Wednesday 5 August 2009

In the Summertime... When the Weather is Fine...!

One of the posts that I put up towards the end of last season asked what people do when there is no football on over the summer, so I thought I’d give the Addickted an insight into what I’ve been up to! It’s been a manic summer so far, it seems that every weekend has something going on and I’ve not had much spare time to get myself down to the boozer to enjoy some R&R with the lads…

This is probably a good thing to be completely honest!! In a moment of madness I signed myself up to complete what I’ve coined a “Triathlon of Fun”. Essentially, it involves me taking part in the London Triathlon (which was last Saturday), the Windsor Half Marathon and the Barcelona Triathlon. “Why on earth would you do that?”, I hear you ask… well…I’m doing it to get fit, which is working, I’m really enjoying the swimming, biking and running, but more importantly, I’m doing it to raise money for UNICEF, and in particular UNICEF’s UNITE FOR CHILDREN, UNITE AGAINST AIDS cause.


I’ve been a long time supporter of UNICEF and it wasn’t until I started reading up on the statistics that it really hit me. 15 million children have been orphaned by AIDS or an AIDS related disease and by the end of next year; this number is estimated to have risen to 20 million. It really is a staggering statistic, so I set about thinking how I could raise money for UNICEF and I thought I’d add a bit of spice to the normal charity run or marathon by doing a few of them! If you are interested in following my progress or wish to donate www.justgiving.com/kelvinunicef is the link to allow you to do this.



It’s not all been about me getting fit this summer though…. Those who read ARD will have read in the past that I am an avid motorcyclist and that when I’m not watching football (or training for my triathlons) I can often be found around the Home Counties on my motorcycle with my friends. In June I made my annual pilgrimage to the Isle of Man for the Tourist Trophy (TT) Races. It’s a brilliant week, and I would recommend that if you are at all interested in motor racing, you try to get over there for a week or weekend during race week. The racing was stunning with lap records falling regularly. It’s amazing to think that over a 37.73 mile course the superbikes can lap at an AVERAGE speed of over 131mph and the bikes that you and I could buy in the shops lap at an AVERAGE speed of 128mph!! It really does have to be seen to comprehend it!

The video below was an early morning (~5am) run over the Mountain Road. This road is made one way during the TT and is unrestricted in terms of speed for much of the road which means you can really have some fun! Unfortunately some people have too much fun and there were a number of accidents over the mountain this year, with people letting testosterone get the better of them! It’s a brilliant road, one which I put into the same category as the Great Ocean Road around Melbourne or Highway 1 and Highway 101 on the West Coast of the US.


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