Bjørn is correct

Before I started the tour, Bjørn told me, “Steve, you will have higher highs and lower lows than you will be able to cope with easily.” Boy, was he right?

After three days I would in general prefer to forget, days 70 and 71 have been really great days.

I commented on LinkedIN

RESPECT to all at Rock Huddersfield.

1) A superb meeting

2) They organised a room at one of my very favourite hotels in the world. (The George Hotel, Huddersfield. Part hotel, part Rugby League Museum)

3) Got me a room for an extra night in return for 5 hours canvassing tomorrow for The Vinery Hair Salon, Huddersfield and even got me a very smart new short back and sides in return for some leaflet delivering this afternoon.

4) I am now discussing a project with Rock Member Alan Whyke which will run in to 100s of 1000s of pounds sterling. Alan was a superb introduction from one of the most professional and dynamic ADs I have met in the last three months, Jillian Evans

5) Colin McNeill is a famous triathlete who took the trouble to give me great advice re diet and basic cycling techniques

….and last but definitely not least Georgina Oldfield who is a chartered physiotherapist kindly gave me some linament which will take away some of the pain.

BUT there is more!!

Today is a milestone

Yes, I have now officially completed half of the circuit and Huddersfield became number 46 out of the 92 I have to visit.

I was enthusiastically welcomed to “The Yorkshire Club” by their dynamic David Sykes who warmed to my story and who said something that made me feel very humble. “Steve, thank you for visiting us and making us part of your journey.” Now, the reality is that I HAD to visit The Galpharm Stadium but I was very touched by his comment. Huddersfield are a club who for many years have held their social responsibility very proudly and who have always worked on their role in the community and are most definitely a club who I would want to be associated with. For that reason David’s warm and profuse welcome was even more appreciated. He did not have a shirt available as the new 2010/2011 shirt has yet to be launched but he kindly “borrowed” the only prototype model that the club has and we held it aloft to show the world! yes, you saw it here first. It’s a very attractive Mitre design and I think it will sell well as a fashion item as well as in its more sporting role!

As must be becoming clear, I am also a huge Rugby League fan and in one of thos wonderful moments that life throws up just as I was standing at the reception of the new stadium Eorl Crabtree passed by…….and, yes, I had a camera in my hand! In soccer terms and depending on your age it would be the equivalent of Sir Stanley Matthews, Sir Tom Finney, George Best, Sir Bobby Moore, Gary Lineker, Beckham or Cantona walking towards you. To be honest and without thinking I asked Eorl if I could take a photo. Absolutely NO problem. He was charm personified, was interested to hear about my travels and my rugby league career and updated me on his amazing career with the Huddersfield Giants and England. He was simply put “the perfect gentleman”.

Eorl, you cannot know how much that 10 minutes meant to me and my trip. I wish you every success in your richly-deserved testimonial season ….and if you want a caddy for your golf pro-am please let me know!

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After the disappointments of the two previous days, I was determined to enjoy today…. and I did!

I woke up, shook my head and joy of joys the man flu had gone. So with an obscenely early start I was at Barnsley Football Club at the crack of dawn. Sadly there was nobody to meet and even more sadly I screwed up on the photos but it was good to get club 45 in the book and off I shot to Huddersfield.

As anybody who knows me will admit, I am a huge BNI fan and it was a double joy today to go to a new region (South Pennines) go to a strong chapter (Rock) with a great AD (Jill Evans) AND find that the meetings are held at the George Hotel. The George Hotel is a hugely important building in the history of British sport. It is where the Rugby League was formed when “the original clubs” broke away from the Northern Union in a bitter dispute over broken time payments. The whole building is a working museum and the walls are covered with photos of the games greats. Framed photos of Fox, Boston, Jim, Mick and Sir Clive Sullivan, Stephenson, Ashton, Murphy, Edwards, Karalius, Farrell inter alia are everywhere. As a rugby league fan since the 70s this is a dream location for me and I spent an hour reminiscing on my days following Bradford Northern. Happy Days!

Yes, the hotel is a real “must visit” for anybody interested in rugby or indeed sport in the UK. It is wonderful to stay in a hotel with “style” rather than a characterless triple-decker on some industrial estate or outer city ring road. The staff all seem local and clearly love working here ….. and it shows! Other hotels take note!

As for the meeting, it was a lunchtime event and held in the famous Harold Wilson Suite. As a lunchtime meeting, it has a special “feel” and I was made very welcome by enthusiastic members covering a great member of professions.

The highlight of the day was an evening meal with Jill and her partner Colin. Colin is a triathlete and just hearing what he has to put himself through in one single day made me feel tired! Time permitting we will meet up again and he can show me how to cycle properly! RESPECT!

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Huge disappointment of a day.

Had GREAT tour of Doncaster Rovers courtesy of Steve in the media department. Thanks for seeing me at short notice. By amazing coincidence we both saw Gillingham versus Doncaster Rovers as our very first ever game!! We were both smitten – love at first sight and we have both suffered for our decisions over many many years! Steve since 1977 and me since 1964. Unlike the Priestfield the new stadium is something Steve can be proud of!

Then disaster struck. Two miles out of Doncaster I went down with flu symptons and the result was I managed only to do 16 miles in 6 hours! Wow, did I feel rough? Anyway, I pushed for most of the last 6 miles and was sooooo lucky that there was a pub almost as I entered Barnsley. I put a thespian performance on that even Gielgud would have been proud of as the only room spare was not made up and he had no cleaner. I sais I cared not and just needed somehwere to crash and fast. Good guy saw the urgency and let me have a bed. The Black Bull, Barnsley take a bow!

Feel hugely better after 3 hour siesta, shower etc but eyes are swimming so will update later. Some nice photos of both Doncaster Stadiums so we can all reminisce fondly about the dump that was Belle Vue!

Sadly, I did not make Huddersfield the half-way point but I look forward to that tomorrow.

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Everybody has one …. move on

Day 68 was not a highlight of the tour. Nice walk through Lincoln Centre and good to visit John, the press officer from Lincoln City and hear of his hopes and fears for the new season but apart from that it was a lot of miles and 3 hours in rain and drizzle. I then arrived at worst accommodation anywhere on trip.

I will wake up tomorrow and Day 69 WILL be a great day. I am sure of that! Thanks for following all of you and I promise I’ll get you some more interesting news later. How can I not?

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Always good to do two grounds in one day. Today it was Hull City and Scunthorpe United. Actually I also went to Hull City’s old ground at Boothferry Park …. but that doesn’t count LOL!

Lots more to say about Hull. Hope I have internet access tomorrow

GREAT hotel again. The George It was so good that I made them Sponsor of the Day! Nice to have a bit of elegance once in a while but it reminded me that the world’s refugees do not have this fortune.

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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”.

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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!

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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.

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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!

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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!

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