes wrong. On Friday I cooked a dish of spicy lentils and rice, and ate lots of it in spite of the fact that the rice was undercooked.  This led to a blocked stoma which had me in agony by yesterday afternoon, and although it cleared itself by around 4 pm, my poor insides felt – and acted - like they’d had a good going-over. Hence today’s situation.

I’ll be alright tomorrow.

Keeping it up...

So what’s happening?  Well, once I’d been back for a few days after the Big Bike Ride around the coast, I found that I was rather fitter than before I started. No surprise there. Not wanting to slip backwards again I’ve kept up the cycling, including two Cycle Sportives of 100 miles each, and I’m doing another – The Christie Hospital Manchester 100 – tomorrow, which also happens to be my birthday.

If you don’t know already, you don’t want to know how old I am.  Correction – I don’t think I want you to know how old I am!  I’ll give you one clue – bread, sweets and sugar were still being rationed when I was born.   How times have changed. What a cliché!

There is a breed of cyclists who, despite the obvious pain and general discomfort, love to cycle up hills. I think I’m one of them, even though I’m no good at it: on the Clitheroe Bike Club forum there’s a league table of times for Waddington Fell – a Category 1 climb in cycle racing circles: the fastest time is 15:44, I think.  My fastest time is a snail-like 20:08.  I’m no Brad Wiggins, that’s for sure. 

But this week on a grey, chilly Wednesday morning, I cycled to Settle on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales, then up the 1-in-5 Langcliffe Scar, past Penyghent to Halton Gill, Litton, Arncliffe, and back over the 1-in-6 climb to Darnbrook, Malham and then back home. And afterwards, I felt really good – weird, isn’t it?  The scenery, the villages, everything about this part of the Dales, are simply sublime. Had I stopped at The Falcon in Arncliffe (I didn’t), I would have been served beer out of a jug, really.

Penyghent from the Pennine Way

I wish I could say that all motorists shared my enthusiasm for this form of two-wheeled transport, but alas, ‘tis not the case. The majority are decent, polite and courteous, slowing down on narrow lanes and giving the cyclist sufficient room when they pass.  But there are others who treat cyclists like something they’ve just stepped in. It’s a little disconcerting when the approaching large vehicle maintains a steady ramming speed as it gets ever nearer, or when a Chelsea Tractor leaves only a hair’s breadth as it overtakes. Perhaps the drivers think they are entitled to do this because I don’t pay Road Tax. Well I do, actually.

I’ll wrap this up now – the Manchester 100 starts at 7.30 am from Wythenshawe Park so I need to be out of the house by 6.00. An early night’s in order I think! I’ll put some statistics from the Big Bike Ride in the next blog, hopefully.

CancerBikeMan Blogs Again!

I’m getting blogging withdrawal symptoms. Perhaps, to be honest, the symptoms have more to do with the fact that I’m no longer on a 10-week, 4,440-mile non-stop bike ride than the actual writing. But I have to say that although writing the blog wasn’t always a welcome chore at the end of a long day, it was – on the whole – a lot of fun and very satisfying. 

Now I’ve been home nearly six weeks.  It took a long time to get straight (who am I kidding? I’m not straight yet, but I’m probably as near as I’m ever going to get) and I still have a lot of work to do before I’ve finished organising all my photos and reminiscences.  But I’m frustrated, because I want to get out and about again and I can’t.

There are lots of reasons for this.  Family – Val’s mother needs constant care and so she can’t get away when we’d like.  Whatever the sceptics say, this country has a fantastic welfare service:  we get vouchers for 42 days’ respite care per year – i.e. accommodation in a nursing home so that Val and her dad can have a rest now and again – but that’s 323 days a year when Val, her dad, (and I) have to look after her – I’ll spare you the details but she needs help to do things that most readers take for granted, plus frequent trips to hospital – and again the health service is brilliant, but we can be kept waiting for hours sometimes and it gets more than a little frustrating!

Then there are other commitments.  Due to my disappointingly low level of intelligence I seem to have collected lots of responsibilities, despite having semi-retired from my main job – which for those of you who don’t know me is… wait for it… an estate agent.  I still do a few routine and non-routine tasks for the office – sorting out some of the admin, advising on one-off problems, and – like yesterday – applying for a licence to play music in the office! 

I’m a Trustee of the Clitheroe Royal Grammar School Foundation, a charity which supports the school, its pupils and parents. An interesting job which keeps me in touch with my old school.

The Daily Mail had an article a few weeks ago on “20 things that tell you you’re getting old”.  At number 15 was “you become a Parish Councillor”.  In May this year I became a parish councillor for West Bradford – which isn’t anywhere near Bradford but is just outside Clitheroe.  It’s a lovely village if you don’t mind driving past the cement works and over a very narrow bridge to get here.  It’s one car at a time on the bridge, which works OK except when someone can’t reverse.  Then it’s really hilarious or deeply frustrating, depending on how much time you’ve got.

And finally, I’m pleased to say I’m in demand as a speaker for various groups – I’ve got bookings from organisations like W.I.s, Helmshore Ladies’ Group, Grindleton ‘Time Out’, Great Harwood Mothers’ Club, Clitheroe 41 Club… the list goes on.  I usually receive a speaker’s fee which always goes to a cancer charity.

Did I say finally? Oops – I forgot the Rotary Club of Clitheroe, where I’m in charge of fund-raising (can’t imagine why!) - there are various events to organise, including two ‘supermarket collections’ before the end of this year, a dance next May (Saturday 5^th if you’re interested, with the superb Swing Commanders, at the St Mary’s Centre, Clitheroe) and hopefully a Pendle Witch fund-raising race later next year.

Whoah! That’s enough for one blog. I haven’t even got on my soapbox yet. I’ll get writing again shortly, perhaps with a bit more news and some opinions. If you like the blog, post a comment. If you don’t, post a comment too – I can take it!

Last Friday was the Rock at the Castle event, at Clitheroe Castle.  I was asked to bring my bike and say a few words at the first interval, after Waltz Invention had played.  It’s a great venue with a proper old fashioned bandstand facing a natural ampitheatre, and despite the damp weather there was a good turnout.  After my stage appearance (!) Big Al Taylor and I got on with selling raffle tickets – we worked up quite a sweat and ran out, having to send a runner (well, former Mayor Mary Robinson actually ma’am) to get some more!

The event was a great success, with performances from Blues Dudes and then Freebird –  I hadn’t realised the bass guitarist was my old next door neighbour Derek!  It was also a financial success, and although I haven’t got the final figures, Cancer Research UK will benefit from another several hundred pounds!

---

You may remember I did the Action Medical Research Cross Pennine 100 mile sportive a couple of weeks ago.  I thought it was so well organised it would be worth doing their York 100 event last Sunday.

320 riders did the 100 mile route, starting from the excellent facilities of York University. I set off in the 3rd or 4th bunch and decided to go out quickly to see how long it would take to tire out! So I got on the wheels of a couple from Harrogate and did the first 8 or 9 miles at over 20 mph, then, after being dropped on the first hill of any consequence, kept up the momentum and enjoyed overtaking people for a while.

The foodstops, facilities, in fact the whole organisation, were excellent. The first stop was at Thixendale Village Hall – much of the route was in the Yorkshire Wolds and the descent to the village is particularly scenic.  After a further 25 miles lunch (still only 10.45) was at Burton Fleming, no more than five miles from the route coastal route near Bridlington that I took on my Round Britain Cycle.  Son Mark’s best man Mr Chris Toop caught me up about five miles before the stop and we rode those five miles together.

From the halfway stop the route was all into headwind, back towards the Wolds and then, from Coneythorpe and Castle Howard, the undulating Howardian Hills through Malton.  Overall it was a lot hillier than I expected (3,700ft in 103 miles). I finished in 7h 39m 22s, first time ever in the top half at 142nd. A superb event once again – AMR do about the best job I know of organising sportives.

At the finish I was talking to another rider and mentioned I was from Clitheroe. He said "You're the second person I've seen from Clitheroe today – an old bloke wearing a Clitheroe jacket came past me this morning, going like a train!" I knew there was no-one else there from Clitheroe so that must have been me. Talk about getting an insult and a compliment in the same sentence!!

I also had another free massage.  It turned out that my masseuse, Libby, was born and brought up in Clitheroe and went to the Girls’ Grammar School.  She lived on Green Drive which is about 300 metres as the crow flies from where I was brought up! Small world indeed!

Action Medical Research’s next local sportive is the Lake District 100, 25th September. It starts in Keswick with Honister, Newlands, Whinlatter, and Kirkstone passes, plus the delights of Borrowdale, Buttermere, Ullswater and Windermere.  They say it's 7,000 ft of ascent but the Clitheroe Cross Pennine event was that – this is actually nearer 10,000 ft. Anyone interested?

A Surprise At Lunchtime

First things first.  I’m a member of Clitheroe Rotary Club.

Now before you start thinking of secret societies and the like, let me tell you it’s nothing at all like that. On average about 40 members of both sexes - mainly men, I admit - meet every Thursday lunchtime and have a one-course lunch (oh, the decadence!). The banter is brilliant. We organise all kinds of events: some raise money to spend on good causes, and on others, like the town bonfire, we get stuck in up to our elbows.

If you still think it’s a secret society, come to the Old Post House on Thursday and see for yourself (let me know beforehand so Roger knows how many lunches to make).

Now, when I told fellow Rotarian David Bleazard last week that I’d reached my initial fund-raising target of £20,000 he said, with a nod and a wink, “Don’t shave the beard off yet – keep it on till the next meeting.”  My imagination began to run riot – perhaps a scantily clad young lady with a cut-throat razor and lots of shaving foam?  What did he have in mind?

It was therefore with some trepidation that I went to the meeting yesterday. Ron Duxbury, the District Governor was attending – ah, now before you start thinking – let me say that ‘District Governor’ is a very posh title which I really don’t like. If you have a lot of similar clubs, then just as when you have a lot of shops, like Superdrug or Marks & Spencer, you need an area manager, so things can be organised properly. That’s all a ‘DG’ is – an area manager. Only he does it for fun and doesn’t get paid. And he comes from Barrow-in-Furness.

And it turns out that David Bleazard’s ‘don’t shave off the beard’ tip was a complete red herring – he was just throwing me off the scent, and he’d done it very well. As soon as the pork, carrots and potatoes had been polished off, the DG presented me with a Paul Harris Fellowship.  Paul Harris founded Rotary International over 100 years ago and a PH Fellowship is a very prestigious award (at least in Clitheroe and most of the UK – I believe there are countries where you can buy one, a bit like peerages used to be!).  I made a little speech and wished I’d put a tie on.  Then the club gave me a cheque for £1,000 for Cancer Research UK.

So there’s me, dead chuffed, thinking ‘What’s Val going to say when she finds out I could have shaved this beard off a week ago?’ It didn’t take long to find out, because when she got home to the news she said she was very proud of me and then went to get the razor!  As you can see from the photo, I’m now got my clean-shaven look back.

Two more things – tonight is the Rock At The Castle Gig with Waltz Invention, Blues Dudes and Freebird – with a share of the proceeds going to Cancer Research UK – so please come along and enjoy yourself – I’ll be there!

Secondly, when I finished the Cross Pennine 100 mile bike ride the weekend before last there was this Welsh cyclist chap there – told me he was the highest placed British finisher in this year’s Tour de France – so I told him I’d cycled twice as far round the coast of Britain, only a bit slower! So Hi to Geraint Thomas MBE!  Nice chap and doing a good job supporting Action Medical Research.

Er - just like Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition Sketch - Three more things - I've now raised over £22,300 for Cancer Research UK - now I know the initial target was £20,000, but could we make a big push now for £25,000? Why not? If you CAN donate, go to http://www.justgiving.com/Bill-Honeywell - thank you!

A Milestone Today – and a dilemma…

Yesterday I decided to enter the Cross Pennine 100 Cycle Sportive which started from the Roefield Leisure Centre in Clitheroe and was organised by Action Medical Research.  It was a 104-mile ride through some great scenery in the Ribble Valley and Yorkshire Dales, including Malham Cove, Ribblehead and Dent Village.  

Malham Cove (taken on a frosty morning in 2008)

The weather was kind and, although numbers weren’t that great, the riders were treated to a well-organised event with excellent signs en route, lots of good food, and even a free massage at the finish.

Ribblehead Railway Viaduct

Another one I prepared earlier - Swaledale sheep near Ribblehead

Also at the finish was Geraint Thomas MBE, Olympic Champion, Team Sky rider and Action Medical Research supporter.  I told him I’d just completed a ride that was more than twice the length of the Tour de France – although it had taken me considerably longer to ride it than three, or even six, weeks.  He asked me if the weather had been nice – I don’t think The Tour riders are used to 100 mph winds!

All sportive organisers issue the riders’ times afterwards:  mine was 9:05:37, but this is the total time elapsed from start to finish, including the time taken at the three feed stops.  My net riding time was over an hour less, at 7:58:34.  I do wish organisers would neutralise the time at feed stops, up to a maximum of 15 minutes each, say, so that you could get a better idea of your real time.  I know it’s not a race, but most people are at least a bit competitive, and there must be quite a temptation to miss out the stops altogether in order to post an impressive time.

Other delays – I stopped to help someone with a puncture, and to repair my chain ring which had come loose – are something you have to accept.  Mind you, I also noticed yesterday that there was plenty of scope for taking short-cuts without being found out. And before you ask, the answer is no, I didn’t!

Sponsorship money has continued to arrive since I finished the Cycle Round Britain’s Coast.  Today I reached my initial target of £20,000, so it’s a cause for celebration, and now it’s official that the beard will have to come off!  But I feel almost reluctant to admit that I’ve reached the target in case people stop donating – to me the important thing is getting the best result for Cancer Research UK, not just reaching some arbitrary target figure.  So do I keep it quiet – or do I change the figure on Just Giving from £20,000 to £25,000? (I can’t do really!) 

So a BIG, BIG THANK YOU to all those who have made a donation, and  if you haven’t donated yet then please don’t let the fact that I’ve reached the target put you off!

The Aftermath

My legs are stiff.  They were OK until yesterday when I started to do some gardening – I’ve clearly been using muscles that I haven’t used for some time!  My good friend and gardening expert Bill Barker (he could give Alan Titchmarsh a run for his money) advised me to alternate nice jobs in the garden with nasty jobs.  Which would be OK if there were any nice jobs!

It has been hectic since I got back last Wednesday. What a homecoming! It was great to see so many people turning out to welcome me back. 

One of the main jobs has been to collate all the donations that have been made. People have been really generous – and a lot of money has come in since the finish, with the result that donations have now reached the high teens of thousands.  I’m meeting Sarah MacPhee from Cancer Research UK tomorrow, and there are so many cheques to hand over she may need a Securicor escort!  If we carry on at this rate I think Val can look forward to the return of a clean-shaven husband pretty soon.

On the subject of donations, I’ve been promised a share of the proceeds from the Clitheroe Rock at the Castle gig on Friday 12 August – so please make a note in your diary to be there – the more the better!  Details are at http://www.rockthecastle.co.uk.

There have been a lot of people to thank, and I hope I’ve got round to them all. If I have forgotten any, I apologise.

On Sunday I went on Sean MacGinty’s morning show on Radio Lancashire, which is always fun.  I was able to make a few comments on matters like the Greek debt bail-out (don’t give them the money, give everyone in the UK £500 instead, on condition they go to Greece on holiday!) But the sad news of Norway and Amy Winehouse put a bit of a damper on things, naturally.

I also made the front page of the local paper – the Clitheroe Advertiser & Times – but the piece for Granada TV News didn’t seem to materialise – well, I couldn’t compete with Mark Cavendish!  Tonight I’ve done a photo-shoot for the Evening Telegraph with Val threatening to cut off the beard with a pair of scissors!

The motorhome has gone into James Alpe Ltd for repair – fortunately the insurance will cover it.

Sunderland, mid-June - notice the exceptionally fine weather. It was pouring down by tea-time of course!

Finally, today I received a really nice message of endorsement from Sir Ranulph Fiennes, adventurer and holder of several endurance records (The Guinness Book of Records describes him as “the world’s greatest living explorer”). He said:

‘Bill Honeywell has just finished a non-stop 4,500-mile cycle around the entire coast of Great Britain – a gruelling challenge by any standards.  Please show your support for this effort by donating generously to Cancer Research UK, a cause which is also very close to my heart.’

Well chuffed!

A Resumé For New Readers (and some more information for everybody)

I meant to post this a few days ago, but had no wi-fi signal and then forgot I’d written it!  Now the ride is over, it still seems appropriate if you just substitute with the past tense where appropriate! --- 

I realise many people will have found this blog some time after I started this bike ride on 10 May (I think that was this year but it seems so long ago now, I’m not sure!)  So perhaps it would be a good idea to let you know a few things and let you know some of the events so far.

First of all, this is a 4,400-odd bike ride around the coast of Great Britain which I am doing in an attempt to raise £20,000 for Cancer Research UK. I’ve had cancer twice, and nearly everyone has a cancer story to tell, if not of themselves, then of someone very close to them.

I’m going clockwise from Clitheroe in Lancashire, so I started off up the Fylde Coast, then Cumbria, Scotland… and so on.  I’m doing the ride in one go – no breaks – with one exception, which was that I had to nip back from Oban to Clitheroe to attend the wedding of my nephew Chris and Nic after ten days. Since 24 May I haven’t had a day off.

The weather on the first day was fine. After that it rained at some time every day (and often all day) for weeks and weeks, and a times the wind was so strong it was impossible to stay on the bike. This culminated, on 24 May, when gusts in nearby Loch Aline reached 90 knots (100 mph) with a large oak tree being blown over on top of the motorhome whilst we were all inside. That was a worrying moment, I can tell you, and how the motorhome survived with nothing worse than a broken windscreen and a few dents I’ll never know.

I’ve had a few companion cyclists, but most of the riding has been alone.  Accommodation, and brew/food stops, are provided by a motorhome which has been crewed by different volunteers who have come out to do a week’s stint at a time.  Except on one occasion, when the lovely Margaret Rose put us up in her house near Colchester, fed us heartily and provided us with enough food for the next week!

I’m due to finish next Wednesday 20 July.  The amount raised for Cancer Research UK stands at around £12,000 (now over £16,000!!), including over £300 from 11-year old Ella Spencer who organised a cake stall at her home a couple of weeks ago.  So more donations are desperately needed – especially as I’ve promised not to shave my beard off until the target is reached – and Valerie, my wife, hates the beard!

I’m using Twitter to keep people up-to-date of progress – you can find me there as @CancerBikeMan, and you can also find me on Facebook.

You can donate in different ways: by going to my JustGiving site at

http://www.justgiving.com/Bill-Honeywell

or, if you want to donate £5 (or multiples thereof) you can text

CRBC99 £5      to 70070 on your mobile phone

Please give generously – you know it’s in a very good cause!

Day 69 and the very last day! Thurstaston to Clitheroe

83 miles; the final grand total: 4,440 miles

From underwhelmed to overwhelmed! – Ferry across the Mersey – Surprise company – We go squirrel hunting and almost regret it – An incredible homecoming reception - Can I cope with all the media?

I’m sitting in my living room for the first time in over ten weeks. Earlier, after I arrived home, I had a shower and for a while couldn’t remember where I kept my socks.  That’s when it dawned upon me how long I’d been away – longer than I’ve ever been away from home in my entire life.

Although it’s a nice feeling, it really is a little difficult to come to terms with at first, but I’m getting so many emails and tweets which are a welcome distraction from having to get back to reality. I feel good, really.

As I was getting ready this morning I was a little surprised that it didn’t feel any different from all the others: I really expected that it would have done. Although I knew it was the last day, I’m not sure that I felt it was the last day.

I love the red sandstone that outcrops all over the place on the Wirral (often at the base of stone walls). It was formed in the Permian Period, 250 – 300 million years ago, and the strata show so clearly that the rock is basically solidified desert sand dunes.

The view from West Kirby - you can just see the oil rig that I passed yesterday at Mostyn in Wales.

West Kirby, Hoylake, Wallasey, New Brighton – all easy going and level, taking me around the peninsula’s perimeter to Birkenhead. At the Seacombe terminal for the Mersey Ferry I asked a uniformed gentleman if I was at the right ferry and how I should go about getting a ticket. He turned out to be a bus driver – but he was still very helpful!

Once off the ferry I did a telephone interview for Radio Lancashire and then set off on busy roads north towards Crosby.  When I got to Seaforth, three familiar cyclists were gesticulating at the side of the road – Richard Dugdale, Mick Bryan and Big Al Taylor, who had come to ride the final 60 miles back to Clitheroe with me. I had half-expected they would!

I thought we had a lot of time and would arrive much back in Clitheroe much earlier than the four o’clock which I had estimated and told everyone.  So when we got to Formby we went on a diversion to Formby Point in the hope of seeing some Red Squirrels. None were seen, though there were hundreds of tiny schoolchildren. Al said it was more like Disneyland than a nature reserve.

Marine Drive, Southport

As we got to the very long road that is Southport’s Marine Drive I started to feel that we’d spent too much time on our squirrel hunt and we needed to press on.  The tide was out, meaning that the sea was nowhere to be seen, but we could see Blackpool across the Ribble Estuary.  The Ribble flows past Clitheroe, so I was really feeling near home now!

The soil in this area is incredibly black and fertile, and some of the crops are really quite picturesque.

As I arrived in Preston, I ‘closed the loop’ – having crossed the point where I had been ten weeks ago – and, I suppose, officially completed my circumnavigation of the coast. Soon after, Geoff Isherwood was waiting at the side of the road opposite his office, and fixed a big ‘Congratulations’ balloon to the back of my bike, whilst looked upon from on high by all the staff at Forbes Solicitors!

We were joined by Mick Wood, who rode on Day One, together with another two cyclists from Clitheroe Bike Club, and by 3.30 we were only two miles from Clitheroe. Thinking that some people might not be at Castlegate yet, there followed a rather surreal 20 minutes’ wait before we set off again into the town.

As we headed up Moor Lane, the other riders held up the traffic behind to let me go ahead, to be hailed by the bell of the Town Crier, Roland Hailwood, and scores and scores of friends. What a fabulous moment!  After breaking the finishing tape I made a short speech, relieved that this time, unlike the end of the 214 Wainwrights, I managed to hold it together without getting too emotional!  Then there were interviews with Granada Reports, East Lancs News and Sean MacGinty on Radio Lancashire before I could get on with the serious job of meeting and greeting all the people who had helped, donated, and just generally supported the ride.

Crossing the line

Being interviewed by Ben from Granada Reports (nice view of the office in the background!)...

...and then Faiza from East Lancs News

Me, Val, Roland the Town Crier, Big Al, Richard, and other helpers Tony, Frank, Simon, Ian, Mick and Bernadette.

Good ol' Mum & Dad!

"You're SO in trouble if you don't shave off that beard!!!"

And after it had all died down… I cycled the two miles back to my village of West Bradford to start the long painful process of my rehabilitation… (!)

There is a lot more to say, but not tonight.  I’ll be trying to get things straight tomorrow, catching up with urgent jobs, but I’ll also hopefully find time to provide you with a few more thoughts, insights, reminiscences - and acknowledgements of all the help I’ve had on the ride.  And there may be a few words from a very famous hero of mine…