Just Giving

The adventure begins…

| gloriakidsfirst

Well, what a start. Dave has been delayed as he is unwell at the moment and unable to fly for the next few days. Its been an interesting first day, Iceland Air had no records of me on the flight as I had to change it but rather strangely, my bike was booked on! After a protracted “discussion” with the Iceland Air staff I finally made it onto the flight.

It gets better.

Angelique, our cyclist from San Fransisco did not encounter any such problems arriving safely with her bike, only to discover that her bags have been lost with all her gear. We can’t go anywhere without Angelique’s bag so we have to stay put for tonight and plan to head back to the airport – some 40km away – tomorrow morning.

All is not lost though. An incredibly kind lady called Bára, has offered to let us stay in her apartment tonight for free and is going to help us sort things out tomorrow. You can find out more about Bára´s lovely apartment her: www.270mos.is Angelique and I have been studying the map and we are dying to get out on the road so fingers crossed the bag will arrive.

Here’s to the kindness of strangers and high adventure!

Please support Kids First Trust by sponsoring Julien on his Just Giving Page

Cycling for the Kids First Trust

| Zapfly

Each year I like to raise money for a worthy charity when I undertake my annual cycling challenge.  This year I have chosen Kids First Trust after speaking with an old Raleigh International friend of mine, Gloria, who also happens to be the CEO.  The Kids First Trust is a children’s charity that makes kids the centre of all their actions, such as developing core skills and competencies as well as providing vital funding support for a variety of needs.

If you would like to find out more about Kids First Trust, you can visit their website: www.kidsfirsttrust.org

I believe that the money we raise from this year’s cycle ride will go towards one of the Kids First Trust´s Playground partnerships.  More on this soon.  In the meantime, you can donate to this extremely worthwhile cause via my fundraising page on Just Giving.

If you want to find out any more information about the Kids First Trust, here are their contact details:

Tel: 020 7837 0044
Email: info@kidsfirsttrust.org

Join their Facebook Group

One week and counting…

| Zapfly

Time is ticking away as the ensuing departure date is now less than a week away.  Even though I have been preparing for this trip for ages, I am stick racked with anticipation.  Concerns of the overall requirements of the ride interlaced with daily issues such as shopping, whilst not having my kit stolen or finding somewhere to camp.  All in all, there are many issues to contend with.

In the grander scheme of things, I hope that this ride is a success.  By this, not only do I mean achieving the loft target of cycling 2800 miles to a vary sparsely populated are of the world but I also mean raise finds for the charity I have dedicated this ride to, Child’s I Foundation.  So far, I have raised just under £350 on my Just Giving page, which is a good start.  I hope that as I continue, people read about the various adventures I am likely to have en route as my blog will be maintained by Tom from Child’s I, in my absence.  I would love to hit my target amount of £2,500, so please keep reading this blog and make a donation if possible.  All of the money is destined to help kids in Uganda.  I am paying for all of my own expenses on this trip!

I have been testing all of my kit prior to my departure and so far, so good.  I have to make sure I can maintain my MSR stove as I know occasionally they can gunk up.  The biggest challenge will be to decide how much stuff to take along with me.  In the first couple of weeks, the temperature will hopefully remain in the warm twenties.  However, the further I travel up the spin of Sweden, the cool the weather will become.  Indeed, the figures I have seen for night time temperatures for Nordkapp and the north coast of Norway, even in mid summer, are around 4 degrees Celsius.  The weather is also likely to me inclement but that should only add to the drama of the journey.

It would be great to hear from any one if they have experience of travelling in this part of the world as so little has been written about it.  That said, hopefully my blog will be a useful place for other people considering this journey as a portal of information in due course.