HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

No, not to myself. Although, I did have a fantastic birthday yesterday, No today, as google kindly told me on my way here this morning, is the 240th birthday of Richard Trevithick who built the first steam train. It seemed quite appropraite to reference the fact here - Happy Birthday Richard, so it's your fault we're all here.....

Sunday - on the hottest day of the year so far - we decided to test the route, and, well
.........I'm still here, but let's just say some significant changes were needed after I pretty much ended up wheeling my bike up and down several of the roads! But hey, that's what the practice was for. It does mean that finally route is finalised and I'm feeling pretty happy about it. The first half is especially fun; following the Severn Way path and the Severn Valley Railway all the way along the river to Bewdley and has absolutely gorgeous views.  All you cyclists, I'm going to find a way of mapping it and posting a link up here but I'll be emailing/posting it out to you with some other info too.
Also met Lesley and Matthew on Sunday and it was lovely to see them. The 4566 turned up, which was also lovely! We met Ian Latimer, Arley station manager, who was nothing but helpful and I look forward to getting the party all prepped soon.

Speaking of parties, I've been busy begging for prize donations for the Arley party by sending out lots of request letters (when did stamps get so expensive?!), so if you have any ideas of people I may not have thought of to bother then let me know. One very quick response from Go Ape! in Bewdley who have donated a free adult ticket to the park so a big thank you goes out to them. If you've never heard of Go Ape!, there's a link on the left hand side under Corporate Sponsorships, check it out because it's great fun!

Also, I've now got Nathan's full attention and designing skills so posters, sponsorship forms etc should be ready soon. This means we can all (yes, ALL implies anyone reading this too!) get on the promotion trail, poor Worcestershire's not going to know what's hit it....

Oh yes! And how can I forget, those eagle eyed ones amongst you all may have noticed there are 3 new names on the cylists' list on the right hand side, the ever so lovely Ian and Sue Carvell and  fantastic Mr David (Deej) Jaquin. These aren't just any cyclists, Ian and Deej are seasoned cylists and will no doubt make the train look like it's going as slowly as Gordon Brown leaving office (no pressure guys).


That's all for now folks, keep smiling :)


x

Full steam ahead

Okay, so I promise to stop with the puns in the blog titles, but indulge me a little, I'm excited!

I'm excited because just a couple of days in I've had so many kind offers of support already. Firstly, the event is now registered with Worcestershire Macmillan and I've requested merchandise for the event - got a little more excited by the bunting than I should've done but again, indulge me! Thank you to Kelly, Fundraising Manager at Worcestershire Macmillan who has been so prompt and helpful in her emails and answered some nagging questions for me.

Just as important though is the support I've had from family and friends. The date is firmly fixed in the Wilkins' calendar, that is however after I convinced them that the date wasn't for an engagement party - wishful thinking on their parts I believe! Helen and Darren Peters (Martin's sister and brother in law) were named riders numbers 2 & 3 after Nathan Carvell who is dutifully (being my loving partner) taking on the role of cycle team captain. Graphic designer by trade and bike enthusiast by weekend, I'll be utilising both those skills at some point! Cyclist number 4 comes in the shape of Paul Bryant who has rescued his bike from the depths of somewhere to get himself fit enough to cycle the 16 miles needed. Keep your eyes peeled to the right of the blog for the list of cyclists. Those who are cycling, I've popped a couple of useful links underneath for your reading pleasure.

The event team has been bolstered by the support of wonderful friends Lucy Chatterley (who insists on having the title Executive Event Assistant), Jessica Ivory and Lucy-Jayne Davies (Vigilant Veggie) - who I predict will  be on bake sale duty!

BIG BIG thanks already go out to Ben Froggat of Venture Bikes in Stirchley Birmingham who has kindly agreed to be 'Ben our Bike Man' and check over all the cyclists bikes before they set off so they don't get themselves into any trouble. If you're in need of any bike parts or accessories prior to the event I can recommend him, there's a link of the left hand side to his shop.

Also in the calendar is to meet Lesley, Martin's wife (I feel at 24, calling people Aunt and Uncle is a little weird - anyone agree?), at Arley station on Sunday. We plan hopefully to meet Ian the Arley station manager who has also kindly given his full support to the event. Afterwards, myself and Nathan, will be testing the route planned for the race. So if I don't update for a while it's because I'm recovering! As soon as we've got this sorted I'll update all you wonderful cyclists and post the route on here.

I've also hit the social media trail, obviously setting up the blog and the various links to the right but also a Facebook event page and Just Giving page. Both are out there to use if you wish but I'll officially make them 'live' shortly when we have more details. I'm very open to suggestions/improvements on this side of things so feel free to let me know!

Also to do, with Lesley's help,  is contact the several Fire Brigades that Martin worked for. I'm sure once this happens my cyclist list and the event as a whole along with the current support will snowball into the event I desperately hope it to be.

Thanks for reading guys - I'll continue to keep you updated and please get in touch with anything you want to suggest or say!

Kerrie xxx

On your marks, set.....race!

Well, today was an exciting day indeed! I got the green light from the lovely people at the Severn Valley Railway Marketing Office, particular thanks go out to David for his help. 

Which means, the race is on! So - if you own a bike, you're fairly competent on it and you can raise some good money, I will probably be calling on your help. Alternatively, if you feel your skills are elsewhere then I'll probably be asking you for some help too at some point!

So what's the deal then? On Sunday 21st August a group of fantastically brilliant people will cycle from Arley Severn Valley Railway Station to Kidderminster and then back to Arley. One catch; they'll have to do it before the steam train does - or at least that's the aim. When they make it back to Arley safe and sound we'll have a grand old party to celebrate. 

Why? Well, why not? But mostly it's to raise some money for the very worthy Macmillan Cancer Support. Their teams bring so much help and support to those who are affected by cancer, people like my Uncle, Martin Wilkins, who worked at Severn Valley for more years than most would care to remember! The day is also to remember him and all the beautiful work he did at Arley station. Above all else, we're going to have lots of fun doing it!


Kerrie xx