From: mstenhou@crc.ac.uk (Mike Stenhouse)
Subject:  Charity Cycle Ride: Scotland to Australia 
Followup-To: this newsgroup or poster
Keywords: Barnardos, Cycling
Reply-To: mstenhou@crc.ac.uk (Mike Stenhouse)
Organization: MRC Human Genome Mapping Project Resource Centre, Harrow, UK
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 17:50:05 GMT


THE BLAZING SADDLES BARNARDO'S APPEAL: SCOTLAND TO AUSTRALIA BY MOUNTAIN-BIKE

15,000 MILES AND 20 COUNTRIES IN 18 MONTHS

Dear cycling netters,

(apologies if this already appeared here but I think the first posting failed)

a friend and I will be setting off on Saturday November 28th from the
small market town of Kelso in the Scottish Borders on the trip of a
lifetime: we hope to reach Kangaroo Island, near Adelaide, Australia by
May or June 1994.  During December we're doing a 3 week warm-up tour of
the UK and Ireland before leaving the UK for good and we're looking for
any interested cyclists to join us. 

Our aim is to raise a few thousand pounds for Barnardo's by carrying a
"Scroll of Goodwill" from the Barnardo's organisation in the UK to
present to the Barnardo's organisation in Australia (Sydney).  Tessa
Baring, Chair of Barnardo's Council, signed and presented us with the
Scroll at the recent Barnardo's Volunteer Centenary Meeting held in
Birmingham where we also met and received encouragement from The Princess 
of Wales (Barnardo's President).

THE PARC PROJECT

Through our efforts we'll be raising money for Barnardo's to channel
into one of their specialist projects: the newly opened Paediatric AIDS
Resource Centre in Edinburgh, a unit created to help children and families
affected by HIV and AIDS.

Despite a massive public awareness campaign there remains a desperate
shortage of specialist provision for children and families affected by
AIDS and HIV.  By helping run the Resource Centre Barnardo's aims to
tackle some of these problems. 

THE BLAZING SADDLES TEAM:

Brian Hinnigan (26):
A fashion/textiles designer from Yetholm in the Scottish Borders, Brian
currently works in Carlisle.  A keen leisure cyclist and traveller, he's
travelled throughout much of Western Europe and worked in both the USA
and the West Indies.  Brian recently raised a tidy sum for the Children
in Need Appeal by cycling the hundred miles from Carlisle Castle to
Edinburgh Castle dressed as a court jester! Being an artist, Brian will
be documenting the trip with a series of pencil sketches which will be
used later to illustrate a book of the trip. 

Myself (26):
Originally from Kelso in the Scottish Borders, I currently work in the
computing industry in London.  Cycling and long distance running are
among my interests: I ran the Berlin Marathon in 1991 to raise cash for
Barnardo's.  I've travelled throughout Western Europe the USA and Canada
and I'll be the expedition photographer.  Telephone: 081-904-4636. 

PUBLICITY AND FUND-RAISING TOUR OF UK AND IRELAND

November 28th will see the start of the 3 week publicity tour where we'll be
"Blazing" our way round the UK and through Ireland raising money for the 
charity.  The tour covers major cities (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin 
and London) where we'll be collecting and where we'll be on local radio shows. 
Our final UK ride is London to Brighton on Saturday 2nd Jan 1993. We cross the 
channel to France from Newhaven, England and begin pedalling in earnest towards 
Australia. 

Like I said, we'd like other cyclists to join us on the UK/Ireland tour,
even just for a day at a time.  Here's are the tour dates - contact me
by email, post or phone if you are interested in joining us at any stage
of this tour - it should be a good laugh:

DAY                     ACTIVITY

1.  Sat Nov 28th        Kelso -> Edinburgh
2.  Mon 31st Nov	Collect in Edinburgh
3.  Tue 1st Dec		Collect in Edinburgh
4.  Wed Dec 2nd         Edinburgh -> Glasgow
5.  Thu Dec 3rd         Collect in Glasgow
6.  Fri Dec 4th         Glasgow -> Ayr
7.  Sat Dec 5th         Collect in Ayr
8.  Sun Dec 6th         Ayr -> Stranraer (-> Larne, Northern Ireland)
9.  Mon Dec 7th         -> Carrickfergus  - collect in Carrickfergus
10.  Tue Dec 8th         Carrickfergus -> Belfast
11. Wed Dec 9th         collect in Belfast
12. Thu Dec 10th        Belfast -> Richhill, Armagh
13. Fri Dec 11th        Richhill -> Dublin  (perhaps overly optimistic here - it's a long bike ride!)
14. Sat Dec 12th        Drinking stout in Dublin
15. Sun Dec 13th        Dublin -> Holyhead
16. Mon Dec 14th        Holyhead -> Bangor -> Conwy -> Rhyl - collecting in each town
17. Tue Dec 15th        Rhyl -> Chester - collect in Chester
18. Wed Dec 16th        Chester -> Shrewsbury
19. Thu Dec 17th        collect in Shewsbury
20. Fri Dec 18th        Shrewsbury -> Worcester
21. Sat Dec 19th        collect in Worcester
22. Sun Dec 20th        Worcester to Oxford
23. Mon Dec 21st        Collect in Oxford
24. Tue Dec 22nd        Oxford -> London (collect in London)
25. Wed Dec 23rd        collect in London
26. Thu Dec 24th        Home for Christmas!
27. Sat Jan 2nd         London to Brighton
28. Sun/Mon             Ferry to Dieppe

BBC Radio Scotland has agreed to cover the start of our publicity tour
and local radio will be supporting call-in shows during the trip itself. 
Radio Oxford will also be helping us out as may other stations so we'll
be getting good support from the media. 

If you can't join us, feel free to support our cause by sending a cheque, made
payable to "Barnardos", to:

WILMA ROSIE,
Blazing Saddles Barnardos Appeal,
Barnardo's,
235, Corstorphine Road,
Edinburgh, EH12 7AR.
Tel: 031-334-9893
Fax: 031-316-4008

Thanks already to:
Karrimor International Ltd for the panniers and cycling Jackets.
Richard Hemmington of Specialized- UK for the discounted bikes.
Paul Bibby of Peter Storm Ltd for the waterproof cycling gear.
Mr Collack of Silking-UK for the Silk thermal underclothes and sleeping-bag liners.
Trevor Wilkinson of Sturmey Archer for the quality saddles.
Robert Fleming Holdings Ltd for their cash donation.
Lesley Potts of Nike-UK for the Cross Terrain Cycling shoes.
British Telecom for their cash donation
Ison Distribution, Cambridge for the Hyper Cracker tools

Hopefully some of you will be keen enough to come along for part of the tour and
a bit of a laugh.  See you there!

We should be easily spotted as we'll be wearing kangaroo heads on top of our
cycling helmets!


Mike Stenhouse,
188, East Lane,
North Wembley,
Middlesex, HA0 3LF.
081-904-4636

e-mail: mstenhou@crc.ac.uk