Category Archives: Events

The Lap of Anglia

It has has been a dream of mine for a long time to go on a multi day bike journey, I am very lucky to get to do all the fabulous things I do but I have envied my friends and Geoff when they go off on their biking adventures.

BUT Tomorrow I start my own bike adventure with a very special bike journey, The Lap of Anglia.

Untitled A 4-day journey that will take me and 40 other riders from Kings Lynn to Norwich, Norwich to Ipswich, Ipswich to Luton then Luton back to Kings Lynn, a total of 400 miles.

You may wonder why I would want to do such high mileage over 4 days but its all in aid of the East Anglican Air Ambulance, such a fantastic service that relies on donations to continue to survive.

This ride is not a race or a sportive, it’s not about getting from A to B as fast as possible, it’s about making people aware of the great work the Air Ambulance does and how it’s funded by donations, something I did not realise.

Hopefully the three 200km Audax rides that I have done, and dragged Geoff along too, have taught me how to pace myself better on long rides, how to fuel myself better and how important it is to take a little stop every 20/25 miles or so, by doing this I have never finished a 200km Audax feeling tired or worn out.

This will be a tough challenge for us all, but most of all it will be fun, meeting new people, making new friends, having a laugh although I expect there will be a few sore bits too !!!

If you would like to donate and help us keep turning those pedals here is the link

You never know when you, a family member or a friend may need the help of the Air Ambulance……….and if you see us on our Journey be sure to give us a wave of encouragement.

Freethorpe 10 miler

Freethorpe 10 was my first event of 2016 and I was using it as a training run for the Cambridge half in February.

imageAs usual I was meeting up with my Norwich running friends which always makes these events great fun,this time Linda was marshalling and Jayne was able to join us too, Was also great to have Geoff along to support us and take photo’s.

The weather was cold and drizzly perfect for running not so nice for marshalling but at least the strong winds had died down.

Gina and I decided to run together, although she is usually a faster runner than me her knee had been playing up and she wanted to take it easy !

I am used to running these events now and don’t get as nervous as I used too although I was slightly worried about this one as I had not been feeling my best, so having Gina to run with was good for me.image

The route was more undulating than I am used too but I enjoyed the run and all the marshals did a great job of encouraging us along.

I ran better than I expected too finishing in 1.42 and loved the first bling of 2016.

After the run we enjoyed lunch at the Rampant horse just across the road from the village hall and then had fun trying to get our cars out the car park , a turnip field that had turned to mud after having 700 cars parked on it.

Ely NYE 10k

Ely NYE 10k is one of my favourite runs of the year and a fabulous way to end the year.

elyI have been luckily enough to do this run 3 times, although I was almost tempted by a new NYE 10k at Marham this year and probably will do the Marham one in 2016.

The reason I love this run so much is because I love to hear the Black piper playing his pipes as we run up the hill.

My running friends Gina and Linda joined me and we decided to run this together, no one was after a fast time just an enjoyable chatty run.IMG_1174

This year the weather was very mild, sunny with just a little wind, a perfect running day and by far the best weather in the 3 years I have done this run.

A lovely chatty 10k and the hill was hardly noticed, I would like to think this was because I am fitter but I think the chatting just took my mind off it !!!

I had a lucky number, 287, which is Geoff’s house number and it was nice to have him come along to support us and take photo’s.

Coffee was enjoyed after with even more chatting, what a great way to end the year.

St Neots Half Marathon

St Neots was not a half marathon I had planned to do as I dithered and  missed out when entry opened early in the year but when more places came available I grabbed my place.

st neotsIt was also an opportunity to move on after Peterborough Half  and another chance to meet up with my running friends Gina and Linda.

Race day weather was dull cloudy and very very windy, I did wonder how I would cope with the wind and the slightly undulating route but i needn’t have worried.

The atmosphere was buzzing and my excitement grew once I met up with my friends, who always put me at ease.

I enjoyed this far more than I expected too, a lovely rural route , great support from strangers and the wind just seemed to make it more fun !!

Finish Time was 2.16 which I was very happy with and this one I would certainly do again !!

The Daffodil Dawdle

On Sunday my twitter Friend Gina and I did the LDWA challenge walk known as the Daffodil Dawdle.

Gina and I striding along..

I must confess to feeling very nervous about this walk, not because of the snow and not because of the distance but because this walk is not marked out, your given the route on the day.

I had asked for the GPX file and luckily for me late on Saturday evening I received it in an e-mail, which opened perfectly into my viewranger app.

All my worrying had been for nothing though, as the 4 pages of route instructions were very detailed and  fun to follow,I only used the GPX file a few times just to double check we were actually where we thought we were 🙂 I even had the confidence to tell some other walkers they were going the wrong way !!!

Gloopy mud

The conditions under foot were far from perfect, when we decided to do this walk the last thing we expected was SNOW and thick gloopy mud !! It certainly put some walkers off as they had 70 no show’s 🙁

All check points were perfectly spread out with food and a hot drink available at no extra cost too.

It took us 8 hours and 38 mins to cover the 26.6 miles and we enjoyed every min 🙂

The surprise of the day was bumping into Geoff when about 2/3rds of the way into the walk…  he had walked out from Cambridge using the GPX file and latitude to find us.  Those that know us well

We did it !

will know we are addicted to our Fitbits and no way was Geoff going to let Gina and I clock up all those steps while he sat at home !!

When checking in at the end,it was lovely to see Jayne who with other LDWA members had hot soup, crusty bread, apple crumble and custard waiting for us.

A very warming end to a great walk, one that may become a yearly event for us 🙂

A few more photos can be seen here...

A Marathon

NO I am not going to be running a marathon but hopefully I shall be walking 26 miles.

A girlfriend suggested we did another long distance walk together as we enjoyed the Oxfam walk Daffodil Dawdle in 2012.

After having a look around I thought we should do The Daffodil Dawdle organised by the LDWA, its starts at Kirtling Village Hall, near Newmarket and the description of the walk is… Through rolling countryside with studs, woodland, arable & pasture on Suffolk/Cambs border.

I have actually done this walk before many many years ago before I met Geoff  but I did the shorter route then 🙂

The only thing that concerns me is that the route is not marked, your given a description of the route on the day to follow and we all know how good I am at following a map !!

I am hoping that there will be a GPX file of the route which will give me a better chance of not getting lost

The walk is on March 24th and I hope to have a few 20 mile walks before then 🙂

 

Out with the country set….

When we left the Outdoor show we made our way to a small village just off the A14 called Hamerton.

I thought I lived in the middle of nowhere but this is even more remote.2338094358_a9e28c3e97

We had been invited by friends to the local wine tasting evening, to be held in the village hall.

An evening to be spent amongst the locals , mainly farmers and from the steel family 🙂

Louise did the talk and presentation of 6 wines all from Argentina.

First it was a Cava then 2 white, a rose and 2 red, one of them being oak smoked.

I am not really much of a drinker, but all wines were very pleasant, Geoff particularly enjoyed the oak smoked red.

A great evening w2337259591_73f0b4d38fas had by all.

The following day we had plans to meet up with more friends at Grafham Water and cycle round it on a tandem, but much to my disappointment the weather had turned bad so this had to be cancelled. 

Instead we had a guided walk around Hamerton and saw to our amazement how much flooding can be caused by one and a half inches of rain.

So a great day after all  🙂

Rest of the photo’s can be seen here…. http://flickr.com/photos/geoffjones/tags/160308walk/

Walk route can be seen here…..

http://wikiloc.com/wikiloc/view.do?id=106385

 

Outdoor show and Outdoor blogger’s meet up

Great day yesterday down at the NEC in Birmingham for the outdoor show.bloggers

Although we were disappointed with the lack of outdoor stuff  on sale.

Geoff was hoping to see some light weight cooking stuff and I was after a new hydration system but we found none of these.

For us,what made the day was getting to meet up with some of the Outdoor Blogger’s and finally put names to faces.

Gayle and Mick will soon be off on their LEJOG walk , it was great hearing all about their plans a2337258083_99920f7c1end I will be following them on their blog

They wanted to know all about twitter so Geoff explained it well and we may have some new followers soon.

Great to also meet Daren,Duncan,Johnhee, Alan Sloman, Phil Doodlecat,Andy Howel , George and anyone else I may have forgotten.

Four of them even got to sample one of my muffins too.

 

Maybe next time we can all meet up for a walk 🙂