May 03, 2014 at 01:13 pm

May Update

Update posted by David Fergusson

How is the training going?

Much as I expected. On target I think. I will make it! I have parked my North Downs Way walking for the moment and stopped at Rochester. I don't wish to spend all day travelling and Rochester is far enough away. I will return one day and walk the rest of the way to Canterbury or Dover and finish it. I have still walked 70 miles from Farnham to Rochester and another 78 miles on the Capital Ring.

Today I began the London LOOP or the London Outer Orbital Path. If you imagine that the Capital Ring approximately follows the North and South circular roads then the LOOP is the M25! A couple of people have said they would walk with me on this and I said I would tell them when I got to the part where they live. If you live in Penge or Bromley then that time is now!

It begins in Erith on the River Thames and it was good weather today. The sun shone, a welcome change to last week's rain. I wore my shorts for the first time and I didn't need to dry out my boots.

Useful Advice

Thank you for your pieces of advice. The "Keep going North" is very useful and I have purchased a compass so I can be sure. I have already stocked up of various sizes of blister plasters. Also I know they talk funny up there, but I think you have forgotten that I lived in Sheffield. I also speak fluent Geordie and can use that as a lingua franca in Yorkshire. (As opposed to the French cyclists who apparently won't understand being called "Love".)

Hopefully I will escape from Yorkshire just as the cyclist invasion begins. I have also designed my walk so that my last day will also be the day England win the World Cup Final. So a dual celebration for anyone who wants to meet me in Kirk Yetholm.

Fundraising

I'm also very happy to see that the fundraising is on track too. £330 raised is still only 16% of my target though. I really appreciate the kind and generous donations already made. However a couple of people who I consider to be my oldest and best friends have still not donated. You know who you are! Are you waiting until I actually finish first? Or don't you have the confidence in my that the others clearly do? My old work colleagues are missing too. I don't like asking for money, but I am only going to do this once and never again. So, as Bob Geldof famously never actually said at Live Aid, "It's all about the music!" No, the other quote, "Just give us the ****ing money!"

 

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