tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41414371181002839322024-03-05T08:27:52.658-08:00Rob Lilwall's BlogPost-Bicycle Ponderings on life - or - now that I have made it home on the bicycle, what shall I do...roblilwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02031193542965698878noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141437118100283932.post-46318663872230460132010-05-18T18:14:00.000-07:002010-05-18T18:15:11.338-07:00New website and blogsiteFrom now on all of my blogging can be found at my new website<br /><br /><a href="http://www.roblilwall.com/">www.roblilwall.com</a><br /><br />Thanks very much!<br /><br />Robroblilwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02031193542965698878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141437118100283932.post-15934046738117137912010-04-08T12:41:00.000-07:002010-04-08T12:47:33.319-07:00A new chapter in lifeLast night Christine and I left England and flew to Singapore. We are staying here for 10 days with her parents, and then spending three months in the Philippines doing voluntary work for a street children charity. After that we are moving to Hong Kong, where we will live for at least a year, possibly much longer.<br /><br />So a new chapter in life is beginning.roblilwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02031193542965698878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141437118100283932.post-11714037407630441882010-03-22T07:29:00.000-07:002010-03-22T07:37:55.224-07:00Video of Pecha Kucha event lecture: The M25 by footThis is a video of a Charity Pecha Kucha event I spoke at in London recently. The idea of Pecha Kucha is that you have to give a talk using 20 slides, each of which is pre-programmed to last only 20 seconds long, and then the computer automatically goes onto the next slide.<br /><br />So here is my 20 slides explaining the M25 by foot expedition!<br /><br /><object width="400" height="299"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9247279&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9247279&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="299"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/9247279">Pecha Kucha: The M25 by foot - Rob Lilwall. www.roblilwall.com</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/alhumphreys">alastair Humphreys</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>roblilwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02031193542965698878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141437118100283932.post-28402696455082979762010-01-19T11:10:00.000-08:002010-04-09T20:06:55.282-07:00The M25 on foot (in the snow)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBsW43VryJ570CB4CXSnGk_ag4XvrkGDAHfTl968H9RNXp3unU0EiPsRT9FP-DnvQIM5KVce980DrT8xzEMrFVkX6j5IPHLhYgdrV_llV-W1Iq9l069Kh1C_UOW7qh_H5UoUkzulMtyhyZ/s1600-h/P1060031.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432132478927125650" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBsW43VryJ570CB4CXSnGk_ag4XvrkGDAHfTl968H9RNXp3unU0EiPsRT9FP-DnvQIM5KVce980DrT8xzEMrFVkX6j5IPHLhYgdrV_llV-W1Iq9l069Kh1C_UOW7qh_H5UoUkzulMtyhyZ/s320/P1060031.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />The week after New Year, me and my old cycling friend, Al <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Humphreys</span>, decided to walk a lap of the M25. The last adventure we did together was cycling across Siberia in the winter. But now we were living in England and only had a week spare.... so the M25 seemed like the obvious choice.<br /><br />We also wanted to test two theories:<br />1. That you don't have to fly to the other side of the world to have a big adventure<br />2. That it is not just in other parts of the world that people are friendly (on our far flung travels on bicycles we had often been invited to stay with complete strangers and looked after admirably) - surely people in England could be friendly too?<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPQFzIBWm0mvoeZuHMxBccCZDRob7vUsfu0LhPlWGcB9Uny9z_PAqdkFhNRtFE48a03n4M4XnMnjrashJX-ruJ8y1l9IhrE6QeL0QPK3SifTxk18qZpgFEBAzlw8q8APdwT0sXtEobG6Yq/s1600-h/IMG_1609.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432130895314511810" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPQFzIBWm0mvoeZuHMxBccCZDRob7vUsfu0LhPlWGcB9Uny9z_PAqdkFhNRtFE48a03n4M4XnMnjrashJX-ruJ8y1l9IhrE6QeL0QPK3SifTxk18qZpgFEBAzlw8q8APdwT0sXtEobG6Yq/s320/IMG_1609.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLyYsuFpjSiWzLmOsPI2WRVyizBUkf3UMLPTRqWSZPr7JRs3fKhLRnAl9ApVv4HLnIOkG872Vl-_ebE-GU0TLMhFb-GxYRVRmGB-iMHOOsoRLC3U0Hf8o8q7k1oEVJXuDdCLtlJx09dpDh/s1600-h/wire.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428532290815816482" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLyYsuFpjSiWzLmOsPI2WRVyizBUkf3UMLPTRqWSZPr7JRs3fKhLRnAl9ApVv4HLnIOkG872Vl-_ebE-GU0TLMhFb-GxYRVRmGB-iMHOOsoRLC3U0Hf8o8q7k1oEVJXuDdCLtlJx09dpDh/s320/wire.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgatMuJTC3Q4LFT17Xk3bhbOj0Q0Mxmx7FRvG7FcsgOVcCC8FU6G6l0x8w6yA-M8CsSZkcfWUixdCbFJlkhb2yaTmNKjEhsRWuZm_xX2mPZIX2XBd_r8XUhaxyXV9xP5o20dUK4Pzp_Bvia/s1600-h/walk+past+camera.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428532284576497394" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgatMuJTC3Q4LFT17Xk3bhbOj0Q0Mxmx7FRvG7FcsgOVcCC8FU6G6l0x8w6yA-M8CsSZkcfWUixdCbFJlkhb2yaTmNKjEhsRWuZm_xX2mPZIX2XBd_r8XUhaxyXV9xP5o20dUK4Pzp_Bvia/s320/walk+past+camera.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />We put the date for our departure in the diary. When the day came, the 6<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">th</span> of January, it turned out that it was also the day that England plunged into some of its worst weather for 30 years. Half the country took a week off work, but for us it was time to go walking. Over the coming week there were regular snowfalls, and plummeting temperatures.<br /><br />As we had not even brought a tent with us (just <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">bivvy</span> bags, and a sheet of waterproof material for making a makeshift shelter), this led to some quite chilly nights outside and yet with also some stunning and exceptionally beautiful landscapes.<br /><br />Almost immediately it felt like a brilliant adventure, on par with many of things elsewhere in the world. However, on our second day, after enjoying our first night sleeping outside, a different problem began to dawn on us: how slowly we were going. We were walking in the fields and on small roads and paths near to the motorway, but often our way was obstructed by forests, fences and houses. This meant that we had to climb over lots of fences, and also that we often had to detour around properties - sometimes walking three sides of a square to progress. This meant we would have to walk a lot further <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">than</span> the 120 miles which the motorway covers in a car. We only had a week to complete the walk, so worked out that we would have to walk a minimum of four junctions a day - about 30 miles - if we were going to make it. As the daylight was short, this meant we were in for a lot of night marches.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_lhJfcOfNg484XG59Pw9RQZ1AW6VkM0fOFf8fPJqyXr4vsN6VUgV5gQkigJ4Na3I6wIiXqL_eB1TzsQvasJNh1tWPJHeFX4LX2hyzLTC-IaS2VjMiEQOXMRgZu3ikH7rt7UqWPour2RCP/s1600-h/trolley.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428532276567173922" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_lhJfcOfNg484XG59Pw9RQZ1AW6VkM0fOFf8fPJqyXr4vsN6VUgV5gQkigJ4Na3I6wIiXqL_eB1TzsQvasJNh1tWPJHeFX4LX2hyzLTC-IaS2VjMiEQOXMRgZu3ikH7rt7UqWPour2RCP/s320/trolley.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMtU-RGoe-lDh0D5sZgqZsWM6iNOJq1bHWVwUjIODUJwyXZUhdsLP819QQ_7X5_NwMu3kXwP-gbY8EhVaRVCrkklKpcs7jJ7Xs6cFegh3-s41Qo9PyURi80WKxsoJXHra888rKHji3jWKX/s1600-h/Tree.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428532275542596738" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMtU-RGoe-lDh0D5sZgqZsWM6iNOJq1bHWVwUjIODUJwyXZUhdsLP819QQ_7X5_NwMu3kXwP-gbY8EhVaRVCrkklKpcs7jJ7Xs6cFegh3-s41Qo9PyURi80WKxsoJXHra888rKHji3jWKX/s320/Tree.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeGzHOZdFT1qUPg2zzkGwk64Dap5CoNUQIXPq0bSRpTZHieTfr9ZEPIu8wgEEX09rj1B4dQD9RMhledh89dBndXdus6WFpbp1pXFjWyjDtLWvwGYvym64PtwTx6eiW_Q2Cz1xeNfcm9zO/s1600-h/sled.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428532269903952386" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeGzHOZdFT1qUPg2zzkGwk64Dap5CoNUQIXPq0bSRpTZHieTfr9ZEPIu8wgEEX09rj1B4dQD9RMhledh89dBndXdus6WFpbp1pXFjWyjDtLWvwGYvym64PtwTx6eiW_Q2Cz1xeNfcm9zO/s320/sled.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />We pressed onwards, and were delighted to discover that the people we encountered were - by and large - amazing. We decided that the snow actually helped make people even friendlier than they would be normally - perhaps our walk appealed to the British sense of the absurd.<br /><br />A case in point was our second night - the night we reached the town of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Redbridge</span> (not a place that I have ever been particularly motivated to visit). We stumbled into a pub to have a warm dinner inside. The girl behind the bar said the drinks were on her. And then we got chatting to an Irishman and his wife, and a few minutes later they had invited us to stay! We enjoyed having a hot shower and dry bed that night.<br /><br />A few mornings later, after we had just set off from our latest campsite in a forest, a cyclist appeared on the road and stopped as he reached us. He announced that he had been following our walk through Al's Twitter, and had actually come looking for us so that he could invite us back to his house for a cooked breakfast! Another time, in another pub one evening, a city commuter invited us to camp in his garden (he wasn't quite brave enough to invite us inside, but did appear at the door the next morning in his boxer shorts with 2 cups of tea).<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZgQqag8Y5qeIiM2XPLqNVR_f5ybFikh_DzVVmIqXfQt2jOvpd___Eq59CcnxXk4Z15vTo5GVz-Ht-XNJcvP_Vr7_fKkD4i8funpF-G0JC9IDqduhVHRMbrmMeBNU1i_HisR2MKXGoqUEd/s1600-h/Last+camp.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428531518615711778" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZgQqag8Y5qeIiM2XPLqNVR_f5ybFikh_DzVVmIqXfQt2jOvpd___Eq59CcnxXk4Z15vTo5GVz-Ht-XNJcvP_Vr7_fKkD4i8funpF-G0JC9IDqduhVHRMbrmMeBNU1i_HisR2MKXGoqUEd/s320/Last+camp.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmvxf6f3HichEyrDm1fmEbPOxAc85w5Wx_CWgyUuIxFumaw2nalcgg0UJQuDJG5PFFEKlptbFCKy5PcKnjDuP-isaMDOQz_N7xRdWmTI2P_LISAP6jA61lPsPYJgI4JsYUfiwtnEjMQuDI/s1600-h/lunch.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428531514451084818" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmvxf6f3HichEyrDm1fmEbPOxAc85w5Wx_CWgyUuIxFumaw2nalcgg0UJQuDJG5PFFEKlptbFCKy5PcKnjDuP-isaMDOQz_N7xRdWmTI2P_LISAP6jA61lPsPYJgI4JsYUfiwtnEjMQuDI/s320/lunch.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiThbJTIlFIny0jrjGRYhtSNCkoEUgXFnGHuwnd-g9FfSL4RheGccPW5DpoWJPXyg5NNc4p5FqWbPLv4Jdq4GXVvSUA5qIcsV9f7zkSx7tklixnPeCAFN90ccDlqujnvl1gODAH3cBL7fLF/s1600-h/footprints.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428531508225561074" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiThbJTIlFIny0jrjGRYhtSNCkoEUgXFnGHuwnd-g9FfSL4RheGccPW5DpoWJPXyg5NNc4p5FqWbPLv4Jdq4GXVvSUA5qIcsV9f7zkSx7tklixnPeCAFN90ccDlqujnvl1gODAH3cBL7fLF/s320/footprints.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcriP5_4lEiZYRlE5Sjmq4Ea1K-SwixQXyygyRSMBIWdc5u0LegF8Lw84axMqOXthzuPpzHz-D7S8OK-4j8KE721UbIIqPA_02nhpuZg-6hbYSB2fQGeNO1ZDrW32SdCmPMAzImxjOp3f-/s1600-h/camera+in+snow+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428531503729656338" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcriP5_4lEiZYRlE5Sjmq4Ea1K-SwixQXyygyRSMBIWdc5u0LegF8Lw84axMqOXthzuPpzHz-D7S8OK-4j8KE721UbIIqPA_02nhpuZg-6hbYSB2fQGeNO1ZDrW32SdCmPMAzImxjOp3f-/s320/camera+in+snow+1.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnPM3p4_Cc_TW_1ML5iAdRm64j-u-pu9N0hndOKsnnw2U7cjsYwsd6BT3F3vMKN1tvDuHNVTUU0EF2wnhp5RXUprTqQY36lwck5UIqJYxrXXRN7_htaSylVBMXRtwXAN9k4ivu8xMiRUBE/s1600-h/Boxer+shorts.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428531499978264866" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnPM3p4_Cc_TW_1ML5iAdRm64j-u-pu9N0hndOKsnnw2U7cjsYwsd6BT3F3vMKN1tvDuHNVTUU0EF2wnhp5RXUprTqQY36lwck5UIqJYxrXXRN7_htaSylVBMXRtwXAN9k4ivu8xMiRUBE/s320/Boxer+shorts.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />As the week wore on, the walking became harder and harder for me. Both foot blisters and knee ache were getting worse and worse. I began to move in less of a walk, and more of a stagger . It made me realise what a relatively painless form of travel cycling is compared to walking - in large part because you can carry all of your gear on the bike racks, and not on your back.<br /><br />A few days later, I was delighted when I found an abandoned child's sled in the hedge. This meant I could drag my pack for a while. Then, another day, I found an old shopping trolley, and so pushed my pack down the road, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Cormac</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">McCarthy</span> style (if you haven't seen the movie 'The Road' yet, then I highly recommend it).<br /><br />Finally, after seven long hard days of four junctions a day, we made it to the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Dartford</span> Bridge. A policeman told us we could not walk across, but he then had pity and gave us a lift in his police car.<br /><br />That night, enjoying a well-earned beer at Al's house, we reflected that our two theories had been put to the test - and proved beyond reasonable doubt. Indeed, you do only only need to step out of your front door to have an adventure... and the people of England are a lot friendlier than we sometimes expect!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYKuL_M8MDO4l0JGvtN63ZFOd15NQSswnyDhsYk_kRTOOMMqpE4M7fBJGHMY_OXxwsEmIFWuioKzJp-xH8a6KRXjFamg2N8UxM1QzjfZb7PNh376vlXmGrGKZ46b05J0RlqTvh8zbry8N/s1600-h/beer.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428530972497185090" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYKuL_M8MDO4l0JGvtN63ZFOd15NQSswnyDhsYk_kRTOOMMqpE4M7fBJGHMY_OXxwsEmIFWuioKzJp-xH8a6KRXjFamg2N8UxM1QzjfZb7PNh376vlXmGrGKZ46b05J0RlqTvh8zbry8N/s320/beer.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4JR24GF5wwoWilGgdEjn1CRB7NzTTgFFE9rQ7utdHeXAaO3wC4Y5t3tuOakNhCjASCkhvjYN55gePpcwwHFjui_N2PGONXB63bHWRTpZWaNbW4z79BOSnlW-4hnGvJOSNnJgxhlpj2CB/s1600-h/Al+video+camera.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428530969895360658" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd4JR24GF5wwoWilGgdEjn1CRB7NzTTgFFE9rQ7utdHeXAaO3wC4Y5t3tuOakNhCjASCkhvjYN55gePpcwwHFjui_N2PGONXB63bHWRTpZWaNbW4z79BOSnlW-4hnGvJOSNnJgxhlpj2CB/s320/Al+video+camera.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisuiCv2JP57pQnhRagrW0TZeTC9L2Pg73M8DVYI8IA-1nnJI3YP93MS-r9tBmJjKe0a6Q78WPcCaccVVVugRhF2J8VlRKWBCHOZ5EiS_3KQwkInN7Zwo5CtRySiucryO70dpKSHmNDUvTL/s1600-h/al+start.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428530960010079426" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisuiCv2JP57pQnhRagrW0TZeTC9L2Pg73M8DVYI8IA-1nnJI3YP93MS-r9tBmJjKe0a6Q78WPcCaccVVVugRhF2J8VlRKWBCHOZ5EiS_3KQwkInN7Zwo5CtRySiucryO70dpKSHmNDUvTL/s320/al+start.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ7Dmvohf4Ngt8EuUNoddVJh972PHXYwO6AKiLfhIfdZbOAux19Jw3Bbx46ExDAVY2qCNqS3pCKz75xX3kgTgI2aZGYcGHGPk0JF9vRawOKjw5TiNivvtZeCtT4nK7ucRIvk8DLCBfdCpP/s1600-h/Rob+and+Al+snowy+field.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428530950959175154" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ7Dmvohf4Ngt8EuUNoddVJh972PHXYwO6AKiLfhIfdZbOAux19Jw3Bbx46ExDAVY2qCNqS3pCKz75xX3kgTgI2aZGYcGHGPk0JF9vRawOKjw5TiNivvtZeCtT4nK7ucRIvk8DLCBfdCpP/s320/Rob+and+Al+snowy+field.jpg" border="0" /></a><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5428530955389588770" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihpak17_8U-SkljcGE7RFq-doypi0USS5mS2Wr4PJfpT7NuzkVxPIlZg_xfk4p0lu6jEitpZ9kGKmwvT19uXm5whVLsNMj0Dxi__LwTg7wgmTDBkkF6Fi03lXLQapg27RjiPAO2JdDUpqc/s320/Al+Blizzard.jpg" border="0" />roblilwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02031193542965698878noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141437118100283932.post-44263144446783065932010-01-05T09:41:00.000-08:002010-01-05T09:53:33.714-08:00A new (mini) expedition with AlTo mark the beginning of 2010, and because I have barely been back into the wild since completing the bicycle trip, tomorrow, Al Humphreys and I will embark on a short, new expedition together. Hopefully this one will not last three years. <br /><br />Silly though it may sound, we plan to walk a lap of the M25 (the motorway which runs in a circle around London) off-road, sleeping rough in fields and forests along the way. It's about 200 miles(ish), we have 8 days to complete it, though with 16 inches of snow forecast tonight, this might be harder than it sounds!<br /><br />Our main goals for the trip are:<br />- have a fun, cheap adventure<br />- remind ourselves that you don't have to fly to Siberia to have an adventure, there is plenty to do just beyond our doorsteps<br />- to learn a bit more about our own country - its people and its landscapes.<br /><br />I'll let you know how we get on once its done!roblilwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02031193542965698878noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141437118100283932.post-46003135857219202202009-11-26T02:50:00.000-08:002009-11-26T03:12:39.466-08:00Podcast interviewA podcast interview with me by Dutch journalist-cyclist Friedel, who runs the travellingtwo.com website. <br /><br />Please click <a href="http://travellingtwo.com/2718">HERE</a> to listen to it (the interview begins 4 minutes into the show).roblilwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02031193542965698878noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141437118100283932.post-21715490651645068812009-11-12T04:41:00.000-08:002009-11-12T06:58:00.640-08:00Al's Best Man speech at my weddingHere is a video of Al Humphreys,the guy I cycled through Siberia in winter with, giving the best man speech at me and Christine's wedding. (He shared the task of being best man, with my other best friend, Robin Harris). <br /><br />It is a very entertaining speech. Enjoy!<br /><br /><br /><object width="400" height="320"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7571575&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7571575&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="320"></embed></object>roblilwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02031193542965698878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141437118100283932.post-34157038107591283832009-10-21T06:05:00.000-07:002009-10-21T06:08:09.503-07:00Book out-takesIn the final stages of writing the book, I sat down with my editor in a cafe at the Tate Modern and we went through the entire thing, tightening it up, and chopping out any bits which did not add anything to the overall story<br /><br />It was quite fun in a way, but also a bit depressing when a section which I had spent hours (or days) trying to write was chopped out and thrown in the bin. Sometimes we even got rid of entire chapters (weeks of work!) with a simple stroke of the pen. But I am glad we did it, and it made the book a lot leaner and more readable in the end.<br /><br />Below are two short, notable outtakes which we axed at the last minute. <br /><br /><strong>Police in Japan [Al and I are cycling south through Hokkaido Island in Northern Japan when we have another encounter with the police].</strong><br /><br />One night, as we neared Hokkaido’s capital city, Sapporo, we could find neither a train station nor a public toilet to sleep in. We stopped and showed our new, Japanese magic letter to a restaurant owner, hoping that we would let us put our tent up in his sheltered car park. The owner ignored our request about camping and insisted we sit down and eat. The waiter brought us some slimy seafood. It tasted good though Al and I agreed that it might be better if we did not find out what it actually was. <br /><br />After eating, the restaurant owner led us outside, up a fire escape and into a warm, carpeted storage room. He said that instead of camping, we should sleep there. We accepted gratefully and bedded down on the floor once again. <br /><br />In the middle of the night I woke up needing a pee. There were no toilets here, so I put on a coat, pulled my balaclava on, and climbed down the fire escape. I relieved myself quickly in the bushes and clambered back up to bed. <br /><br />A few minutes later I was awoken again, this time by a light shining on my face. I sat up and saw a silhouette of people outside the window with a torch. I walked over to see who it was. They were in uniform, and as I woke up it dawned on me that it was the police. I opened the door and the five policemen entered apprehensively. They began to ask me questions in Japanese. I could not understand, but I guessed someone had seen me clambering up the fire escape in my balaclava and reported a break-in. I tried to explain with uncoordinated miming actions that we had been given permission to stay here. The policemen looked at me suspiciously. <br /><br />I then appealed to Al who, after all, was our official expedition Japanese speaker. Al was asleep, so I shook him. He opened his eyes and looked at the policemen staring at him. “Urrggg”, he groaned, “I am fed up with being treated like a freak-show everywhere I go”. He buried his head in his sleeping bag and went back to sleep.<br /><br />I wanted to go back to sleep myself, but I was running out of ideas. Then I remembered that the restaurant owner had given us a copy of his business card. I presented it to one of the policemen, who called the number and spoke to the manager. The situation was resolved and the policemen apologised and bowed goodnight. They gestured that in future that I should not wear my balaclava when going to the loo outside a store room as it made me look like a burglar. I agreed that they had a fair point. <br /><br /><br /><strong>Sunset at the border between India and Pakistan</strong><br /><br />The border between India and Pakistan had a history of being a place of high tension. When the two countries had been divided in the partition of 1947, massive outbreaks of violence, especially between Muslims and Hindus, had left over half a million dead. The uneasy peace of the next sixty years had been punctuated by sporadic wars. Both sides were now nuclear armed, though fortunately relations had been reasonably peaceful for a while.<br /><br />I arrived at the border just after it had closed, at 4pm. I was frustrated to be unable to enter Pakistan that day, but pleased that I could now watch the famous “lowering of the flags” ceremony which was performed here daily. A huge crowd of Indian tourists had also amassed to watch the proceedings. <br /><br />The troop of Indian soldiers who marched out into the square in front of the gate, were tall, sported gigantic moustaches and wore immaculate uniforms and enormous hats. They strutted intently back and forth giving salutes, and kicking their legs high in the air as if they were auditioning for career at The Ministry for Silly Walks. Just on the other side of the gate I could see a similar ceremony being performed by the Pakistani army. <br /><br />The crowd cheered, the gates were shut and the flags were lowered. Then calm descended on us as night arrived once more.roblilwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02031193542965698878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141437118100283932.post-23216811744291398272009-09-03T16:06:00.000-07:002009-09-03T16:09:08.617-07:00“I will” is more profound than “I do”? (More ponderings on my approaching marriage)Amidst the busyness of preparing to get married, I have been continuing to try and find a few minutes here and there to ponder on what getting married is all about. <br />I think the most profound part of the day is the vows which Christine and I will make to each other. <br />I have been trying to memorise mine, but I think I will be so nervous on the day, that I will just let the vicar prompt me. These are the vows:<br /><br />“I Rob, take you Christine<br />To be my wife<br />To have and to hold <br />From this day forward<br />For better for worse<br />For richer for poorer<br />In sickness and in health<br />To love and to cherish<br />Until death us do part<br />According to God’s holy law,<br />And this is my solemn vow”<br /><br />Wow! This is a pretty extraordinary thing to say to someone!<br /><br />The other interesting thing, is that the in the preliminary part of the vows, the vicar will say to me<br /><br />“Will you love her, comfort her, honour and protect her...?”<br /><br />I like that it is “I WILL love her”, rather than “I DO love her” – because I think marriage is about promising what we will do – and I think that although sometimes love is a feeling which comes to us easily, often, especially in the long run, it will be a choice. To keep choosing to love, to keep my heart soft, to be a blessing to her… that’s a choice that I have to make every day of my life from now on. So I pray to God for strength of heart and mind to do that.roblilwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02031193542965698878noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141437118100283932.post-21378342149059503492009-08-21T00:53:00.000-07:002009-08-21T01:01:31.561-07:00Words to think about as I prepare for marriageI'm getting married in two weeks and there is a lot to do, but also a lot to think about. I hope I can find some times to be still before the big day arrives.<br />Here are two poems and one quote that a friend sent me. <br /><br /><strong>I'll Still Be Loving You</strong><br />C. David Hay<br /><br />I'll still be loving you.<br />When your hair has turned to winter and your teeth are in a plate,<br />When your getter up and go has gone to stop and wait<br /><br />I'll still be loving you.<br />When your attributes have shifted beyond the bounds of grace, <br />I'll count your many blessings, not the wrinkles in your face <br /><br />I'll still be loving you. <br />When the crackle in your voice matches that within your knee and the times are getting frequent that you don't remember me <br /><br />I'll still be loving you. <br />Growing old is not a sin, it's something we all do. I hope you'll always understand <br />I'll still be loving you. <br /><br /><br /><strong>Captain Corelli's Mandolin</strong><br />Louis de Bernieres <br /><br />Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Those that truly love, have roots that grow towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom have fallen from their branches, they find that they are one tree and not two.<br /><br /><strong>The Invitation</strong><br />-Oriah<br /><br />It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.<br />I want to know what you ache for<br />and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.<br /><br />It doesn’t interest me how old you are.<br />I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool<br />for love<br />for your dream<br />for the adventure of being alive.<br /><br />It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...<br />I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow<br />if you have been opened by life’s betrayals<br />or have become shrivelled and closed<br />from fear of further pain.<br /><br />I want to know if you can sit with pain<br />mine or your own<br />without moving to hide it<br />or fade it<br />or fix it.<br /><br />I want to know if you can be with joy<br />mine or your own<br />if you can dance with wildness<br />and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes<br />without cautioning us<br />to be careful<br />to be realistic<br />to remember the limitations of being human.<br /><br />It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me <br />is true.<br />I want to know if you can <br />disappoint another <br />to be true to yourself.<br />If you can bear the accusation of betrayal<br />and not betray your own soul.<br />If you can be faithless<br />and therefore trustworthy.<br /><br />I want to know if you can see Beauty<br />even when it is not pretty<br />every day.<br />And if you can source your own life <br />from its presence.<br /><br />I want to know if you can live with failure<br />yours and mine<br />and still stand at the edge of the lake<br />and shout to the silver of the full moon,<br />“Yes.”<br /><br />It doesn’t interest me<br />to know where you live or how much money you have.<br />I want to know if you can get up<br />after the night of grief and despair<br />weary and bruised to the bone<br />and do what needs to be done<br />to feed the children.<br /><br />It doesn’t interest me who you know<br />or how you came to be here.<br />I want to know if you will stand<br />in the centre of the fire<br />with me<br />and not shrink back.<br /><br />It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom<br />you have studied.<br />I want to know what sustains you<br />from the inside<br />when all else falls away.<br /><br />I want to know if you can be alone <br />with yourself<br />and if you truly like the company you keep<br />in the empty moments.roblilwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02031193542965698878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141437118100283932.post-86657766456647751482009-08-19T08:00:00.000-07:002009-08-19T08:06:30.531-07:00"The slower day will never come...?"Well, I have decided to try and keep this blog updated more often from now on!<br /><br />Life seems very hectic at the moment - my book is out tomorrow (and apparently already in the shops), DVD is in mass production and almost ready... and to add to all that, I am getting married in less than 20 days!<br /><br />A few months ago, whilst in the midst of writing against a long-missed-deadline I remember thinking that "once I finish this book, I will be able to relax and life will suddenly be easy and far less busy...". However, as it turned out, I have been just as busy as ever. <br /><br />It reminds me of Rob Parson's wise saying that, however much we may persuade ourselves otherwise, we just have to accept that "the slower day will never come."roblilwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02031193542965698878noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141437118100283932.post-76230602036647847662008-09-22T13:58:00.000-07:002008-09-22T14:06:01.943-07:00Time flyingThe reason I have so rarely updated this blog is because my chiefest enemy in writing the book, in fact, seems to be the Internet!I have therefore tried (with varying degrees of success) to avoid being online as I have pressed on with writing throughout the summer. <br /><br />I read an interesting little book by Patrick Leigh Fermor the other day about the times he spent in European monasteries whilst trying to write. It was peaceful, with a simple life, and he loved it.<br /><br />I was unable to find a good monastery to visit, but instead went up to my grandmothers old house in Shropshire for a week, which was quiet and productive. But now, I am back in London, and have less than three months to finish the book as well as two or three lectures to give a week in schools. I am again, trying to persuade myself to treat this as a challenge, not a problem!roblilwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02031193542965698878noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141437118100283932.post-62979498494130283142008-07-07T04:02:00.000-07:002008-07-07T04:10:24.632-07:00A day in the life of a writer... according to Don MillerI have just finished reading Don Miller's heart warming "Blue like Jazz". His description of a writer's life made me laugh:<br /><br />“Writers don’t make any money at all. We make about a dollar. It is terrible. But then again we don’t work either. We sit around in our underwear until noon then go downstairs and make coffee, fry some eggs, read the paper, read part of a book, smell the book, wonder if perhaps we ourselves should work on our book, smell the book again, throw the book across the room because we are quite jealous that any other person wrote a book, feel terribly guilty about throwing the schmuck’s book across the room because we secretly wonder if God in heaven noticed our evil jealousy, or worse, our laziness. We then lie across the couch facedown and mumble to God to forgive us because we are secretly afraid He is going to dry up all our words because we envied another man’s stupid words. And for this, as I said before, we are paid a dollar. We are worth so much more.”<br />(Blue Like Jazz, Donald Miller, p. 187)roblilwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02031193542965698878noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4141437118100283932.post-45198120625148274742008-06-12T03:39:00.000-07:002008-06-24T04:19:39.573-07:00Lets get started...<em>"the most important things you can do in life are to plant a tree, write a book, or have a child" </em><br />- The Talmud (I think)<br /><br />Last week I received a book deal from a publisher who I really like... this was quite a surprise to me as I had been bracing myself for disappointment! I now have until November to write it and I know that the experience will be a great challenge, as well as a real privelege.<br /><br />I thought it would be interesting to keep a record of my rambling thoughts and ponderings as I set out on this new journey - please feel free to drop into this blog at any point to see how I am doing!<br /><br />I have decided to approach the book writing in the same way that I approached the bike ride - namely, to keep the following two attitudes in mind:<br /><br />1. There were many moments on the ride when "home" just felt impossibly far away... when I was stuck at the bottom of yet another Tibetan valley, or when I was stuck at the back of yet another queue for visas in a far flung embassy. But by breaking the journey down into chunks, and by just focusing on getting to the next city/country, I gradually made progress, and eventually made it home. In the same way, with the book - I will try to focus on just the next step/page/chapter/section... and so in the end, I will hopefully get through the whole thing.<br /><br />2. Everyday I was on the bike, I realised that I just had to put in the hours on the saddle - pedalling for 6 or 10 hours every day - even if the going was slow, even if the weather was bad, even if I felt tired, or fed up, or bored... and in the same way, I think I just need to put in a certain number of hours writing the book every day (with occasional days off). In this way, at the end of each day, even if the progress made has only been slight, or even if the progess has come after much struggle - nevertheless progress will still have been made.<br />As Livingstone said "I will go anywhere, so long as it is forward"!<br /><br />In any case... I had better get started!<br /><br />--<br />To see my main expedition website please go to <a href="http://www.cyclinghomefromsiberia.com/">http://www.cyclinghomefromsiberia.com/</a>roblilwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02031193542965698878noreply@blogger.com5