On the road

Ok, so how did this madcap idea start?  Well, right from when Heather founded African Vision Malawi a few years ago I've been seriously impressed with what they've been achieving out there and I wanted to be part of it but didn't know in what way.  Then when  David became a trustee I became increasingly aware that their vision is far bigger than their budget so the idea to raise funds seemed the way forward. But how?  It seems that plenty of people are doing fundraising events but I wanted to raise a significant amount for African Vision Malawi and realised that I would therefore have to have a significant undertaking.  It was about that time that David Walliams was swimming The Thames for charity, ok so it helps that he's famous and could attract loads of media attention unlike me but nevertheless lots of support from friends and family and from local churches could go a long way, couldn't it?  So I thought, well I hate taking my clothes off and getting wet and cold but I can cycle a bike... and that's where it all started :-)

And then what happened?  Well, it's taken months of planning that's for sure!  Heather, the founder of African Vision Malawi, and her husband, Nigel, live in the diocese of Kingston and the bishop is supportive of the work they are doing and agreed to write a letter of recommendation to his fellow clergy asking them to support me in finding hospitality on my way round the country.  This letter has been like a magic key which has swung many doors wide open and I've been simply overwhelmed by the generosity and positive response I've had.  So far I've only had to book myself into two B&Bs and there are only a few churches we've yet to hear back from towards the end of the trip but I've every confidence it will all work out.

So armed with the Bishop of Kingston's letter I was able to start planning my route.  Now there's a relatively easy train journey from Bookham to Looe in Cornwall (via Guildford, Reading and Liskeard) so I plumped for Looe as my start point and approached a parish church about an afternoon's cycle ride east of Looe.  This turned out to be in Yealmpton where I was warmly welcomed by Rev Murphy and his wife.  The rest of the ride was planned on the basis of:

• location of parishes
• contour lines - how many hills, how high and how steep
• distance from a to b
• availability of national cycle routes
• proximity to the coast

and not necessarily in that order!

So far I've cycled from Looe to Yealmpton to Paignton to Exmouth to Bridport and tomorrow I head on to Poole and then Hayling Island on Tuesday.

So that's the nuts and bolts of what I'm doing and if on my next rest day, which is Wednesday, my host has a computer I will write more about what it feels like to be on the road each day.

Until then, fare well and do post any comments, questions etc and I'll try to respond