Category Archives: Cycling Challenges

Cycling Photojournalism Awards 2011

The Cycling Photojournalism Awards 2011

This is my personal entry for the presently non-existent “Cycling Photojournalism Awards 2011

They say that a good picture paints a thousand words.  This one is more concise.  This one paints 10.

"We went on a bike ride. There was a pool."

“We went on a bike ride. There was a pool.”

This may not have a potential running theme like Jamie’s excellent “Bike And Gate” series, but I quite like it.

Got any entries? If I get enough links in the comments below, I will publish them and give an actual prize. The rules are as follows:

1. You have to own the picture.
2. It has to tell a story about cycling, in its own right .
3. A caption of up to 20 words is allowed.

Tell your friends. Tell ’em Phill sent you 🙂

What A July! Now What? #Jul100 #Aug100

A Record-Breaking July (Almost)

OK, we didn’t break any records. Not really.  But, a couple of weeks ago I though we might do more miles in July than we’d done in June.  Bloody Hell!

The sun came out, we got our bikes out and we did some miles.  Boy, did we do some miles?!

As I write this on the first day of the #Aug100 there are 7,330 leisure (and turbo) miles on the spreadsheet, of 8,460 miles in total.  That’s more than any month except April, when the #30daysofbiking was in full swing.

What an awesome effort.  I’m humbled, and proud, and simply chuffed to be known to you all.  Superstars, you are.

New Members, Old Friends

During July, people like Lloyd at @cyclingnirvana and Craig at @fruitmeister have joined the fray, clocking up some serious mileage.  It’s great to have you along, guys! (If you want to say Hi, or if I’ve missed your name off, drop a comment below and make yourself known!)

Once again, Mental John Berry has topped the 1,000 miles for the month, winning whatever award I want to call it this month.  Let’s just call it the “Mental John Berry Award” from now on, shall we?  He’s a nutter.  He denies it, but he’s either lying or simply wrong.

Faithful friends like Matty, Jo Simcock and Chris Byrne have quietly pedalled away, chucking over 1,000 miles in between them.  You’re fantastic.

On a personal note, a modest 132 miles puts me in 26th place, but it’s 132 miles I know I wouldn’t have done without the peer pressure.  Month after month, I owe you all big thanks and probably a bunch of years on my life (but maybe off my knees) 🙂

Below you should see a graph of the current status.  Feel free to copy & paste to your own blogs or wherever you like.  Get some more people to join, why don’t you?  That’d be lovely!

Here’s a link to the spreadsheet, have a look!

Owd Betts For A Cuppa

On Saturday, I had a couple of hours out in the sunshine on the Fat Boy, and a very pleasant couple of hours they were.

Getting across Rochdale was the least fun part, dragging through urban roads before the pull up from Spotland Bridge towards Norden.  Once climbing Owd Betts though, thoughts turned to stamina and gorgeous views.

I did stop for a rest on the way up, though.  It’s a steep old pull!  Nevertheless, I was pleased with myself after 7 miles to be enjoying a cuppa from the Granelli’s burger van opposite Owd Betts pub, gazing over Ashworth Moor Reservoir one way and up towards Knowl Hill the other.  After a brief chat with a bloke who was testing his new 250cc CBR on a nice afternoon run out (he’d got rid of a Ducati for it), I headed back home, but not before the fun and swooping descent of Ashworth Road.

My knees complained a bit afterwards, but I didn’t!

Oh yeah, the ride also pushed me over the 100 miles for the month.  That’s #Jul100 done! Hurrah 🙂

Reason To Ride

Why Ride? One Reason Of Many.

I haven’t posted anything about the Manchester to Blackpool bike ride until now. It was a great day out and, thanks to the generosity of lots of wonderful people, I’ve raised £370 to date for Springhill Hospice.

As the two weeks between then and now have passed, though, a few things have reminded me about one of the reasons I do the ride, and why I’ll try to raise the £500 each year while I can.

Around me, ordinary people are living ordinary lives, coping with extraordinary circumstances. Extraordinary to them, but ordinary in the grand scheme of things. Cancer is an all-too common cause of death.

Most of us will live our lives without being seriously troubled by infection, contagious disease, accident or any of the things that killed the generations that came before us. Conditions which killed people in years gone by are now managed by drugs, without serious complications if you take the drugs and the advice correctly – my diabetes is an excellent example of a condition which is managed now, but which 100 years ago I wouldn’t have been able to write about 20 years after my diagnosis.

For the people whose lives are shortened, I’m raising the money to help make their twighlight weeks more bearable. Not just the people who are leaving us, but the people who love them, too.

It’s this reason that sometimes gets me out on the bike; that gets me forgetting my shyness and asking you for money. I’m not precious about it: money’s tight and I don’t blame anyone who doesn’t contribute. I know that most people contribute elsewhere: I’m not special. But it’s heartening to think that something I do on a lovely day out on the bike is helping people at their most extraordinary time.

You can see the route on my DailyMile page if you click this link.

It was a bloody great day out on the bike though.  Let’s not forget that!

Manchester to Blackpool : Track My Ride

Tomorrow, I’m riding from the Theatre Of Dreams to Blackpool, as one of thousands of cyclists taking part in the Bike Events Manchester to Blackpool bike ride.

I’m riding in memory of my Mum and donating all sponsorship raised to Springhill Hospice in Rochdale, a fantastic place that provides respite and end of life care to terminally ill people.  The help they gave to my family cannot be put into words, and they rely on donations to continue their wonderful work.

If you’d like to support me, and more importantly them, please visit my JustGiving page. Thank you.

How Do You Know I’m not Cheating?

Using the magic of Google Latitude, I’m making my whereabouts public for one day only.  By visiting this very blog page, you’ll be able to see (I hope), where I’m up to.  If I seem to be in Bamber Bridge for a long time, it’s because I promised my cousin I’d pop in for a brew. You’ve got to take your chances for free brews, haven’t you?

It’s not a race, but I’ll be happy to put 60 miles onto the #Jul100 sheet and raise some much-needed money for the hospice.  I’ve got my energy bars and my lift home, so I’m thoroughly looking forward to it… 🙂



 

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