Popcorn at the ready!!

At last, the Alpe descent!!

New year, a new look and a new challenge

Ok so it's taken a few months to get back to it but I've woken up from hibernation and am itching for a new challenge. I thought I'd revamp the site with a slightly more stylish look and get back into the swing of blogging.

So, I've not even gotten on my bike since the descent off the Alpe and as for the poor old mountain bike, she is crying to have her seals changed in the forks before I even attempt a spin with the boys in the woods. I'm getting chubby once more and as the weather is picking up I can feel the urges coming one. I'm also dying to get in my new canoe!

I've been watching the cycling in the Velodrome all last week, and what a week it was. Wow, the boys did great but what about Vicki Pendleton, she's awesome!! Each time she pulled out of the pack I thought, nope, you've timed that wrong but then didn't she go. What a team we have, it's going to be a great Olympics :o) So that got me thinking, what should we do next? Well i got into worked and emailed Andy. He'd been thinking the same! He replied back with links to the Lands End John-o-Groats ride and within an hour we'd agreed to do it. We have a curry meeting in the next few days and need to find a couple of team members..... Hopefully Mrs M is being primed to drive the van again!

Oh well, here goes......

ps. anyone got any WD40????

Soggy Hamsters

The CHC boys took to the water over the weekend in their kayaks & convinced a couple of workmates to join them. We went to an outdoor activity centre just outside worcester called Top Barn Farm. They have a man made lake which was ideal to get use to the new toys & have a bit of a laugh.
As ever, it turned into a game to see who would capsize first. We all did ok and Pete, being the youngest, got most of the attention but managed to hold his own. After an hour or so messing around, we decided to test the water temperature. I got to say that the first time i went in, I really wondered why I was there. Once we had capsized once, there was no stopping us. As ever, Chris was being macho by wearing shorts, it's a good job that his got more hair on his legs than my cocker spaniel!!!!
I'm sure that the odd photo will appear soon & it will probably be when i tipped over & smacked my head in the shallow water...did i get any sympathy, i dont think so.
Next saturday, we plan to hit the river severn so that will be interesting. Stay tuned to see if we survive.

update...

Yo dudes.......
Just a quick update as to whats happing since our Alpe ride. Young Chris has gone to Holland on a football tour and I would imagine that he is in hospital by now if his previous games are anything to go by.
I decided to give my body a well earned rest and am looking forward to our next adventure. i picked up my kayak the other day and can't wait to get in the water to try her out. I assume it's a "she" as most boat type things are....I obviously wont waste any bubbly on it as i prefer to drink it!
Things have been strange since we returned, no compulsion to force myself out on a ride and I 've got to admit that the diet has gone to pot. Monday I intend to get back into the gym and start training again. It will be strange to train the upper body after all those months of leg work.
I do hope that all those crews that tackled the Alpe have loving memories of the pain we all endured. I actually thought that it would be nice to ride the climb one more time but without the previous couple of days. There's a thought........Have to have a word with the Chris first!
We will try to keep you all infomed about what we are going to do next but rest assured,it will be something stupid! I really am getting too old for this stuff...

Alpe D'Heuz Challenge 2007

Well, well, well. What can I say? A week on and it seems a long time ago. Legs are Ok, bum is fine and no training sessions planned. We worked hard for 8 months getting ready for it and it was all over in three days. So, how did it go?

T -2 Days.
Confirm Van, chase Gino for the shirts, pack.

T -1 Day.
Millerz (Andy) gets to mine for about 9am, we shoot round to Gino's (www.mgsportswear.co.uk) and collect the shirts. They are amazing. And I mean, the little bloke's pulled it out of the bag again. Three of the finest Cycling Jerseys from Speeds (www.speedscycles.co.uk) emblazoned with our sponsors logos and "CRAZY HAMSTER CREW .CO.UK" on the back. He's also done the same on four team Polos for us to wear on the last night. I cannot thank Gino enough. If you need footy strips etc, give him a call.
Right, we then scoot round to Hire-It! (www.thetoolhireshop.com) to collect our Van. Sitting on the forecourt is a beautiful 5 seater Mercedes Vito kindly lent to us by Mudie Bond (www.mudiebond.co.uk) and insured by RA Davies (www.radaviesltd.co.uk). This van was a beaut. We loaded up, got papped by Crazy Hamster Crew Chris's Mum and then set off to collected the others. On arrival at Chez Millerz, Bob and Fiona were waiting. We loaded the van whilst Andy's Dad provided a running commentary (!) and then set off for France...
Channel Tunnel... Arrived two hours early to find a line fault and three hour delay......Finally crossed and arrived in Amiens at about 9pm. Long Day. Stupid restaurant didn't want to continue serving so we hit the local McDonalds. Not the greatest pre-ride meal but it did the trick. Bed.

DAY 1
Up at 4.50 (French Time!) shower dress and get the bikes. We left the start line at 6am in pure darkness riding as a three. We span out of town and into the countryside and rode for a couple of hours. It was really cold but we made good progress. At two hours Andy dropped out to grab some rest, at three hours I dropped and Andy returned and at Fours hours it was Bob's turn. We rode with two riders out until about 2pm. By then we realised there were loads of teams ahead of us, none of whom had actually passed us on the road? They were leapfrogging. Setting a rider going, driving ten miles ahead and dropping another whilst waiting for the first. Also, ALL of the teams were relaying with only one rider at a time. We had two. Oh and the other teams had four riders, we only had three. We finished of the day riding solo but finished the last 5 miles together. The distance for the day was 200miles. It turned out that each team split this into four and each rider did 30ish minutes at a time doing 50 miles in the day. Chris, Andy and Bob finished the day having covered in excess of 100miles...EACH!!!!! We were labelled "Proper Crazy" in the bar at night. A quick group meal and then bed.

DAY 2
Riding the same as the previous day would kill us off. It also took too much time. So we decided to ride like the others. Only we did minimum 1 Hour legs each. It worked out well. We were one of the first out and were joint first home. We managed about 15 miles in every hours and there were some big hills too.
We all did the first hour together again. This was a useful warm up for us all. Bob then continued whilst Fiona dropped me off at about 15 miles. Bob was about half way by now. Fiona waited for Bob, gave him some food, jumped in the van and then overtook me. She would tell me how far I'd done and let me choose how far I wanted to go. Fiona would then run the next rider up to that point, drop him off and wait for me. This leapfrogging went on all day until the last leg which we always did together.
The route out of Auxerre took us right through the town. And we were racing along. Oh, it was pitch black again too! Riding in the dark through the woods was so exciting. My first leg was awesome. A rough lightly gravel road to begin with followed by some beautiful forest roads down into a little village. Riding in France is a lovely experience, they respect cyclists over there and there are far fewer cars. i think we did about 4 legs each throughout the day which became progressively more hilly until we arrived, cycling three together, into Bourg en Bresse. Here we got lucky as we were put in the overflow hotel and it was really posh. Not sure what they thought of us all walking round in our lycras but they didn't seem to mind too much. Dinner was funny, we skipped the event dinner and hit a little Italian Restaurant in the town. All of our French was rubbish so we ended up ordering using a mixture of Italian and Spanish! Big bowl of pasta then bed.

DAY 3
For the last day we wanted to make sure we got to the Alp in plenty of time so we leapfrogged from the start. We had a slight lie in and did a 6.30 start. It was reasonably easy going until about 11am when I hit the first of the big climbs. Andy took over half way up and nailed the downhill afterwards. This was the steepest we'd done so far and Andy made mince meat of it. On the next leg, Bob had a long slow crawling climb up through the valley on the way to Col du Coq. It was so funny when this old french guy on a 1950's racer strolled up to Bob without breaking a sweat. It was when Bob noticed his shiny blue lycra over a cotton t-shirt that Bob increased the pace and left the pack behind. I took over ahead and climbed up into the first Ski Resort. It was short but very steep and the hairpins were starting. I descended and rode round to begin the Col du Coq. A couple of k's up, the climb steepened into a forest. I was tiring so the team dropped Andy off up front. I caught up the van but Andy had not gone far. My legs had died on the start but I only needed ten minutes to recover. Andy was cramping bad having started on a climb so I got the guys to set me out again. My legs had come back and I was able to finish the first ascent, descend into the next valley and start the second part. As the van passed me I was tiring again. Andy won't mind me telling you this but here, he really lost the plot! I was tired, he had cramp bad and Bob steps up and says, c'mon guys, let me out, I'll do a bit. And boy did he go. I think Andy thought he was going to kill himself! I was a bit gutted as after three corners he reached the top of the Col and the sight was awesome. Cars everywhere with people walking to the peak to paraglide off. The towns below were miles away, and Bob got the descent.
We couldn't keep up with the cyclists on the way down and missed a sign in the next town so Bob was well on his way up the third peak and very dehydrated by the time we caught him up. Andy took over but the heat and gradient was taking its toll. Now the team work kicked in. The encouragement, clapping, cheering each other started. We were doing 750mtr runs each powering up the mountain. Fiona was zooming around leapfrogging ten minutes at a time. It was great. We flew up the peak and Andy bagged the descent through the forest. That was it until the big one. The guys let me do most of the route along the main road, I was so tired by now. We all met up in the car park at the bottom of Alpe D'Huez. A couple of teams were already starting but we gathered our things, changed lycras and donned our beautiful jerseys (www.russtler.com www.twinsix.com) and set about the climb. We all agreed to enjoy it having made it this far so Bob hit his usual pace and left Andy and I to crawl up enjoying the view. Bob finished in under 90 mins whilst Andy and I did in about 1hr 3/4ers. We crossed the line to cheers from some of the other riders and a much needed glass of bubbley. A quick phone call to the folkes and to Ruth for the blog and then we wrapped up for the descent. Oh, and I gaffer taped a handycam to my frame and started to descend.
18 minutes later we got to the bottom! Wooooooo-------Hooooooooo!!!!!!


So, that was it. It was bloody awesome. I loved it so much and credit to Andy for getting us all motivated to do it. The training was tedious at times but paid off. Fiona was brilliant and worked so hard to keep us all going. Bob, was, well, Bob and we couldn't have done it without him. By god he's fit!

A huge massive thankyou to all of you who have sponsored us. To those companies who have supported us. For the van, the fuel, the shirts, the insurance, the motivational texts (you know who you are! x x) and you reading this for all the interest. Also cheers to Lynne and the local papers for the publicity, to The Wyre radio for the shout outs, to Neil Howarth for the signed shirt, Wharton Park for the Golf Day and Creative Landscapes for the nursary voucher.

Thanks to Speeds Cycles for the shirts and bits and bobs. Thanks to Hire-It (Mum and Dad) for the fundraising. Cheers Holly for the ebaying and website support and Ruth and Jen for maintaining the Blog whilst we were away. Gordo, nice one for putting in contact with Russtler (GET YOUR ALPE D'HUEZ SHIRTS HERE) and to Ryan (shares his birthday with me!) from TWINSIX who posted an Alpe t-shirt from the USA to our hotel in France so Andy had one to wear too. If I've forgotten anyone mail me and I'll type you in. But thanks.

For those fellow Alpers who saw our shirts and want one, email the guys at RUSSTLER.COM and mention us. I'll upload the descent video on YOUTUBE soon and link it here. Photos will follow too.

Well, we'll announce the winner of the Alp T Shirt and Nursery Voucher once all of the money is in and counted and all that remains to be said I suppose is......what will we do next year......?!?!?

(Hint: Both Andy and I have just bought canoes!)

Take care, have good xmas's and keep checking back.


Crazy Hamster Chris........ hibernating...........

Ebay Items

C'mon guys there's the assistant manager from the Harriers' own playing shirt on EBAY and it's going to £31 surely we can do better than that! Get bidding. www.ebay.co.uk and search for KHFC SHIRT.

Also, WHARTON PARK golf club have donated a golf day for 4 people (worth over £120) which doesn't even have a bid. Surely someone would like a round up there. Starting bid is £30, please text/call your golfing buddies and get them to log on. It would be embarrassing to let this go for pennies.

Thank you......

Just a quick post to say a big THANK YOU to all of you out there who have sponsored us and given us support thro our adventure. Chris will be giving you all a full run down in the near future & I have no doubt that I will add a few things, so briefly:
*Cheers dude for getting me thro the last climb when my lungs were about to explode.
*Fi for the great job you did caring and looking after us all.
*Bob for the never ending positive attitude that nearly killed me!!!!!!
*All the companies who helped us out especially Mudie Bond for the great Mercedes Vito van - I was so impressed that I'm thinking of getting one.
*Chris's parents/family who support & sponsor us in these barmy challenges we do. Oh and the persuasive way that manage to get people to sponsor us....
*Jen for the updates and putting up with me for the weeks before the ride.
Thats enough for now but as Chris mentioned, watch out for the downhill descent footage. (which will last with me forever) I'm sure a few photos will appear soon, probably of me knowing Chris...
Whats next, Chris reckons he will never ride again but I'm not so sure. I am already getting thoughts about our next challenge.

As Gordon Ramsay would say "520 miles, 14 km up the Alpe D'Huez....DONE" !!!!!!!!

Hammies Home Safely

It's late and we're all pretty whacked so this is just a short post to say we're back safe and well. The Challenge was fantastic. I'll blog the whole event late in the week but if I can say a huge thankyou to Mrs M who looked after us like royalty. To the other two who slogged it out with me. To all of you who sent me texts. And to all other those who've given us vans, tshirts, insurance, fuel, food, Harriers Shirts, Golf Days, Vouchers, money......

Thank you.

For fellow cyclists, the website for the Alpe D'Huez shirts is www.russtler.com and mention us. You might have to email them to get some stock in.

The crazy Alp descent video will be on youtube, check back after next weekend.

Wharton Park Golf Tickets on Ebay

Firstly - Well Done Crazy Hamsters!!

Secondly - Happy Birthday Chris!

Thirdly - Wharton Park One Day Golf Pass for 4 People now on Ebay.

Please see http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270169344774&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT&ih=017

Cyas, Holly

They have made it!

Chris just phoned to say they have got to the top!

Well done to the Crazy Hamster Crew. We never doubted you could do it.

Looking forward to hearing all about it later.

News Flash

Chris reports that he has just cycled a 'huge' mountain - and that there were people parachuting from the top.

The team are nearing the Huez - 'only' 40 miles to go (does that really sound near??!) with a last big climb to do before they get there.

Then, all that remains is the 11 mile ride to the top, which is a mile high.

C'mon guys, we are all thinking of you!

Beginning the climb.

Well Hammy enjoyed the first peak.

By God the climbing is hard.

76 miles down and legs are tiring now.

Morning! 23rd September 2007

Quick update from Hammy Chris,

2.25 hours down. 45 miles along Rhone valley. OK so farbut those pointy things are getting closer, andthe climbs are going to start soon.

Post from Hammy Chris

Hi Guys,

Managed to get wifi in the hotel tonight so thought I'd post. Thanks to Jen, Ruth, Mum and Holly who've been keeping you all up to date.

Day two was a little easier. Well if I start with Day One you'll understand.

We set off as a three and rode for two hours, then Bob and I continued on and we sat one rider out each hour till early afternoon. It was tiring and became apparent that NO OTHER TEAM had more than one rider on the road at any time. Oh and all the other teams have 4 riders. So in 200 miles they each to 50. AND they leapfrog their riders using the minbus to keep time down. So during the afternoon we did solo stints to allow us to recover. We got in in 12.5hrs which was a great efforst and became a little notorious in the restaurant that evening for the first team to ride in pairs!

We guessed we'd never make it to the Alp in one piece if we continued at the pace we did on day one so on day two, we all did the first hour as a warm up and then rode solo all day, one hour on, two off (the other teams have three!). We did about 70 miles each and did the last 10 miles together. The terrain was much tougher today with logs of hills but we got home as one of the first teams in. Fiona's been a star driving, organising and knocking up grub. WE REALY COULDN'T DO THIS WITHOUT HER.

Tomorrow is the biggy. The plan is to do 15 mile stints each from the start to get us to the Alp in plenty of time. Then it's a kit change into out TWIN SIX tops and hit the hill. Hopefully it'll all be over by about 6pm. Hopefully......

If I can blog tomorrow night I will but I'll try and get some texts to the girls and see what they can do.

Chris

Day two 22/09/2007

The hamsters are making good time today. They have only 30 miles left until the second stage post is reached.

Go Hamsters Go!