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Cowbridge Football Club

…..is not the most fun I have had with my clothes on! Apparently, the Mumbles, Swansea was the wettest place in the UK today. That does not surprise me! Photos of the Swansea team playing in the sun at Norwich contrast markedly with driving rain and flash floods near their home stadium!

Great to meet an old friend, Mark Press especially when he volunteers to sponsor a day and to cycle with me for the afternoon. Mark becomes only the second person to accompany me…..but he can’t keep up. My slope is his mountain! Good to see you though, Mark!

Carolyn Williams also got me in front of Cowbridge Football Club and their Steve Day and Bob Murphy kindly donated a shirt. Thanks!

Had some good press this week from Whitley Bay and my local paper in Spain (See page 26). Enjoy!

Huge thanks to Cardiff City

I reach Wales!

Yes, I cross the border to Wales and the two clubs in the Football League Cardiff City and Swansea City both confirm visits to their new stadiums. (Huge thanks to Carolyn Williams)

I also have a GREAT sponsor for the day. Huge thanks to Mastercraft Cycles (below) for fixing bike at 30 seconds’ notice.

It was also fantastic to meet Georgina Lester in Abergavenny. Less exciting was the hostel (something out of the 70s!) and torrential rain. Georgina has been a huge supporter of the journey, a constant and consistent blogger and a great centre of influence within Ecademy

However, before I left England I had one final and very important meeting. I was welcomed by The Right Worshipful the Mayor of Hereford, Anna Toon in her chambers. She is keen to promote cycling within Hereford and beyond as well as being very sympathetic to the plight of the refugees. She had even been collecting for the Pakistan Disaster Fund that very week in a very concrete display of solidarity. She signed the shirt, I signed the visitors’ book. Seems like a fair swap! Both of us were grateful to Keith Witney for the intrdouction.

Real highlight of whole journey. Meet Keith Witney who has done an amazing job in my 20 hours in Hereford.

Firstly he took me to the Blind World Cup which was being held in Hereford and swiftly organised a commemorative shirt. It was the first time I had seen blind men playing football and a truly humbling experience it was. I saw the Colombia versus South Korea game and I was amazed and truly humbled by the quality of the football and the enthusiasm and commitment shown by the players. This really reminded me that there are so many who do not have as easy a life as I do and I am delighted that there are others who are prepared to organise an event which drew teams from all four corners of the globe.

Then, it was a huge dash to share “An Evening with Sir Trevor Brooking and Ray Clemence MBE”. That man Witney again pulled the rabbit out of the hat with two tickets for a superb evening at the Hereford Theatre.

After the event, he showed all his aces and got me a 1-2-1 with these two football legends. I explained what I was doing and why I was doing it and both immediately wished me every success and were delighted to support. Yes, Ray Clemence MBE and Sir Trevor Brooking sign The Shirt. This is a HUGE boost to the journey and I think that nothing could have stopped me cycling a few hundred miles to tell all that night. Fortunately for my little legs that was not necessary and the WWW can get the message out far faster than any Town Crier.

At the theatre, Keith also introduced me to the Mayor of Hereford who again immediately offered to assist and invited me to her chambers the next morning.

Keith, what can I say? A superb effort and if I had your level of support everywhere I went this trip would be a doddle. I am particularly grateful that you got the local press involved. Thanks, friend.

The Team

Sorry limited access to www. Will update soonest

A great start to the week!

** Two BNI meetings are confirmed for Bristol on Tuesday

** A nice email from BNI Fortress came through overnight.

** BNI Parkside (Long Eaton) are getting me a major article in the main regional newspaper.

** I had a great stay at a nice hotel with a single room, bath, drying rail for clothes and a SUPERB breakfast.

It just reminded me how lucky I was when I read:

** Iraq has 230,000 refugees

** Spain has 42% youth unemployment

** In the UK, there will be 7 applicants per place in clearing this academic year.

Yes, it definitely reminded me how lucky I am and how the refugees, the Spanish youth and the British students are all victims of a “crime”. Their crime? Being in the wrong place at the wrong time. It also reminded me to re-double my efforts to work with the UNHCR as much as I can and raise awareness however I can. That’s a personal challenge to myself for the week ahead. I am hugely fortunate I have accommodation confirmed every one of the next ten days. With “only” the physical challenge of getting from Bristol, Cheltenham, Hereford, Abergavenny, Cardiff, Swansea to worry about, it should be an “easier” week!

Looking forward to see you along the way…..or at least hearing from you.

The Premiership Starts

Yes, yesterday it was back to business in the English Premiership and there were some very interesting scores. Two to pick up on were Blackpool’s 4-0 win at Wigan which is just about as amazing a dream start as they could have fantasised about and Chelsea’s 6-0 drubbing of WBA.

In the Championship, surprise team Millwall continue to push on and heads the table with a 7-0 goal tally equalled exactly by another surprise team – Q.P.R. At the bottom, it is Proud Preston but I do not expect any of those three positions to last for too long.

Just a plug for my team – Gillingham are unbeaten in the league! That said, they are out of the Carling Cup and four points behind table-topping Torquay.

Good Luck to all.

I took a couple of hours for myself today to think through the next few weeks and the push to the “finishing line” and strolled around Bristol Centre. It’s nice when you are not fully loaded with panniers and everything. I took the opportunity to pass by Ashton Gate the historic Bristol City ground and it was duly ticked off as ground 64….. without too much ado.

Singing in the Rain

Day 87 was certainly a landmark day for the project. I had made contact with Bristol Rovers and their enthusiastic press officer Kirsty Pugh kindly invited me to the Rovers versus Yeovil game. Not only that I was to be presented to the crowd at half-time on the pitch so another 6,000 people now know about the project. The matchday announcer Nick Day made me welcome and asked me a range of questions about the refugees, the journey and my love of football. It was a privilege to be there and I hope that those who heard me will get the message out to their friends and family. Thanks Nick and thanks Kirsty.

Of course, on a personal level it was a memorable day. as I was to see my first league game in ten seasons in England as well as ground 63 out of 92. It was an exciting game with two goals in the last four minutes and just as Yeovil thought they had snatched a 1-1 draw after trailing for much of the game, up popped Rovers with a last minute winner. So a 2-1 victory for the home side sent the faithful home happy. An important win from their first home game of the season and a huge relief after 0-3 and 1-6 defeats earlier in the week.

From what I remember of the third level of English football after many years as a Gillingham fan both teams look as if they can make a realistic promotion push. Good luck to the teams and their fans. I have to say that the Yeovil fans who were standing on uncovered terracing sang the whole 90 minutes and really got behind their team. “Singing in the Rain” came to mind as the heavens opened for most of the match and although it was quite warm, it must have been quite a challenge to retain their enthusiasm. The Rovers fans also sang throughout the game ……. but they had the luxury of being undercover!

I am a Mamil

Well, according to the BBC I am a Mamil anyway!
I’ll admit to being middle-aged and to have discovered a new-found interest in cycling but I can’t say I am a lycra fan. I am not a sprint cyclist and I do not have the most up-to-date super-lightweight and purpose-built bike. I am an ordinary guy who has not been on a bike for 35 years looking to safely cycle for 3,000 miles. If you check the photos, you will see that I almost never wear shorts. In fact I think I have only worn them twice and not once since my accident. All that said, it was an interesting article and as I traverse the country it is evident that cycling is hugely more popular than it was when I left the UK in 2001. Thought you might like to read it.

Anyway, a relatively easy day: Calne to Bristol. As promised, I did a couple of hours of leafleting for Robin of Driveway Cleaning Wiltshire in Chippenham and then it was on to Bristol via the beautiful city of Bath. (beautiful that is apart from some hideous hills!) It has been an amazing tour and I have enjoyed returning to some old happy hunting grounds and seeing some new scenery too. I don’t think I have been to a town I’d not been to before but obviously the view from a bike is much different to that from a car or an “away coach”.

What has surprised me is the number and size of changes I see in everyday life. Change is the only constant in the world but the sheer speed of change in the past 10 years has indeed been amazing.

It is 10 years since I lived in England and nine years since I had been back to stay.
Some changes I have mused over include:

*the death of the English boozer
*the rise and rise of Continental/American style bars
*increase in safety/security measures at football grounds
*(on the same track) the huge improvement in the quality of football grounds
*the increase in cycles on the road and the introduction of cycle paths etc
*bogofs and special offers at supermarkets.
*congestion charges in London
*the huge growth in air traffic
*smoking bans, smoking “cabins” etc
*bus stops with electronic clocks telling you how long it is until the next bus
*the number of buses on the road and the commitment to public transport
*recycling
* the increase in bouncers in “ordinary” pubs and not just discos etc
* the huge change in business practices and the growth of networking groups, breakfast meetings and the shift from confrontational sales to a more social environment

When my tour is over, I will most definitely be blogging about “New England.” Is it better, worse or simply different? Do these changes make me more or less likely to return to the UK to live? Well, we will have to wait to see. “The grass may well be greener on the other side but it still needs painting” No mozzies but plenty of other irritants!

Robin Robson owner of Wiltshire

Sad to leave Oxford City but must press on – Oxford United and Swindon Town make grounds 61 and 62 completed.

Struggling for web access. My dongle does not want to work …. sounds like other parts of my battered body. It can go on the same list as brain, knees and ankles LOL

So, an early start but just as all looked good, there was a problem with the bike. On a tight schedule and even tighter budget that was not good news. Help was at hand! Reg Taylor Cycles quickly found the fault and fifteen minutes later I was on my way again. The least I could do was to make them Sponsor of The Day. Thanks, Philip and your guys.

When I am cycling there is no greater feeling than knowing I will be meeting a friend and having a bed at the end of the day. As I set off from Oxford I heard from an old friend from Spain, Robin Robson who invited me to his home in Calne. A quick check of the map showed it was only about 17 miles off my route so the attraction of saving a few bob from the depleted budget and catching up with Robin meant I set course for Calne via Oxford United and Swindon Town.

United have a new ground (badly-signposted) on the outskirts of the City of Spires and although it has a nice-looking hotel and conference centre it is one of these modern three-sided stadiums that I always think take away some of the atmosphere from the ground. Then it was four hours as fast as my little legs would carry me to Swindon Town which is well-signposted just outside the city centre.

I am beginning to get obsessed with how well or badly towns and cities treat cyclists and if Oxford is a ten out of ten and Doncaster is a zero (being kind!) then Swindon sits somewhere in the middle. OK in places and then I found myself struggling uphill on a blisteringly fast dual carriageway with no hard shoulder or dedicated cycle lane. I’ll be blogging about my thoughts on cycle lanes, signposting etc later but suffice to say that I am quite surprised I am, relatively, in one piece! Dedicated cycle tracks are a particular bone of contention as if you miss one tiny sign (behind a tree or hedge, vandalised or whatever) then your chances of regaining your route are limited. Additionally, they seem to attract the ne’er do wells of society alongside the ladies of the night (or broad daylight in Runcorn!) who seem intent in making respectable visitors unwelcome. Anyway, I eventually left Swindon and its one-way system for the hills to Calne. Seventeen miles sounded like a pleasant enough end to the day but there are some testing hills and I was glad to arrive in Calne. One of the real beauties of having a local host is that they know the short-cuts and best routes so it was a great feeling to see Robin at the entrance to the town and he escorted me through a maze of streets to his home. Five minutes with a local host or thirty minutes cycling around in circles.

I updated Robin about the project and he immediately offered to sponsor a day in return for me distributing some of his leaflets. Perfect. The budget is now almost completely blown and I really need some ad hoc work or sponsors next week to enable me to get to Swansea so if anybody wants to sponsor a day, please shout.

Nice write-up by Notts County. Thanks!