Catching up

Well I bet you all thought I'd given up posting on here, time is not my friend at the moment but I'm posting this as a catch up. Since the Lyke Wake Walk weekend I've been training most nights and this last weekend have been on duty with the Scarborough and Ryedale Mountain Rescue Team. We have been doing the safety cover for the concerts in Dalby Forest, Simple Minds on Friday Night and Sophie Ellis Bexter and Erasure on Saturday. Fortunately it wasn't too bad, there was some who had enjoyed themselves just a touch too much and one who thought he knew a shorter way home. After some TLC and a couple of hours searching all was safely gathered in. PR for the ride continues to gather pace, both Colin and myself had our photo's taken for the Mountain Rescue mag on Sunday morning, Here is the one we picked for publication.

There's a bit of sad news, I was going to do a live phone in to the Dave Charles show next Sunday Night, this is on Harborough FM at 7 pm. It's a good listen and worth a go anyway, but he has a funeral to go to next week so that now wont go ahead. It may happen after the ride, he's an old friend and it will be nice to catch up. We both served on the same Mountain Rescue Team in the RAF, although at different times. We generally meet once a year at the reunions where we both make fools of ourselves, (Dave leave a comment if you don't agree).

As far as fundraising goes we have nearly reached our first £1000 so please give whatever you can as everything will help both these worthwhile causes. So your all up to date and training is progressing as planed, weekend after next I'm taking part in the Crosses Walk which is 54 miles around the North York Moors in one day then it will only be two week to the big ride.

Thankyou in antisipation from Colin and Myself.

More about Grace

Here's one of the reasons we're doing this ride.

This short video shows Grace walking with the suit that she'll be wearing next time she goes to Poland.

This blog and the bike ride Colin and myself are doing will help Grace directly but it will also raise the awareness of cerebral palsy to everyone that reads it. Whilst we hope you will all give something to help these two worthy causes, if your reading this we have already succeeded in raising awareness.

With less than 6 weeks to go before we set off I'm into the big push for training here is the link to the run I did tonight.

The Lyke Wake Walk

On Saturday the 4th June three of us set off to walk the 42 mile from Osmotherly to Ravenscar Mast, this walk cuts across the North York Moors from east to west. We were well looked after by my wife who first made sure we were deposited at the start by 4 am. The first leg, some 11.5 miles, to Clay Bank was walked in full sun and had this been later in the day it would have been uncomfortably warm. We completed this stretch in just under 4 hours and were welcomed with tea, dry socks and trainers for the next part. The next section is probably the worse of the lot, it contains a steep pull up to Urra Moor and roughly 6 miles of disused railway track. This cinder track to the Lion Inn has to be the bleakest of the whole walk but we made short work of it and were soon approaching the inn. On our arrival there was no sign of our support so we took the opportunity to sample a glass of refreshment. It was at this point that the weather changed, when we went in the pub it was largely sunny with occasional broken cloud, when we emerged again it was cold damp and thick of blown fog. The road round to the Shunner Howe track was a drag with cars appearing out of the mist traveling too fast with no lights. This passed after about an hour and we were then back on the moors, the ground underfoot was soft and easy to walk on. We yomped across Shunner Howe to the Haymer road and more clean socks, tea and eats. The next hour saw us pass the Blue man-in-the-moss and over Wheeldale Moor with it's tracks full of rocks. The descent down to the stepping stones needed care, safely across we had another short break before topping Simon Howe and descending to the Whitby to Pickering road at Eller Beck. We were now all feeling the effects of our efforts and the fog had given way to rain. A change of clothing, footwear and more eats set us up for the last push over Jugger Howe and on to the mast. We seemed to concentrate more on our aches and pains but before long we were descending to Jugger Beck, over the river and pulling up the other side. Most times this would be a time for celebration but in these conditions it was all we could do to keep focused on the mast. Incidentally you can normally see the mast for about the last twenty miles of this walk, but today we were 400 yards off before it came into view.
We were pleased to get in the car for the last time knowing that it was all over. Yuk!