The route & how to join in!

What a busy time it's been! I cycled 3 times last week and had my fitness assessment with Lee in Dundee, it came close to being the most depressing experience of my life! Basically, the assessment proved something that was not completely a surprise - I'm NOT fit!

So now the training must begin in earnest - and the fact that on my last cycle I managed to clock up a massive 4 miles in 30minutes was on one hand uplifting, on the other a bit of a wake up call to how much I have to do, bearing in mind I'll be cycling between 33 - 50 miles a day in September! Yikes..I can feel my thighs hurting at the very thought!

Okay, here's the other part of the story...I am going to give you the day by day route plan. Should you wish to join me for some of one of the days, a whole day, or more than a day all I ask is that you make a donation to my virginmoney fund raising page on the right hand side of this blog page. If you're in Australia, you can make a donation to the Swags for the homeless donation link above the SHELTER donation link. You can email me at info@kathleenhaden.com should you wish to discuss joining me!

Okay, here it is!

Thursday 1st Sept: Broughty Ferry Castle - Montrose (35 miles)

Friday 2nd Sept: Montrose - Peterculter (39 miles)

Saturday 3rd Sept: Peterculter - Tarves (33 miles)

Sunday 4th Sept: Tarves - Banff (40 miles)

Monday 5th Sept: Banff - Forres (50miles)

Tuesday 6th Sept: Forres - Inverness (36miles)

Wednesday 7th Sept: Inverness - Tain (38miles)

Thursday 8th Sept: Tain - Altnaharra (47 miles)

Friday 9th Sept: Altnaharra - Portskerra (42 miles)

Saturday 10th Sept: Portskerra - Thurso (17miles)

Thanks to Clare and Graeme in Kirriemuir for helping me with this - this is the safest route, and keeps me away from the A9 as much as possible. I couldn't have made this plan without them!

"A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us." - John Steinbeck

It's a start....

Well yesterday I picked up my bike from Andrew's Outdoor Store in Forfar - he and Chris had done a great job and he even helped me lift it into the boot of my car..no mean feat.

I got it home and fitted my helmet - which I might add Andrew told me means my head isn't actually THAT big...despite my parents making me feel paranoid about it. Size 58 1/2 does not in fact make me a medical mystery.

Anywhooos...I jumped on the bike and went for a very short (maybe a mile...I know, I know this is taking starting slowly to the extreme) cycle round the village. Thing is...my thighs weren't quite ready for that experience..AND there was a wind in my face.

I imagine (in my dreams) that cycling from Dundee to Thurso will involve sunshine, flat roads and no traffic.

Other good news is that I heard back from Raising the Roof in Canada and Swags for the Homeless in Australia and they're going to send me the appropriate bits and pieces to set up a justgiving donations page for their homeless charities too.

My Andrew also mentioned speaking with his friend Drew Richards from JM Richards Cycle Shop in George St, Perth about bikey stuff. There are way too many Andrews in this story...but they're all good people and all very helpful so that's the main thing! We spoke about hybrid bikes...and I told him (very knowledgably) that Andrew in Forfar had put hybrid tyres on my bike. For those of you that remember my earlier blog, I didn't actually know the right name, but instead just called them, "less grippy".

Anyway, with all these experts on my side it's going to be easy peasy..providing I can cycle for more than a mile in a teeny weeny headwind.

Also today Tricia from the Dundee SHELTER office rang up to set up a day when we can meet up, meet the Lord Provost and get a photo and a wee story in The Courier. I need to keep bashing on with raising the profile of the event so I can get some serious money raised for SHELTER.

Okay, that's all for now - I'm off for a quick ride on my bike before Charlie comes home from school.

Spread the word for me!

Kathleen x

"How wonderful is it that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." - Anne Frank

Family & Friends

Hello again!

You may remember from one of my earlier blogs my idea that family & friends in Canada could sponsor me for the cycling event in September, with the money they raise being donated to the Canadian homeless charity, "Raising the Roof" - well I have decided to offer the same opportunity to my family and friends in Australia.

I have been in touch with Tony Clark, the founder and chairman of a Melbourne based, but Australia wide charity called "Swags for the Homeless Ltd" http://www.swags.org.au/ Tony is going to send me the details to set up a donation page similar to the one I have for SHELTER (Scotland).

I will pass on that page to all my Australian contacts once it's all set up!

I had a look at several of the Australian homeless charities, and I was drawn to support "Swags for the homeless" because it provides a real, practical piece of kit, " The backpack bed" at $68 for homeless people who get turned away from shelters, this avoids the undignified and uncomfortable aspect of sleeping on concrete, or seeking protection by being covered in cardboard and paper. You can see all the benefits of the backpack bed by visit the swags for the homeless site above. There are over 104,600 homeless in Australia and Swags for the Homeless is run 100% by unpaid volunteers.

Their charity goals are:

1. To nationally improve, support and bring back dignity to homeless people.

2. To establish, conduct and manage projects focused on the homeless.

3. To assist and conduct social welfare and relief work including the relief of poverty, sickness, suffering and misfortune.

Now to update you on the training....ahh yes, well...the thing is....my bike is still in the shop in Forfar being serviced and as soon as it's ready I really will update you on my training, but right now there's nothing to report!

Time for a cup of tea - more soon!

"Don't try to drive the homeless into places we find suitable. Help them survive in places they find suitable." - Daniel Quinn.

Servicing, assessments & mascara

I took my bike into Andrew at The Outdoor Store in Forfar yesterday for a service....so my two wheeled friend will be unrecognisable when I see him again. Different tyres..a front light...it's like me getting a new pair of trousers and a new hairdo.
Lee the personal trainer guy also called me back, partly I was hoping he'd forget, but alas he texted then rang - there was no escape.
Next Thursday I'll be going in for my health assessment with Lee..oh good, something to look forward to!
He says it takes about an hour, but maybe if I just get really chatty and he's only got an hour to do my assessment I'll only actually have to do half an hour of the workout. It's worth a go I reckon.
I emailed the Canadian homelessness charity Raising the Roof last week but I never heard back from them, so tonight I rang one of the events organisers. It just went to voice mail and I left as non-scottish a message as I could, but let me tell you it wasn't easy. Not sure if she'll understand ANYTHING that I said, but I did say I'd ring back.
I've ordered some more cycle path maps today - and it looks like I've made a mistake! I thought (first mistake) that I would just go from Inverness up the A9 towards Thurso but it looks like that's not as good a road as following the cycle route which takes you from Inverness to near Tain, then Lairg, then Tongue then across to Thurso. This makes it a considerably longer route (second mistake). Oh well, I've got several months to be getting so fit I'll be able to laugh in the face of the gale force winds, driving rain and cars that hate me being on the road.
The SHELTER events lady emailed and is going to send me a t-shirt and wait for it..a rain poncho for the event. I guess I'll not be spotted for a modelling career on this fund raiser. Yes, yes, I know...it's not about that. I will however still be sticking to my daily routine of moisturising, slapping on the make up and of course the lippy...oh and the mascara which might have to be an even heavier duty waterproof version of what I currently use.

"The bicycle is a curious vehicle. Its passenger is its engine." - John Howard

The bike!

Look carefully at my shed....re-focus your eyes and look again! In there is the bike that will take me from Dundee to Thurso! I did think about taking it out, pumping up the tyres and going for a wee spin around the village, but it's been a while since I've sat on a bike, and with icy roads and a freezing -7degrees celsius I opted for the, "take a photo of the bike and get back indoors as quickly as you can" route.

Now, I don't want you thinking that I've spent a whole day taking one photo and writing this - no, it's been far more productive than that.

I met Andrew and walked the 3 miles around Forfar Loch, it was so cold that my thigh muscles seemed to contract and stay there so my ability to take big steps felt totally restricted and quite weird.

Then, following the advice of my friend Clare I went to meet another Andrew at The Outdoor Store (www.the-outdoorstore.co.uk/) to discuss what I was going to be doing in September and my lack of knowledge about anything with wheels. I knew he was the real deal when he started talking like Clare, using words I'd rarely heard before but I knew he too was referring to the not so grippy effect of less mountainy-bike tyres, as I started him off with the question, " would you be able to make my bike less grippy?" When another customer came in I wandered over to look at the helmets...AND I was more than a little delighted when I saw that on one size label it said 57-61cms. HA! So my 58 1/2 now seems a little less massive - I'd like to meet the person with the 61cm head, I feel I could at least empathise with them a bit. Andrew's shop was full of lots of goodies, I would've happily rummaged around for a bit longer, but I had ice-cream melting in my car so had to get home. Oh AND...he even has a colourful range of the modern day equivalent of "Mum's favourite spoons" only, the modern day version are just like a sturdy handle and would be rubbish at eating soup with but I'm sure they're excellent at getting the tyre off a bike. Andrew also mentioned a bike maintenance course that will be run in the shop this year by himself and Ron (someone else I know through Clare). I'm on a big learning curve and I've no doubt that Lance Armstrong and I will be sharing tips by the end of this event.

Andrew was great, really helpful, answered all my questions and I feel like my bike and I are in safe hands!

I then spoke with a lovely lady at SHELTER in Dundee, and hopefully I'll be meeting up with the manager there within the next week or so as it would be good to have someone with the SHELTER facts and figures with me when the press get involved.

Have a lovely weekend....more next week!
Love,

Kathleen x

"The bicycle is the most civilised of conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart." - Iris Murdoch

Walking with wheel involvement!

Had a funny old day today! So the long and short of it is...the walk has turned into a cycle! This has come about as a result of discussions with my friend Clare who called to chat to me about the route and her concerns about my plan to walk on some pretty scary stretches of road.

I'll still be going from Dundee to Thurso over 10days, travelling about 25miles a day - and though initially I felt as if this is was a bit of a cop out she pointed out, "You'll be knackered by the end of doing that for 10 days back to back!"

I called Andrew tonight to tell him, he too was somewhat relieved and prefers the idea of me pedalling my way to Thurso

I'm not a cyclist..and here starts the next exciting part of this journey! Tomorrow I'm going to speak to a man in Forfar about my bike (currently my bike is stuck in the shed behind some chicken wire, a lawnmower and a rake). I did have it serviced a couple (I love it when folk say a "couple" when they don't mean two) of years ago. It's a mountain bike, and Clare explained that I might be able to change the tyres so they're not so "grippy" on the road sections of the trip. I should add that Clare didn't use that word, but that's what she meant and I can't remember the technical term! She did say the word hybrid at one point..I do remember that much! I'll be chatting to the man in Forfar about that and other concerns like...does he have a cycle helmet that will fit me? I'm not joking I have a HUGE head...size 58 1/2 ...no joke..I never wear hats as it casts a shadow over the event and it's not fair to cast any more shadows when you live in Scotland!

Okay so for now I will head to bed and try not to think too much about puncture repair kits and all that m'larky. Do you still need spoons and a bowl of soapy water to change the inner tube? What was all that about anyway? Do tyres have inner tubes anymore...oh dear there's a lot to learn!

More later of course!

Kathleen x

"Life is like riding a bicycle - in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving." -Albert Einstein

Extending a charitable arm across the pond.

I spent a few hours last night wondering about the best way to maximise the benefits of this challenge I've set myself, and I got thinking about my friends and family in Canada.

There is an organisation called " Raising the Roof" (http://www.raisingtheroof.org/) in Canada which is equivalent to the UK's SHELTER charity. My thought was that I could contact them and tell them what I'm up to in September, and ask if they have a similar donations page I could set up for my Canadian connections.

This way 2 homelessness charities will benefit and donations received by my Canadian friends & family will be used in Canada.

So that email has been written this morning and I await a reply from them.

The snow has come again this afternoon, but I'm glad to report that today was the first day of the schools going back, so this morning (pre-snow) I went out for a walk with Andrew and walked a brisk 3 miles in just under an hour....now if I can keep that up for 8-10 hours a day this will be a doddle!!

Tomorrow is the day the personal trainer I've made contact with is back from visiting his family in the U.S - I'm excited about meeting up with him, but also a tiny little bit nervous... I think my training schedule will be quite intensive.

I'll keep you posted!

Love, Kathleen x

"Charity begins at home, but should not end there." - Thomas Fuller, M.D

Spreading the word

A busy but satisfying day writing letters and emails to celebrity supporters of SHELTER letting them know about the walk and asking if they can help raise the profile of the event so more money can be raised to help the homeless.

I'm also thinking that on Saturday 17th September, the Saturday after the event, there should be a ceilidh to celebrate. Obviously this will also be a time to have a SHELTER collection bucket at the door too. May as well use the party as a way of getting rid of that loose change and those random notes that might be causing you to run out of room in your wallet for receipts and your Blockbuster card.

I've not told my Dad yet about my plan - sometimes it's just best to choose your moment carefully. His "job" will be taking my son Charlie to and from school while I'm walking for 10 days, oh and remembering to feed him would be a bonus! He manages well when work takes me away, and I only get a call when he can't work out how to work the cooker, which for some reason seems to lock whenever he's using it! I've never managed to lock my hob, but he has a knack for it.

I've got more emails to do, and more letters to write but for now I'm going off to watch my new Harry Hill DVD I got from my daughter Emily. Time for Charlie and I to laugh our self silly on the 1st January - a great way to start a New Year!

Before I go I just want to say thank you to you all for your emails, texts and phone messages wishing me well with this fund raiser.

Wishing you all a healthy, prosperous and fun 2011!

Love, Kathleen x

"To be shelterless and alone in the open country, hearing the wind moan and watching for day through the whole long weary night; to listen to the falling rain, and crouch for warmth beneath the lee of some old barn or rick, or in the hollow of a tree; are dismal things - but not so dismal as the wandering up and down where shelter is, and beds and sleepers are by thousands; a houseless rejected creature." - Charles Dickens