CoolBiker : There is more to life than just increasing its speed

4Joshua Three Peaks Challenge Round Up Video (www.Cool-Biker.com)

 

Good times and for a great cause! http://www.justgiving.com/4Joshua to donate should you wish to do so.

TTFN,

C

Mission accomplished! Now what? (www.Cool-Biker.com)

A week or so ago we completed the Three Peaks Challenge! By any measure it was a fantastic experience. A genuinely physically challenging combination of three mountains equalling roughly 3500m of climbing, some 40km of walking and 668km (417 miles)of cycling all in less than 76 hours. Nice. Details at www.4Joshua.org Not a cross word was exchanged despite only 6 or so hours of sleep over the four days of the challenge. The support crew of Merve, Matt and DJ were nothing sort of superb. Feeding us, "shutting us down" when we needed some sleep and then mercilessly kicking us back out onto the road again to churn out mile after hilly mile, often driving at a clutch burning 12mph behind us to shelter us from the somewhat erratic driving of the other road users we witnessed over the trip. A great great experience and yet again much to learn from it. The importance of personal admin, eating and drinking properly, getting enough but not lots of sleep to keep on target are all lessons reinforced. I'm massively impressed and proud of my brother (that goes for both of them in truth). I'm now back at work earning my modest living and applying some of those same lessons. Inputs, inputs, inputs and the outcomes will look after themselves (to quote some real performance professionals). So, now what? Neal and I have an appointment with Iceland. I feel the clarion call of Nome, Alaska and the need to truly test myself again and at a new level in one of the harshest environments in the world. I've a to-do list a mile long and nothing is going to stop me clearing it. Looking forward I'd like to start telling people about the utter joy of completing a challenge, for a good cause, and in a way that you can be proud of. Wonder if there are any audiences out there? Exciting times. TTFN, C

Some things are just a privilege

I am lying on the bottom bunk in our functional four person room at the YHA Idwal Cottage near Bangor, North Wales. Surrounded by the rugged and steep terrain the unseasonably sunny and mild weather is giving a holiday feel and is in stark contrast to what lies in store for us tomorrow at 4 am when we leave this place.

I'll be joining my Brother Lawrence and friends in attempting to climb Snowdon, Scafell Pike and Ben Nevis and cycling in between to raise money for Demelza Hospice Care in memory of a lovely little boy, Joshua, Lawrence's son, who died aged four months exactly a year ago to the day this challenge will start.

A long time in the planning I've no doubt tomorrow will be a hard day - and especially for Lawrence and his wife Kelly. It's a privilege to be taking on this challenge with him.

The aim of this challenge is to raise money for Demelza Hospice Care and you can lend you support at www.4joshua.org should you so wish :-)

TTFN,

C

PQ2 - Run the Victoria Line Round-up Video (www.Cool-Biker.com)

Great to have caught up with Neal and Jackson this week, the snow being entirely in keeping with the conditions when we normally meet up! Put together a short video of what was a very enjoyable and in it's own way challenging evening. Walthamstow may not have been the most glamorous of finish lines but we were glad to have finally got there (before all of us having to sprint for the last trains out of town!). TTFN, C

And we're back....Pointless Quest Part Deux (www.Cool-Biker.com)

Last year my friend and fellow all-things-endurance-and-generally-stupid Jackson Griffith and I ran the entire length of the Circle Line in London.

We enjoyed it so much that now joined by our team mate in many an Ultra and Adventure Race Neal Unitt-Jones we're going to take a little jaunt along the Victoria Line. Starting in Brixton later this evening we'll take in the London nightlife and update these pages as we go.

Should be fun!

The Video from our previous jaunt is below.

Pointless Quest 1 : Run the Underground from Christian Cullinane on Vimeo.

 TTFN,

C