Fresh back from a weekend away

Well, it is a Sunday evening, and the hangover has just about abated.  Lunch followed by an evening out in Wellington  was the reason behind the exceptionally sore head this morning.

I have come to the conclusion that I a getting too old to mix drinks the way we did last night.  It is neither big, nor clever.  The main reason for this was a cocktail bar called Motel (their website being as random and funky as the bar itself).  I am convinced that this place is somewhere that you could only find drunk, and that in the hours of daylight the place doesn't even exist.  A secret knock on a metal door behind a skip bin allowed you access to this place, up a very steep flight of barren stairs and then your in this opulent & well stocked bar.  One of my fellow drinker was complaining of heartburn and indigestion (possibly caused by the 5 pints of cider and 3 of beer that had preceded our arrival), so the ever handy barman knocked up a concoction of what we can only believe to be distilled deer.  It worked.  But it was the foulest drink known to mankind.  Unfortunately we then had the second most filthy cocktail in the world....Champagne and Absinthe.....never try it, trust me.

So with all that drink, a good friendly chat with a Marxist, some dodgy whipping action, a happy slap following Burger King and waking up surrounded by thousands of tiny war planes and tanks; it was a top night out.

As promised....

If people want copies of this, then let me.  I am able to reproduce to full size for the fans that want to adorn their walls with it.

Me in my full lycra splendiffery!

A little on the sore side!

Well, the Moonride is over - what an awesome event! The atmosphere was amazing, and the course was superb.

Off for another lap!

There was a big range in experience of riders on the course, and I think that I fell into the middle third (at best!). This was my first competitive race, and I have already provisionally signed up for another one in Lake Taupo in September.

I had only one minor spill, which was on the first lap, but luckily this was nothing compared to some of the other crashes I saw.  So all in all I am glad that I managed to practice the quick dismount earlier on in the week!

So, I suppose on to the important stuff, and how much cash I raised for Help for Heroes....so far, the total stands at £238.72 so thank you all for the donations.  Hopefully there are a few more in the pipeline, so the total will go up some more.

Just Loved Team Erotica's shirts!!

I believe that I may have said in an earlier entry on this blog that I might go for the 24 hour race next year.....that is most certainly a subject that is up for debate!  At one point I did get stuck behind one of the 24 hour teams - a man and wife on a tandem!  I have broached the subject with Liz, but she did not seem too keen on the idea!  Well, I suppose that I have a year to work on it; and find a tandem!

On the subject of bikes, should anyone know an owner of a bike shop that wishes to donate a soft tail bike to my cause, then please put him in touch with me, as my arse is damn sore!

There were a raft of professional photographers around the course, so with a bi of luck i will be able to track some of them down and post them here.  I am sure that you are all really keen to see me looking a sweaty mess....?

The one great thing about the ride being in Roto-vegas was that there was no shortge of thermal spa baths to help with the aching muscles after!

So, we are no back to normal jogging, and I am back on exercise in Waiouru next week - oh the joy!

We're off!

Far more exciting than an election night, we have the Moonride! 1 hour till the off, Bon Jovi playing on the speakers!
More posts soon!

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Not a crash, just some pre race prep!



- Posted from my iPhone

Waiouru - nice view but damn cold...

Waiouru in the autumn is a great place to be...... Honest! It is the kiwi version of Sennybridge or Cape Wrath. I'm glad to know that it isn't just the British Army that finds the worst bit of real estate, and then builds a training area on it.

Also sad to report that thus far there has been no hunting, fishing or golf played. Still, there is always time!



- Posted from my iPhone

The quick dismount

A quick update on the progress!  

Firstly, thank you to those who have given some money to this extremely worthwhile charity, and for the e-mails of support from those of you who already support the charity in other ways.  I find it especially heartening to hear from those of you with no military connection, who support the charity so well.

I had my final cycle today before heading off on exercise tomorrow, and I thought it was a beautiful day to practice, as I like to call it, the quick dismount (to the untrained eye, it might look like falling off) so I now sport some superb gravel rash!  

The Help for Heroes cycle shirt survived the unpronounceable Icelandic volcano dust storm, and arrived earlier this week so I now look the part.  I have also managed to pick up a few Kiwi Defence Force followers who are joining me on the cycle for some morale support.  

So a bit more on the race.  The course is an 8km loop through the forest, with some fairly technical aspects (I suspect the quick dismount will come into play again), and with an electronic chip on my bike, they will monitor the distance covered in the 6 hours allotted.

This will most likely be the one and only update before the race next weekend as, as said earlier, I am off to glorious Waiouru on exercise.  So here is the last plug....please give as much as you can!  Click on the link below, and follow the instructions.  As I said, the charity is one that is close to my heart, have a look at their website and have a look at the awesome work they do.

https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/kiwimoonride

Thank you all very much, and the next you will most likely hear will be how much I raised, and how far I managed to go!