A few weeks ago I went to the 3rd birthday party evening for EscapeTheCity.org (the only organisation I’ve ever invested in). Some of it I didn’t connect with so much but all of it was interesting and inspirational. The adventuring part rang loudest for me: The idea of setting yourself a challenge and just doing something adventurous, even something small so that it’s affordable in time and money.Like Alistair Humphries walking around the M25, something that’s a little unknown, perhaps risky, challenging but actually quite doable. If only you just take the first steps, the next ones are bound to follow.
Well, I’ve been a little weary of my current contract for some time, and have wanted to ‘do something different’ (Escape’s strap line) for some time. So there and then it clicked that what with the old man having recently moved out to Seville, and me having a bit of time out coming up, there was the perfect window of opportunity for me to do something: Cycle down to see him. Then even better, complete the ride by making it down to the Costa and hopping over to Maroc. Berkshire to Africa somehow sounding better than Wargrave to Seville.
So on the 10th of December after saying goodbye to the girls before they leave for South Africa for Xmas, I will get on my bike, and cycle. It should be about c.1,300 miles and I’ve warned my father that there’s every chance I might not make it in time for Boxmas. 1300/14=93 miles a day for 2 weeks solid. That’s not a small ask of myself. If I’m up to a week late, that could be 1300/21=62 miles a day. So as I go, I know that I need to be aiming for about a ton a day.
I do however have this vision of finding myself stuck up a mountain in Spain on Christmas eve, dark, cold, lonely as a cloud, blizzard incoming, rear puncture being repaired, drivers covering me in slush, half my kit having been stolen or fallen off along the way. But that’s just not going to happen, is it.
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