Monday 18 June 2012

The Next Challenge

"The Days After" theme sort of fizzled out, basically because nothing was happening worth writing about. I'm no longer out there riding 60 odd miles a day and having adventures. Nobody wants to know what I had for breakfast, or how long I slept, etc any more. These things did seem moderately important during the ride but they are very mundane these days along with the rest of "normal" life.

I have spent the last two weeks trying to get down to some work again but always finding something more important to do like BBC sport website and the "Tour of Switzerland" on the telly, not to mention every second of Euro 2012 football. I have also been trying to update the blog by adding photos and routes but this is very time-consuming and I haven't really made much progress on either front. I'll keep plugging away though until the work has piled up so high that I have to get rid of some of it. Hopefully the blog will be something like complete by then.

As far as cycling is concerned we do have on the horizon the Manchester to Blackpool on 8th July. I have managed this for the last four years but the ride is logistically very difficult to organize. You have to get you and your bike to Manchester, do the ride and then get yourself and your bike back home. It has only been possible for me to do this ride with an organised group including volunteer van drivers. The group I've done it with in the past are not doing it this year so I think I'll give it a miss myself.

Further down the line is the Manchester 100 on 2nd Sept which is more convenient because it starts and finishes in the same place so it's a case of drive there with bike and then drive home, with a small matter of 100 miles in between. This is easier to organise and more of a challenge so it's a definite for me and I'm going to start training soon - honest. I have done a few short rides on my old road bike, mainly up through the plantations to Haigh Hall with Barney (dog). My tourer is at Robin's in Newburgh for rest and repair. Robin kindly offered to him to put it

Then there is next year. By next spring I will be ready for a major challenge and I would love to ride to Turkey again but I couldn't use the same route, or even go through all the same countries. This year's ride was so unique for me and so special that anything vaguely similar could never be as good and is bound to be an anticlimax. So, the plan is to use a totally different route. At present France, Italy, Greece is favourite although the Adriatic coast is a possibilty with maybe Albania and Macedonia involved. Another major departure from this year's ride would be that I would like to go in a group this time. It has been mentioned to a few friends and they are "thinking about it". The beauty of this idea is that it opens up possibilities for people to fly out and join in for a week or two along the way. If nobody fancies it I may attempt it myself but it's a long way off and too soon to say.

The main thing is - wheels are in motion.

1 comment:

  1. Hey Tom,
    thanks for your greetings. I miss you as my companion. Especially your yellow rain jacket, which was always an incentive to me. Every time the wind is blowing strongly or the road is steeply rising, I imagine the yellow jersey wearer in front of me who is pushing me ahead.
    Hope you will finish your plans for the next challenge. Maybe we can cycle through amazing landscapes in foreign countries again.

    Cheers,
    Chris

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