Big Boss Bike Ride Day 1 - 3rd Installment

I've been very bad the last 2 weeks and have fallen down on the job of keeping the story going. I hope I haven't lost your interest? It has been as a result of technology failure (laptop won't handle video editing whilst away on trips anymore) and the need to spend some time with my family (no laptop allowed, as I've been away on trips so much!). The video above covers the second half of day 1.

After the first water stop, we had a really pleasant ride. We didn't stretch ourselves too much and all made it safely to lunch. We stopped at the Wagon and Horses in Twyford, Berkshire for soup and sandwiches and a large drink. We re-applied the suntan cream and off we went for the third sector.

We were obviously feeling pretty good after lunch as we all stretched our legs and pushed pretty hard for the full 13 miles. It was, by far, the fastest section of the whole Big Boss Bike Ride. I would even have to admit to a bit of racing - it's a boy thing! The picture above is of me and Anthony, who had the exact same bike as me (the higher model actually) and knew how to use it!

We're at about 35 miles when these pictures were taken....

Notice I'm still smiling! Or is that grimacing?

We all had to make it to the Crown Hotel in Chertsey, Surrey following the last water stop. We got a bit spread out and I missed one of the signs (arrows directing us where to go next) and ended up in the middle of town with no idea where the hotel was, or even what it was called! Michael, you really should pay attention! So, I had to double back and retrace my steps, or is that retrace my rotations? As if 52 miles wasn't far enough!

At dinner that night, one of the Big Bosses told his personal story about his little girl who has suffered from multiple health problems since she was born and how they have relied on Chase, one of the 41 children's hospices, and Great Ormond Street Hospital for support and care for Daisy, for their other kids and for themselves. I was very moved by that families' story, as was everyone else in the room. It brought home to all of us why we were there doing the ride. These hospices do such fantastic work. They never seem to tire and are always there for the families they support. That is where your money is going and, take it from me, it is money well spent!

Big Boss Bike Ride Day 1 - 2nd installment....

We headed through Oxford in the traffic making modest progress and soon realised we should be on the pavement (which in Oxford is called the cycle lane). Once we were out of town we were cruising through the countryside - lovely. 10 miles in and everything was going well and then Chris had a front brake failure, which was a good excuse for an impromtu water stop.

While Dave, the ride leader, fixed Chris's bike, the rest of us took on fluids. Barbara, CEO of Children's Hospices UK, was having trouble with her clip-in pedals. These are devices that lock your feet to the bike. Since I had been using clip-ins for at least 2 months, I was the 'expert' on-hand to give advice. You will understand why Barbara was taking her life in her hands taking advice from me in a later installment. Basically, you have to clip out before you stop or you hit the deck with a big crash!!???? I'll tell you the whole story later.

Meanwhile, unbeknown to me, a team of Phoenix Traders (later to become the cheering crew) were helping Richard, one of the support team, set up the tent for the first official water stop at Cookley Green. They only parked right at the top of the hill... the one we all had to fight our way up to earn our banana, energy bar and water!!

Anyway, we all made it and at the top we were happy we had beaten what we were told was the biggest hill of the day! Banana please!

This is the wonderful cheering crew, Diana & Tony Corris, Liz Gordon and Jacky Barrett...thanks you guys for your wonderful support and encouragement (and for posting pictures of me in lycra on Facebook. Oh dear...its not a pretty sight!)!!

...16 miles down, 72 to go!

Big Boss Bike Ride Day 1 - 1st installment....

I'm a bit late with this post - had a few technical challenges over the weekend. Sorry!

Anyway, we've done the ride....how did it go? Did we finish? We're on the edge of our seats. Well you are...we're not, because we don't want to see our seats for quite a few days yet!!

We all reported at Helen & Douglas House in Oxford. Helen House is the world's first hospice dedicated to the care of life limited children. During the briefing we heard the moving story of how it all began, from the founder, Sister Frances Dominica. Helen House opened in November 1982 and sprang out from the friendship between Sister Frances and the parents of a seriously ill little girl called Helen who lived at home with her family but required 24 hour care. Douglas House provides hospice care for young adults and is on the same site in a different building. It really bought home the reason why all of us were there that day, hearing directly about the tremendous work done by all of the Children's Hospices around the UK. To have fun and do the ride...yes, but also to put much needed money into the ongoing support of this charity, so it can carry out its vital work for our countries' kids and their families.

I will try to post every day this week to give you the whole story of the ride. In the meantime, here's a short video and some photographs..

The Big Boss Bike Riders are (from left to right). At the back: Chris, Paul, Anthony, Julian, Andrew, Sister Frances Dominica (not riding!), Me and Andy. At the front: Bryan, Jean, Barbara and Viv. Picture taken in the garden of Helen House, Oxford.

Ready to go and with great anticipation. How will it be? Will we finish?

Tune in tomorrow for another installment of 'The Big Boss Bike Ride!'

Fundraising Update

I logged on to my fundraising site this evening and couldn't believe how much the total had gone up in just 24 hours since I left America. The fantastic staff and directors at Phoenix Trading had raised and donated nearly £1200 towards the campaign, in secret and without my knowledge! Brilliant! Thank you everyone at the office.

There's just 3 days to go before the 'Big Boss Bike Ride' and we have now raised £5698.66. This has all been donated through my JustGiving website: http://www.justgiving.com/phoenixbikeride. Thank you to everyone who has sponsored me so far (some of you more than once). Please feel free to click on the link if you want to support this great cause. I'm still hopeful that we can make the original target of £10,000 for Children's Hospices UK.

Half Marathons and that Eyjafjallajokull ash cloud again!

I ran the second of my half marathons for this week today. It took 2hrs:4mins:37secs. Still not under 2 hours, but an improvement on Wednesday. I have to conclude that 2 hours pedalling at 15.5 miles an hour is easier on the knees than 2 hours running at 6.5 mph!

I'm currently sitting in the lounge in Dulles airport, Washington DC, waiting to see if the ash cloud is going to let us come home. We live in hope!

Everyone needs to get out of their comfort zone every now and then!

I'm back in the USA again this week. Spent a couple of days in the Florida panhandle with Louisa and her team (thanks for the sponsorship money) and have now moved on to North Carolina. Of course I don't have my bike and it's less than 2 weeks away from the charity ride, so I need to keep up the training. Everyone needs a challenge that takes them out of their comfort zone......don't they? Well, yesterday, I decided I should live by that maxim, so I set myself the target of running a half marathon in the gym in under 2 hours. At half distance it had taken 1 hour and 3 minutes.....a bit behind, but everything to play for! The Florida heat and humidity got the better of me (or was that me getting the better of me?) and I finished the 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 10 minutes. I realise that running on a treadmill is probably easier than out on the roads, so anyone who finished the London Marathon a few weeks ago - you have my respect! I'm going to give it another go on Sunday morning, when I would otherwise be out with the cycle club and before I fly home......I'll keep you posted.

There's always something else to aim at!

I went out with Horsham Cycling Club again on Sunday. It was my 4th ride with the intermediate group. I have trained pretty consistently for the last 3 months and am now doing over 120 miles per week, so I was feeling quite confident that the 'please tell me that was the hill' episode was well behind me (see post from 8th April re 'the hill'). Anyway, unlike the previous weekend when we all got soaked to the skin in lashing down rain, the weather was pleasant - cold but dry. When we set off the leader of the Sporting Group 2 (they are some of the top bananas in the club) said that they were going to ride with us as there were only 2 of them this weekend. Well, I thought the intermediates were a fit bunch, but SG2, blimey! Until Sunday I was thinking I could 'graduate' by the end of the year into the higher group if I kept up the training after the 'Big Boss Bike Ride'. I don't think so Michael - I couldn't even keep up with them going down hill!! Great ride though and thanks to everyone at Horsham Cycling for your support and encouragement. Maybe SG2 at the end of next year??

Long Ride from Home to Work and Back

Yesterday I cycled to the office from home and back. Well, actually, I cycled to the office and then had a rear tyre puncture going down a fast hill 3 miles before I arrived home. It was a bit scary, as the brake on the rear didn't work at all once the puncture happened. Stopping proved to be a bit of a hazardous event!

"I haven't got to go back as well have I??

I was completely wasted and really didn't fancy doing the repair, so, persuading myself that I had 'done my bit' and knowing I had a conference call to do with a group of American Phoenix Traders in an hour and a half, I decided to call it a day and telephoned for assistance from my support crew. My wife duly came to my rescue.

Anyway, it ended up being a 68 mile round trip which took 4 hours and 25 minutes, at an average speed of 15.4 miles per hour. Given that 2 months ago, the longest I'd ever riden was 21 miles (and that was only at the end of last year), I was pretty pleased to get home at all! Hot bath, one hour conference call with a bunch of fired up Traders and then out for a Thai dinner - lots of calories - great! Slept well last night too.

When I arrived home (in the car) my kids gave me a gold medal for coming first - out of one!

Thanks Stephanie for recording the video, thanks Rene for taking the photographs, thanks Gill for being my support crew and thanks kids for making me feel special!

I'm doing it for the money too!

In exactly one month from now we will have completed the 90 mile 'Big Boss Bike Ride' and will probably be nursing our sore bottoms and aching muscles. We will also, hopefully, be enjoying a nice cold glass of champagne to celebrate our collective acheivement!

With just a month to go I would like to remind you why I, and the other senior managers, are all doing the ride and the training building up to it. It's to raise much needed funds for Children's Hospices UK. Please dig deep and sponsor me in support of this extremely worthy cause. You can do that at my JustGiving website, where the minimum donation is just £2. Here's the link: http://www.justgiving.com/phoenixbikeride.

Thank you!!

I'm doing this for the love of it!

I took Lucy's advice yesterday and went for a special running shoe fitting. The store had a machine I had to stand on that measured the pressure on each part of my feet to establish the type of support I need. They then made me run on a treadmill and videod me from behind. Apparently, my left foot lands straight and my right foot does not, so I need support on the instep of my right but not left? I tried on loads of shoes all of which had some support (not neutral - not high support) and picked out a really comfortable pair. They didn't try to sell me the most expensive shoes in the shop (although I would probably have paid for the most expensive), which I really appreciated. Thank you Potomac River Running in Reston Virginia!

I took my new shoes for a test drive today and ran 10.2 miles up and down a 3200 foot hill (that's the height of Scafell Pike - England's highest peak). It took exactly 2 hours. And no blisters!! More steak, more potatoes, more spinach please!

I monitor the statistics on the running machines and today I burned 1708 calories. My heart rate peaked at 168 BPM when I was running at 8 MPH up a 5% incline. When I stopped to warm down my rate had dropped to 135 BPM within 2 minutes and 2 minutes later it was 123. I don't know if that is good or bad, but I thought you might be interested! I know my resting heart rate is about 60 BPM. Incidentally, at my age, apparently, my heart is working at 80% of its capacity at 138 beats per minute, so the maximum must be 172. Does that mean I got within 4 beats per minute of crashing my heart??

Lest we forget just how powerful Mother Nature is!!!

I've spent this week working with Phoenix Traders in the USA, from Maryland to Connecticut and all points in between. Thank you Kate, MQ, Liz and Katherine for being such welcoming hosts and for being so positive about your Phoenix businesses! We've been talking about, how to build visibility and brand awareness and how, if you do the activity, you will get the results.

I'm now stuck, unable to get home because of the Iceland volcano. Lest we forget.......... We should give her some respect!

And talking of activity, the weekends are the time when I try to do the big numbers out on my bike. Since I'm nowhere near my bike today, I've just been to the hotel gym and worked out on the treadmill. I ran for exactly 2 hours, covering 10.3 miles up a 2300 foot hill (that's just over half way up Ben Nevis, Britains highest mountain). Without the activity I've done over the past 2 months, there is no way I could have done that today. 10.3 miles is the furthest I have run in one session for more than 20 years. It just shows that consistent activity is the key to success in everything!

According to the machine, I burned 1667 calories, so I'm definitely in calorie deficit today. So now I'm ready for a beer, a 20oz T-Bone steak, a bucket of potatoes and a pile of spinach. I'm off to the bar!

P.S. Lucy, you were absolutely right. I do need to go and get a proper running shoe fitting. I've now got the blisters to prove it. Ouch!

Please tell me that was the hill!

I went out with the local cycle club on Sunday. We did 38 miles at an average of 15 miles per hour. There was one particular hill at about 22 miles that was very steep and seemed to go on forever. They all left me behind and at one point I was going so slowly I thought I was just going to topple over! When I got to the top they gave me a round of applause and took a picture of me with a huge grimace on my face (I will try to get a copy and publish it here). Great group of men and women who were all very gracious to me. Thanks Horsham Cycle Club!

Lesson number 1: Know how your equipment works

I went to the bicycle shop to buy some equipment I had to have if I wanted to ride with the local cycling club; 2 spare inner tubes, tyre iron (or whatever they call it), etc. While I was there I asked the young man serving me to fit a mini saddle bag (for my tubes and iron) and a drinks holder to my bike, which he did - great!

Then I mentioned to him that the extra groovy floor pump, I had bought when I picked up my new bike, didn't seem to be working properly and I couldn't be sure that the pressure in my tyres was correct. I explained that this was because the pump didn't show the pressure when attached to the valve and, that when I started pumping, the gauge went off the scale. He grabbed a floor pump he had been using when I arrived and proceeded to start checking my tyre pressures. That is when I recognised the little cap on the valve one is supposed to take off first before starting to pump (I had taken it off and was feeling very smug). Then I saw him unscrew the even smaller nut on the valve and say "You need to unscrew this and press it to make sure the valve is not blocked before you attach the pump" "Yes, I know" I said, lying through my teeth. It turns out I had only been pumping up the pump and not my tyres with the 'defective' floor pump! Who reading this blog is a technophobe? Dream on. I can't even use equipment that has been in use for a hundred years!

So, then the young man rang up my purchases - £35 to pay. No worries, I had my credit card in the little rucsack Clive (our Group Finance Director) had bought me for Christmas. It was declined - twice! But the young man had already fitted everything to my bike - what was I going to do? Lesson number 2: when cycling, carry cash or more than one credit card! Turns out the credit card company were running a 'random security check' on my card and I had to go back later to pay!

We're on the way...10% and counting!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you to everyone who has made a donation to my sponsored cycle ride so far! We have just reached 10% of my personal target, with over £1000 donated already. Fantastic!

With seven weeks still to go before the 'Big Bosses' day I am really hopeful we can raise the full amount and donate £10,000 to Children's Hospices UK. They are doing such important work and every penny goes directly to their frontline activities, so, if you have been thinking about making a donation, please do!

And what have I done to deserve your support, apart from suffer the 'little round bruises'? Well, this week I have cycled over 50 miles and run about 17. I'm joining my local cycle club on a 40 mile 'trial' ride through the West Sussex countryside tomorrow starting at 9.15am and so, by lunchtime, I will have riden more in the week than the full distance of the 'Big Boss Bike Ride'. And then I'm probably going to sleep for the rest of the Easter weekend!

You can see just what fabulous work the 41 Children's hospices around the UK are doing by visiting http://www.childhospice.org.uk/

Happy Easter!

Phoenix Trading gives me ultimate flexibilty to train

I'm in the US this week, travelling through California, working with our team of Phoenix Traders here. I'm in Los Angeles today, having been in San Francisco and Sacramento over the last few days and I'm off to San Diego tomorrow. Last week I was working with our leadership team all round the UK.

I travel away from home about 100 days per year on business and because of the flying, driving and timing of all the meetings I attend, I find myself working-out at odd times. That really works for me though. It's so flexible. One day it's 11pm, then it will be at 5 o'clock in the morning and today it was at 1.30 in the afternoon. There is never anyone else in the gym in these hotels when I'm there. I wonder why that is?

The exercise really does just fit around the business. I don't operate a fixed schedule so I've got the freedom to do it when it suits me and I try to get in the gym every other day when I'm away. Phoenix is the ultimate in flexible businesses. That's true for our Traders as it's true for me . Speak to the Trader you already know or visit our website at http://www.phoenixtrading.com/ and select the flag of the country you live in.

Take care and have a good weekend!

Mike

Now I know what saddle sores are!

When I woke up this morning I had two small, round bruises, one on each cheek. My new bike has a saddle which is like sitting on a small stick and I wonder if this is anything to do with it? I had knock knees as a child and couldn't stop them banging together as I walked and now I can't get them within a foot of each other!

I've got a new hobby!

I've got a new hobby - bike collecting! They're like buses. You don't see one for 30 years and then 2 come along at once! My wife bought me this one for Valentines day. What is she trying to tell me?

Anyway, it's a Specialized Secteur and I've been out on it a couple of times over the weekend. I thought it would be so much easier cycling on a road bike, but, Michael, think again!

Did 23 miles yesterday (new personal record) and 33 miles today (new personal record). Can't believe how hard it was. 90 miles on the Big Boss Bike Ride looks pretty daunting from here!

Please don't forget why I'm doing this bike ride. It's not to get me fit, although that's a good reason. It's not because I want a blog, although that's proving to be a bit of fun. It's to raise money for a very important cause - Children's Hospices UK. Please visit my JustGiving website and give as much as you can: http://www.justgiving.com/phoenixbikeride

Thanks!

On holiday but still training!

I'm on holiday this week on a beautiful tropical island in the Maldives. Despite the distractions of snorkeling, lounging about on a white sandy beach or by the pool, or just eating fabulous food, I've managed to workout three of the six days we've been away. It has been very hot and humid, so I haven't worked too hard - forty minutes on the treadmill or cross trainer doing relatively gentle exercise.

Me and my bike

This is my mountain bike. The one I have been doing all my training on so far. I got it for Christmas two years ago from my wife. Prior to that, I hadn't ridden a bike for more than 30 years!

I try to go out twice a week, mostly at the weekends. Even this has been difficult in the snowy weather over Christmas and in January.

I generally do between 10 and 15 miles each time I go out. As I've said before, the furthest I've ever ridden is 21 miles and that was on this bike in the middle of last year. I know I'm going to need to significantly increase the frequency and distance I'm doing as we get nearer to the 21st May! As the weather gets better I will be able to do more in the evenings after work and then much longer rides on Saturdays and Sundays.

When I took the bike to the shop to get it serviced and told the guy I was doing a 90 mile ride for charity he couldn't believe it. He said that riding a mountain bike, with big fat wheels like mine, on the roads, was like driving a tractor versus a car! I know what he means!

Children's Hospices UK Big Boss Bike Ride

Welcome to my new blog where I will be recording my training programme and other interesting things leading up to a charity bike ride I am doing in May this year.

Phoenix Trading, the direct selling greeting card company, has always given money to charitable causes. This money has been raised through the sale of Christmas cards and other targeted fundraising initiatives. Two years ago Phoenix Trading launched a new, independent charity, The Phoenix International Charity, with the goal of raising significant funds to donate to charities in the countries in which Phoenix Trading operate (UK, Australia, New Zealand, France and the USA). To date Phoenix Trading and The Phoenix International Charity have raised over £800,000 for good causes.

The CEO of Children’s Hospices UK, Barbara Gelb, has personally challenged all the senior managers of their corporate partners to cycle 90 miles with her to raise money for this fantastic charity. Barbara has called it ‘The Big Boss Bike Ride’ and I’m going to be riding on behalf of the Phoenix International Charity, the charity arm of Phoenix Trading.

The ride is over 2 days and is from the UK’s oldest children’s hospice (and the world’s first), to the newest. We begin in Oxford at Helen and Douglas House on Friday 21st May 2010 and finish at Demelza House, in Eltham, South East London the following afternoon.

The furthest I have ever ridden a bike before is 21 miles and so this is a big personal challenge for me! I have already started my training programme; a bit later than intended having been delayed by the snow in December and January.

Children’s Hospices UK supports 41 regional hospices whose purpose is to support life limited children and their families through, what must be, the most traumatic and heart breaking period of their lives. As many as 20,000 children are affected and you may well know a family that has needed this support.

Please help me to achieve my personal target of raising £10,000 for Children’s Hospices UK by going to my JustGiving website at http://www.justgiving.com/phoenixbikeride.

Thank you for sponsoring me for this great event. It is quick and easy and totally secure so please donate whatever you can to help me to reach my target. Every pound you donate really does make a difference – so please sponsor me now!

Many thanks for your support

Mike