Blog

April 09

This time tomorrow.................
...........we will be on our way, driving down to Lands End to start our 900 mile bike ride up to John O'Groats

It's not to late to sponsor us if you haven't already done so, just click on www.coolwheels.biz and then click the donate button

We have currently raised £6,429 which is an amazing amount so we just wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who has sponsored us and supported us, please continue to support us on route: you can send us email messages, jokes, or just general abuse to theboys@coolwheels.biz or you can send text messages through to 07775385316.
Keep checking the website for daily updates and photo's as we go.

Many Thanks

Paul and Neil

March 09

This will probably be the last update before we leave, it's quite scary to think that when we first launched the website the counter said we had 372 days to go and now it says 8 days to go. All the training is now done all the kit is ready and I'm sure we have checked and double-checked everything not sure why but it makes us feel better. So I guess we are both fighting fit and ready to go, except Neil strained his calf muscle on Sunday and Paul's back continued to give him some grief fairly bloody typical as this was our last training session. Oh well we have over a weeks rest and will have more drugs, potions and lotions with us than Hemel girl takes out with her on a Friday night (accept ours will all be legal).

All there is left to say is a massive thank you to everyone who has sponsored us and supported us, please continue to support us on route you can send us messages, jokes, or just general abuse to theboys@coolwheels.biz or you can send text messages through to 07775385316.
Keep checking the website for daily updates and photo's as we go.

February 2009

The training has really stepped up as we both realise that time is running out to get 'match fit'.

The training has become so serious Neil has given up drinking! before Neil 'gave up' Colney Heath Primary School parents held a 70's themed quiz night and disco on Saturday 28th and a fantastic £576 was raised for the CTRT. It was a great night out with plenty of banter, dancing and ridiculous flares (hopefully there are no photos).

Chris continues to join us on some of our trianing rides and he hopes to ride with us for day 4 and day 8 of the challenge.

Paul

January 09

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog but there has been plenty going on with the training, marketing and getting over Neil shaving his legs!!!!
Not sure if he wanted everyone to know but its best we all cane him for doing it and not just me.

It has been cold on our recent training rides let’s hope it warms up for April. Avoiding ice is a bit tricky just ask Chris Norwood!
You may have seen the posters Chris kindly helped to produce and also the sponsorship forms, please let us know if you need one. The posters have gone up in various offices and shops in the hope that further exposure will generate some additional sponsorship going to the Cancer Treatment & Research Trust. We have so far risen just over £2000, with your help we hope to reach our target of £5000 in April or soon after.

Many thanks for your continued support
Paul

December 08

Well there's lots to update you all with since last time, probably the most exciting for us was the arrival of our kit, we rode out last weekend for the first time with our team kit on and I think the excitement just about took our minds off the -3 temperatures and the black ice on the roads. There are some photos on the gallery if you are interested, I don't know what you think but I reckon it could have done with some more pink in it and any suggestions that we would look more at home in a specialist club in Soho are just wrong.

We also have our first rider who has committed to ride with us for a day, Chris Norwood has decided to join the team for a leg of our journey, what we haven't told him yet is it will be through the highlands of Scotland. We've had a number of other riders who have expressed an interest in this, the idea behind this is two fold, firstly to raise extra cash for CTRT as we ask that each rider raise £250 and secondly to give Paul and I some one else to talk to rather than killing each other after day three. Oh you also need to be aware that if you do ride with us for a day you will clearly be leading the riders as Paul and I will be tucked firmly in behind you.

So as I write this there is now less than 4 months to go and the reality of what we are going to undertake is fairly daunting never more so than after I watched sports personality of the year last weekend and Alan Shearer, talking about his 335 mile bike ride claimed "it was the hardest thing I have ever done" and this from a professional athlete. We will be cycling nearly three times this distance and professional athlete I am most definitely not apparently I won't even be able to have my usual three pints at lunch time…… rubbish.

Well with Christmas looming it just leaves me to put on that extra stone over the festive period and worry all about it in January, any one who says I'm not taking this seriously is a liar. Oh and I will get round to planning the route soon how does
A30, M5, M6, A9 sound that should get us there shouldn't it??????

September 08

Neil gives up beer!

We’ll I think he thought about it for a couple of minutes. Still the boy Mancey has been doing alright since stepping up his campaign to ‘get fitter’. After telling me he was not going to train too hard during the summer due to holidays, weekends away, bbq’s, work commitments and not to mention the 6 for a fiver offer on Stella he promises me he is totally dedicated to putting the hours in at the gym as well as hitting the road as and when he can. I even saw him eyeing up the skinny selection of muffins in Starbucks the other day. He hasn’t yet progressed to the low carb lager (has anyone?)

Still joking apart the training is paying off and we’re finding it easier to recover from our weekend rides. I am however not looking forward to the first two days of the ride, Kath me and the girls spent a week in Cornwall this summer and it really sunk in that there is nothing but hills in Cornwall.

Both Neil and I have been hitting the bikes in the gym during the week together with a change in diet the photos should at least look a bit better than when we started. Saying that how good can you look kitted out head to toe in lycra, recent photos in our gallery suggest not very good.

Thanks for you continued support we have nearly reached our first £1000 raised for the CTRT.

Paul C.

August 2008

Well after two weeks off on holiday, training is back on track. Having said that it's quiet scary how just two weeks off sets you back….

I also experienced my first "off road excursion" with a less than spectacular crash, and whilst not a high speed end over end bone breaker it did apparently rated very highly in the comedy stakes.
Picture the scene both Paul and I are grinding our way up Bison Hill, which if you are not familiar with said hill believe me is a killer, it goes on and on and up and up, and even when you think it can't get any steeper it does. So there I am on the steep bit puffing and panting and even trying to suck oxygen in through my backside, pushing harder and harder but finding myself going slower and slower, the queue of traffic building up behind us. I then decide it's time to change down a gear in some vague attempt to offer slight relief to my pounding thighs. And that's when it happened the chain jumped off the rails, my legs spun round and my front wheel turned inwards, leaving me no where to go. I gracefully accepted the inevitable and collapsed left on the soft verge only to find soft verge was in fact brambles and stinging nettles. Great, so not only do I have to suffer the humiliation of falling off my bike in, what can only can be described as a slow motion comedy moment, but I have now been stung to buggery and have thorns sticking out of my arse.
After I fixed the chain and caught up with Paul we continued our ride, and after about 5 minutes of continuous laughter from Paul he then explained to me that he could still see the thorns sticking out of my arse and did I want him to pull them out. Two things suddenly occurred to me. Firstly why would he want to do this and more worryingly why was he looking at my arse…………………..

So what's new?
Our sponsor's page is now up and running with details of companies who have kindly agreed to sponsor us so please take the time to look round their websites. We also hope to add new sponsors as time goes on.

May 2008:

Neil and I completed our first 100 mile plus training ride on Sunday 11th May. We cycled to Jo & Jeffs house in Oundle. J0 & Jeff kindly allowed us to collapse in their house for an hour and feed us. I wasn’t convinced I would make it back and was hoping someone would nick my bike from outside the house. Unfortunately Jo & Jeff live in a nice area and the bike remained put. We did make it back thanks to pure determination, energy bars, Maximuscle Viper and the thought of an ice cold Peroni waiting for us at home.

Many thanks for the support so far, please do continue to check out our web site for photos etc and also to pledge sponsorship to our chosen charity the Cancer Treatment and Research Trust (CTRT).

Paul

8/5/8
We will be updating this page on a monthly basis with news and updates on the event as we get nearer to the off we will be updating it weekly and daily as we ride, apparently technology now a days will allow us to do this. Again, something else for us to learn.