The Days After 3 - 4 Jun

Sunday 3 Jun

I remembered to do my stretches and did a load of random sit-ups as well, first thing. I have lost quite a bit of weight and this was my first (and very weak) attempt at stopping the weight getting back on too quickly. It will eventually return, I am sure, but I am actually thinking that joining a gym may slow it down, although a long bike ride in the near future would give me the incentive to get out and do some long distance training. I need something on the horizon to aim at. Manchester to Blackpool is favourite but there is also a Manchester 100 in September which would be further than I have ever gone - in a day that is. 

Breakfast was porridge and cereal again and I watched a bit of telly before starting the Sunday dinner, the one thing I have missed most of all about life here at home. There was an option for Chinese but I put my foot down like a real man and got my pinny on. It was OK, back in the swing of things, peeling potatoes etc., and the end product was acceptable although I did make loads too much. It will do for tomorrow as they say.

I tried really hard but had a load of biscuits with my cup of tea for supper.      

Monday 4 Jun

I got up at the crack of dawn – Ok the crack of 8.00 - and took the dog out for a jog up the hill in the plantations to Haigh Hall. He loves jogging along as I struggle up the hill but I get my own back on the way down as he is galloping along and gasping for breath. I let him have a drink in the stream if he’s good.

It felt good to be back on the bike again, in this country, I must add, although I did have a couple of ventures out on the bike last week in Calis but only to the shop or the pub.

The afternoon saw us celebrating the Queen's jubilee at my mum's with the extended family, some of whom had returned from Calis only that morning. Tough our girls, or what? I ate loads of buffet but only drank a few cans of cider so maybe willpower is kicking in. It was a good do but we didn't stay late and I got to bed at a reasonable time.    

The Days After 2 Jun

I retired on Friday night/Saturday morning at around 2.00am so, with about 10 hours sleep I obviously didn’t see much of the best part of Saturday morning. I had a huge breakfast of porridge with shredded wheat, which is what I should have had every day on the ride but never mind.

It is my intention now to develop the blog by adding photos and tracks to each post. For a number of reasons, some tracks didn’t record so I will have to try to re-create these on the bike route website and get them on the blog somehow. I may also give photos and maps pages of their own which would mean people don’t have to trawl through the whole thing again to see them, if you’ve got nothing better to do that is. I could not do this abroad for some reason or it would have been organised so I pottered about a bit with the blog for an hour or so. I think I may have finally emptied the suitcase.

I checked the sponsorship account and must confess to being a bit disappointed. I suppose it is early days but I would just ask that if you have promised to donate please do so sooner rather than later because these things can easily slip the mind. Obviously, a big thanks to those who have donated already.

In the middle of the afternoon I set off with my BYW to visit my mum and see the rest of the family. I received a welcome of near-Fethiye proportions and picked up a number of well-wishing cards from other family members containing sponsor money in various forms, which made me feel a bit better. There is a Saturday tradition at my mum’s of all-day-breakfast so I tucked in again, good style. We had a good chat there and got home in time for the England football match. At home, I just couldn’t stop eating and had a couple of cans of cider as well before retiring at a reasonable hour.