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“Home” …. I woke up in god’s chosen county AKA Yokshire for the first time in 12 years. Nice feeling in nice B&B in York. Clifton Bridge B&B gets the vote for the best breakfast in a hotel on the trip so far!

Easy day down to Beverley and delighted to find quaint Youth Hostel. Sadly full for next night as I would gladly have rested up but “no room at the inn”.

GLAD THAT I LIVE AM I

Whilst I was in hospital the first few lines of this went through my head. It’s an old school hymn that I had not heard for nearly 40 years. Thanks to Tim Berners-Lee I was able to check the entire lyrics.

Enjoy

GLAD THAT I LIVE AM I

Glad that I live am I,
That the sky is blue;
Glad for the country lanes
And the fall of dew,
After the sun the rain,
After the rain the sun
This is the way of life
Till the work be done.
All that we need to do,
Be we low or high is to
see that we grow nearer the sky.

Yes, life is sweet ….. and I double-checked before I wrote this and confirmed that I am not a Man City or Arsenal fan. It doesn’t get better guys!

This morning I woke at 5am for a short journey to the Harald BNI chapter at Thornaby. I quickly checked my inbox and was delighted to find this update from my brother-in-arms Mark Say. Mark is very involved with BloodRun and we would both be obliged if you would check this out.

“An early start for Mark today to go and meet a very special man. His name is Steve Hall and he is currently on Day 65 of a 3,000 mile cycle ride around the UK. Steve is a 53 year old Ex-Pat who currently lives in Torrevieja, Alicante. He has taken five months out of his life to raise awareness about all the worlds refugees, he isn’t asking for money, just for people to consider the plight of some of the people less fortunate than ourselves.From Steve’s website:

Why am I doing this? My aim is very clear. I want to help to raise awareness for the world’s 45 million refugees. I am not looking to raise money. I am simply focused on raising the level of awareness for this huge global issue.

On his journey around the UK Steve is visiting all 92 football clubs on the way. Mark was put in touch with Steve through his father Mick, both are members of BNI, Business Networking International, and Mick put the two in touch in the hope that, as both are doing charity work, that they may be able to help each other. As Steve neared Hartlepool, Mark offered to be his “fixer” for the day, arranging a visit to Victoria Park, home of Hartlepool United Football Club, some press coverage and even a spot of lunch.

Mark met Steve at the end of the local BNI meeting which was held at The Windmill, Dalton Piercy. The two then saddled up for the roughly 5 mile trip into Hartlepool. The weather could have been better, with that fine rain that soaks you through making an appearance. Neither of the pair were suitably dressed for the rain and Steve didn’t even have a jacket, being that it was cut off him by the police after a bad accident recently because they thought he had dislocated his shoulder! But nevertheless they set off towards the 39th club of Steve’s journey.

Steve told Mark before they set off to take it easy as he was still sore from the accident, so Mark set off at a modest pace only to have Steve fly by him on the first hill, so much for frailty!

It didn’t take long to get there and as we were a little early we nipped into Facchinis Cycles on Murray Street where Martin was able to tighten Steve’s mudguard and “lend” him an allen key for his handlebar headset. We then headed to Morrisons, one of the Bloodrun sponsors, for a coffee, and then made the short trip around the corner to Victoria Park. First of all we met Jon and the “Mock up” Bloodbike to show Steve, then inside we went to meet Mark the Press Officer for HUFC, hereby known as “HUFC Mark”.

HUFC Mark and Steve chatted football and as both were like an encyclopaedia of football knowledge they seemed to get on like a house on fire, it turns out one of the Hartlepool players was signed from a club which is 6 miles from where Steve used to live in Sweden! And HUFC Mark even knew of Steve’s friend Bjorn Heidenstrom who recently cycled from Norway to South Africa as part of “The Shirt” project and used to play for Leyton Orient!

The Hartlepool Mail came down and took a few photos of Steve for the paper and then HUFC Mark showed us the stadium, great stuff! Thanks to all at HUFC and The Hartlepool Mail for that.

Hunger began to strike and before Steve saddled up Mark treated him and Jon to some fish and chips from Majestic Fisheries, Lister Street, it certainly filled a hole! Mark and Jon then presented Steve with a signed Bloodrun 2010 T-Shirt as part of his Shirt collection and he rode off into the rain back towards The Windmill.

Thank you Steve and we hope that the rest of your journey goes without a hitch!

Check out Steve’s website at www.theshirt2010.co.uk ”

You can see the full article with some great photos here

After an excellent BNI meeting with Harald at Thornaby, it looked like I had a quick free-wheel to Middlesbrough but sadly an assortment of motorway style roads, cul-de-sacs, appalling directions at a petrol station and my own lack of local knowledge meant I was cycling in circles! Eventually, a friendly local gave me excellent directions and I was at Middlesbrough’s stadium to be met by a tour guide and a shirt. Yes, I had the pleasure of a 1-2-1 tour of the stadium by Barry who was himself an ex pro in the 50s and 60s and was a mine of information about all things ‘Boro. He also gave me superb directions on back-roads out of town to Thirsk. A TOP guy and a real pleasure to have shared something of the tradition of this proud club with him.

Club 40 …. a milestone!

It has been a great day with some real highlights.

1) Martin at Facchini Cycles gave me an allen key

2) I met John and Mark from www.bloodrun.co.uk It was tremendous to meet and goes down as a real highlight of the whole tour. TOP GUYS,

3) I went to a great BNI meeting at Vision Hartlepool. As good as it gets.

4) Ecademist Stuart McMullen has offered me a bed in his beautiful house in Durham City for tonight,

5) Neil from BNI Vision has offered me his spare cycle jacket and has made efforts to get it to Thornaby tomorrow. (3 days in driving rain wearing only football shirts was NOT a highlight

6) Stuart Drummond the mayor of Hartlepool called me to give me a super endorsement and to offer the best wishes of all the citizens of his town

7) Had a great visit to club 39 Hartlepool United. On to pitch, local press etc etc!

8) Middlesbrough confirmed a timed visit to their club on Friday (Kindly organised by BNI Fortress’ Matt Sibley) That will be the Big 40!

9) Ecademist Claire Jarrett kindly sponsored four days’ expenses.

10) Ecademist Keith Whitney has offered a room in Hereford next month.

DAY 63 Back on the road!

In Bishop Auckland, Co. Durham. Feels good to be on the road again (despite the driving rain) and I am looking forward to making progress south. Four BNI breakfasts this week – Tynemouth, Bishop Auckland, Dalton Piercy and Thornaby.

There are also Middlesbrough and Hartlepool Football Clubs to visit. That will make 40 of the clubs completed and will finish the first half of the 92 by next week. Then I’m on my way “home”.

BUT before I knock off the grounds I have to be sensible and realise I am not 100% fit yet so I was very grateful for an early night before the Fortress meeting.

I had heard a lot about this chapter and from the minute I walked through the door I was impressed. As I write this (day 63), BNI Fortress gets my vote as the best chapter I have visited….bar none. Yes, there have been several excellent chapters and chapters like Wallington and Chariots were bigger but I think Fortress has the edge. Everything was impressive – from the room lay-out, to the slick manner in which breakfast was served, to the way that visitors were treated, to the quality and number of referrals. Not only that but the Chapter Director, Phil Graham, had arranged for a professional photographer to be present to capture my visit for posterity, for a representative of Bishop Auckland FC to say, “hi” and for the local radio station to interview me. Respect!

Well the BIG news is that I am back on my bike (…although taking things easy and slowly!)

The day started at Priory BNI. It was not one of the bigger chapters but I was met with enthusiasm (…and a little incredulity that I was looking to continue!) The chapter was mercifully walking distance from David’s house and it was a pleasure to attend a breakfast meeting. Oh dear! Carlisle seemed a loooooong time ago!

From there it was back to David’s to tidy up and take my first hesitant pedals. It felt good! So off I set in the pouring rain to Bishop Auckland. I was stiff and most parts of my body were hurting when I eventually aqua-planed into town!

Oh what a day!

After what has been one of the most difficult weeks in my life I had a real “high” of a day. In quick succession I had three great meetings and I want to share them with you.

Often we say in English, “It was a pleasure to meet”. That is polite and shows respect for the person you met. Today, I can say, “It was a privilege to meet”

1)

2)

3) Whiptail Cycles I am totally humbled by the support I have received by Ben at Whiptail Cycles. Last year he sorted Bjorn’s bike when others had failed. This year he has excelled even beyond that. I literally poured a collection of parts from the crashed bike on to his workshop floor and asked him what he could do with that jigsaw puzzle. He was not phased by this and said that a bike was a collection of spare parts and it was simply a matter of putting them all together again. Please compare that with another shop who were looking to sell me a new bike at 1200 GBP without even seeing my damaged bike. What I did not see was a huge poster saying that they could not take any more repairs until further notice! Ben remembered Bjorn and knew of the project and promised to assist. Today I collected the bike that was now all in one piece after he had re-assembled it and had given it a full service. I am embarassed to mention the price. Ben, it is a privilege to know you and as a small token of my appreciation I hope you will accept being a “friend”of the project. Respect!

“The Man”

Today, I was talking to my great friend, professional cartoonist (and all round good guy) Simon Ellinas. He has made me an incredible offer. He will draw YOU on “my” tandem for just 20 pounds sterling (less than 25 euros)! If you would like a unique souvenir of the journey or just something to scare the mice, please send me a photo and Simon will do the rest.

Here you see two great supporters of TheShirt

Mike from Coys Cars

John from Guide2Valencia

The actual cartoon is much bigger 1240 x 1325 so you can see it is tremendous value. Thanks, Simon.

The 2010/2011 Football Season kicks off!

Yes, precisely 6 days after I saw the last games of the 2009/2010 season, I am at a pre-season friendly between Whitley Bay and Glossop.

I had a special interest as both clubs have supported Bjørn with shirts and I had also visited the Derbyshire club. It was an entertaining game played in the pale Northumbria sun and the home team shaved an end-to-end game 1-0 with a nice header 10 minutes from time. Almost 100 Hillmen (and women!) made the long trip nothwards and intriguingly many weere dressed in Hawaii-style dress. I guess that two sets of supporters who “enjoy” some of the worst weather in the UK hoped to get some summer …. but I was dressed in a heavy anorak against the North Sea winds! I wish both clubs well in 2010/2011.

I closed my eyes and went to heaven

….no, I’m not talking about my near-death experience a week ago but my discovery of “The Back Page“/ (Photo below) Those who know me well, know that I am a huge collector of football memorabilia and in the “Remake of Towering Inferno” that starred everything I own rather than Steve McQueen, I lost over 2,000 programmes never mind books, CDs, tapes, DVDs, CDs etc etc. There were I remember over 720 Gillingham programmes, 500 Man Utd programmes, 400 Rugby League Programmes and 400 various programmes and magazines from a dozen plus countries. Sad! (….or words to that effect!)

Today was my first real day out and I decided to have a quiet day sightseeing in Newcastle and Sunderland. It’s a long, long time since I had free time here and I really enjoyed travelling around the area. For just 8 pounds you can get a whole day pass that gets you on the buses, the excellent metro and the ferry. I took good advantage of the ticket! I was wandering around near Newcastle United’s St James’Park and stumbled over The Back Page which is a veritable Alladin’s Cave of memorabilia. It claims to be the “World’s largest football memorabila and bookshop”. I have certainly seen nothing better and it dwarves Sportspages. It has far more non-mainstream books and literally thousands of programmes from every club in the UK and many international teams too. I had a happy 30 minutes here and will be back on Monday when I will have more time. Happy Days!

From there I went to ground 37, Newcastle United. To be honest it did not feel the same walking rather than cycling and I was still feeling a bit woozy so I took a couple of photos and moved on.

Funny after 45 minutes on the train, a coffee and something to eat how the world seems a better place! I had not seen Sunderland’s new Stadium of Light since I had moved to Spain and it IS impressive. It’s not as big as St James Park but it stands out well on the skyline and the stately entrance gates give it a certain grandeur that few clubs can match.

BUT ….. and I have said this one thousand times, football is about people and not bricks and mortar and Sunderland had all the trump cards here. Firstly, I met Danny in the car park. He has been a supporter for over 60 years and we had a super 15 minutes together as he relived moments from Stokoe, Hurley, Ashurst etc Then I was shown around by the charming Rebecca Seymour who obviously loves her job and the club. I passed on Bjorn’s best wishes and told her that the Sunderland shirt they had donated last year when he was in the North East was flown with pride at the World Cup. She was grateful for that update. Ground 38. Not the best week with only two new grounds but considering how I was 7 days ago I must be pleased. Thanks for all your support.

On the mend

For the first time in a week, I went out of the house and had a walk through the town. Nothing massively football- or refugee- related I am afraid but if felt good to get some fresh air back into the lungs.

I also had emails from Bjørn saying that he was tidying up in South Africa and that he would be home this week. A 12 hour flight after a 12 month journey! What a hero. He reminded me that now the World Cup is over that the plight of the refugees must not be forgotten about and I promised to keep on cycling, keep on spreading the word of the UNHCR and keep on reminding people that there may be one less cyclist on the long road from Norway to South Africa but that there are still 45 million refugees. This is a huge and obscene figure and we remind everybody that this number is set to increase. Please continue to follow me whether you are interested in cycling, football, Ecademy, BNI or social media but remember WHY I am doing what I do. Thanks.