EBCC Christmas Family Bike Ride - Ilkey to Bolton Abbey

Headed to the Lydo in Ilkley with Jack to take part in the East Bradford Cycle Club Christmas run, it made a change to be riding on road bikes! There was a fair group of us at the car park and after chatting for a few minutes we headed out, it was very busy with all the Rugby pitches in use, but we quickly passed this and crossed the main road heading up the quite Denton Road, staying on the east of the River Wharfe. Jack wasn't hanging around with me and quickly sped off to chat with his friends as we rode along. We made frequent stops so that everyone could catch up, this helped when keeping an eye on the kids.

The road had very little traffic, occasionally we met a car but most of the traffic was walkers and other cyclists! When we got to the main A59 road we took it very carefully and re-grouped once we had got onto the A6160. This road was busy so we took it careful and all stayed together. Car drivers must have been getting pretty frustrated as there was very few opportunities to overtake. Thankfully we made quick progress and soon turned right off the road and headed to the Cavendish Pavilion Cafe.

We got some lunch and sat outside, all the kids sat together. I quite happily sat and talked with several of the coaches who run the Saturday Kids club at Richard Dunn sports centre.

Heading back down the valley I stayed with Jim, one of the senior members who arranges many of the social events that the bike club runs, we had a puncture to mend, this was quickly sorted out. Jim fell over and banged his hip, he's in his 80's so I was relieved when he was okay! We stopped at the Stocks at Nesfield on the way back, the kids all took turns to be locked up.

Back in the car park at the Lido and Helen handed out some sweets. The route was about 14 miles but it didn't feel like we'd gone very far. Everyone had enjoyed the afternoon. Looking forward to the next outing!

Stainburn Forest Mountain Biking

Read lots about Stainburn everyone said that it is short but technical. There was a lot of talk about which car park to use, the best one is near the top of the hill on the B6451 when heading from Otley.

There's no facilities other than a car park, thankfully we'd brought a flask of tea and some snacks. There are three marked trails, Red, Black and a Decent Line. We headed out of the car park and followed the Red Route Signs after a few initial drops we headed upward into the trees at the top of the route you have a choice of either heading down the decent line on your left or turning right and following the red route back down through the trees and back to the car park. It doesn't take too long to do a lap of the red route, however you can make the route much more difficult by using some of the obstacles that run adjacent to the main route, there are several technical boulder sections and a balance section on wood work. Although the route is pretty short it's fun to do several laps trying all the different technical sections.

To do the decent line you can either pedal up the road from the car park or do the first part of the red route. The line follows a wall that which marks the far edge of all the routes. Initially you swoop through trees, once this runs out there are many technical sections, some jumps and a black listed drop off, many of the more technical bits can be avoided, so once again there's lost of variety in quite a short run. It only takes a couple of minutes to do this decent but there's lots to practice. There are several routes to get back to the car park, they are all pretty tough going as the hill is pretty steep.

We spent most of the day morning repeating these routes, Finlay wasn't too chuffed about all the climbing but Jack loved the whole place. The decent line was his favourite and he was happy pushing pretty hard trying to go quicker each time he did the decent.

After we had a break I tried to get Jack and Finlay to have a go at the Black route, we headed out of the car park and attempted the first section, the kids had no chance, even I got a bit sick of dabbing my feet and having to push through parts of the trail, it was all a bit confusing so we made our escape back to the routes we were more familiar with.

We easily spend 4 or 5 hours on the trails and it's a great place to learn about bike control. By mid afternoon we decided to call it a day, there are other trails across the road which are less technical, we'll have to come back later to have a look at these.

There are lots of trails that are not sign posed and in some places you just 'do your own thing'. The steep hill side is a struggle for the kids, this is certainly not somewhere to go for a ride with the family, it's for improving your skills and learning to do new stuff!

New Model Army - O2 Academy Leeds

Obligatory Crap Photo!

Bought tickets a couple of month ago to see New Model Army at the O2 in Leeds. I was expecting a set that featured several tracks from their new album 'Between Dog and Wolf', and predictably the gig started in this vain. I quite like the new material, the tribal beats and quite subdued lyrics do make the album different from other NMA albums. Thankfully I've been listening quite allot so the new songs were all familiar to me. Andrea wasn't too impressed, typically wanting to hear all the old favourites.

The gig went pretty fast, there was some quite unusual stuff, Archway Towers was quite a surprise! My Favourite song was 'Christian Militia', their first encore, by this time I was in the thick of it at the front, throwing my weight (what little I have) about in the ruck, all good fun. Just got to keep smiling as you bounce around off everyone!

I enjoyed the gig, but struggled (as always) with the venue, the O2 just doesn't create an atmosphere that makes you feel that you're seeing something special.

Italy v Tonga Rugby League World Cup - Halifax Shay

The only game at this years Rugby League World Cup that was really close to our house was the Tonga v Italy game at the Shay in Halifax, we'd got tickets a couple of weeks ago and I was looking forward to taking the kids to what I hoped would be a packed Shay.

After the remembrance day march we had some lunch and got ready to head down into Halifax, Finlay decided he wanted to stay at home for a few more hours, so Jack, Me and one of our mates headed into town to 'soak up the atmosphere' (drink beer). We headed into town, there was still lots of people all dressed up who had been on the remembrance day parades.

After a few drinks Andrea dropped Finlay off and we headed to the Shay. Finding the correct entrance was a bit of a chore, none of us knew the ground well enough! Once we got into the ground we soon found somewhere to stand . It was very busy so we ended up in one Of the isles' this was good for the kids as there was no one in front of them.

There was a minutes silence (the second one we'd observed). Tonga then did the Hakka, this really won the crowd over, it was really well done and gave me the impression that they were going to war!

The first half of the game passed pretty quickly, it was nice to be able to get a drink and stand on the terraces, the stewards looked a little stretched due to the large crowd but everyone acted sensibly and there wasn't a problem.

At half time it was 2-0 to Tonga, both sides cancelling each other out for large parts of the game.

We moved into one of the seated stands for the second half, this was better for the kids as there wasn't the huddle, push and shove! Tonga started to get on top, cheered on by the crowd and by the end they won 16-0. The poodle haired Fuifui Moimoi was man of the match, a popular choice.

After the game Andrea picked the kids up and we headed to The Pump Room for more drinks, we and a good conversation with a couple of guys from Birmingham, and headed back into Queensbury for a few more! I headed home at 9pm and had a pretty rough night, way too much to drink!

Remembrance Sunday Parade - Queensbury

Andrea way busy doing a cross country race so me and the kids were on our own this year. Jack and Finlay both looked pretty smart in the Scout / Cub uniforms. For November the weather was pretty good, sunshine and no wind! Very thing went according to plan, this year there wasn't any alarms going off at the Co-op and the 1 minutes silence was well observed. 

It was very busy again and several people were surprised about how many people attended the service at the cenotaph. The kids were involved in the Church service but I didn't bother this year.

After the march through the village had finished we dashed back home, had some lunch and headed off to the Rugby at the Shay, a busy day!

Sherwood Pines Camping and Mountain Biking

Half term and the last camping trip of the year. We booked this a couple of months ago, using the last few days of the half term holiday. We set off on Thursday night after work, made good progress on the M62 but there was huge delays on the A1. The sat nav helped out and directed us off the dual Carraige ways and onto country lanes.

We soon arrived at Sherwood Forest Holiday Park. It was late and dark but we were soon on our pitch and cooking a late tea. We were right on the riverside. The weather wasn't great, we had our fingers Crossed for settled weather over the weekend.

Friday morning and we got on our mountain bikes and headed down the main road to Sherwood Pines. After a coffee we decided to ride the red Kitchener trail. Andrea went in front with Jack and I rode oih Finlay. We initially we made good progress, but after a couple of miles Finlay had a nasty accident when he lost the front wheel on a damp tree root. Finlay soon got his confidence back and we continued on our way.

We made good progress and were soon at the bike park, me and Jack did a few runs through the downhill run, great fun. This exactly the sort of thing that Jack loves and we had great fun!

The last part of the route seemed to take ages and the weather took a turn for the worst, rain! I was chuffed for Finlay, his first Red Route! Back at the cafe we had some lunch and decided to do the Blue route, we got wet through but it didn't bother any of us.

Heading back to the campsite we all had a shower' put on dry clothes and settled in for the evening. The rain didn't s+op and the river got higher and higher, the campsite warden had to stay up all night keeping an eye on the river level in case we needed to evacuate!

Thankfully the river didn't rise any further. Saturday morning and we headed back to the bike trails, before we set off On another lap of the Kitchener Red route l snapped my chain? Thankfully the guys at Sherwood Pines cycles lent me a link extractor so I patched the bike up. One of my pedals was also loose and needed regularly tightening, but the pedal looks like it will need replacing? The rain had made the tracks very slippery and there we puddles and mud everywhere. Me and Jack set off riding hard. Jack had an unpleasant accident, tangled up is the bike. We sat for a while and then continued to the bike park.

This time we headed to the Jump area, again Jack had an accident, jumping one of the tabletop, he didn't hurt himself this time! we did the downhill run and Jack got a puncture! It look me a while to sort this out. We got our heads down and soon gut back to the cafe.

Finlay wanted to know why it had took us so long, Andrea and Finlay had done the route and beat us? They didn't stop at the bike part, and hadn't had to mend a puncture!

We headed into Clipstone to get more supplies for tea. The weather was terrible and the kids were grumbling. We again got showers and enjoyed watching TV in the warm Van.

Sunday morning and I looked at the bikes , the trails had taken their tole. Jack's front brake pads were down to the metal and needed replacing, my rear wheel was wobbly and needed all the spokes tightening, my rear brake pads were knackered and needed replacing! There red routes take their toll on bikes!

We headed back home after d great weekend, Andrea would have liked a more relaxing weekend but us lads really enjoyed it.

Gisburn Forest Mountain Biking

Jack wanted to go mountain biking at Gisburn as part of his Birthday celebration. We set off early to make sure we'd find room in the car park, having to use 2 cars to get the bikes and all of us up to Gisburn. We arrived at 9am and easily found parking, there are several large car parks and the weather wasn't great so we needn't have worried about finding room.

First off we headed up to the training area and spend 15 minutes warming up, the kids did pretty well and enjoyed trying the different graded areas, Finlay was happy on Green and Blue, Jack was happy on Red and Black!!

We headed off as a family on the Blue Route and made good progress, we stayed together until I got a puncture! Thankfully I had a puncture kit, however I didn't have a pump. Someone soon stopped and lent me their pump (Many thanks!) and we continued on out way. The Blue route has a mix of single track in the trees and fire roads. Some of the bigger hills are on the Fire Roads and are a bit of a drag. Once we completed this we had a cup of tea at the cafe. Jack and me decided we wanted to do 'The 8' Red route. Finlay and Andrea thought it best to stay on the easier routes.

The first part follows the Blue route so it was pretty straight forward, we soon turned off and headed into th hills. Jack wasn't too confident to start with but soon got his head around everything and realized that he had the ability to do the route. We really enjoyed the long runs of single track, there are a few runs on the fire roads, the steep section alongside 'Hope Line' Orange Route did for me and I pushed my bike up the hill. Jack put his bike in the granny gear and rode to the top, laughing at me for being rubbish!

The further we went the more we enjoyed the ride. We passed the Whelpstone Crag Drop in (Black Line). It looked too much for us, maybe next time. We were soon at Hully Gully, Jack had been talking about this for months, however stood at the top he didn't have the confidence to do it. I told him that I'd not come all this way to bottle out and made him follow me. Soon as Jack got going he thought it was ace and really enjoyed the run, sometimes a pushy dad is needed!

We continued along the route, Jack was getting more confident and did the Black graded drop in on Swoopy, I stayed on the red route and avoided the huge drop! We headed back to the cafe and caught up with Andrea and Finlay. 

We had a late lunch and then headed back into the training area, Jack got too confident jumping and had his worst accident of the day! Finlay wanted to do the Blue route one more time so we went together. My legs were getting pretty tired but I kept on pushing on.

Altogether Me and Jack did about 30kms. We all had a really good day, made it home for tea. Jack and Finlay wanted to go to Nando's so after a quick shower and change of clothes we headed out for a well earned tea!

Jack Silver Chief Scout Award Presentation

Jack with the Mayor

When Jack moved on from cubs he got his silver award. It was a nice surprise when Jack got a letter from the Lord Mayor of Bradford inviting him to a presentation evening at the city hall. None of us had ever been into the main chamber where the council meet so we all looked forward to the evening.

Typically the weather was awful, wind and rain. After getting wet running from the car park to the entrance we were led to the main chamber. It was very busy and the only seats left were tucked away with a very limited view, so we moved upstairs to the public gallery, much better. The city hall is well looked after, everything is very traditional!

There were beaver and cubs from all over Bradford being presented with awards. All the kids sat on the green leather seats that the councillors use. After short speeches from the Mayor and the Scout District Commissioner all the kids were called up is turn to receive there framed awards and photographed with the Mayor.

Once everyone had been called up we were all invited to a reception in the banqueting hall. Jack had cake and pop and Andrea and me had tea and coffee.

It was a nice way for Jack to fully sign off from cubs. Typically leaving the car park on the way home I accidentally used a Bus lane and had to pay a £30 fine!

Grassington Camping

Kids on the Bridge.

Didn't leave home Until 5:30pm but made good time and arrived just before 7pm. We had booked onto the Caravan Club site just above Grassington, this was the second Caravan club site we'd visited this year. l was still in a lot of pain after the 3 peaks walk and I wasn't sure about how much walking l would he able to do.

We had some tea and then the kids rode their bikes around the site, it wasn't long before it came dark.

Saturday morning and we decided to walk into Grassington, thankfully my leg held up and we were soon in the village. We looked at a few shops and got some fish and chips, eating them while sat on one of the benches in the square. We spent more time looking around and headed to one of the many pubs, the Foresters Arms, the kids soon got board so we headed back to the campsite.

Big Wheelies.

For tea we headed to the Gamekeepers Inn that was just 5 minutes walk from the site. The food was very nice, the kids ran around and enjoyed the outside playground. Heading but to the van we settled in for the night.

Sunday morning, we had a bacon sandwich and headed home.The weather broke as we set off, heavy rain, we'd been pretty lucky.

Yorkshire 3 Peaks Walk

We've had this arranged for several months. All week we were keeping our fingers crossed for reasonable weather! All week at work the weather had been pretty poor and the forecast didn't look any better for our walk.

We all met up at the car park in Horton In Ribblesdale at 7:30am, several of Andreas friends from the Halifax Harriers and a few fiends from Queensbury. Everyone wrote their names and addresses on paper and pushed it through the letterbox at the Pen-y-ghent cafe, so that you can get a certificate to say you've done it!

Top Of Pen-y-Ghent

We headed off towards Pen-y-Ghent, the summit was shrouded in mist. It was very busy, at the steep part we had to queue, some of the people in front thought they were perilously close to disaster. I got sick of being polite and made my own route through the blockage. We soon got to the top, had a quick drink and headed down the path towards Ribble head.

It was still very busy and we had to queue over the styles as we headed through the fields. It was a long walk up the valley, but we were all in good spirit, chatting as we walked briskly up the valley. As we neared the railway an A4 Pacific steam train rattled past, if we had been 10 Minutes further along the path we'd have Sean the train on the bridge. When we got to Ribble Head the girls used the toilet at the Station Hotel. They did have to buy half a coke!

Time for lunch on Whernside.

l knew my knees would cause me trouble and my right knee was starting to hurt so l took some pain killers. Heading out of the valley past the viaduct we followed the train track on the start of the walk up Whernside. A couple of the girls were struggling with their feet and changed socks. We took the opportunity to have a few snacks. As we climbed the steeper parts of the path my knee was giving me more jipp. By the time I got to the top l was struggling, more pain killers. I was wondering how l could manage to walk all the way back!

Heading down the Steep path l started to work out strategies around keeping pain at bay. From here on didn't stop walking, just kept plodding on. At the Hill Inn a couple of people went to the toilet , l walked through. gradually people passed me but I caught up with every one at the top of Ingleborough. As we walked back off the top of the mountain we caught up wits the last few of Our fiends.

Done It! Top of Ingleborough

I gritted my teeth and kept going. Thankfully my left knee was still good. By now I was walking like Quasimodo, keeping my right leg straight swinging it around the side! It was a long way back to Horton In Ribblesdale. We all trudged along, by now we'd stopped talked, we did stay together. We arrived back at the Cafe taking 10 hours and 10 minutes!

The cup of tea did just the trick. The last of our friends arrived 20 minutes later.We all did the Walk, no one bailed out!

It took me a couple of days to get my knee to appoint where I could get comfortable. No long lasting damage, but to me doing all 3 peaks in one day makes 3 nice walks into a chore!

Jack at Velodrome Manchester

Jacks second visit to the velodrome, he was a little less anxious. The session was very different. All the kids were on the track at the same times so Jack pretty much got 3 hours of track time. I enjoyed watching the session. I could see that Jack was having to push pretty hard, he was one of the smallest.

At the end of the session all the kids did a one lap time trial was pretty cool to see Jack on the track all by himself. Jack did an 18 second lap, he was 11th out of 15.

Afterwards Jack said he'd not really enjoyed the session and had found it hard. Hope this hasn't put him off!

Nayburn Lock, York Camping

Didn't leave home while 5pm On what looked like a very busy weekend. The Leeds Festival and York Races both meant the roads would be very busy. With this in mind I decided to avoid the A64 / A1 and instead ure the M62 and A19, this was a good decision and we arrived at 7 30pm.

At the Railway Museum

Saturday morning and the kids made friends with the kids in a caravan next door. We decided to ride our bikes into York there is a really good bike route using a disused railway for a large par of the ride. Jack - and Finlay convinced our neighbours to go to York on their bikes. The Father of the kids was a little concerned about the distance into town. I said it was all flat and a pretty easy ride. We set off and within a few miles it was obvious that he was struggling, the kids found it easy, the ride went right part the race course which was very busy. we had to take care on the last stretch as we were at the side of a busy road. Our new fiends looked shattered. We headed to a nearby Pub and got some drinks.

After this we left our new fiends and headed to the railway museum. Jack used to be obsessed with trains when he was little. Weve visited the museum before, but it made sense to visit as several A4 Pacifics were on display. They are commemorating 75 year. Mallard, Dwight D Eisenhower and Dominion of Canada were on display. Me, Jack and Finlay thought this was brilliant, however Andrea sat on a bench and fiddled around with Facebook on her phone.

Once we'd seen enough trains we headed back into the town centre and had a late lunch at Pizza Express. From here we walked around the shops, Andrea enjoyed this but we were a little board. We re-traced our steps back to the camp-site and I put the BBQ on. Our new friends looked Shattered but admitted they they needed to do more exercise. After a few beers it vas time for bed.

York Races

Sunday was another busy day, Fiends came over to join us for the day. Again we rode our bikes into town, this time we spent time is the Park, walked around, this to we struggled to find a Pub that wasn't very busy, it was a bank holiday weekend. We ended up in a beer garden at a Witherspoons. Returning to Nayburn we headed to the''Blacksmiths Arms"for a meal. Steak was the order of the day, we all lived it!

Monday morning I went for a short bike ride with Jack, he'd made up his own route and wanted to show me around. After a look around the Lock beyond the camp site it was time to pack up and head home. Another good weekend. Decent weather and good company!

White Rose Youth League Cycling Round 8 - Richard Dunn Sports Centre

We'd missed the 7th race when we were on holiday and the kids hadn't spent much time on the bikes while we'd been away!

First up was Finlay for his time trial, he did 1.53.1 which was good enough for 2nd. Jack had a tough race, ended up on his own, he ended up 11th, Jack finished really strong, it was a shame he didn't speed up one lap earlier as he'd have caught a couple of kids in front of him.

Finlay had a good race, I don't know how he manages to stand up all the time and not got tierd. Again Finlay came second is his class.

This was the last race for 2013, so next year Finlay will be moving up to the 'D' group. Jack will stay in 'C', so he should do better next year.

Finlays Time Trail Results - Under 8's
Round 1 - 2min 7 - 3rd Place
Round 2 - 1min 58 - 1st Place
Round 3 - 1min 47 - 1st Place
Round 4 - 1min 58 - 3rd Place
Round 5 - 2min 3 - 3rd Place
Round 6 - 1min 57 - 2nd Place
Round 8 - 1min 57 - 2nd Place

Finlay Under 8's race
Round 1 - 2nd Place
Round 2 - 1st Place
Round 3 - 1st Place
Round 4 - 3rd Place
Round 5 - 3rd Place
Round 6 - 1st Place
Round 8 - 2nd Place

Jack Under 12's race
Round 1 - 15th Place
Round 2 - 15th Place
Round 3 - 13th Place
Round 4 - 12th Place
Round 5 - 7th (not sure about this!)
Round 6 - 11th Place
Round 8 - 11th Place

Summer Holiday - Carnac

We headed north to Carnac, Camping Le Moustoir. The weather was red hot and for the first time we ran into some heavy traffic. the delay wasn't too bad and we reached the site by mid afternoon. The kids were excited by the slides is the swimming pool, so they got there trunks on and headed over to the pool.

When the kids came back we rode the bikes into Carnac, lucky for us there was a craft market in full swing, this kept everyone entertained, there was some unusual bits and pieces. We headed to a local pizza restaurant, sat outside and enjoyed the atmosphere. The food was nice and we relaxed with a few beers! By the time we headed back to the site it was pitch black, no lights 0n our bikes so we had to be careful.

Next day we headed dun to the beach, Finlay again spent time is the rock pools, I collected shells. We had ice cream and a few drinks at a local bar before heading back to the swimming pool. I joined the kids on the slides is in the jalousie Both Jack and Finlay thought it was good fun to do daft tricks on the slides when the life guards wern't watching.

All too soon it was time to move on, we were heading to our last night near Caen. Again the roads were very busy, but we pulled in at Domaine de la Baie des Veys mid afternoon. I thought this site was quite near to Caen, but it was over 60 miles away!

The site was next to the sea on Utah beach, however we were next to extensive mud flats. The kids went for  a bike ride and came back well mucked up. After tea l went for a drink at the onsite bar. I tried one of each of the lagers that the bar had and got pretty drunk!

We had to leave the site very early to get to Caen for the ferry, typically l got flashed by a speed camera!

We made the ferry on time, typical crossing, it look ages. Once we arrived in Portsmouth it was an uneventful journey home.

We'd had a great holiday, good weather and lots of variety. Thankfully the puncture and lack of a spare didn't come back to haunt us. Just hope I don't get a speeding ticket!

Summer Holiday - La Rochelle

We headed south to L'Houmeau near La Rochelle. The Au Petit Port de L'Houmeau camp site was a 2 minute cycle ride from the beach, however there wasn't much sand just thousands of barnacles and oyster shells on rocks. This made for great rock pooling but no good for sun bathing. Finlay was in his element and we spent a couple of evenings looking for crabs Finlay, is quite happy to grab anything he can get hold of, some of the crabs he was going after were bigger than I would have liked to pick up!

We rode into La Rochelle on the bikes, it was about 4 miles, some of the route was on protected cycle routes and other parts were on cycle lanes on the roads. Both kids are pretty safe now, even on the right hand side of the road. We headed through the Parc Charruyer and left our bikes next to the beach.

Heading into the old town we got some food and enjoyed the atmosphere. Andrea and me visited La Rochelle before we had kids, on one of our motorbike touring holidays. So It was interesting to go back with the kids. we took lots of photos, walked around the shops and walked around looking at the boats and ancient buildings. When we arrived it war sunny and hot, but as the day went on it clouded over.

The kids were getting board so we got back on our bikes. In the park the kids found a small off road mountains bike track, this kept them occupied for a while. We then headed back to the camp site.

We ate out at a sea food restaurant on the sea front at Le Plomb, we were made welcome by the owners, even I enjoyed the food. Normally I struggle with "fishy feasts". Finlay and Jack both had muscles and Andrea had some weird fish which she enjoyed.

On our final day on the camp site we had our first Lazy day, the kids played on the camp site and both Andrea and me read our books all day, pretty unusual.

Summer Holiday - La Barre De Monts

We'd had a long drive out to the west coast but soon found or camp-site Le Grand Corseau. After some confusion about deposits we got set-up.  I was happy to sit down and grab a beer.To my amazement a family of red squirrels appeared is the trees in front of the van. I got my camera and spent 30 minutes photographing and watching them run around, feeding, playing and fighting in the trees, really cool!

The site is well placed for the beach and a 5 minute cycle ride from Fromentine. We had a lazy few days using the beach and site swimming pool. In the evenings we rode our bikes into town and had ice creams watching the sunset and generally relaxing. The weather was red hot, happy days.

There was a small pond in the trees near the beach Finlay enjoyed taking his net trying to catch frogs but everything in the pond was well used to little boys and Finlay struggled to catch anything other than tadpoles.

One night we cycled onto the bridge that joins the main land to Noirmoutier we had fun on the beaches collecting shells and building sand castles.

Summer Holiday - Paris

Whenever you mention driving into Paris the first thing people say is "your not insured when driving around the Arc De Triomphe . So heading into town I was a little nervous. Thankfully the route was pretty straight forward and I didn't have to deal with 8 lanes of Crazy French drivers.

Once we got settle I took the bikes off the rack and we went for a ride in the Bois De Boulogne park next to the camp-site  My idea was to do a reckie mission onto the other side of the park near the centre of Paris. We headed off in a random direction, being under the trees meant that we couldn't see the city, by luck rather than management we found or way across the park, crossing several busy roads on our adventure, also skirting around the lac Inférieur.  We stopped at an artificial waterfall for a break, had a coffee and then to my amusement rode past a photographer in the middle of a pornography shoot!! we zoomed past on our bikes and the kids didn't notice the young girl spread eagled on a tree stump!

Back at the camp-site we had takeaway pizza before heading for bed. Early up and into Paris using the bus from the camp-site  it dropped us off at Porte Maillot, from here we headed to the Arc De Triomphe  We used the underpass to get into the middle it would be impossible to walk across the road! The queue for ticket was pretty short so we soon were heading up the spiral staircase, through the innards of the monument and out onto the top. The views were pretty impressive and we spent quite a long time walking around looking at the famous monuments that are known the world over.

We headed back down and walked along the Champs Elysees the kids looked for all the posh car showrooms that were everywhere, Andrea spent time looking in the perfume shops. I was happy to admire the views. After lunch at McDonalds we continued onto the Louvre, it was pretty hot, the kids got ice cream and we headed for the shade.

From here we headed down onto the Seine crossing on the Pont des Arts bridge, covered in padlocks, Andrea and the kids got scammed by a bloke making friendship bands, they were very expensive!

Next we headed to Notre Dame, to be honest the cathedral at Amiens was more impressive. The kids were sick of walking so we got me Metro back to Porte Maillot. This was the highlight of the day for Jack and Finlay, typical kids. We soon found the bus stop and headed back to the camp-site.

After tea me and Finlay went for a bike ride and found a cool waterfall opposite the Longchamp racecourse in the park. This was Finlay favourite place is Paris.He loved running around, under, behind and over the waterfall. For something so simple it kept Finlay entertained for ages.

Our second day in Paris started by our pre booked visit to the Eiffel Tower both kids were Unsure about how high it was, they thought it was unsafe! The pre booked tickets worked well and queuing for the first lift took only a few minutes. When we got out of the lift on the second floor it was petty busy.We took some photos and admired the . already impressive view, it was a really nice day, perfect for taking photos.

Queuing for the lift to the top was a bit of a bun fight, it was very busy. The ride to the top was pretty amazing and you really got the feeling of how high the tower is. The lift stops on an interior room, steps then take you to the outside observation walkways. It was well worth the effort, even the kids got into everything and their initial fear disappeared  On the way down we used the steps between the 2nd and - 1st floors, Jack really didn't like this, he felt very unsafe.

Back at ground level we had some lunch at a nearby cafe then headed to the Seine for a river trip on one of the many tourist boat trips. We sat back and enjoyed listening to the on board commentary. The bot went a all the way to Notre Dame and bouts again, lots more photos.

We headed for the tube station and ended up waiting for ages, cancelled trains! However me were soon back at the camp-site.

I started preparing for our journey over to the west coast, nearly 300 miles. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

Summer Holiday - Amiens

The camp-site Camping Parc Des Cygnes was next to a park, on the bank of the river Somme, it was about 2 and a half miles from Amiens, via a path on the side of the river, ideal for the kids, no traffic.

Jack in Action!

Once we got settled we headed to the park, there was a kids play area with some fountains, Finlay thought this was ace and spent over an hour running through the water, cooling off. Looking around we noticed there was a skate park. lt looked like a huge swimming pool that had been drained, not the sort of place for little kids to learn how to skate.

We had some tea in the van and the kids got their state boards, we headed back to the park! Both Jack and Finlay did pretty well and flowed around the park taking care not to have accidents. Jack got braver and wanted to "drop in", I said I'd catch him, before long he'd cracked it, the smallest ramp was over 6 feet, Jack wasn't phased even after the odd near miss.

Finlay in Amiens

Andrea had been doing a reckie mission and had found the path into Amiens so we rode the bikes into town. We headed to the Cathedral,  the amount of detail, fine carving, and sheer size was pretty impressive. Everywhere was closed so we decided to return in the morning to have a good look around.

The weather was still okay so we headed into town as planned. We soon found a toy shop and the kids got some "cheap tat". We walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere Amiens is a nice place and we relaxed, looking at the shops. We went inside the Cathedral which was pretty stunning, lots to look at!

We got everything needed for a barbecue, heading back. The weather looked to be deteriorating, dark clouds were gathering.

I set the barbecue up and started cooking, the heavens opened, there was thunder and lightening, the wind picked up, thankfully the horning on the van kept me dry. The storm passed but the weather didn't look settled. We stayed in the van, tidying up ready for our next move to Paris. Overnight there was more rain and I was concerned that we'd struggle to get off the pitch, I was relieved when we reversed off the pitch safely. We were only a couple of hours drive south to our next site in Paris.

Summer Holiday - To Amiens

The trip didn't start well, we got onto the A1 and started heading south. After about 70 miles I ran over a lump of metal in the road, straight away I thought it might have caused some damage, but kept going being careful. I soon passed a car on the hard shoulder with a knackered exhaust, it looked like a bracket had fallen off and I'd gone over it. Sure enough within another mile there was a bang and the rear drives side tyre let go, the van swerved and felt petty unstable. I ran to a halt luckily in an sos area.

I got the spare tyre off the van but couldn't jack the van up, the one supplied with the van was a joke. Time to phone the breakdown company and ask for assistance, a guy arrived in a van with 20 minutes of our phone call, he swapped the tyre is no time. I asked him if he knew where we could get a replacement, but he wasn't interested, just said we'd have trouble finding a replacement at short notice. Looked like we'd have to risk the rest of the trip with no spare! The knackered tyre had a lump out of the tyre wall so there was no way we could get it fixed.

We continued on our way, taking it carefully just in case the front tyre was damaged we started to make good time. Although we'd been delayed we made it to Dover by 7pm. Parking on Marine Drive, we headed into town for a takeaway. The weather took a turn for the worse and it started bouncing down. Thunder and lightening, we got soaked!

It had been a pretty bad day, fingers crossed for the rest of the holiday.

Edgar Moore, Died 16th March 1918

Up early and away on the ferry, we were soon in France. First of all we headed into Belgium, to Ypres and the Aeroplane Cemetery by Zonnebeke.  lt made sense to pay our respect to Edgar Moore, one of my Mums relatives, it's something I've wanted to do for a while. We soon found the grave yard, kept immaculately we looked around, Jack pinpointed his grave, we paid or respect, took some photos and read about the battles that had taken place in the area. Finally we left our name in the journal at the graveyard gate.

We headed back into France and after a few hours found the camp-site at Amiens, on the Somme River.

White Rose Youth League Cycling Round 6 - Richard Dunn Sports Centre

Interesting tonight the track was reversed. First up was Finlay On his one lap time trail, which he did in 1 minute 57.2. This was good enough for 2nd Place.

In Jacks race he made a good start and got behind a girl, after a couple of laps he made a break and caught up with another group  of riders. they stayed together, but kept trying to break away from each other. When it came to the sprint at the end he was well beaten but he'd tried hard and had an interesting race.

Finlay didn't want to race, a couple of kids who he normally races with were not taking part, and were playing on the BMX track. After a pep talk Finlay got his head around racing. He got off to a good start and tucked in behind one of the older kids, he was dragged around for the whole race, unbelievably on the sprint for the line Finlay made a break and beat the other lad! All this effort was rewarded with a win in his age group. A good night.

The races are always unpredictable sometimes the kids do well other nights it's a nightmare. Thankfully tonight had gone well.

Cadwell Park Track Day

We've been experiencing a heat wave for quite a while now so we set off to Cadwell knowing we were in for a hot, dry day. Over the last couple of years the weather hasn't inspired much confidence.

After signing on and sitting through the riders meeting I got ready for the first session. On the sighting lap a bike near the front was smoking badly, my visor was covered in an oily mist, so the track was getting its fair share of oil. The session was red flagged, after a short break we managed to get back out on track, only for me to find out that my bike was running on two cylinders.

l headed back to the paddock to try and sort it out. Initially it looked like the electronics had fried, part of the wiring loom had melted and the loom was a bit of a mess. We chopped out the problem wires and I went out in the second session only to find that we hadn't cured the problem, one slow lap and back to the paddock. We were a bit flummoxed, I asked around for advice, we swapped the coils and the problem didn't change still the back two cylinders. I started to trace all the electric connectors and found a couple that were partly undone. I reseated the connectors and the engine sounded better. By this time I'd missed the 3rd session so I was glad that out on track the bike was back to normal.

So l took it easy making sure the bike was all okay, looking forward to the 3 afternoon sessions.

In the break we helped a young guy with a CBR600 who was having mechanical trouble, he'd petty much gave up on getting his bike working, several people were giving him advice, but no one was rolling their sleeves up an helping. It was good to get stuck in and we soon found a fuelling problem. It was nice to get him running again.

In the afternoon I pushed hard and had 3 really good session. I think I know Cadwell pretty well now and I'm happy to "have a go" overtaking wherever a gap appears. In One session I nearly got shoved onto the grass going into Charlies 2, but it didn't bother me and l just kept on going.

I really enjoyed the afternoon, I must of been trying hard as I ached all week!

On the Way home I got pulled by the police, they had seen me in the outside lane with a trailer on! I was given the option of a''Driver awareness course" better than 3 points on my license.

Jack at Manchester Velodrome

There are some really good benefit from being a member of a bike club. Jack is eligible to attend sessions at Manchester Velodrome, became he's a member of East Bradford Cycle Club he has the opportunity to attend regional training sessions. I booked him onto this session via the British Cycling website, so we set off to Manchester not knowing what to expect.

On arriving we headed for the main reception we were asked to go into the velodrome down the staircase opposite the reception.

It was one of those cool moments when we entered the track. Emerging from under the track the first visible part of the track that we could see was the steep part of the bend, because we were several feet below the track it made everything much more dramatic.

The first thing Jack had to do was pick a bike, we used the height chart to tell us that Jack needed the smallest bike! (what a surprise). It only took a moment to adjust the seat and alter the straps on the peddles.,, Next we signed in at the desk in the centre of the track. There was a couple of Juts friends from bike club, this put Jack at ease straight away.

The coaches began by splitting the kids by ability, naturally Jack was in with people who hadn't done it before. The first thing the kids had to do was mange to get going. The bikes have a single cog and it is fixed so you can't stop peddling. There isn't any brakes either so it's one of those things that you have to get used to.

All the kids started cautiously, working in pairs. Initially they didn't even get onto the wooden boards, they simply ran around on the inside of the track, nice and flat. Jack soon started to use the very bottom of the track.

The first session was soon over, the coach spent time with the kids explaining what they needed to do next. the tuition was spot on, there were 4 kids to each coach. After the de-brief we wait e) far the other kids to finish there sessions. All together there was 3 groups so Jack had about half an hour before his next session.

As the afternoon went on Jack more and more confident he was soon pretty high up on the banking an enjoying the experience, by the end he. J got above the blue line, something that is a bit of a badge of honour, he was chuffed.

I went for a walk with Finlay, we went up into the stands and took photos. Finlay posed by the statue of Reg Harris and ran a full lap around the outside of the track.

After Jack finished we went to have a look at the inside BMX track, this is pretty impressive, the Facilities are amazing.

Jack had a really good positive experience, and of course wants to do it again in the near future.