Easter on The Bann

Today, we're three quarters way through a 45 miles mountain bike ride as the River Bann flows through Ballydown towards Banbridge.

The River Bann is the longest river in Ulster at 99 miles long and consists of the Upper and Lower Bann. 

This section at Banbridge forms part of the Upper Bann, starting high in the Mourne Mountains at Slieve Muck (Pig Mountain) and flowing into Lough Neagh and, although this area is mostly inhabited with the wily brown trout, the Upper Bann is today one of the most popular coarse fishing waterways in Europe with pike, perch, bream and roach in abundance.

Now then, enough of this rabbiting on (Easter theme thrown in there) and back to the bike...........

6 Days in July

All being well this is how I'll be spending the first week in July, and I don't even drink so I can't use that as an excuse!! ;-)

On my trusty Raleigh I will attempt to cycle solo in the region of 805km, or 500 miles in old money over 5/6 days on the road, round Northern Ireland and Donegal for the Children's Heartbeat Trust​, a Northern Ireland charity that provides emotional and practical support to families with children and young people born with heart disease. 

There's no point pretending the cycle will be easy, far from it, and I'll be monitored throughout. 

As someone who underwent open heart surgery in September 2012, I can fully appreciate the impact it can have on not just the patient but also their family, however I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to have a child in a similar situation. 
 
So peeps, if you have any spare pennies going I would greatly appreciate it if you could pop over to my fundraising page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/OneManAndHisBike and please make a wee donation, with proceeds going to this fantastic charity.

From the bottom of my heart (no pun intended), I sincerely appreciate all your donations and support.

If anyone prefers to sponsor me with good old fashion cash in hand for example, or help in any way, I can be contacted on 07780376185 or email: sjmckeown@mail.com

You can follow my cycling travels and preparation here on my 'One Man and his Bike' blog where I will also post further updates on the bike ride, and I'm also floating about on facebook and twitter.

Thank-you one and all!! 

6 Days in July

All being well this is how I'll be spending the first week in July, and I don't even drink so I can't use that as an excuse!! ;-)

On my trusty Raleigh I will attempt to cycle solo (with support vehicle) in the region of 805km or 500 miles in old money, over 5/6 days on the road, around Northern Ireland and Donegal for the Children's Heartbeat Trust​, a Northern Ireland charity that provides emotional and practical support to families with children and young people born with heart disease. (Route map here.)

There's no point pretending the cycle will be easy, far from it, and I'll be monitored throughout. 

As someone who underwent open heart surgery in September 2012, I can fully appreciate the impact it can have on not just the patient but also their family, however I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to have a child in a similar situation. 

So peeps, if you have any spare pennies going I would greatly appreciate it if you could pop over to my fundraising page http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/OneManAndHisBike and please make a wee donation, with proceeds going to this fantastic charity.

From the bottom of my heart (no pun intended), I sincerely appreciate all your donations and support.

If anyone prefers to sponsor me with good old fashion cash in hand for example, or help in any way, I can be contacted on 07780376185 or email: sjmckeown@mail.com

You can follow my cycling travels and preparation here on my 'One Man and his Bike' blog where I will also post further updates on the bike ride, and I'm also floating about on facebook and twitter.

Thank-you one and all!! 

Wednesday Morning 7am.

7am in the Dromara countryside as the sun heralds the arrival of another day.

If a certain drink company could do Wednesday morning commutes

 

Old School

With a new breed of 'cyclist' littering our roads, time for a spot of 'mostly' tongue-in-cheek reminiscing.

20 signs you are 'proper old school cyclist'.....

1. You think a Gran Fondo is an ice-cream.
2. You don't think toe clips are something that need doing when your nails are too long.
3. Your gears don't peg out because of a dead battery!!
4. It's a wet day in July and you don't take to the turbo or give that day's bike ride a miss.
5. Your old hand built steel frame doesn't scare the crap out of you on a windy day.
6. You remember the Milk Race.
7. Your brakes aren't leaking oil.
8. When someone speaks of tubulars and bells, you don't immediately think of Mike Oldfield.
9. You know who Merckx, Fignon, Roche, Millar, Kelly, Hinault and Raas etc are.
10. You think Garmin GPS is a security company.
11. You think riding 4 abreast is two ladies cycling along side by side, not a group blocking half the road.
12. You know that LBS stands for 'local bike shop' and not 'legs bl**dy sore'.
13. The steep hill you encounter on the road is there to be climbed if you feel like it and walked whilst admiring the view if you don't......not to be climbed in a lung busting, heart damaging 'look at me' fashion just to prove some sort of pointless point.
14. You've heard of, and remember, the famous Gavia Pass stage in the '88 Giro.
15. You're familiar with Reynolds 531 and know it isn't the start of someone's phone number.
16. You have heard of the Coors Classic.
17. You remember Winning Magazine.
18. A rest day is....what's a rest day!?
19. You can walk around off-bike without your feet sounding like Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire.
20. You greet fellow cyclists on the road with a cheery hello smile or wave, in stark contrast to the modern day grunt or silence.

S McKeown (Old School Cyclist)
February 2015

Now that's a first....

Now then dear readers, in almost 40 years cycling I think this has to be a first, a totally frozen and locked up rear derailleur on this morning's commute. And, with the chain making itself at home over a low cog, thankfully the front derailleur was working!!

I had thought of a way of de-icing it, but a combination of modesty forbidding me and the sub-zero temperatures, very soon put an end to that notion.........   #3gearcommute

If Carlsberg could do Winter mornings....

Another eventful commute this morning, sometimes I think there's wiser chewing grass in the fields. 

But you know for me it's just a privilege to be out in the fresh air.
And this same morning a fox ran across me...