Day 1 - The Ferry

Sunday 25th
We all set off at about 14:00 to get down to Portsmouth. So me, Donna, Tom and my mum all piled into the fiesta and set off.
After a pretty good drive down we arrived in Portsmouth and settled into our hotel which was host to the regional Crown Green Bowls competition, we managed to lower the average age to about 70. We went round the waterfront for a few drinks and found that there isn't that many places and the ones that were open were dives, so we ended up back in the Hotel bar.

Monday 26th
The folowing morning we all got up a little bleary eyed after our late night escapades and went for a hearty breakfast before heading off to the meeting point. On route we looked round the shops and tried to get our heads back to normal working order. at 14:00 we went to the Historic Dockyard to get me registered and it was there that the fun began.
Firstly everyone had massive bags so I started panicking thinking that I'd missed something off the kit list, then everyone looked really serious and in great shape. This was not going to be fun. Then I started to see the older riders arriving an the beer loving ex-squaddies we know and love. My kinda people.
After registering we dropped all my stuff off then waited ropund for the starting build up. There was a fly past by the Red arrows at about 16:00 which was pretty good, but I did think that they should have come back round again. At 17:30 all family and friends had to leave the Naval base so I was on my own with a massive hangover. I had a drink to try to sort me out and something to eat, I went over and introduced myself to Craig Lundberg, a 22 scouser who was injured in combat in 2007, and his co rider Phil. They were doing the ride on an old beat up tandem.
After we had an introduction from Bryn & Emma Parry who set up the ride and Help for Heroes and Jonathon Bryan from Discover Adventure we eading back to the area by HMS Victory where a group of riders from Headley Court an several others were waiting to start the ride. The Royal Marine then played a Ceremonial Sunset which was brilliant then the riders were sent on their way by the Second Sea Lord and the Commodore. At this point the rest of us gathered our bikes and set off on the short journey to the Ferry Port.
Once at the port we waited for what seemed like forever in the cold before being allowed to board. Once on board I shared a cabin with Olly, Olly and Harry, then it was to the bar. After a couple of hours the bar closed and it was time for bed and to worry about the days riding ahead.

Total Miles - 2.3

One More Day To Go

It's been a while since my last post as I've been busy sorting stuff out and I've spent a week in Spain.

The Race night & raffle were a great success raising around £800.

I've really let myself down with my training with everything that's been going on of late but I'm confident that I'll get through it.

I called BT on Wednesday to upgrade to their new BT Anywhere service as they offer a mobile phone that gives you free internet via hotspots. I explained to the girl that I needed it for the bike ride as I wanted to keep the blog updated whilst away so she advised me that I'd receive the phone by Friday. I go the SIM the following day but heard nothing about the phone so I called up today to query this and found out that the order had not been completed. Due to this I am not able to get the phone until the 2nd of June which is a waste of time now. I spoke to a manager who just spent 5 minutes apologising and not offering any solutions, when I asked if there was anyway that I could get it couriered.....NO! could I collect it....NO!
I've always been pretty impressed by BT in the past but I'm gutted about the crap service I've had this time.

Hopefully I'll be able to find a way to keep this updated while I'm away otherwise it'll be a mass blog when I get back.