I stumbled on a re-tweet yesterday from Kirsty Medlock. She tweeted to say she was setting off with her Dad to cycle the coast of Britain. I replied to her tweet saying that my Dad had done that and if she needed any help to get in touch. I sent her a link to Dad's blog. She replied to say she'd read Dad's blog many times and he was an inspiration ! It makes blogging so worth while when you find out people actually do read what you write.
If you would like to follow Kirsty's trip around the coast she sets off tomorrow from north shore of the Transporter Bridge in North East. She has a blog and a twitter feed at http://cyclingcoastofgreatbritain.wordpress.com/
Just so my Dad gets no ideas .... I have NO plans to be cycling the coast of Britain! My bike hasn't moved out of the shed in the last 10 years. I think it's quite happy where it is.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Dad texting!
Got a text from Dad earlier and this is what it said ...
Hi.gd weth walk gt cabel car up mt. Then did via ferarta ludadx
My Dad has his own texting language which only a few can understand ! The texts roughly translates to ...
Hi, Good weather. Been walking. Got a cable car up the mountain. Then did Via ferrata. Love Dad x
Sometimes I have to read them a few times and then read them out loud. At first I thought he was talking about cable TV as I'd asked him if there was anywhere to watch the football!
Oh and for those that don't know what a Via ferrata is take a look here. Not what I would call an enjoyable walk !
Hi.gd weth walk gt cabel car up mt. Then did via ferarta ludadx
My Dad has his own texting language which only a few can understand ! The texts roughly translates to ...
Hi, Good weather. Been walking. Got a cable car up the mountain. Then did Via ferrata. Love Dad x
Sometimes I have to read them a few times and then read them out loud. At first I thought he was talking about cable TV as I'd asked him if there was anywhere to watch the football!
Oh and for those that don't know what a Via ferrata is take a look here. Not what I would call an enjoyable walk !
Friday, June 22, 2012
A Walking Holiday ...
Dad has left the bike at home (well the bike repair shop) and headed off on walking holiday. He kept telling me he was going to Bolivia but as I'd booked him a flight to Munich I knew something was a miss! Turns out he was heading for Barvaria . Just had a text from him to say he was staying at a place called Oberammergau. I thought it was going to take me some time to find as my Dad's spelling isn't the best, plus he has his own "text speak". Turns out it there is a place called Oberammergau !
I think even managed to find out where they are staying - here.The plan is to do day walks from the hotel so no heavy back packs to carry on this trip!
I've text Dad and asked if he's found somewhere yet to watch the footie but I wouldn't really want to be an England supporter watching the footie in Germany!
Will update as and when I hear from him.
I think even managed to find out where they are staying - here.The plan is to do day walks from the hotel so no heavy back packs to carry on this trip!
I've text Dad and asked if he's found somewhere yet to watch the footie but I wouldn't really want to be an England supporter watching the footie in Germany!
Will update as and when I hear from him.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Dougie Mac Cycle ride 2012
Dad has done the Dougie Mac cycle ride today. Must remember to ask how many times he's done it now. He did the 50 mile route out to Nantwich and back. Just found the route and it says it's 45 mile ! Set off at 9.00 and were back by 2.00, so five hour in total. Had a couple of stops en route and stopped for a chat with me at Wrinehill. Not much of a "challenge" for Dad as he usually does around 45 miles with the Wednesday Wheelers.
It didn't seem as busy this year on the road. I sat and waited for Dad for about half an hour and there were a steady flow of cyclist coming past but it didn't seem as busy as last year. Perhaps they were all either really fast and come through earlier, or were much slower! There were no entries on the day this year and everyone had to enter online (not everyone has a computer!) so I don't know whether that affected the number of entrants.
At least this year he saw me (last year he went riding past!). He did know I would be there though.
Dad with John Dunn - A combined age of 160 and they still have the energy to laugh
It didn't seem as busy this year on the road. I sat and waited for Dad for about half an hour and there were a steady flow of cyclist coming past but it didn't seem as busy as last year. Perhaps they were all either really fast and come through earlier, or were much slower! There were no entries on the day this year and everyone had to enter online (not everyone has a computer!) so I don't know whether that affected the number of entrants.
At least this year he saw me (last year he went riding past!). He did know I would be there though.
 |
| Dad and Cath |
Dad with John Dunn - A combined age of 160 and they still have the energy to laugh
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| Dad and John Dunn |
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| A quick photo with the flag |
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| and then they were off ... |
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Back in communication ...
Well Dad is back in communication as he has a new mobile phone - a tenner from Tesco. Thanks to Asda all the credit from the lost/stolen phone has been transferred to his new phone as well as his original phone number. So if you've got Dad's mobile number drop him a text as he's lost all his contacts!
He had a bit of a learning curve and almost gave upon texting for good as couldn't get it to work. He said it had a mind of it's own and it was using the phonetic alphabet! Since found out what he meant was I'd left predictive text on !
He had a bit of a learning curve and almost gave upon texting for good as couldn't get it to work. He said it had a mind of it's own and it was using the phonetic alphabet! Since found out what he meant was I'd left predictive text on !
Monday, March 19, 2012
Dad's blog on Thailand
Well Dad has left me some notes on Thailand for the blog.
Weight: Neither lost nor gained any weight. Three decent Thai meals a day and not the usual high mileage on this trip so not surprised.
Accommodation: 25 hotels or bungalows. Average price was £10.00 for the room, ie £5.00 each.
Travel: Took three train journeys, one bus and four ferries. Next time would leave my own bike at home, as nearly everywhere you can hire a bike for 200 baht (£4.00) a day.
Flight: Singapore airlines were very good and food was excellent. Heathrow - Singapore - Phuket. Cost £590 return. Would have worked out cheaper if flown to Bangkok.
Bagage Allowance: In the hold 20 kgs and the bike weighed in at 19.5. The rest of the luggage was just one pannier and that weighed in at 7 kgs. Definitely travelling light this trip !
Cost of Holiday: £720 for all the accommodation, internal travel, food, daily spends, a couple of beers a day and he trouble fighting off the offers of the odd Thai massage on those old legs :)
Mileage: 1200 kilometres (around 750 miles). Not a high mileage trip as quite a few days were spent travelling and sight seeing. Could have spent longer in all the place travelled through as there was so much to do and see.
The machine (bike): Very little trouble with the bike on this trip. Roads in Thailand are of a good standard with no frost to make pot-holes. Roads had a good hard shoulder for biking. The Thai drivers are a bit mad but majority of the time felt safe on the road.
Travel Guides: Took the Rough Guide to Thailand and the Lonely Planet. For travelling independently probably the Rough Guide was the better choice.
A couple of mentions ..,. Dave King my cycling partner on the trip. His expertise on mobile phones, GPS and Skype couldn't have been better. Nathan Smallman who lived and worked in Thailand for a year in the Pottery industry for his help in picking a few places to visit
Lastly thanks to Kendal, my great daughter with out her there would be no blog and no base camp manager ! In the last month there have been over 2,000 hits on the blog (a RT from Mark Beaumont helped), so thanks to everyone for taking an interest and following me on my trip.
Weight: Neither lost nor gained any weight. Three decent Thai meals a day and not the usual high mileage on this trip so not surprised.
Accommodation: 25 hotels or bungalows. Average price was £10.00 for the room, ie £5.00 each.
Travel: Took three train journeys, one bus and four ferries. Next time would leave my own bike at home, as nearly everywhere you can hire a bike for 200 baht (£4.00) a day.
Flight: Singapore airlines were very good and food was excellent. Heathrow - Singapore - Phuket. Cost £590 return. Would have worked out cheaper if flown to Bangkok.
Bagage Allowance: In the hold 20 kgs and the bike weighed in at 19.5. The rest of the luggage was just one pannier and that weighed in at 7 kgs. Definitely travelling light this trip !
Cost of Holiday: £720 for all the accommodation, internal travel, food, daily spends, a couple of beers a day and he trouble fighting off the offers of the odd Thai massage on those old legs :)
Mileage: 1200 kilometres (around 750 miles). Not a high mileage trip as quite a few days were spent travelling and sight seeing. Could have spent longer in all the place travelled through as there was so much to do and see.
The machine (bike): Very little trouble with the bike on this trip. Roads in Thailand are of a good standard with no frost to make pot-holes. Roads had a good hard shoulder for biking. The Thai drivers are a bit mad but majority of the time felt safe on the road.
Travel Guides: Took the Rough Guide to Thailand and the Lonely Planet. For travelling independently probably the Rough Guide was the better choice.
A couple of mentions ..,. Dave King my cycling partner on the trip. His expertise on mobile phones, GPS and Skype couldn't have been better. Nathan Smallman who lived and worked in Thailand for a year in the Pottery industry for his help in picking a few places to visit
Lastly thanks to Kendal, my great daughter with out her there would be no blog and no base camp manager ! In the last month there have been over 2,000 hits on the blog (a RT from Mark Beaumont helped), so thanks to everyone for taking an interest and following me on my trip.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
He's back !
Dad got back early into Heathrow this morning. They must have had a good journey back as he popped round mine for coffee about 12.00 ish. He's had a great time but if he was to do the trip again, he'd leave the bikes at home and hire them out there. He said the country is not geared up for moving bikes around. Most of the time they took a journey on public transport it costs at least double (some times triple) the cost for the bike than it did for Dad - I wonder if he got pensioner rate and the bike didn't!
To fill in a few gaps ... no he didn't have an elephant ride, he said it was too expensive as he was not in a group and would have to "hire" the elephant to himself! When he went swimming in the River Kwai what he hadn't told me was how fast the current was. Apparently he'd jumped in off the balcony of the floating bungalow but when he surfaced he'd float way down stream! Dad said he had a struggle swimming back up stream and then trying to get out of the water back onto balcony!
Apparently to get back to Phuket had turned into quite a journey. They'd first had to hang around most of the day for the train to Surat Thani. They got in to the station at 2.00 am and then had to hang around hoping the bikes would be on the next train. It had crossed their mind that they had lost the bikes and panniers completely but they eventually turned up on the 5.00 am train. They then had to get the local bus to Phuket. The first bus was at 7.30 but it was full, so they hung around and got the last two tickets for the next bus. They then had problems finding space on the bus for the bikes. Eventually they got them on and they headed off. Dad said more and more folk got on the bus as it headed back to Phuket. They were standing in the gangway and sitting three to the seats. The journey took 6 hours and it was not air-conditioned! At one point the bus broke down on the top of a mountain but they topped it up with some water via various methods, cups, containers and hose pipe running into it, and eventually they were on there way again.
The first aid kit got used as well ... not by Dad falling off his bike but by him falling off a bench in the railway station. He'd decided to get his head down for an hour or so while waiting for the bikes to come on the next train. Found himself a station bench, lay down on it and it tipped over. Dad said he went a right clatter on the station floor and knocked his arm up a bit.
Paradise Mansion in Phuket didn't quite live up to it's name. Dad said they made sure when they returned back they still had the bike boxes in store before they booked in. Dad said on the last couple of nights they were there there were arguments between the staff and the owners and eventually a fight broke out! Not really what you want in your hotel !
Dad's mobile hadn't been returned back to the hotel either so I'll sort out putting a stop on the SIM. Will have a look at the Nokia he's found to see if we have a charger and whether it's SIM free, if not he'll have to have a new phone.
Dad will fill me in on some stats, like how many miles, etc which I'll post soon.
To fill in a few gaps ... no he didn't have an elephant ride, he said it was too expensive as he was not in a group and would have to "hire" the elephant to himself! When he went swimming in the River Kwai what he hadn't told me was how fast the current was. Apparently he'd jumped in off the balcony of the floating bungalow but when he surfaced he'd float way down stream! Dad said he had a struggle swimming back up stream and then trying to get out of the water back onto balcony!
Apparently to get back to Phuket had turned into quite a journey. They'd first had to hang around most of the day for the train to Surat Thani. They got in to the station at 2.00 am and then had to hang around hoping the bikes would be on the next train. It had crossed their mind that they had lost the bikes and panniers completely but they eventually turned up on the 5.00 am train. They then had to get the local bus to Phuket. The first bus was at 7.30 but it was full, so they hung around and got the last two tickets for the next bus. They then had problems finding space on the bus for the bikes. Eventually they got them on and they headed off. Dad said more and more folk got on the bus as it headed back to Phuket. They were standing in the gangway and sitting three to the seats. The journey took 6 hours and it was not air-conditioned! At one point the bus broke down on the top of a mountain but they topped it up with some water via various methods, cups, containers and hose pipe running into it, and eventually they were on there way again.
The first aid kit got used as well ... not by Dad falling off his bike but by him falling off a bench in the railway station. He'd decided to get his head down for an hour or so while waiting for the bikes to come on the next train. Found himself a station bench, lay down on it and it tipped over. Dad said he went a right clatter on the station floor and knocked his arm up a bit.
Paradise Mansion in Phuket didn't quite live up to it's name. Dad said they made sure when they returned back they still had the bike boxes in store before they booked in. Dad said on the last couple of nights they were there there were arguments between the staff and the owners and eventually a fight broke out! Not really what you want in your hotel !
Dad's mobile hadn't been returned back to the hotel either so I'll sort out putting a stop on the SIM. Will have a look at the Nokia he's found to see if we have a charger and whether it's SIM free, if not he'll have to have a new phone.
Dad will fill me in on some stats, like how many miles, etc which I'll post soon.
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