All gone Quiet.........

What's been happening......well...Steve, Bob and Owen have been up to their waists in the floods. Steve j has been catching up on his sleep and it admits to driving the car to work on a very regular basis. Owen just keeps looking at his photo's and sighing a lot and so wishing we were still on the road. Andy (Lance) soon dropped back into normality burning the wheels on his forklift as apposed to his bike. Neil has returned to the building game and has collected all his sponsor money. Shell is putting on the pounds (for good reason), Rosie is back at the gym and joining me on our off-road bikes along the river bank (now the river has returned to normal).

Hot news that Chris Ginge Harris is joining Berkshire Fire & rescue service as a firefighter..go go you flame head!! Dr Love Ridley is still in love and Sue heathfield is down at Harcombe House on convelesence (spending the money she raised indirectly!). Aint heard from the Didcot boys (Grahame, Merf and Winge), Pete Sav is still working hard in Jules and Pete Blag's team in the risk Reduction group.

Big event on the horizon is the reunion do which is being planned for 29th september, if your interested then contact me.

Thank you to everyone who has helped in any shape or form and thanks to everyone who has sponsored/donated us your money for our cause.

Update..

Last Saturday evening I went to Dale's old football team St Edmund's Boys FC presentation evening, to say hello, raise awareness about seat belts and see if i could raise some pennies. There was 3 presentations, the talks went really well (albeit i nearly bottled out due to an over whelming emotional surge!) and the sum raised was £120. Thank you to all who put money in the red bucket.

Sue H continues to work her magic behind the scenes, whilst Chris Harris has put photo's and video footage onto our own intranet, hopefully we will be able to get some footage onto our web site.

Rosie and I went and saw Neil and Treez to get my bike back and have a lovely evening in their company (again Rosie / Treez downed a bottle of White!!).Neil seems keen to undertake another challenge...interesting? Stevie J is back at work and still smiling!! Owen has returned from his 3 peaks challenge ( he does look a tad tired)whilst Lance is also back on his beloved fork lift ( I wonder how his legs are!?)

I've managed to get out twice on my bike and i really do feel stronger in the legs and more comfortable in the saddle. Bizarrely I kept looking over my shoulder looking for the team behind me!!

As you can see the monies are going up and up, hopefully if all goes well we will reach our target. Keep the faith my friends. bob

Welcome home and well done!

Did we really cycle all that way? Well the photographs give a pictorial account of the 18 day journey and our limbs are slowly recovering from the amazing experience.

Outside County Hall today we had a photo shoot for the Oxford Mail (will be in the Friday edition) with guests: Council Members Judith Heathcote (Community safety) and Ian Hudspeth (Transport Implementation), Sue Hook Yr 10 head with Dale's friends and classmates from John Mason School, Road safety's Geoff Barrel and Mandy Rigault, our own Chief Fire Officer John Parry, ACO Etheridge and GM Pete Cleary and SM Green and Alexis from the CFS team. Team members Rosie, Shell, Lance (Andy) and myself were there to receive the well done's and congratulations from everyone. The bike in the photo was borrowed from someone who works in County hall (thank you). It was lovely to see everyone and see all the happy smiling faces!! Thanks Dave for the kind words in the coffee room and for saving my life all those years ago! (Please don't ask me!)

The evening was a swift journey to Hook Norton Brewery for the AGM for the brigades FSNBF. A certificate was presented to the team for our efforts in fund raising (Rosie, Shell, Neil, Steve, Chris and myself recieved the certificate). Sue Heathfield was recognised for her efforts as a non uniformed person for fund raising, I would like to add my thanks for her brilliant efforts and support throughout our campaign (I'm sorry i did not ask her to stand next to us for our certificate).

Now it is time to write letters of thanks to those people who helped us along our journey, the people who helped in the back room, the people who made a difference (the stage teams). If you owe us any sponsorship, it is time to open the wallet/purse and send it through to the team. Thank you.

Day 20 - Tidy up time!!

How great it was to be back in your own bed and, how dam difficult it was to emerge from today. The sandman had left a hefty deposit in the corner of my eyes as I dreamed of crossing the finishing line (weirdly famous people were there to greet us!!).

Tha camper had to be cleaned and returned to Elite motorhomes (thanks Shell & Rosie). The van and Honda were cleaned and hoovered and items of equipment were returned to different places (thanks Dave (aka Gerimedic aka Dr Love!) and Chris Harris).

Tomorrow is photo shoot time outside County Hall and a trip to the brigade Ben Fund AGM at Hook Norton at 7pm.

A good friend of mine John Willets passed away with cancer when I was on the ride, he leaves a lovely wife and 4 beautiful children. He is buried tomorrow and my best wishes go out to his family. Hopefully he will hook up with Dale for a kick about on the football pitch in the sky.

Day 19 : The long journey home!!

As we pulled the curtains back from our hotel rooms (excellent digs I must say) we were treated to the view of the Cairngorms, with the early morning sun treating us to a visual delight. Then reality set in as you realise that your legs are stiff and your heads are a tad thick from the previous evenings celebrations. Everyone in the team were tired and yet elated at our succesful achivement!

The breakfast was fit for a king including haggis (och i) and it was the beginning of the goodbyes and hugs & kisses before the long journey back home. Treezy peasy and Neil (cool hand luke) went with Mike Brooker. Jules, Dave and Geoff (who I forgot to say climbed Ben Nevis and cycled the rest of the route from Fort William to J O'G's raising another £250 - brilliant Geoff) sped home in the Honda, leaving the Camper and van in convoy. An uneventful journey and one where many reminicing stories were told and enjoyed. Stevie J has had an amazing trip and picked up a few bad habits but he and Owen are thinking about doing it again (crazy fools) but with no support and luggage on back. Lance (the peoples hero) returns to his 4 children and beloved Kaz, whilst Neil gets back into his building business. Shell is back in the kitchens at Blenheim on Saturday and Rosie picks up the stitches in her business. I'm off to Italy next week to sort out the details of the civil case against the driver whose actions took my son's life away, returning to sort out Dale's headstone for his grave. Dave E did text me stating that he had another project lined up for me (here's hoping it was a joke!).

As we arrived back in Abingdon, it felt a little sad as we all departed in different directions to pick up the pieces of our own lives once more.

I will keep making entries into the blog as there are many things still to report and events that are related to our campaign...keep checking my blogites and keep dropping in the occasional message.

Thank you all so much for your amazing support, I have already started making enquiries into the re-union party sometime in October, also we also have to start collecting in the sponsorship (cough up time people!!).

take care everyone. Bob

Day 18 – Helmsdale to John O’Groats

Everybody woke in the hostel in a happy mood, the sun was blistering down and everyone was ready for the final push. Round the first bend and we were in to steep hills, our lungs were bursting as we entered the cloud line. However the Scottish scenery compensated for the pain in our lungs.

We had lunch in Lybster and were joined by Steve and Caroline Cook.

As we got back on our bikes for the final time it was hard to believe that the journey was almost at an end, the team spirit from stage one to stage three has been absolutely brilliant. As we entered the last three miles we were coasting into John O’Groats, the riders covered Bob with champers as they were cycling, and when they arrived there was a reception committee cheering and clapping with more champagne corks popping (thanks to Matt Smith for the champagne). Everyone embraced everyone, hugs and kisses all round! The total journey was 1015 miles. After lots of photos by the sign post we made the 3 hour journey back to Aviemore for a celebratory party and one or two well earned drinks!

A big thank you to Kerry who sent up 4 bottles of champers for everyone over dinner. Another big thank you to Gray Davis, Merf Newport, Dave Etheridge and Winge who arranged for 2 bouquets of flowers for Rosie and Shell. Massive thank you to everyone who has supported us on the campaign, it has been a truly amazing experience and we are already arranging the re-union party!

Day 17 - Inverness to Helmsdale

Everyone woke this morning to the Inverness drizzle, however spirits were still high after a night out the day before; everyone was treated to Big Dave dancing like a queen too.
All the riders were again joined by Geoff Coleman (who is still looking for sponsorship for his part in the ride) who also looks fantastic in Lycra. After 8 miles of cycling into wind and rain the team saw a lonely bald headed man with a sweet doggie, only to discover it was Steve Cook from Witney who has flown up to see the end of the ride. Steve you will remember was also dedicated enough to be at the start at Lands End!
As always the 'Busy Lizzie Kitchen' provided a yummy lunch. However the flap jacks weren't quite as good as Chris Harris'. The afternoon journey skirted the East Scottish coast, the sea breezes wafting up our noses!
Our digs for the night are at the Helmsdale Youth Hostel, and on arrival we had two surprise visitors; Mike Brooker (stage 2) drove the 600 miles bringing with him Neil's good lady Treez, and was once again flaberghasted to see his wife again.
Jules was doing his best Keith Floyd impression as master chef in the kitchen and with his kitchen porter Dave turned out a mean Chilli on rice.
Everyone is now relaxing for the final push to John O'Groats tomorrow; Jules and David are busy corrupting Geoff and polishing off a bottle of JD. Owen and Steve are starting to look a bit glum because the ride is coming to an end but are already planning their next trip - cycling round the world! No-one has seen Lance for the last 3 hours because he is on the phone again, I'm sure he will reappear at some point when his battery runs out.

P.S. On a personnal note the team would like to thank Dave E and Pete 'the blag' C for their supporting texts and phone calls.