Olga, Taff Trail and listening to your Uncle.

So, after cleaning the bathroom, I plucked up the courage to call Swansea Museum again and spoke to a brilliant lady called Garethe. 

She was VERY enthusiastic about my trip and wants to be involved! OMG! I couldn’t quite believe it. SO excited! Was buzzing around then and found it difficult to focus on anything else!

Turns out she’s also done some cool adventures herself – The Three Musketeers Ride, to name one – so she knew where I was coming from! WOW. Rang my sister straight away as I was so excited!

Tried to calm myself down by remembering what I’d learnt on my Mindfulness course (which is a brilliant course btw) and after a few deep breaths was calmer. Of course there are the logistics to sort now so there is still a risk it might not come off. BUT the fact she liked my idea and didn’t think I was completely crazy was FAB!  *phew*

So have emailed her details and…...watch this space!

Design

Have also had a draft design from Jeremy for the logo design! (He has very kindly agreed to do this for free – so expect lots of mentions about him here as he’s an ace graphic designer!) You can look at his work here:  www.jeremycole.co.uk

A Coat of Arms – nice. Need to get the welsh link in there somewhere too. So we’re working on this.

Stephen at The Stroke Association

Thought now was also a good time to let Stephen, who is the regional fundraising manager for Stroke, know about my plans. I’d wanted to get some more details sorted before letting him know (as you can see from this blog, I really get into something, then drop it, then pick it up again. So wanted to be 100% committed before letting him know) Also means I’m going to do it now. Whatever happens. This will happen!

The Taff Trail

Have also been researching the Taff Trail today. 55 miles of amazing scenery by the looks of the photos I’ve found. This trip if def. going to be a treat!  Hard work too though - don’t want you thinking it’s going to be a holiday!

I’ve signed up to their forum and posted a few questions as I’ve not cycled this route before. Only actually heard about it last year.

Checking out what the trail is actually like – surfaces wise etc. and if the bike I’ve got will be right for the job. I’ve got a lovely Trek Hybrid, but reckon I’ll need to get some chunky-er tyers as some parts are a bit ‘off-road’ but other than that is mainly tarmac. Need to watch out around Merthyr Tydfil.  Apparently the signs tend to be pointing in the wrong direction…! so lots of helpful tips on the site.

I have also found some time trails which is really helpful and gives me an idea of how long it’s going to take. The fastest was 4hrs 8mins. Slowest - 8hrs 5mins. So that gives me guidelines. 

I'll aim for somewhere in the middle (hopefully via a pub stop or two…;-)

Helpful advice from my Uncle Terry

Had a great chat with my Uncle Terry this evening (who is in his late 70s now – but you wouldn’t know it!) and he gave me some great advice. He said ‘do the 50mins walking and 10mins resting and you can’t go wrong!’ Sound advice. Obviously, he was referring to the walking part of my adventure!!

By using this technique, he told me, they managed to get my cousin Carolyn (who sadly is no longer with us) to walk between 8/9 miles and she had more challenges with walking than I face.

Also discovered than when he was twelve his job was as a ‘knocker’. This involved collecting the coal money as his Dad owned a coal merchants. Terry would have to go around on his bike and knock door to door collecting payment. Not related to St.Morwenna, but I found it interesting. 

We also talked about their business (My aunt and uncle used to own a caravan park in St.Ives) and how they survived the recession in the 80s. All fascinating stuff! He’s always great to talk to, as is my Aunty Ann ;-)

Actually thinking about first job’s mine was in Swansea market on a cockle stall, and don’t think I was that much older! I *eventually* became a dab hand at wrapping the lava bread (edible seaweed) and err eating crabsticks…! Oh and I like cockles with vinegar and black pepper. 

Tasty.

So slight detour there...but Terry is very taken with my idea and has promised to do some research into St.Morwenna for me to see what he can find! Excellent!

Until tomorrow!