Dad’s book

I am delighted to tell you that I have successfully published Dad (Don. H. Wright)’s memoirs LAUGHING MY WAY THROUGH LIFE as an e-book on Amazon If for any reason the link doesn’t work, you can search for it by author or title. (Depending where you live you can change the co.uk to .com, .de or whatever is suitale).

If you want to download it, it only costs £ 1,90 or € 2,68 or $ 3,55 – 70% of which will go to Macmillan Caring Locally.

If you don’t have a Kindle you can get a Kindle-App for your I-Pad or I-Phone. I am hoping to publish it as a paperback later this year.

I hope you will love reading it as much as I did. If you find any errors, please let me know, as I can edit it even after publishing.

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Talk in Innsbruck

I have been asked to give a talk  “Daily pushed to my limits – just ME and MY BIKE for the Austro-British Society.

This will take place at 18:45 on Tuesday 5th April  at the Neue Akropolis, Müllerstr. 27a in Innsbruck.

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What will I do different next time? Was werde ich nächstes Mal anders machen?

Deutsch weiter unten.

People not only ask me whether I would do it again, but also what I would do differently.

I would try to plan it differently, to find out more about the areas I’m passing through and the lie of the land. I would also use a different bike. I had considered that before, but was persuaded to stick to my own. Although I did quite a bit of “off-road” I think the mountain-bike made the going slow on roads and a touring bike would be better. Obviously I would have to get used to it first, though. I definitely wouldn’t use a racing bike, as I have never ridden one with its slim, slick tires and I also like to get away from the traffic whenever I can.  I would try to phone ahead for accomodation to avoid the long searches I had this time.

In addition to that I would obviously go to a different destination and it would be for a different charity next time. Although I am still extremely grateful to Macmillan and know that I can’t repay them enough, I think that I have reached the maximum I can. I feel the need to do something for a similar charity here in Austria and think that I would be able to raise more from the locals. I’ve already had a couple of ideas, but I’m not going to let the cat out of the bag just yet.

As I said, I also need to remain fit and healthy, so if I do it I think it will have to be within the next couple of years. Because in the meantime, I really hope there WILL be a next time…..

Viele Leute fragen mich nicht nur, ob ich es noch einmal tun würde, sondern auch, was ich das nächste Mal anders machen würde:

Ich würde erst einmal noch detaillierte planen, um mehr über die Landschaft herauszufinden. Ich würde auch ein anderes Rad nehmen, was ich dieses Mal auch in Erwägung gezogen habe. Ich bin aber geraten worden, bei meinem eigenen zu bleiben. Obwohl ich sehr viel “off-road” gefahren bin, habe ich das Mountain-Bike auf den Straßen etwas langsam gefunden, und glaube das ein Trekking Rad besser geiegnet wäre.  Keinesfalls würde ich ein Rennrad nehmen, weil ich nie mit so schmalen glatten Reifen gefahren bin und außerdem jede Gelegenheit nützen möchte, vom Verkehr wegzukommen.

Ich würde auch versuchen, öfter vorauszutelefonieren um ein Zimmer zu reservieren, damit sich die endlose Sucherei von diesem Mal nicht wiederholt.

Natürlich würde ich auch nicht die gleiche Strecke für die gleiche Charity machen. Obwohl ich Macmillan ewig dankbar sein werde und das Gefühl habe, für diese Organisation nicht genug tun zu können, glaube ich, dass ich hier alle Quellen ausgeschöpft habe und dass ich für einen Tiroler Wohltätigkeitsverein mehr Spenden von den Einheimischen zu erwarten hätte. Ich habe bereits einige Ideen, aber die verrate ich heute noch nicht!

Wie bereits im letzten Post gesagt, kann ich es natürlch nur machen, wenn ich gesund und fit genug bleibe, wehab ich es nicht auf die lange Bank schieben darf. Weil inzwischen bin ich mir sicher, dass ich es noch einmal machen will………

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Noch einmal?

Ich bin mehrmals gefragt worden, ob ich es noch einmal machen würde. Diese Frage ist sehr schwer zu beantworten. Natürlich werde ich nicht noch einmal das Gleiche machen, aber wenn ich gesund bleibe, und sollte sich die Gelegenheit präsentieren, wieder etwas Ähnliches für einen guten Zweck zu tun, warum nicht? Diese Fahrt war für mich ein tolles Erfahrung und richtiges Erfolgserlebnis. Ich war stark motiviert besonders durch eure viele Kommentare. Sollte dies wieder der Fall sein…………..

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Bitten by the Bug

I am now home in Nassereith again and still can’t quite believe it’s all over. So many people have asked if (some even WHEN) I would do it again. I must admit I have been bitten by the bug and if I stay well enough and the opportunity presents itself, who knows?

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Donations/Spenden

Many thanks for all your donations – we have now reached £ 2427 excluding gift aid. However if you still want to donate, it is not too late – click on the link on the top right. The page will stay open for some time yet.

Vielen Dank fuer eure Spenden – bisher ca. €3000. Falls ihr noch spenden wollt, ist dies selbstverstaendlich noch moeglich (oben rechts klicken). Die Seite bleibt noch eine Weile offen.

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Tour Summary

Deutsch (Kilometer/Hoehenmeter) weiter unten

Date

Destination

Distance

miles

elevation

feet

hr

min

sek

Aug 12

Blaichach

52.23

2,408

6

2

10

Aug 13

Immenstaad am Bodensee

75.03

2,175

8

0

48

Aug 14

Villingen

65.21

2,461

6

52

8

Aug 15

Freiamt

36.80

2,362

4

24

5

Aug 16

Freiamt

0.00

0

0

0

0

Aug 17

Barr

60.06

948

6

13

38

Aug 18

Raon L’Etape

63.21

2,510

7

12

38

Aug 19

Colombey-les-Belles (Allain)

61.93

2,694

6

36

17

Aug 20

Bar-le-Duc

53.51

1,417

5

11

57

Aug 21

Dizy (Épernay)

79.17

1,952

8

49

29

Aug 22

Villers Cotterêts

53.72

2,733

6

22

8

Aug 23

Saint-Omer-en-Chaussée

76.11

1,378

8

20

27

Aug 24

Longueville sur Scie

64.77

2,215

7

34

54

Aug 25

Telscombe

18.66

702

2

8

14

Aug 26

Emsworth

59.35

669

7

55

23

Aug 27

Bournemouth

65.44

1,138

7

40

53

  Total

885.19

27,762

99

25

9

Metric:

Date

Destination

Km.

hm.

hr

min

sek

Distance

miles

Aug 12

Blaichach

84.06

734

6

2

10

52.23

Aug 13

Immenstaad am Bodensee

120.75

663

8

0

48

75.03

Aug 14

Villingen

104.94

750

6

52

8

65.21

Aug 15

Freiamt

59.23

720

4

24

5

36.80

Aug 16

Freiamt

0

0

0

0

0

0.00

Aug 17

Barr

96.65

289

6

13

38

60.06

Aug 18

Raon L’Etape

101.72

765

7

12

38

63.21

Aug 19

Colombey-les-Belles (Allain)

99.66

821

6

36

17

61.93

Aug 20

Bar-le-Duc

86.12

432

5

11

57

53.51

Aug 21

Dizy (Épernay)

127.42

595

8

49

29

79.17

Aug 22

Villers Cotterêts

86.45

833

6

22

8

53.72

Aug 23

Saint-Omer-en-Chaussée

122.48

420

8

20

27

76.11

Aug 24

Longueville sur Scie

104.24

675

7

34

54

64.77

Aug 25

Telscombe

30.03

214

2

8

14

18.66

Aug 26

Emsworth

95.51

204

7

55

23

59.35

Aug 27

Bournemouth

105.32

347

7

40

53

65.44

  Summe

1424.58

8,462

99

25

9

885.19

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Aches & Pains

Fortunately I only fell off my bike twice, both times off the road up onto the pavement and neither time did I injure myself. A couple of times my bike fell over, while I was standing astride it, trying to put on or take off a jacket, which was painful, but didn’t cause any serious damage neither to Bonny-TREK nor to me.

I did injure myself on leaving the bathroom in the hotel in Villers-Cotteret. There was a small step, which was not marked. The first 2 times it wasn’t too bad, but after the 3rd, where I banged my arm & leg quite badly I hung my bright yellow safety vest up near to the bathroom door.

In addition to that I had ant-bites (after sitting in their nest), sunburn due to too little sun cream and the odd headache due to too little water.

The saddle soreness was virtually non-existant thanks to my deer-suet (Hirschtalg) cream and I hardly felt my leg muscles at all. Sometimes my neck and back were a bit stiff, but on those days I seemed to be lucky and get a room with a bath!

So all in all I am very satisfied with my physical condition during the trip.

Today, 2 days later, I cricked my neck and the skin around my lips is sore!

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Facts & Figures – Zahlen

Here the totals:

Calculated route distance:  750,00 miles

Actual distance:                    883,72 miles

Elevation:                               27762,47 feet

Total bike time:                     99 hours 25 minutes 9 seconds

Average per day overall:     55,23 miles, 1735,15 feet, 6 hrs. 13 min.

Average 14 cycling days:     61,79 miles, 1740,30 feet, 6 hrs. 56 min.

Days with heavy rain:           6

Days around 90 degrees F:  3

Days with strong winds:      4

Hier die Summen:

Errechnete Entfernung:      1150,00 Km.

Tatssaechliche Entfernung: 1422,21 Km.

Steigung:                                 8462 hm.

Gesamt Radzeit:                   99 Std. 25 Min. 9 Sek.

Durchschitt Gesamttage:    88,89 Km. 528,88 hm. 6:13 Radzeit

Durchschitt 14 Radtage:      94,76 Km. 589,14 hm. 6:56 Radzeit

Tage mit starkem Regen:    6

Tage um 30 Grad C:             3

Tage mit starkem Wind:      4

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Bonny-TREK

It’s a bit late in the day, I know, but I decided to give my bike a name, as she has been so good – I have decided she is female. She really gave me no trouble during the trip – the gears just weren’t adjusted properly from the start – I must learn to do this myself before next time (if there even is a next time). She started squeaking every time I did over 100 Kms. and on the last day she squeaked most of the time. She had just had enough. There was also some clicking and clattering, especially when she was tired, but she did a wonderful job in getting me here safely. I did give her a wipe down with a damp cloth a couple of times, cleaned and oiled the gear-change now and again and checked the tires once, but apart from that I sadly neglected her care. Of course, there was the problem of getting the raincover caught in the brake, but that was my fault, not hers!

 Thank you, Bonnie-TREK.

As a reward I cycled on my first cycle free day to the carwash.

On the way back she was as smooth as ever.

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