Oh dear – has Marcus decided enough is enough or is there a comfy bed up th Ullerpool Rd?

True – Rich was wrecked when he got back last year. Apparently even the smackheads outside Glasgow station avoided him. It took me a couple of looks to realise the skeleton getting off the train was him. If Tom didn’t make him do it this year I doubt he would have put himself through it again.

It is quite awe inspiring – I can’t go without my 8 hours sleep. Let alone ride a bike while sleep deprived (some would argue that I can’t ride a bike at all). The distances they are covering day after day are huge even for a single day.

The service has gone downhill since they started doing for Morrisons

It’s one of the last food stops for a long time. Tiny shop, sporadic opening hours.

Haven’t they heard of Ocardo? That is the last time I am letting Rich take Tom out on a pootle around Scotland. It is bad enough that he left the underwear I carefully ironed for them behind. 😉

There appears to be a party going on in Crontin, or the cafe service is really slow.

I think the catch will be well before Crontin… The front runners are charging along. Is it just me or is this year faster?

The alternative is peeling him off the ceiling each day where he hovers in a Coke (Cola thankfully at his age) and haribo cocktail induced flying session.

The Pips are at Fort Agustus eating pizza so large they don’t fit on the table. Or it could be a cafe with small tables. Either way they are happy.

The boy was a bit tired last night – falling asleep while eating. Today is to be more of a bimble.

Tom had beans for breakfast? 😉

And the chase (race) is on…

They are still going. On the miles per year calculation it is 6.1.

They thought they might be caught on the first day after the mass start – good luck!

Team Pips has set off – Pips the Elder has strict instructions to keep the younger one alive as I have promised school that he will be there to start the new term.

Is anyone else having difficulty getting the Tracklogs map to display correctly? I can only get a very small strip showing…

He is a boy who loves riding his bike at every chance and fancied a bit of a challenge.

He had a couple of naps during the race and is currently fast asleep in a hotel.

The organisers did put very strict controls on his participation – one was that Richpips had to ride around behind him and if at any point Minipips said that he wasn’t up for any more they would call it a day /night.

Tom has had a good couple of years practice riding endurance and has been training all the elements of a 24 hour race in the lead up to Strathpuffer. It is not as if his only experience of bike riding was a 3 mile summer pootle along a canal towpath. Yes this does make him exceptional for his age, but it was not a reckless whim or parent driven.

However I am all ears.

No he rides a small ladies mtb with 26 inch wheels. He loves the technical sections – he practices on Jacobs Ladder and the skate park when Rich is too tired to go out. I have been told never to watch him do a descent… it is scary to watch even when you aren’t related.

He has been really stoked by all the support he recieved. I don’t think he would have kept going if people hadn’t been cheering him on.

It has always been a case of letting him have a whirl…. Rich has been fab in taking him out and making sure he doesn’t come to any harm, but not being over protective if he wants to give it a try.

He did the Coast to Coast when he was 7 and then decided that he could better hs time so got Rich to turn around so they could try to beat 48 hours. It has gone from there.

That is a picture of one very tired boy.

I am very very proud of him…… but he still has to tidy his room!

He had to get special dispensation to race from the organisers. And yes he is really only 9.

Just had a call from Rich – they are off for bacon butties, now that he has changed out of his wet clothes. After that dates with film crews. Apparently the course side support for him has been huge and although he said it is really hard he has a huge smile on his face.

He has finished 10 laps and is in 56th place. He won’t be going out for another because he wouldn’t make it around in the hour.

I suspect that he is taking in the glory and a hot chocolate.

They have to have started the lap before the 24 hours is up and complete before 25 hours for it to count.

He has just come roud to finish his 10th lap. Now how do we explain that although he was ill on Friday & Monday he was well enuogh to do this…

It keeps them out of the rest of the house. I am really very proud of him.

If a 9 year old can have a crack at this, why am I sat on my sofa in my PJs thinking about not riding because it’s a bit parky today?

Because you don’t sleep with your bikes. He is a tad keen on riding.

He is only 9 – but the most determined person I know. He has been wanting to do this for best part of 18 months. It was worth it to see Rich’s face when he was presented with cups of coffee at ungodly O’clock on a rainy morning so Tom could go out on a ride.

Only because he was worried that social services might make it a safeguarding issue.

Looks like he has dragged his Daddy through the night … he is going to sleep well tonight 🙂

They are camped at JMC, next to Guy Martin – I suspect that we will have stories for a while.

A big thanks to team JMC support for keeping Minipips on the road. He is out on his 7th lap way past his bedtime.

Minipips now in 74th…. good to see my half of the genes haven’t slowed him down too much. 😉

I make lists – it makes me feel as if am in control. I freely admit I am obsessive about this. You can laugh at my system – I do regularly. The way they work is:

I have the usual must be done today or otherwise it all goes shit shape. Things like do the washing up from last night, run the washing machine with work / school clothes in, go for a run / ride etc. The practical keep life ticking over ones but making no change to the status quo.

Then I have a medium term: I would like to change these things and a small tweak/ identifiable action could make these things happen eg I want to get fitter / lose weight. Next to each of these I have a list of actions to make them happen. For losing weight it looks like no eating biscuits or crisps for my elevenes and dringking black coffee when at work. Getting fitter is go runnning every second day. Once teh action has been identified it goes onto my short term list.

The third list is a long term aspirational goals – I want a better paid job. So I would like a RICS accreditation and a promotion at work. For these I put in anything I can change immediately to get nearer the goal and look out for oportunities that can get me closer. The good news is that this have now moved from my long term goals to my medium term and short term list. The great thing about the long term list is that it is almost possible to break them down into medium or short term list items, it just requires a bit of thought and a plan of action.

My final list is of things that would be nice, but I cannot influence to any great extent them so aren’t worth worrying about. eg the neighbours parking more considerately, Tony Blair being put on trial for war crimes, having a candidate to vote who’s policies I agree with.

Your post has several things you would like to change
Depression – worry that it will come back, no girlfriend, weight loss, lack of money, anger issues. Implicitly you seem worried about your lack of money and poor eating and I guess living with your Mum is something you would like to change at some point too. You also seem to have underlying self esteem issues. I am guessing it all seems a bit overwhelming when you look at as a whole, but as parts it is less so. None of the things you have listed are things that can’t be changed.

The weight & fitness can go on the short term list – Today go out for a bike ride & ride 1 mile longer than your usual route, and reduce the amount you eat – say no to one fattening item on your usual scoff list or reduce your portion size for everything (including drink!) by a quarter. Also when you get back take a really honest look at the amount and types of food/ drink you are eating and see which is easiest to change. Tomorrow you will be able to look at today’s list and say you have achieve something that is bringing you closer to where you see yourself.

Lack of money – medium term list. No experience? Find some through the volountary sector, poorly paid job find ways to increase your worth through training – the library and job centre are good for this. Once you have identified the steps put those steps onto your do today list.
Anger & depression – speak to your dr and find out where you can get help, or explore oportunities that other posters have identified – depending where you are up to they can go onto the short or medium term list.

Self esteem – long term list. Keep a diary of your achievements ( I keep my lists in books so I can review how far I have come) They have my running times, dates that I did something, etc. I am a little obsessive so I write a review once a month to keep me on track – I identify the things that I did well (behaviours to repeat) and those that didn’t (so will change next time). I am one of life’s drifters so I need this. You may not.

Girlfriend – she will turn up. This is a classic you cannot do anything to influence them so stop worrying. As you improve your self worth in your eyes people will value you more. Change the things you can and want to – leave other people to worry about the other stuff.

Which ever way you decide to tackle it I hope it works out.

Minipips has already penciled it in. Rich may not be so keen.

Thank you Rusty – Richpips has promised to build me a pizza oven in the back yard…. If I ended up with a BBQ and a pizza stone I would be miffed. A good idea for camping though. I like the crust finish – what recipe for the dough?

A good dollop of muscavado sugar, splash of vinegar, boiled onion paste (blitz an onion in a food processor & fry really slowly in clarified butter until it stops giving off steam), ginger (a bit – grated), dark soy a splash, rind or an orange (use a vege peeler so there is no pith, a teaspoon of english mustard powder and a mix of star annise, fennel seed and cumin. Add a good glass of orange juice and water. Add chilli to taste & simmer until it is syrupy (disolve the sugar before bringing to the boil).

While this is happening marinade the meat in brine infused with bay, star annise, fennel & cummin. When the sauce is ready pat meat dry and marinade in half the BBQ sauce. Baste the meat as it is cooking with the remaing sauce.

He did it … He did it…He did it… WOOOOOOOOHHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! Not bad for an old man.

Seriously he was out practising (I checked that on the grammar website) shouldering his bike with kit attached. Sounds as if that may have been quicker than the drag bike through bog method, but he does like his sleep.

I was worried there for a moment. It looked as if he had thrown the bike into the loch. Or maybe he has and he is running the last 6 miles.

It is so good to see Iona still digging in there.

In my defence I was slightly distracted by the potential of a large bag of bicarb, child’s chemistry set and some of herbage growing in the garden coupled with a understaurated market of bored housewives with large disposable incomes.

I really must get the hang of multitasking…

Onto other news he is almost finished and the children are still alive.

Good one Alisdair – I have been telling Rich that you were “just in front” for days now….. I may have failed to tell him that it was a good half a day. oooppps.