Year Round Commuter, Cyclist and Adventure Seeker.

Well here we are on the last day of another year, how has it been for you. I always read about new years resolutions but as mine don't get by mid January it's not worth it... - So I make a top 5 achievement list for the forthcoming year. Done that ! (See earlier blog). 2012 has been a good year here, with some cracking highlights. Back in Feb we celebrated Maryann's parents ruby wedding with a memorable weekend at Auchrannie on Arran, where I also cycled round raising +£900 for the Vanessa Riddle Appeal, and that would raise to over £1200 later in the year with various other cycles. A bug had developed. In March we done a tour of the Scottish main castles at Euan's request for his 7th birthday . - This was brilliant bolting around the deep dark areas of Stirling and Edinburgh Castles, soaking up a great atmosphere... and gaining some great historical education. Then the biggy in April -  4 Days in 1 of my favourite cities London over the Easter Weekend . - Took in almo...

Early Plans in place, with Neil (@aerobic247) but looking at this over 4/5 days in early April 2013- Should be 4 days- Youth Hostel it..  Mon - John O Groats - Dingwall 122miles  Tues - Dingwall - Fort William - 80 Miles  Wed - Fort William to Glasgow -100 Miles  Thurs - Glasgow to Carlisle - 103 Miles   (Ish) :)  

Planning my Top5 for 2013.. including a x2 rollover 1. Cycle Scotland over 4 days - April 2013 2. 3 Peaks Week (Carry over) - Ben Nevis (5th time), Scaffel Pike and Snowdon - June/July 3. 2 Cycle Sportives +100 Miles - Balloch in May and the Fresh Lo 110 Miler in September 4. Family holiday to Ireland ( Rollover) 5. lose the beer belly :) Lets see how this plans out lol

Was looking back at my blog and the post I made this time last year... An 80 percent success rate if you include Arran twice lol... http://lexjah3.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/2012-hopes-and-plans/ My biggest achievement in 2012 was cycling 100 Miles on the day of my birthday ! http://lexjah3.wordpress.com/2012/11/14/fort-william-glasgow-100-cycle-1-day-111112 / Full blog on 2012 in the early part of New Year :).. Cheers- Alex +2012 Hopes and Plans Leave a Comment Posted by Alex Hamilton on January 2, 2012 Well there we are into 2012. A new year, full of new ideas, plans, inspirations and desires. This years a leap year, and the year of the Olympics from London. A few weeks back I decided to list 5 things I want to do this year and this is that list : 1. Take family to London for a small break. - Done 2. Cycle around Arran. - Done Twice 3. Climb Ben Nevis again - Done 4. Snowdon and Scafell Pike. (new) -hmmm 2013 5. Family holiday to Ireland - hmmm 2013 The list has changed a bit. But t...

Just a post to wish all who read this blog a Merry Christmas and a very good 2013. - love the Hammy's

A short post -  I made a list of 5 thing to do this time last year and I will blog that separately on how I got on.  2013 will see me do 2 things. Partly 2012 has seen me cycle like from a record of 27 miles to the November run of 102 miles in 1 go.... a great birthday present, so with determination I know I can accomplish these things.... From 2/1/13, a new me willl be born for a period- good eating, exercising and taking my new bike runs to new levels... better than 2012. and a personal challenge to shed 2 stone by say May 2013....  Can the Hammy do this ?   

Police: 26 dead in Conn. school shooting http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/14/us/connecticut-school-shooting/index.html

Been quiet on here recently. The curse of retail and dec. busy month. Just about to enjoy a weekend off. A wee run to break the new bike in and hopefully a festive beerage sat night. Chill sun.

Just agreed a date and early details for the 448 mile cycle over 4 days of my great nation.... More follows...

Back to Arran on my day off. Decided to cycle around it again but this time the opposite way. - got to Brodick just before 11am and decided to head up the way, towards Corrie then Lochranza and the big 2 mile hill. Cracking run down the other side into Lochranza but the breaks were on cause of the ice lol. - I wasn't falling !! Was a beautiful day for the run. Although very cold. Back of Arran is pretty flat and I could remember a few land marks from the Feb 2012 run. Got to Blackwaterfoot around 3pm, 38 miles in. Stopped for some lunch-Then onwards towards Whitting bay and the killer fuckin hills. A treble back to back. - it broke me. I won't kid you on ha. By now it was starting to get dark as I entered Whitting Bay. And clearly I wasn't making the 1640 Ferry so thought I'm stopping. - 2 hot coffees and a chocolate sugar rush, I was on my way, up to Lamlash and the last 3 miles uphill into Brodick. - missed ferry by 40 mins. So went for a beer and chilled. Run - 57 ...

So here is a run down of a 3 day event weekend ! Friday night- Family dinner with her Mum and Dad at the Sorn Inn Sat - 2 nights in Glasgow, Hair done at the Hilton for Missy, then a nice meal for +16 people. Then Arta and messy times.  Sun- An Afternoon Tea at 29 Royal Exchange Square then MA and her pal go for a wee treat The Spa at Blythswood Square....  Sun PM then a nice dinner at Grill on the Corner Home Mon - And recover ! LOL   

So our day came for the big +100 mile 1 day cycle from Fort William to Glasgow. And on my birthday, but more importantly we were raising some money for my ongoing fund-raising for Neuroblastoma Children's Alliance bringing my total to £1200 against a target of £1500. It was an early start. Very early. Was up at 345am, pre packed, I put the bike on the bike rack and went to pick my Dad up, at 430am and then up to East Kilbride to pick Neil up (@aerobic247) who was joining me on another long run. We then headed up towards Fort William and arrived just after 8am. After a breakfast of champions in McDonalds, we got set up, and my Dad was away. No turning back now. - We got set up and left at the back of 9am with a clear thought that based on other +90mile runs we have done, we should easily be in Glasgow for the back of 5, minus any break stops….how wrong that would be. Not long before we are heading through Glencoe, with some stunning scenery. Pass Jimmy Saville's house, notably n...

This has been a very irritating day. I bought my Iphone5 sim free from Apple via the CarPhone Warehouse telesales team and received via a visit to a local store. Sim free, contract free, aware that it should be unlocked to any network. Today I tried an Orange UK sim in it and to my surprise it did not work. After some investigation and calls, to Apple- it appears that when you activate your Iphone5, if SIM free it will then be locked to that network that you activated the phone on at first use. - In this case - O2UK. My call to Apple confirmed this. I phone Carphone warehouse who told me over the phone that this was the case. I contact O2, and after 20 mins on the phone they tell me they won't unlock. - Cant tell me when they will unlock either. Contact back to Apple. They can't help. Contact O2 again. Wont unlock. Now I don't know if this is the same if you get the Iphone5 direct from the Apple.- So like this poor SOD here , it appears that Ive just wasted £699 fuckin qui...

Plans afoot for next sundays +104Miler - Neil Mcmillan (twitter - @aerobic247) and I cycling from the end of the end point of the West Highland way at Gordon Square in Fort William- to the start point in Milngavie - Road Route on our bikes. picking him up at 5am…. leaving the start around 8am. My biggest run… so plenty of practice this week ahead. Hope weather is ok…. Photo from start point and finish. Might be dark when we get there… LOL. - and on my birthday- Im MAD. Please donate HERE - http://www.justgiving.com/Alex-Hamiltonfeb26th [caption id="attachment_1350" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Our Route[/caption]

So a week after Deacon Blue we had another road trip this time a kind wedding invitation courtesy of Maryann's cousin Kathryn and her Husband to be Justin. This has been planned for months as the wedding was in Farnham, Surrey, some 42 miles south-west of London. From where we live just short of 500 miles. So a well planned trip was organised. [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="300"] Justin & Kathryn[/caption] We booked our hotel months ago, I was ordered to get a new suit, and we also decided to hire a motor, as my old reliable might not be so reliable. lol… Everything was in place, days off work booked and as such, we were ready to go pretty sharp on the friday morning.  I went at 8am to pick the hire car up from Enterprise, and it wasn't ready. -So before the grey clouds came in the Manager upgraded us FOC to a nice new Ford Galaxy 12 plate. All the mod cons, cruise control iPod connectivity bluetooth blah. So we were set for a nice co...

Been almost 4 weeks since I did any blogging lol, and its been a busy month. - 2 major road trips covering 1700 miles in just over a week, and this is about part 1. On Fri October 12th we went down to Leicester  to see 1 of my favorite bands Deacon Blue who were playing at the DeMontforthall during a tour where they were promoting their new album 'The Hipsters'. This weekend had been planned since away back in February and was a great opportunity to catch up with pals Scott and Karyn who had moved to Hinckley almost 10 years ago. So a catch up, cheap travel lodge and a great concert made for a good weekend.! Deacon Blue have been on the scene for many a year and I first saw them back in 1993 at the Irvine Magnum, and have seen them several times since then lol... Let at 10am and we were in Leicester by 3.30pm, and checked into our hotel. Went exploring city centre and had some dinner then it was a quick change and jumped into a taxi out to the concert venue and met up with Sco...

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Well yesterday I broke another record and another personal best. - 141km, or 89 miles in 1 go for a cycle from the Scottish west coast town of Ayr to Musselburgh on the East coast just outside Edinburgh. Accompanied by Neil we had a good run and a long day and raised some money for Neuroblastoma Children's Cancer Alliance - [caption id="attachment_1288" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Ayr Beach- 9AM[/caption] Set off at 830 and took car to Ayr. Headed to Ayr Beach and set off to meet Neil at Halfords Ayr. Then B743 to Mauchline and a quick roll n sausage and a coffee at home. Then Sorn to A70 junction. [caption id="attachment_1289" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Glenspin - Tiny wee village between Murkirk and Douglas, 30 Miles from Ayr.[/caption] Then Murkirk, Douglas, and under the M74 and onwards to Lanark. After a warm lunch and a re charge of the batteries we powered on, - Carstairs, then Edinburgh, up by the Cast...

Today I'm on my 2 days off work and had rather noted I had not been out on the bike for a couple weeks. I took the kids to school, and observed the shite weather. Rain. But thought. - it will go off. How wrong was I on the way up ? Decided to grab the bike, shoes and waterproof jacket on and head to Alloway again and decide where I would go. Part of the Ayrshire cycle path takes you up through Prestwick, Troon and Irvine and on towards Kilwinning, Saltcoats and Ardrossan. - run is 28 miles. Ish. This is a great run with some stunning scenery of Arran etc when you get the weather. - today I did not have this. Journey up took 2 hours. Pissed of rain all the way. I was drookit. Cauld. Wet. Miserable. - but I'm a stubborn bastard and decided I WILL DO THIS. Got to near Saltcoats and you need to go along the side of the beach run and the wind was mental. Large waves crashing over the barrier. - AND OF COURSE I GOT SOAKED. again. And a mouth full of sea water. So by the time I got to...

3rd year we have done this. And what a day. Arrived at 1235 and straight to the bar .. Sorry bookies. 1st race. 42 quid up. 2nd race. 100 up. 3rd 10 up. 4th lost 15 5th lost 20. - so overall we done well. After the entertainment headed into Prestwick and to Elliott's for dinner. Then back to Ayr for some good chat and even Club de Mar