Amazing £360 raised at Studley Car Boot

Many thanks to everyone visiting Studley Car Boot in Warwickshire today who stopped by our stall and supported Friends of Tafo to raise an incredible £360 !!!  Particular thanks to the organisers for the free entry which really helped with the fund raising.

So many people were so generous and gave donations on top of their purchases. Thank you!

Jill and Elise ran a make up stall, with all items £1 which was very popular.

Nephew Harrison and I focused on the other items donated by ourselves, family and friends.

Elise and Harrison were star sales people and really brought in the customers with their friendly chat and detailed product knowledge!

A great end to a fund raising weekend with £500 of donations to Friends of Tafo and the Go Ghana 2011 Cycle Challenge.  This has taken me very close to my £3,000 target which is amazing and I have been over whelmed with everyone's  generosity.  There still is time though to donate and raise as much as possible to such a great cause.

Let the selling begin!

You could not miss our stall

Harri takes a well earned power nap

Aunti Di and Andy Birthday Party - Raffle raises £140!!!

Many thanks to Aunti Di and Andy for their great hospitality at their joint birthday bash today and for the opportunity to host a Charity Raffle.  A big, big thanks to all the friends and family of the birthday couple for supporting the raffle and raising an amazing £140!!!!


The ten prizes were donated by Solihull shops, family and friends and included 6 cinema tickets from Cineworld, a meal for two and bottle of wine at La Tasca, Lush gift set, Picnic ruck sack, Thorntons Chocolates, Champagne, Portmeirion Plate (thanks to Lakeland) , Molton Brown and Pen & case.


Also many thanks to Elise, Harrison, Molly and Hanna for selling tickets and picking out the winning tickets.

Newphew Harrison and daughter Elise setting up the raffle

Harrison promotes the charity selling tickets

The 10 lucky winners with their prizes

It was a great party.

Happy birthday to Di and Andy.

THANKYOU! Neil.

1,000 Miles Training Milestone

A "short" 21 miles round trip this morning now completes 1,000 miles this year (2011) so far to train for the Ghana Cycle Challenge. Only 250 more miles to go to achieve my target of 1,250 by end of September.

The weather was windy, wet but warm(ish). Hopefully we will have a summer soon to get used to cycling in the heat, although I haven't seen a long range forecast for 34+ degrees which it will be in Ghana.

Setting off on round trip to complete 1,000 miles in 2011 so far

Exhausting 100 Mile Training Weekend

Wow, a very tough weekend cycling 50 miles each day in the rain and driving wind.  On Saturday I cycled from our house to our friends (Karen, Nick, Georgia, Holly and Rhianna) in Desford for lunch.  Before arriving I took  a 10 mile detour around Thornton reservoir when the heavens opened and I was soaked to the skin.  That was a mistake!

Preparing to leave home for the first 50 miles 

We had a great lunch and it was excellent catching up before setting off for the short 5 miles to Mum and Dad's in Groby, north west Leicestershire.  

A hot bath was a great relief (but don't think there will be any of those in Ghana!) before dinner at a new Italian restaurant in Anstey which has excellent and good refuelling - especially after burning over  3,000 calories on the ride.

Slept like a log and after a great home made breakfast set off on the return journey.

Leaving Mum and Dad's on Sunday Morning

Stopped at Meriden (middle of England) for a short lunch break and a bite to eat with Jill and Elise in the recovery vehicle.   Took some pictures of the cross marking the middle of England and the monument to the cyclists who lost their likes in the second world war.

Monument to World War II Cyclists

 Centre of England information on the cross marking the middle of England

The cross marking the middle of England.

Took another detour on the way home to ensure I did 50 miles but not so picturesque this time travelling on main roads.

A great ride and training session with thankfully no punctures or problems and all kit worked well.

Thanks to the Turner Family, Mum and Dad and Jill and Elise for their kind hospitality and support!!!

Amazing £2,000 donations now received - Huge Thanks!

Many thanks to everyone who has donated an amazing £2,000 to provide clean drinking water for the town of Kwahu-Tafo in Ghana for my charity cycle challenge.

This is an incredible amount of money and I now only have a few weeks left before the deadline and I am hoping to raise £3,000 which excludes my own donation of £1,500 to cover the costs.

If you are thinking of donating, I would very much appreciate if you could do this as soon as possible given the deadline.

My Virgin Just Giving site is:
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/NeilHollins

Thank you again for all your support and it makes the 800 training miles I have cycled so far this year so worthwhile!!!

Neil.

muchbetteradventures.com - Online Feature

I have been featured on the muchbetteradventures.com website explaining  my reasons for joining the Go Ghana Cycle Challenge and how I am preparing for the event.   Click here to read the article

Sam at Much Better Adventures has also written a great article on the challenge featuring an interview with Humphrey Barclay the founder of the Friends of Tafo charity.  You can also read this article by clicking here

Much better adventures is a website dedicated to more adventurous and challenging holidays and events and I have found the articles on how other people are preparing for their own personal challenges really useful.

Many thanks Sam and the team for your support and keep up the good work!

80 Miles - Longest Training Cycle Weekend So far

At the weekend (14th and 15th May) I cycled 50 miles on Saturday followed by 30 miles on Sunday which was really tough given the really strong wind [(not mine :-) ] and the hills.

On Saturday I cycled to Stourport on Severn which is approx. 20 miles as the crow flies from our house through built-up areas to begin with then out into rolling North Worcestershire hills.  I have not visited Stourport before and it was good to explore the town, Severn river and the resident fun fair for a while.   The trip back was very hard as I had not really paid attention to the fact that I would be going over the notorious "Lickey Hills" which is the highest point for miles around.

The course was also longer than the 45 miles I had planned but it was a great achievement and I was thoroughly exhausted when I arrived back.  Plenty of carbohydrates and energy drink!

The Sunday ride was 30 miles.  Although I had planned to do  40 miles there was no "gas in the tank" (especially after the lovely home cooked meal - thanks to Jill and plenty of beers with friends!).   After only 30 minutes on the bike I had consumed an energy bar, gel and a bottle of water! Still I pushed on and managed to get through the immense hunger feeling but I did not want to push it beyond 30 miles.

Legs feel like lead today (Monday) and will be resting for a few days and hoping to do 2 x 40 miles this weekend and will ensure I eat more and earlier on the bike this time.

I have also found a new route planning website www.bikehike.co.uk which has more advanced features and will be using this to find a couple of good  routes.