X Is For eXercise

I love exercise!

There, I said it. 

No I'm not mad (at least I don't think I am), but I do enjoy the rush of endorphins from a good session, they're a great fix and one that I'm in no hurry to give up on.

I Like To ride My Bicycle

After the theft of Joel's bicycle we had a further theft in which my bike was nicked along with our gas bottle. Sadly we only noticed a little while after the event when we wanted to boil the kettle during loadshedding.

Thanks to a rather lovely blessing we were able to replace Joel's bike a while ago, but we'd been waiting to replace mine, mainly due to cost.

Health Update

As I said in a previous blog post, I knew that after 8 years of inactivity it was time to get fit again (hitting almost 103 kgs was quite motivational) and so I took up boxing and haven't looked back.

So, for the first time ever I'm really enjoying the exercise. I used to like cycling but it was never this much fun and I never saw such dramatic changes in my body or general health.

Easy Riders, Firgrove Style

This brought a smile to my face this morning....

...two easy riders on their bespoke choppers.

This is a local guy in Firgrove who decided to turn his welding skills to bike making and produced these two prototypes.

Holiday

It was pure joy to once again go to Greyton for our annual holiday. This is the seventh year we've managed it, and our souls feel refreshed for having soaked up so much fresh air, good food and great family time.

Our holiday is precious time, not least because we get so little of it out here. Dean has posted on this before, but in Blighty we used to enjoy 5 weeks of annual leave, now we don't even manage a full fortnight.

In The Spirit Of Benny Hill

Late this afternoon we were playing about in the garage and used Paula's camera to record some unicycling. We put it on 'Miniature Effect' mode and this was the result. all that was needed was some classic music!

So here you have it, in the spirit of Benny Hill, less the sauce!

Miles For Smiles

Eli and Joel had such a blast this morning at what has become their school's annual charity event.  They were so proud to ride for Operation Smile in their Miles for Smiles cycle ride.  They were particularly thrilled because the school is hoping to crack their target of raising R50,000 for much needed cleft palate operations for children this year and between them they have raised just under R2,000.  Thank you so much to all you who so generously sponsored the boys, it really made a difference.

Blogging From A To Z Challenge - B

B is for Bikes.

My bikes are important to me as I'm passionate about cycling and I'm really proud to have passed on a love of cycling to my boys.

I have to admit to not being sure how this happened but between the three of us we have six bikes, a trail-a-bike, a few frames and a mountain of spare parts lying around the place. I guess we ought to think about sorting it out and getting rid of a few bits but if truth be told we won't and the collection will just increase.

For My Next Trick...

Having done the Cape Epic in 2009 and achieved a few other goals on my bikes I feel it's time for another challenge.

So here it is, my Nimbus 36" unicycle. The plan is to get fit enough to ride it in the Cape Argus next year 2013 to raise money for Miles 4 Smiles, a charity supported by my boys' school.

I've got a mountain to climb in terms of getting uni' fit, I need to fully master getting on it, especially in front of a crowd and I need to develop my core and thigh muscles to take the strain.

So far the furthest I've ridden on my 36er is a few laps around the school car park which is a million miles from riding the thing up Chapman's Peak or Suikerbossie.

Regardless of how tough it is I'm going to have a lot of fun along the way!

Perfect Day

It all started with a great 90 kilometre ride with my regular crowd and included a fast climb of Helshoogte which was a lot of fun! I'm really enjoying my riding again and it feels good to have lost 8kgs and be strong on the hills again. Hopefully I'll be on top form for the Cape Argus on the 11th of March. I'm really looking forward to it now.

This afternoon I was delighted to be able to watch the Palace game live on local TV and it turned out to be a very good game in which we made the Hammers look distinctly average. I guess it wasn't quite a perfect day though as we only managed a draw.

Miles 4 Smiles Assembly

Dean had the privilege of attending the Miles 4 Smiles assembly at the boys school this morning.

We love how good the school is at getting involved in stuff but the way they get involved in this particular charity is quite amazing. Between the children in this picture they raised just over R34,000 (£3100) which will be used by Operation Smile for corrective surgery for children with cleft palates.

Miles for Smiles

Once again the boys woke early and full of excitement as the annual Miles for Smiles event had dawned at the beautiful Lourensford Wine Estate.  This year for the first time both boys could ride their bikes unaided (no baby wheels) and had therefore been practicing in earnest for the event.  They gathered some great sponsorship along with the added incentive of extra money if they reached so many laps!

Miles For Smiles - Update

Joel and Eli were proud and thrilled to come home from school today with Certificates for Outstanding Contribution for raising so much money for Miles For Smiles!  Thank you so much to all of you who contributed and made this possible. The school have raised over £2500, which is great news for the children needing the operations. Well done everyone for your combined efforts!!

Eli's Latest Bike Trick

Eli's only been riding for a week without the baby wheels but he's already keen to develop some new skills on the bike.

Joel Rides His Bike

Following hot on the heels of Eli learning to ride his bike (Eli Rides His Bike) without the baby wheels (as my boys disparagingly call the stabilisers) Joel has mastered riding too and needless to say is very proud of himself. As is his Dad! We're definitely a bike mad household now.

Eli Rides His Bike

Miles 4 Smiles

This morning we all went off to 'Miles 4 Smiles' which has become the school's annual fundraiser for Operation Smile, a charity raising money for cleft palate & lip operations.

The boys had a lot of fun riding around their circuit and Daddy joined in the fun with his Trail-a-Bike and ended up giving loads of the kids rides around the course. He definitely earnt a beer this afternoon!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun

Despite the silence on the blog we're still alive and very much kicking. We hate it when we don't keep the blog up to date but sometimes things happen in life which are just not appropriate to be shared in a public way so it's best just to say nothing. All we will say is that the last few weeks have been very tough as we grapple with issues which have been bubbling for some time and whilst we're prepared to put the past behind us and move on others aren't which is tough to deal with.

So here's an overview of just what we've been up to....

Roundup

We're in the midst of winter here and yet our weather seems to be as good as the British summer. Our mornings and evenings are very cold but during the day we're enjoying temperatures up in the high 20's. It all makes for some fantastic cycling weather so Dean has been doing his best to make the most of it. Today he squeezed in a lunchtime ride with his friend Rod (see the pic).

Trail-A-Bike At School

I had the pleasure of taking our Trail-a-bike into school today to talk to Eli's class as well as Nursery and Reception.

Eli was my very able assistant and helped to show how the trail-a-bike works. The kids particularly like the flag at the back and guessed correctly as to its purpose. After discussing a bit of bike safety we went to the car park where I gave rides to those who had a helmet with them (thankfully only a few did so my legs were saved).