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2014 and the Year ahead....

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Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas, now we turn our attention to New Year and the usual New Year resolutions... 2014 marks a special year for me personally.- Starts in 3 days time, with a celebration on the night I met the wife, Maryann, and mum to our 2 kids Andrew and Euan. 20 years ago... - Ill expect a sare heed on 1/1/14 like 20 years ago. We are heading back to the place we met, with a few surprises along the way. :) - In November I'll be 40.. - so 4 things for 2014 and my 40th-  - Cycle Lands End to John O Groats - Walk West Highland Way  - 3 Peaks Challenge - 2 Week Family hol in the Sun.  Happy New Year to You ALL!  The Hammy ..

Merry Christmas to You All!

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Just a quick post. Would like to wish all I know, friends family, readers, Twitter, Facebook a Merry Christmas. As I type, I can hear the wind battering the window along with the rain. - Storm force gales tonight apparently. I am just home, after another busy Christmas at work. Retail really is the worst job at this time of year, but when you are in it, you know whats expected and deliver what you can and more. - Be safe, enjoy and have fun the mora. Right now, Im enjoying a beer, glad the Christmas retail rush is over, and prob going for a long nap. - My Christmas break lasts 34 hrs. - Working 10hrs on Boxing day to do it all over again. So have fun team A x

End to End - May 2014

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So time to blog the big charity effort for 2014. - And it does not come any bigger than this. From May 10th 2014, Myself and Neil -shall be attempting to cycle from Lands End to John O Groats in the space of 10 days. I will allow longer if required. We did the Scotland run last year 404 miles in 4 Days, so this is more than double it. After Christmas, and new year, I plan to up the aunty on what I do. Train hard, lose more weight, and prepare for what will be the biggest single achievement in my life. - I hope I can do it. Will take commitement, dedication and stamina, and I know I can do this..... We have a Facebook Page - We are on Twitter We need your follow. We need your like. - As we build a good social media foundation for our future charity run for Cancer Research UK. Charity Address -  www.justgiving.com/lexjah2014 Thanks for the Support

Independance Question

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Scots will go to the polls on September 18, 2014 to decide whether to become an independent country. If Scots vote to leave the Union, Scotland will become an independent country on March 24, 2016. Today - SNP unveils White Paper outlining vision for independent Scotland http://news.stv.tv/politics/250331-live-coverage-scottish-independence-referendum-white-paper-unveiled/ This article caught my attention. And has got me divided right down the middle. - but why change what's not broken ? What ever I decide to vote (prob decided), I will make sure I caste my vote in what will be the most important decision in a generation ..... -Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Western Isles - Day 3

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After staying the night at the Berneray hostel, we were up at 630am for the short 2 mile cycle to the ferry port to catch the ferry to Leverburgh on Harris that takes around 1hr. As I left the hostel it was pitch dark, and after I managed to get the sheep to move, we were on our way... The ferry was on time and pretty quiet. - Boarded and 1 hour later we were on the isle of Harris. Today's cycle was to take use to Stornaway and I was keenly watching the weather. When we left I was a bit annoyed that my bright light had pack in, tried charging over night but clearly its broken. - rather irritating but hey ho it will go back.. We left Levenburgh and first port of call was to be Tarbert. - Some 30 miles away. We cycled around some really windy roads, mostly up hill and then the weather took a turn for the worse. - Freezing and wet we got to Tarbert pretty quickly, as you seem to pedal faster when its cold... We looked for a coffee shop or something to warm up, but christ...

Western Isles - Day 2

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Tues ..... So we were ready to head for Berneray, some 74 miles from the south end of Barra. - and the start of an epic journey. Obviously part of me was keenly watching the weather. - Gail force winds, rain, sleet and hail was forecast. - you know, perfect November normal weather. ... With teeth gritted we said goodbye to Mike over a coffee then left at 8am for the short 8 miles across Barra to the ferry port for the boat trip to Eriskay. Arrived there quickly. Nice view with sun appearing behind some clouds. A few cars parked and the odd local waiting for the ferry which was at 925am. Ferry took 40mins to get to there. - as we arrived the wind picked up and this would be a common theme for the next 67 miles. We went into the local shop and stood out like 2 sour plooms lol - breakfast was a chicken curry pie. Boak. - we left Eriskay via the adjoining causeway and was quickly into South Uist. - following the route we planned on the garmin's - the roads were q...

Western Isles - Day 1

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Tues night .... I'm writing this from the hostel at Berneray - North Uist. With no phone signal. (Or very little). - I'll add photos later as I get a better signal ..... Yesterday I was up at 430am, with the mad idea of cycling to Glasgow Queen Street to meet Neil for the 0821am train to Oban. Left home at 0520am, headed for Kilmarmock, up western road then up auld A77 through Newton Mearns and then Giffnock, Shawlands and the city centre. Got to Queen Street for 730am, nice and early and 32 miles clocked already. Was a bit wet on the run up. Met Neil, and train left on time. - 3 hrs later we were in Oban. Got chatting to a guy called Mike, who said he was staying at same hostel as us on Barra. .... (More on that in a bit). After arriving in Oban we had a couple hours to kill. A light lunch, then purchased the Hopscotch Number8 that would be our ferry guide across the Western Isles. We were fully aware weather wasn't to be great later, which seemed rather w...