everything is temporarily on hold.
so we wait.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
roadblocks
i have hit several roadblocks.
1. my bike is broken. the back tire is flat and refuses to be filled up with air. after 45 minutes of 'animated' attempts to fix it, i gave up and went to bed. took it to the bike shop the next day, thinking it was an easy fix. guy there refused to touch the bike saying it had been in an accident (which is slightly more than true) and pointed out the parts where the aluminum was bent and unsafe to ride. so either buy new frame, new wheels, new fork or get a new bike.
this could be my break. but, we have roadblock number two.
2. so the plan was to do lejog in early september, but unforunately i am now jobless (yes, jf got fired. no, i don't regret it), which means i have no income, which means a) i can't really afford to buy a nice shiny bike right now and am not sure how much sense it makes to drop $$ on a temporary bottom-range one, and b) if i do find a permanent position, i highly doubt i'll be able to take time off after just commencing work. it's frustrating that this can't take priority.
3. the fundraising. as in, i'm not very good at it and it isn't really happening. i've fundraised before and it was a nightmare (i can hardly remember how i did it) and because i'm doing this on my own i just somehow can't bring myself to ask for money. it's so silly because it's not even for me but i get all stupidly blocked up. on the flip side, the indecision about the trip and the current inertia i've come too (this week has been rubbish with training) makes it difficult for me to convince someone else this is going to happen.
ugh. i'm beginning to second-guess myself, especially the decision to do this alone. i'm also finding that there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done - not with funding apps and exam prep and work and conference papers and personal research and this. the last thing i want to be doing is working yet it's first on my list of priorities. ugh.
i need a few days to sort things out. away. alone. (i'd normally cycle, but now i can't even do that.)
jf
1. my bike is broken. the back tire is flat and refuses to be filled up with air. after 45 minutes of 'animated' attempts to fix it, i gave up and went to bed. took it to the bike shop the next day, thinking it was an easy fix. guy there refused to touch the bike saying it had been in an accident (which is slightly more than true) and pointed out the parts where the aluminum was bent and unsafe to ride. so either buy new frame, new wheels, new fork or get a new bike.
this could be my break. but, we have roadblock number two.
2. so the plan was to do lejog in early september, but unforunately i am now jobless (yes, jf got fired. no, i don't regret it), which means i have no income, which means a) i can't really afford to buy a nice shiny bike right now and am not sure how much sense it makes to drop $$ on a temporary bottom-range one, and b) if i do find a permanent position, i highly doubt i'll be able to take time off after just commencing work. it's frustrating that this can't take priority.
3. the fundraising. as in, i'm not very good at it and it isn't really happening. i've fundraised before and it was a nightmare (i can hardly remember how i did it) and because i'm doing this on my own i just somehow can't bring myself to ask for money. it's so silly because it's not even for me but i get all stupidly blocked up. on the flip side, the indecision about the trip and the current inertia i've come too (this week has been rubbish with training) makes it difficult for me to convince someone else this is going to happen.
ugh. i'm beginning to second-guess myself, especially the decision to do this alone. i'm also finding that there just aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done - not with funding apps and exam prep and work and conference papers and personal research and this. the last thing i want to be doing is working yet it's first on my list of priorities. ugh.
i need a few days to sort things out. away. alone. (i'd normally cycle, but now i can't even do that.)
jf
Saturday, July 17, 2010
blogging > cycling?
being lazy never got anyone anywhere. i was going to say i've been all talk and no walk recently, but in fact i have been all walk, to the amusement of my comrades. nor does looking up cycling online equate to training, but i did chance upon this fellow's journey in 2005. here is his (somewhat sarcastic) list of tips and hints. and he ain't the only one.
two things worth mentioning, and then i'm off, regardless of how much my legs hurt.
1. a guy i know has currently set out to complete lejog in 9 days with his girlfriend. after battling with a popped tire, an exploding spoke, rushing cars and torrential rain, they got stuck 1100ft in the highlands, with 50mph winds and incessant rain and had to call it game. which is a total pity but i'm glad they're safe.
2. LB suggested that i cycle from the top to the bottom, rather than the other way around (so, JOGLE instead of LEJOG). i hear from most that in order to avoid massive headwinds, you want to cycle up, despite the mental incline of going 'north'. but given the news about the above mentioned adventure, perhaps getting the highlands out of the way first would be a better idea...
i don't know anymore.
altogether it sums up: i'm beginning to question whether doing this alone was really the best option. at least i'd have more motivation to train, a buddy to get me past the really difficult bits, and call it quits when my insane determination drives me over the edge. more on this later, i gotta run.
jf
two things worth mentioning, and then i'm off, regardless of how much my legs hurt.
1. a guy i know has currently set out to complete lejog in 9 days with his girlfriend. after battling with a popped tire, an exploding spoke, rushing cars and torrential rain, they got stuck 1100ft in the highlands, with 50mph winds and incessant rain and had to call it game. which is a total pity but i'm glad they're safe.
2. LB suggested that i cycle from the top to the bottom, rather than the other way around (so, JOGLE instead of LEJOG). i hear from most that in order to avoid massive headwinds, you want to cycle up, despite the mental incline of going 'north'. but given the news about the above mentioned adventure, perhaps getting the highlands out of the way first would be a better idea...
i don't know anymore.
altogether it sums up: i'm beginning to question whether doing this alone was really the best option. at least i'd have more motivation to train, a buddy to get me past the really difficult bits, and call it quits when my insane determination drives me over the edge. more on this later, i gotta run.
jf
cowboy gait
so whatever it was that i did at the gym the other day has absolutely killed my legs. it's saturday and i still walk like i came off the set of a john ford film... the plan was to do 100km this morning but i can barely make it down the stairs. golly i'm getting old. next time i promise to take it easy.
in other news, i want:
in other news, i want:
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
instead of spending my weekend on a bike, i ran off to london to enjoy the unusually lovely weather with a few unexpected old friends, putt-putting around bloomsbury, trinket-shopping at the portobello market, visiting the photographer's gallery for a sally mann exhibit, and seeing the globe's production of henry iv part i (or as a friend recently put it, enrico quattro 1.0) during these few lovely (but lazy) days, a friend of mine, the same brilliant one who came up with the above witticism, pointed out that there is no correlation between raising money for a charity and committing oneself to a mission of physical exertion. the act of cycling 1000 miles has nothing to do with restoring the caledonian forest, or curing cancer, or feeding babies in the congo. thus the notion of donating for such a cause is essentially pointless - i cannot 'give' my act to the charity in question; and further, if i could it would serve little purpose. the correlation thus lies not in the act or the cause, but the agent. so, me.
it has become common practice to participate in sporting events to raise money - hardly can one run a marathon without contributing to some 'noble' cause. on one hand, this commonly-held idea demeans both: it implies that a marathon is not worth running for it's own sake, or that philantropic giving must be triggered by an external source. thus it would make more sense if i wanted to cycle from end to end for pleasure/masochism/curiosity/determination, or whatever self-motivated cause, and yet this approach would seem... selfish. which brings me back to the original complaint: how does 'doing it for charity' make it any more worthwhile?
i cannot deny the absurdity of the whole matter yet cannot offer anything by means of logical argument other than stating that there are many things that are absurd which we do and believe. if the act (of cycling 1000 miles, in this case) cannot be justified on its own, perhaps my reasoning behind it can. the underlying theme here is landscape - a Romantic notion if there ever was one. hey, i can't help having just completed my dissertation on the topic. i love when things come full circle, in many ways this is one of them (i like to give things reasons; forge the connections that wouldn't otherwise be there; or uncover the ones that are underlying all things). as much as this is an endeavour in the public sphere, it is also a very personal one: a physical manifestation of an intellectual journey, for one; the determination and drive to complete an entirely independent act, for two; three - the exploration of a landscape that no longer exists and has been altered by man; four - the return to that landscape through the means of a charity; and finally the documentation of the physical process in a literary way (hence this blog). thus the connection between cycling lejog and donating to trees for life is not entirely arbitrary, but rooted in personal experience.
i haven't fully thought this through on a deeper level yet (you didn't think i could just do it, did you? that would take away half the fun!) in the meantime, the past two days have been rainy which gave me excuse not to cycle, which is of course a rubbish excuse since i won't have much choice when it comes down to it. but i did spend 1.5 hours doing circuits today at the OUBC gym. the goal is to move from cycling every second day to cycling every day (after work), with long weekend expeditions to test my endurance. i keep forgetting how soon september is.
jf
it has become common practice to participate in sporting events to raise money - hardly can one run a marathon without contributing to some 'noble' cause. on one hand, this commonly-held idea demeans both: it implies that a marathon is not worth running for it's own sake, or that philantropic giving must be triggered by an external source. thus it would make more sense if i wanted to cycle from end to end for pleasure/masochism/curiosity/determination, or whatever self-motivated cause, and yet this approach would seem... selfish. which brings me back to the original complaint: how does 'doing it for charity' make it any more worthwhile?
i cannot deny the absurdity of the whole matter yet cannot offer anything by means of logical argument other than stating that there are many things that are absurd which we do and believe. if the act (of cycling 1000 miles, in this case) cannot be justified on its own, perhaps my reasoning behind it can. the underlying theme here is landscape - a Romantic notion if there ever was one. hey, i can't help having just completed my dissertation on the topic. i love when things come full circle, in many ways this is one of them (i like to give things reasons; forge the connections that wouldn't otherwise be there; or uncover the ones that are underlying all things). as much as this is an endeavour in the public sphere, it is also a very personal one: a physical manifestation of an intellectual journey, for one; the determination and drive to complete an entirely independent act, for two; three - the exploration of a landscape that no longer exists and has been altered by man; four - the return to that landscape through the means of a charity; and finally the documentation of the physical process in a literary way (hence this blog). thus the connection between cycling lejog and donating to trees for life is not entirely arbitrary, but rooted in personal experience.
i haven't fully thought this through on a deeper level yet (you didn't think i could just do it, did you? that would take away half the fun!) in the meantime, the past two days have been rainy which gave me excuse not to cycle, which is of course a rubbish excuse since i won't have much choice when it comes down to it. but i did spend 1.5 hours doing circuits today at the OUBC gym. the goal is to move from cycling every second day to cycling every day (after work), with long weekend expeditions to test my endurance. i keep forgetting how soon september is.
jf
Friday, July 9, 2010
it's official!
it began as an afterthought. 'oh, that sounds nice.'
now, after much deliberation, some planning (sort of) and much, much talk - i've decided i'm going to do it. in the first two weeks of september, i will cycle the UK from tip to tip - that's lands end to john o'groats (LEJOG). as if that wasn't enough, i plan on doing it entirely on my own - no car, no buddy, and no gps.
in other words, i'm testing my sanity for charity. after all, what else would one do with an oxford degree?
the purpose for this epic journey is to fundraise for Trees for Life, a UK-based charity that is working to restore the caledonian forest. my choices for picking this particular charity and this particular cause will make up part of the content on this blog. this decision will also affect my route, which will also show up here in due time. for now, i have set up a charity giving page which can be found here. (everything is still in the works). for those of you in canada, hang in there and maybe i can work something out that will be tax-deductable for you too.
those who know me also know my err... incidences with bicycles. i promise i will do my best to ensure that this trip will be 'incident' free. full of adventure, no doubt, but incident-free. i will post updates about my training and fundraising here as well, so feel free to comment!
hello uk, here i come!
jf
now, after much deliberation, some planning (sort of) and much, much talk - i've decided i'm going to do it. in the first two weeks of september, i will cycle the UK from tip to tip - that's lands end to john o'groats (LEJOG). as if that wasn't enough, i plan on doing it entirely on my own - no car, no buddy, and no gps.
in other words, i'm testing my sanity for charity. after all, what else would one do with an oxford degree?
the purpose for this epic journey is to fundraise for Trees for Life, a UK-based charity that is working to restore the caledonian forest. my choices for picking this particular charity and this particular cause will make up part of the content on this blog. this decision will also affect my route, which will also show up here in due time. for now, i have set up a charity giving page which can be found here. (everything is still in the works). for those of you in canada, hang in there and maybe i can work something out that will be tax-deductable for you too.
those who know me also know my err... incidences with bicycles. i promise i will do my best to ensure that this trip will be 'incident' free. full of adventure, no doubt, but incident-free. i will post updates about my training and fundraising here as well, so feel free to comment!
hello uk, here i come!
jf
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