“Every day is special but some days are more special than others”

The Norwegian Seamen’s Church on the Spanish mainland (Torrevieja, Albir and Marbella) were great supporters of Bjorn.

Today my Norwegian trip was blessed at the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote by the priest, Knut Kaldestad. He lit a candle for the trip in a simple, impromptu and totally unexpected act. I was very grateful and moved. He knows that I cannot claim to be am a regular worshiper but I must say that this act meant a lot to me. Thanks, Knut. I shall be thinking of you and yours as I cycle through your country.

Ladies and gentlemen, if you are ever in Lanzarote, I know that you will always be made most welcome there. Thanks again, Knut.

Contact details

Kontakt
Slik kommer du i kontakt med Sjømannskirken på Lanzarote.
Adresse: Calle Anzuelo 50, Puerto del Carmen, Lanzarote

Åpningstider: Tirsdag – Fredag 12.00-16.00 (okt. til påske)
Telefon: 0034 928 515 561 Vakttelefon: 0034 616 407 693

IP tlf: 53 50 99 63

Web http://sjomannskirken.no/lanzarote

Gaver kan gis over kontonr i Spansk bank: 2038 7218 56 00032 9388
Norsk bank: 3000 19 43371

It is time to get serious about my training and I have now committed to joining 5×50.org

50 Days To Make The World a Fitter Place

5×50.org, a UK charity, urges people to get fit for the sake of mental and physical health.

The Challenge aims to get people of all ages in as many countries as possible to pledge themselves to 30 minutes of exercise every day for 50 consecutive days. If physical activity was a drug, it would be classed as a wonder drug, which is why I encourage everyone to take it up. It’s not just good for your physical health but also your mental health.

A worldwide drive to encourage people to commit to a prescription for better physical and mental health is being launched this spring.

The 5X50 Challenge, which is a Scottish charity, is kicking off its 50 Days To Fit campaign, which aims to get people of all ages in as many countries as possible to pledge themselves to 30 minutes of exercise every day for 50 consecutive days.
The 5×50 Challenge not only endeavours to change exercise habits for a lifetime but it has also set a target of raising £500,000 for charity.

This is the third year that the Challenge has set out to attract the attention of people – from school pupils to workers to stay-at-home mums and dads– to sign up and enjoy the lasting legacy of a commitment to improving fitness and well-being.
This year’s 50 Days To Fit starts on Sunday March 30 and runs until May 18.

Also, the 5×50 Challenge has been awarded Commonwealth Games Legacy status in recognition of its positive impact on the health, happiness and well-being of the people of Scotland and in recognition of its efforts in tackling the perception of the country as a nation of obesity and low-fitness.

The Challenge is already backed by the Chief Medical Officers for Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales and has the support of organisations and famous names who are committed to healthier lifestyles for everyone. They include former 10,000-metre world champion and Olympic athlete Liz McColgan, renowned athlete and doctor Andrew Murray, Scottish Minister for Sport and the Commonwealth Games Shona Robison and TV presenter Jenni Falconer. For individuals, regular physical activity helps to prevent and manage more than 20 chronic illnesses, including heart disease, obesity, strokes and mental health conditions. For companies, inactivity among employees can lead to an increase in costs in terms of sickness absence and inefficiency.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England, who is a supporter, says: “I believe that if physical activity was a drug it would be classed as a wonder drug, which is why I would encourage everyone to get up and be active. The work that 5X50 do is extremely important and I am proud to say I support them. “Being active and doing the recommended 150 minutes of physical activity per week for adults is not just good for your physical health but also your mental health.”

5×50 started out in 2012 as a challenge to people from all walks of life to get fitter and healthier, physically and mentally, by taking part in a 5 kilometre run, jog or walk every day for 50 consecutive days, hence the name.
Since then, it has developed and broadened its appeal, and now 5×50 participants can sign up by committing themselves to 30 minutes of exercise every day for 50 days, which means those involved in a host of other activities (such as swimmers, canoeists and climbers) can take part. Even if participants wish to brave bitter cold and take up ice swimming – as one primary school teacher in Moscow did – they can.

For most people, the easiest and most acceptable forms of physical activity are those incorporated into everyday life. Walking and cycling are perhaps the most obvious. Research demonstrates that habits are formed after 21 days, so with the challenge running over 50 days, this will make it much easier for participants to continue beyond the end of the challenge into a new way of life.

Since 2012, more than 9000 people from 43 countries have participated in three annual challenges and have raised more than £160,000 for a plethora of good causes. One notable beneficiary is Sport Relief, which gives shelter to young people living on the streets and protection to those living with domestic abuse. Across the world, money helps children into education and provides communities with fresh water and life-saving vaccines.

The health benefits of being active have been known since the 1950s, when a study compared bus drivers with more physically active bus conductors and office-based telephonists with postmen and demonstrated lower rates of heart disease and smaller uniform sizes in the more active occupations. The 1950s is where it started, and the 5×50 charity challenge is how we hope to continue changing the results of inactivity.

Those who have benefitted include:
Eleven-year-old Ross De’Thick, of Elgin, Moray, who, from birth, suffered from various allergies, eczema and asthma and was prone to constant stomach cramps and aching bones. He could not cycle a bike up until the 5×50 challenge last year
Sarah Mather, of Edinburgh, who credits the 2013 challenge with changing her life. Facing redundancy and more than five stones overweight, she is now a svelte size 14 and has forged a new career as a personal trainer and life coach.
5X50 co-founder Raymond Wallace says: “The Challenge started off as a personal challenge in 2012 – but the impact the challenge has had in such a short period is amazing.
“We love the feedback we receive about the changes it has made to so many lives. Although this will be our third Challenge, we fully believe we are just at the start of our journey and can see 5×50 continuing to grow globally and become the success it deserves to be.”

For more information, go to:
http://www.5×50.org

Footnote: Steve Hall, the owner of ThisIsSpain is completing this challenge as an integral part of his preparations for TheShirt2010

Málaga paints the shirt blue!

Malaga released one of the most ingenious adverts ahead of their La Liga clash against Real Madrid at La Rosaleda, encouraging the fans to support their local team.

In the tongue-in-cheek ad, a man is shown painting the trademark blue stripes of Malaga, down the face of a Real Madrid shirt, before asking the fans to chose a side and support Malaga.

“There comes a moment in life, when you need to make decisions.

“You can’t have two teams. Support your team!”

Full article on Inside Spanish Football

Footnote: sadly it was not to be. Real Madrid won 1-0 with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring.

In footballing terms, I now announce my “pre-season training event in Lanzarote which will be for the benefit of The Kennel Klub of Lanzarote. Over three days I shall do a leisurely cycle tour of the island stopping at many local businesses. I am sure that we can get 50 bars, restaurants, businesses etc to sponsor the ride at 10 euros each. This would be 500 valuable euros for Laura Johnson and her team at the Kennel Klub. If we also find 500 supporters to donate 1 euro each, the Kennel Klub would make another 500. I will definitely be going out there looking to make 1000 euros for our four-legged friends whilst I pedal away. Hope this helps them! The second cause I am supporting is the community at Sun Park Living where the Sunrockers and I are looking to raise 500 euros for their cause. More on that soonest.

Laura tells me that 5 euros will pay for one day in private kennels for one dog. That will mean one day of safety, food, water and shelter. The more 5 euros I can raise, the more days/dogs they can afford to look after without the risk of them being euthanised.

* 10 euro will pay for a dog to be microchipped which greatly reduces the risk of a dog being abandoned or lost in the future.

* 20 euros will pay for a dog to be vaccinated against common illnesses and prevent them from contracting them.

* 50 euros will pay for a male dog to be sterlised thus reducing the number of unwanted/unplanned litters.

So, if you would like to donate a fixed amount for a specific cause, Laura will be pleased to advise. My target is 1,000 euros. How she decides to use the money is 100% up to her and her team!

The tour is being organised by Mike and Julie at www.LanzaroteInformation.com which is the ultimate source of information in English about the island. Without them the tour would NOT be possible. I will be proud to wear whatever shirt they choose for me over the three days! THANKS, guys.

Norway 2014

The Shirt project wheels along! The next stage in the Journey is announced! On June 14 I shall set out from the Kirkenes Stadion (=stadium) home of Kirkenes IF in Kirkenes on the Russian border. This is probably the toughest challenge to date as we are not talking the flatlands of the Netherlands or the East of England. No, I shall face the mountains and valleys of the west coast of Norway. The backbone of the journey will be a visit to all the clubs in the top three divisions of Norwegian football. The journey will take me down from Kirkenes to Bodø (the most northerly of the Tippeligaen clubs to Trondheim (RBK), Molde, Aalesund, Sogndal, Brann, Haugesund, Stavanger on to Kristiansand, Skien and then 1000 km loop inland before finishing with the clubs in the Oslo area. A journey of some 5000 km. Hopefully, I will finish at City Hall, Oslo in one piece on or before the 31st August. This trip is NOT for the faint-hearted!

Why Norway?

In the 1840s, Ivar Aasen from Ørsta, Sunnmøre travelled the length and breadth of Norway to collate the dialects and language usage of the country. He wanted to hear and annotate the language so that he could create a standarised pan-Norwegian language. This he realised was very different from the “official” Danish language spoken at that time.

Yes, I will also travel the length and breadth of Norway to find out what Norway is REALLY like in the early 21st century. This may or not be very different from the “official” view of Norway and/or foreigners’ perceptions. This is part of The Shirt project which started in 2009 when Porsgrunn’s favourite son Bjørn Heidenstrøm cycled from Oslo to South Africa to raise awareness for the United Nations’ High Commission for Refugees. It was continued by Steve in 2010 when he cycled to the 92 football clubs in the UK. (See www.bjornheidenstrom.com and www.theshirt2010.co.uk ) We collect football shirts and Bjørn now has over 700 sewn together in to the largest shirt in the world!! The 2014 journey will be to raise awareness for the Norwegian Red Cross, Røde Kors.

Ivar Aasen was armed only with pen and paper for his studies. He did not have a 21 gear bicycle or the legendary Hurtigruten boats to get him from town to town, village to village and farm to farm. I will have daily video updates, as well as access to 4G and the internet. I will have audio recording BUT to get NEAR to the people I will be on my own with just my trusty bike for company. I will have no car and no back-up vehicle. The entire journey will be recorded on www.ThisIsNorway.info website.

So, who do I want to meet? I want to meet YOU, Mr or Mrs Norway. I want to talk to you about oil, trolls, Hurtigruten, Norwegian.com, football, skiing, and brunost. I want/need to meet oil-rig workers, Erasmus students, the young, the old, the rich, the poor, the loved and the lonely. I want to meet fishermen, hill farmers, Lapp nomads, asylum seekers and those living in the poorer quarters of the cities. I want to meet church-ministers and atheists, brain surgeons and tree surgeons – in short, the 5 million people who make up 21st-century Norway.

And who do I want to meet more specifically? I also want to meet some of the people who have put Norway on the world map. The heroes and survivors of Utøya, Drillo, Bjørn Heidenstrøm, Bjørn Kjos, Idar Vollvik, Petter Stordalen, Petter Northug, Erna Solberg, Jens Stoltenberg, Jane C. Owen and many more. It is invidious to name names but these people (and many, many, many more) would add much to my understanding of Norway 2014.

…and let us not forget football. The Shirt project is inexorably linked to football and Norwegian football touches every aspect of society. I will visit every club from the biggest teams in Tippaligaen to the most humble clubs of Oddsligaen – and all those in between.

I have no funding nor corporate sponsorship and want to finance the journey with the love and support of the Norwegian people and 5,000 individual sponsors all pledging 10 NOK (or 1 euro!). The aim is to collect 5,000 signatures on one shirt, which is the symbol of the journey. 5,000 signatures and 5,000 donations – one for every 1,000 Norwegians. This should give a good overview of “ThisIsNorway 2014”. I also wants 500 fans to sponsor a 10 km stretch which will be dedicated to their favourite club.

My other challenge is to learn Norwegian. I have set myself the challenge of speaking conversational Norwegian by the end of the journey!

Let’s see if learning Norwegian is the toughest part – or will it be 120 days on the road in the sun and rain, snow (?) and storms.

If you have any ideas I’d love to hear from you.

PS: My second “Why?” “Ja, jeg elsker dette landet” (In English: “Yes, I love this country”) is a play on “Ja, vi elsker dette landet” (In English: “Yes, we love this country”), the Norwegian national anthem. Obviously, there is also a deeper significance in that Bjørn is a Norwegian and the very first push on the pedal was from Oslo in July 2009 and that he is a Norwegian citizen. The photo above shows the Shirt in 2011 after Bjørn had cycled the length of Norway!

Here is a good page in English with details of all the Tippeliga clubs en route. The Adeccoliga clubs are here.

Norway 2014

The next stage in the Journey is announced! On June 14 I shall set out from the Kirkenes Stadion (=stadium) home of Kirkenes IF in Kirkenes on the Russian border. This is probably the toughest challenge to date as we are not talking the flatlands of the Netherlands or the East of England. No, I shall face the mountains and valleys of the west coast of Norway. This stage is NOT for the faint-hearted!

Further details in the next 24 hours!

Absolutely delighted to confirm that I will be able to announce the 2014 tour details on Wednesday – feels soooo good.
Thanks to those who have given me so much help and advice……and kept their vows of silence!

….sent me this today. Kristin N. Øhrn is the Project Manager at Norway’s biggest exhibition company.
The info is in Norwegian and only of interest if you are in Oslo BUT I support those who support me so here goes:

Jakt, Fiske & Frilufts Messen

Reiselivsmessen arrangerer en ny spennende messe på Telenor Arena – Jakt, Fiske & Frilufts Messen !

Enten du er en ihugga fisker, jeger, ivrig turgåer eller en som generelt nyter friluftslivet – så er dette en messe verdt et besøk!

Velkommen til Telenor Arena førstkommende helg!

Fredag 28. februar – Søndag 2. mars
Fredag 12.00 – 18.00
Lørdag og Søndag 10.00 – 18.00

Pris entrè:
Kr. 50,-
Barn u/16 år – gratis

For mer info besøk gjerne: www.telenorarena.no and www.reiselivsmessen.no

Two British Friends

As I am tidying up the last details of my journey, I have receieved a couple of requests from friends in the UK.

Andrew Wilcox says, “On Saturday 7th June we are holding our first specialist section along with our standard general auction at Itchen Abbas Village. The theme is cycling and you can find more details on our Specialist Cycle Auction page. It is a requirement for submitting lots to this specialist section of auction. We are promoting it well in advance to give buyers and sellers the best opportunity to see and sell the cycles or related items. We are limiting the number of lots to 100 and will give preference to higher value items.”

Full details here:

Today, I also got an interesting post from my friend Stephen Bailey at Tring Tornadoes Junior Sports Club

“Hello, now we know what our new kit for 2014-16 is going to be, we’re keen to find a sponsor who wants to become part of the team too. Could that be you?”

So, if anybody wants to get in contact with a progressive youth setup in Tring, Hertfordshire, UK (50 miles north of London) please make contact with him direct at communications@tringtornadoes.co.uk