Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying

[ricohchezwasp]

Hi Folks

Some of you may have heard this expression before or not .........."Get Busy Living or Get Busy Dying" comes from the film The Shawshank Redemption and seems rather
apt at these very troubled times. Unfortunately or fortunately my two elderly relatives passed away last year, i suspect due to their state of health they would not have survived
2020 although in neither case did i have the opportunity to say goodbye. On the plus side i have used their small inheritance to good use although with COVID-19 this is proving
 quite difficult. For me lockdown has been a small financial challenge but not really much more than an inconvenience!! For others I am sure this has been a really challenging time
 and i wish you all the best for the future.  A decluttered house a tidy garden, a new gym conversion (under instruction)plus hopefully a new Dog Home Boarding licence will all have
 been achieved by the end of May.........

So why am i telling you all this, well my new exercise bike arrived last Wednesday and after construction and some indoor road testing i thought to myself i was running out of
"honey can you do this " tasks so in a moment of complete and utter madness I set myself a challenge for the month of May I would cycle from my home in Maidenhead to my new
home in Southern Spain (i said i had put the inheritance to good use) so the task is 1814 kilometres in 31 Days... now i am 60 years of age and no Captain Tom neither am I Chris
Froome, so based upon my estimates thats 2 hours day in the saddle, to make it there....

As of this morning I have completed 276 km , so slightly ahead of schedule, it is proving an extremely tough challenge as i am not as fit as i would like to be and slightly worryingly despite
sweating buckets i have actually put on weight!! 

So back to Andy Fraine and more importantly the Matt Hampson Foundation, this "Get Busy Living" mantra was adopted by an incredible individual Matt Hampson, paralysed during an
England Rugby Training session who has dedicated the rest of his life to improving the welfare of other Paralysed individuals and it is to this organisation that I am donating any money
 that I can raise through this cycling madness in May.

I will be on various days wearing my whole collection of Wasps Shirts back from the Generation Telecom day of the early 2000's right up to Landrover, 2018 I don't possess a  Vodafone shirt
yet..... I will then look to auction this collection of shirts on E-bay another decluttering exercise that needs to happen........ or offers on here will be greatly accepted

I expect that nearly everyone is getting close to being  all "charitied" out and i am sure that the financial impact is also affecting many in lockdown but if you can spare a few pounds it's all in a great cause ..... my just giving website is https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Richard-Hollings , for more information visit the Matthampsonfoundation.org

So far I managed to raise £120 out of my target of 1814 so it's a very long way to go

Please stay safe everyone and hope to see you all on the other side of the lockdown COYW

Richard

[Peej]

Bravo, have bunged you a small amount to help you on your way

[Tervueren]

Well done, contribution added.

[Heathen]

Richard, are you cycling through France? Do you need a permit to do it?

[coddy]

He's on a stationary exercise bike John.

Can this be made a sticky until Richard meets his targets please?

[Vespula Vulgaris]

He's on a stationary exercise bike John.

Can this be made a sticky until Richard meets his targets please?

Least I can do!

[ricohchezwasp]

Guys thats brilliant, thanks for your support, yes i am in my front room, due to lockdown, if i knew how to add a picture i would!!

cheers guys, now over 200 raised

R

[13thWarrior]

Great idea, have donated, keep up it!

[ricohchezwasp]

Ross /13th warrior many thanks for your support, just about £300 now and 510 km completed as of this evening and still going strong, digging out some old photos of my first away trip to biarritz , first of more than 40 European trips
Stay safe having a small street get together tonight at safe distance

[ricohchezwasp]

Just a quick update, many thanks for all the contributions so far, it provides a big incentive going forward, so far i have covered 671 km, 620 on the bike and 51 km with my weekend dog walks, thanks to Boris !! it looks like my cycling time will now have to squeezed around my rounds of golf with Mrs H, hopefully starting on Wednesday social distancing and special rules will apply, no rakes no touching the flagstick only playing in two balls with family members so thats pretty easy to abide by, no practicing turn up no more than 15 minutes before  playing and no clubhouse or proshop booking on line only

Anyway back to the biking heading south to Bordeaux and Biarritz, scenes of great disappointment in the past, Stuart abbott breaking a leg Alex King using the wrong sort of adhesive on his gloves (something went wrong that day) great win in Bordeaux about 10-12 years ago, and more recently disappointment back in Bordeaux, great times great company if not always the right result..... anyway about 90 km ahead of my target to date in kms so still going strong.....

https://www.justgiving.com/richard-hollings

MattHampsonfoundation.org

[ricohchezwasp]

Just further thanks to Harry Wasp, all gratefully received, each day getting just a little bit harder but smashed 750 barrier today so ahead of schedule...

Richard

[ricohchezwasp]

This morning I crossed the French Border into Spain, heading for Pamplona via the Pyrenees, this could be a bit more of an uphill struggle!!

Least I managed a round go golf yesterday as well as my 60km

Stay Well Stay Alert

[ricohchezwasp]

Still going strong at 1200 km heading for  Madrid, recent donations have pushed me past the £400 so a knighthood should just be round the next corner 😄😄 stay well stay alert

[ricohchezwasp]

Due to some very generous customers I have now raised over £500 for the MatthampsonFoundation.org, just about 400 km of cycling to do by next Sunday to reach my target passing thru Madrid and on the way to Granada.😄😄

[ricohchezwasp]

Final push this weekend, initially I was going to include rounds if golf and weekend dog walks to the cycling but set myself the challenge of all 1814km by bike alone. I am now 138km short of this    Target with 2 full days left, feeling quite tired but with £560 raised and a few more promises I should get about £650 for MattHampsonfoundation.org ..... be glad for that glass of champagne on Sunday 😄😄