Cambodia Day 4, The Finish Line

The final day has come, 70K of cycling planned, on road, off road, through the jungle, deep puddles and sand!
Today was always going to be a special day because it would be the last time we, as a team, get to cycle together on the awesome trip, that has seen, so many ups and downs, but has always been brilliant, we had no idea what to expect and as always, it was a day to remember.
The usual strict 6am breakfast (shouldn't have stayed up late last night!!!!!!), the coach, took us to the edge of of the Jungle and we got to cycle through it, to get us to the famous Jungle Temple, as seen in Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones

After a quick water break and when I say water, i mean one or two fell in a massive puddle, trying to get through, that gave everyone some fantastic photos or video, we then got to the official water stop, parked our bikes and headed off, with our guides to the temple

And to say the temple is breathtaking, would be an understatement

Once we left the Jungle Temple, it was all about the cycling, much of which was on single track sand, something many people were not used to and we had quite a few falls and no one got hurt, they were more of tips than falls, we were heading for the finish line, something we only dreamed about when we got here on our first day, back in Ho Chi Minh City, before we became 'Team Extreme'

This was the first day, my camera battery seemed to drain really fast and the first day i forgot to bring a spare, so i decided the important thing now was the finish photos.
During the previous evening some of the team had come up with a brilliant way of raising extra money for Alzheimers by staging a 'filmed' race between a selected number of people from all levels of cycling and two places were left unfilled, so that you could bid money for a place, it was decided between a few of us that we would also 'pool' our bids to get Andy (group leaded) in the race, so when the announcement was made, one very generous bid of $100 was made, plus another $250 for Andy to race (he kindly added another $25), but this was to be no ordinary race (why would we ever think otherwise), this was to be a handicap 400 metre sprint, between some very, very good cyclist and a load of us, one of the cyclists was Mr Lucky, one of the crew and one of the best cyclists in Cambodia, but 400 meters in 1st gear, makes it a very funny race, it was like extreme spinning in 40 degrees! But Mr Lucky spun to victory.
After that it was, 14K to the finish, I set off with one of the leaders (Cambodia's number 2 cyclist) and 3 of the others and boy did we push it hard for the full 13K.
With only 1K to go we all got together whilst the leaders went on to put up the banner, girls in the front, boys at the back so we could all cycle in together for one last time and with the exception of one crash between a number of the girls, we all crossed the line as the team we had become.
And the tears flowed, the hugs started and we were the happiest bunch in Cambodia, we had just completed a epic journey, through two beautiful countries and between us, raised over £100,000 for Alzheimers

So that was that, some of us headed back to the hotel to chill, some went to another temple and we all met up later for a party and boy did we party!

But that wasn't the end of the night, we were up, it was late, sunrise would be in a couple of hours and where best to see it other than at the Angkor Wat Temples, so we hired tut tut's and headed off to sit with hundreds of people and just watch

Cambodia Day 3, Angkor Wat

Yesterday was a day which tested each and everyone of us, both mentally and physically, but it was also a day that made us stronger as a team and gave us the believe, that we could get through this, but the challenge would not be over until, the last person crossed that line in Siem Reap.
Breakfast was slighty later, as we would be jumping on the coach to take us up the road to a road side cafe where we ate last night, not a great place, which also went for the hotel we slept in last night, but we all decided, it was the kind of place we thought we would be in every night, basically we had been spoiled!
Today would be a chance to rest our legs, catch some rays and as always, see some amazing sights.
One we left breakfast we headed for the harbour to catch a boat that would take us over the largest expance of fresh water in south asia for 4hrs, we got there early enough to wander about, look at the local food market and meet some more of this countries wonderful kids and little did we know the wonders that would await us the other side (the 8th wonder to be precise) Angkor Wat!!!

The boat trip, was fast, hot, cramped, but you could walk about the outside of the boat and sunbathe up on top!

On our arrival we headed to the coach that took us to our bikes, we were only cycling 10K maximum today, but wow, what a 10K it would be, once we got to Angkor Wat we had to get photo passes, which would allow us access to Angkor and all its temples. We started out cycling through the beautiful tree lined roads, along with the cars, cycles and of course tuc tuc's which buzz about everywhere in asia, as always we kept stopping wherever and whenever we wanted for photos, but for the first time we were asked not to, as there would be plenty of chances to take photos and we were on a tight deadline to get in to the 2 temples, but when i saw my first elephant carrying people, i had to take my chances although i did ride straight past the monkeys

We finished the day off by watching the sun set from within the temple grounds, before being transfered to our hotel, which will be our home for 2 nights

We finished the day by going out to eat at what i can only describe as a tree house, then on to Pub Street for a well earned drink

Cambodia Day 3, Angkor Wat

Yesterday was a day which tested each and everyone of us, both mentally and physically, but it was also a day that made us stronger as a team and gave us the believe, that we could get through this, but the challenge would not be over until, the last person crossed that line in Siem Reap.
Breakfast was slighty later, as we would be jumping on the coach to take us up the road to a road side cafe where we ate last night, not a great place, which also went for the hotel we slept in last night, but we all decided, it was the kind of place we thought we would be in every night, basically we had been spoiled!
Today would be a chance to rest our legs, catch some rays and as always, see some amazing sights.
One we left breakfast we headed for the harbour to catch a boat that would take us over the largest expance of fresh water in south asia for 4hrs, we got there early enough to wander about, look at the local food market and meet some more of this countries wonderful kids and little did we know the wonders that would await us the other side (the 8th wonder to be precise) Angkor Wat!!!

The boat trip, was fast, hot, cramped, but you could walk about the outside of the boat and sunbathe up on top!

On our arrival we headed to the coach that took us to our bikes, we were only cycling 10K maximum today, but wow, what a 10K it would be, once we got to Angkor Wat we had to get photo passes, which would allow us access to Angkor and all its temples. We started out cycling through the beautiful tree lined roads, along with the cars, cycles and of course tuc tuc's which buzz about everywhere in asia, as always we kept stopping wherever and whenever we wanted for photos, but for the first time we were asked not to, as there would be plenty of chances to take photos and we were on a tight deadline to get in to the 2 temples, but when i saw my first elephant carrying people, i had to take my chances although i did ride straight past the monkeys

We finished the day off by watching the sun set from within the temple grounds, before being transfered to our hotel, which will be our home for 2 nights

We finished the day by going out to eat at what i can only describe as a tree house, then on to Pub Street for a well earned drink

Cambodia day 2, Cycling as a TEAM

Another very early start and another 1hr coach ride to get us out of the city and to a suitable place to be greeted by our new bikes and fill up our water (little did we know just how much we would need today!!!)

Today was all about the cycling, it was going to be, long, hot, dusty and mainly off road, it was always going to be a day to pull together as a team and simply get everyone over that finish line.

Water stops were more a welcolme sight today than any other day, we were burning so much energy in the extreme heat and the dust from the roads, were making us drink constantly, it wasn't unusual to drink 2ltrs of water every 20K and at least a litre at the water stop itself.

Between stops today, i decided to sit near the back of the group and take it all in, well that was until Andy (the group leader) came along side me and said "fancy a burn" so that was that, we got down low on the handle bars and went for it, flying down the dusty track until we were at the front of the group, we sat there for about 10 mins at a steady pace, then me, him and two others, Mark (king of the mountain) and Gary Foord went again with Nak, one of the support riders, I managed to keep up for 10/15 mins but my legs gave up, so Gary and I dropped off and caught up with them at the lunch stop.

Lunch today was a Cambodian pack lunch, it came in a small basket and contained, fish, meat, rice, potato which were all wrapped in banana leave, a little pot of sweet and sour veg, a sweet spring roll and fruit

After lunch it was back on the road for another 20K through beautiful Cambodian country side, the roads were dusty and full of huge potholes, but you simply don't notice (unless you look down and notice your leg is a terracota colour)

The next part of our journey would take us to what is called the bamboo train because it used to be made of bamboo, it no longer is, but boy its fun!! And as usual we were greeted by lots of lovely kids.

But the best part was the train took us to a small lake where we all dived in for a swim.

After this it was back on the bikes with about 40K to go and still very very hot, many people at this point were suffering with the heat and the distance and some of the cyclist sat back with the guys who were finding it tough to get them to the finish, I rode with Alison and we had some fantastic conversations about our families and how we ended up signing up for something like this and it turned out that this was the start of Alison's journey, in a similar way to its the end of a 18 month journey for me, from deciding to lose weight, back in July 2011until now, cycling across South Vietnam and up in to Cambodia and being part of a team of people, who are all willing to help each other achieve their own personal goals.

Alison and I were very happy to see the hotel and drink a beer to celebrate our 100K achievement

Vietnam Day 3, Tra Vinh, Cau Ke, Can Tho

Longest day of cycling so far 82K, hot but amazing.


http://connect.garmin.com/activity/239624669

As always its an early start, breakfast of water, omelete and rice at 6am, out by 7:30, with a team briefing /a>

Ready to go, Hydration pack full with 3ltrs of water with High5 Extreme tablets for energy

We set out from Tra Vinh this morning and headed out of town, through the paddy fields and headed towards the first water point, which was at a temple

The kids in Vietnam are fantastic, love having their photos taken, especially if you show them their picture and as you cycle past house's, they shout "hello"

From the temple, we contiued along the country roads and single track and ended up at the ferry, which took us over to the island

Farmers working the land

Getting to and from the islands is quite a experience, but we were lucky with this crossing as it was quiet

The Island itself was amazing, great riding, some of which was single track

And the ferry on the way back was busy!!

Athough today was simply amazing, the best bit by a county mile, was riding in to the busy city of Can Tho in rush hour, with cars and scooters coming from all directions, including going down the wrong side of the road and even the path!! to get to our next hotel, for another well earned shower, meal, beer and sleep

And on that note, its 23:17 here, i have to be up at 5:45 for breakfast, so good night Vietnam :)

Norwich to Seoul

I tried writing this blog update live from Seoul International airport, but when i went to post it, every button was in Korean, so this is a condensed version of what i wrote.

The car picked me up from home at 1:20pm on 31/10/2012, Paul and Frank were already in the car, so off to Heathrow we went, trip was hassle free.
We had all planned to meet in the Wetherspoons bar this side of check in with all our Facebook 'friends' and again this happened and it was great to finally meet everyone in person after 10 months of planning, training, preparing and most importantly, fund raising for Alzheimers Society.
We met with the rest of the group inc the team from Discover Adventure and Alzheimers at the time agreed and all checked in to the Korean Airline and went through in to depatures to grab a snack (and more cider) and i had a Fish Finger sandwich!!

The flight from Heathrow to Seoul is 10.5hrs, the plane was ok, plenty of leg room and on demand movies, TV, games etc etc, so i was entertained with TED (OMFG, how did they get away with that??) which was a very funny film, rude as hell! Madagascar 3 'Europe' (or something) again, worth the watch, The 'new' Amazing Spiderman (one word, WHY) no idea why they remade that, no point at all.

Paul asleep using a slipper as a eye mask (clever, but funny)


Food!!!! food was always going to be interesting on this trip and i'm always willing to try new stuff, but please, the food on this leg of the journey was very bad; evening meal was beef, ok but god only knows what was with it, but looking back at the time breakfast came, i soon realised that dinner was GOOD!! The choice was omlette or porridge and being a person that knows he's going to need slow release carbs, I went with Porridge! how wrong can a meal be? The first thing i did was open the little pot of, what i thought were apricots but the SMELL! I can't describe the smell, so the lid went back on, so i went for the porridge (at this point, you're thinking 'its porridge' 'man up' 'how bad can it be') i peeled back the lid to find what can only be described as rice in hot (dirty looking) water (yes RICE) and to make matters worse, you had to tip this dried green tea mix over it for flavour, i say flavour............. But i had to eat, i needed the strength, 3 mouth fulls is all i could muster, thank god for my mini muffin and small pot of mixed del monte fruit, oh and of course Coffee!!!

Seoul as you fligh in is beautiful
















We landed at Seoul without a hitch, went through the connections bit and straight to Starbucks (ok so their tax dodging bastards, but i need, need, need strong black coffee and overpriced dark 70% coco chocolate)

And yes, sorry i had my photo taken by Paul (with a shaky hand)

Vietnam 2 Cambodia; V2C2012 and my year of personal challenges, sponsored by Plumbase & Viessmann

What got me started in to a year of doing challenges for the Alzheimers Society, well as you can see I was a rather big fella in 2011 I tipped the scales at 18 stone and was a exercise free zone.................. Something had to change!!!

So in July 2011, I decided enough was enough and started a diet, 2 weeks later I joined Slimming World and signed up for a 60 mile cycling sportive in Suffolk and straight after that I signed up for my first ever 5K run.................... It all started there and I've never looked back, the weight started coming off (Over 4st so far) and the training continued, so I started planning what i could do in 2012!

2011 Suffolk 60 vs 2012 Suffolk 60

And it started on January 1st 2012 with my 1st 10K running event, I have also completed 2x 60 mile cycle challenges, 1x half marathon, 1x 100 mile cycle challenge and so far the pinnacle of my 2012 events; The London Duathlon (10K Run, 22K Cycle, 5K Run)

I still have 3 events to complete this year;

A 77 mile cycle challenge from Cambridge to Norwich

Another Half Marathon, and

The BIG ONE!!!

A 480K Cycle Challenge from Vietnam to Cambodia!!!
(See below for more information on this)

The 2012 London Duathlon in Richmond Park Completed!

The Training continues and as I write this, I am getting ready to get up early tomorrow morning to cycle 77 miles from Cambridge to Norwich, which I hope to complete in 4hrs 30mins

One thing I have learned is no matter what the weather, you have to train!

"If it aint raining, it aint training" and you need lime green compression supports :)

But what about the BIG ONE??? V2C2012 for Alzheimers

On October 31st 2012, I will be flying to Vietnam with Alzheimers Society to Cycle 480K from Vietnam to Cambodia and have been sponsored by Plumbase and Viessmann, who I will be talking about more during this blog and whilst I'm away, I have also received some fantastic donations and support from my Twitter followers @iangolden and staff and customers of Plumbase.

Well I'm back from the Cambridge to Norwich cycle challenge and boy o boy was THAT a challenge (whoever said it was going to be flat..................... LIED!)

Before I start, a very special thanks to my beautiful wife Lara who was kind enough to get up at stupid O'Clock and drive me and 2 lads to Cambridge x

78.5 miles with a moving time of 4hrs 23mins, 2 punctures and slipping gears added to the 'challenge' but as always, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it was great to ride with Frank Brumby who I met for the first time today and who I will be riding with in Vietnam, it was also great to ride with my pals from Iceni Velo cycle club who are great at keeping my pace up.

One thing I am really pleased about is how my fuelling went, as always I treat every event as a learning curve for how my body reacts on long rides or runs and on this occasion, i was using compression clothes and calf guards to help with cramp, I also used plenty of High5 Zero Extreme to keep my hydration and salt levels up........ It all worked! :)

I am now home, showered and relaxing with a pear cider, although I am still wearing my calf guards to help my recovery (a tip from #fitteam12)

Reward time :)