A sporty weekend

I had the weekend of the 27/28th bookmarked in my diary for at least a month. Not normally a busy weekend of sport, yet there we were. England were to take on Ireland in the RBS 6 Nations at Twickenham and Aston Villa would take on Manchester United at Wembley on the sunday in the Carling Cup final.

Interspersed between those sporting events was my weekly training ride on a sunday morning. The bike had been prepped the night before and so I was able to inch my way out the door for a quick get away at 7.30am. I perhaps should have checked the weather forecast, but as they rarely get it right I proceeded onwards. Earlier in the week they had predicted snow for cyring out loud, I mean snow, as if.

Lately, I have been very undecided in my cycling attire. Before the purchase of my 'summer' Altura cycling tights I was happy with my tracksuit trousers and football socks to stop them flapping around, but I decided to invest £15 and at least look the part. My dilemma comes with the number of layers I wear. Usually I wear at least 3 and if it's raining I'll wear my Hi-Viz coat. The only thing is, is that it is a coat, it's not a windproof jacket, it's designed to keep you warm, but it's pretty thick and so not really great for cycling.

So, as it wasn't raining, I got on the bike with just my 3 layers. I was meeting the boys at the top of the hill, ten minutes on the bike. As I got there, I was early for a change, the rain had started to come, lightly at first with a few odd sprinklings of sleet. When the boys arrived it was raining so we decided that we'd do a shorter route and keep it fairly local. Well, the rain didn't hold off and I got wet and cold. If I had the right gear I would have been fine, but no, cycling in the rain when it's particularly cold and windy is no fun. The last leg I missed out Cape Hill (purely by accident of course) as Ian and I chatted the whole way back to take our minds off it.

A quick shower and a cup of tea later and it was sunny as anything wasn't it. In fact I got home and the wife said "It's not raining is it?"

Last year I watched the Ireland v England game at Melanie's. I used to work with her and she's a very good friend. She's also from Northern Ireland (close to where they make Bushmills, so an excellent friend to have). This year we again met up to watch the game and basically scream at the telly.

Of course, I say England played. I'm amazed that 7 years after Jonny Wilkinson kicked a drop goal to win us the World Cup that we're still discussing him as the fulcrum of the England team. I have to say, I am qutie confused by how after playing so few games i nthose 6 to 7 years that England are still a team with no clues or ideas how to play other than giving the bal lto Jonny. On his day he was the best in the world. But he's had his day and the England team should be looking at other options. And by other options I mean other tactics and other styles of place, not just looking for a replacement Jonny Wilkinson.

I mean we had so much possesion against Ireland, but looked toothless. Looking back, I can't think of many opportunties we created. I hope that Martin Johnson can be given the time to work it out, but against France and Scotland we've now got to look at fresher options.

Of course that was followed by the dissapointment of Aston Villa losing the Carling Cup final 2-1 to Man Utd. I can't really complain at the scoreline, man for man we weren't good enough, I think Fergie got his tactics spot on, as did Martin O'Neill but I'm afraid players like Ashley Young, Stewart Downing and Emile Heskey really needed to step up and show their quality, which I don't think they did.

But I don't sulk about these things, I hope Villa's season kicks on and they don't dwell on this as 4th place is still up for grabs as is a place in the FA Cup final.

Maiden Century

At the end of 2009 I started getting on my road bike again, poor thing hadn't seen the light of day for about a year. Of course, it was typically good timing, just as it started getting cold, dark and wet.

And amidst those dark days I said to my brother in-law, I reckon we should do a long ride. Of course, there aren't too many crazy people that do long rides in winter (thank goodness, as I was ill prepared as it was) but we both looked at the Action 100 and thought as it was in March, that would be a good time to have trained and be ready for it.

Well, we're about 5 weeks away and I'm a little behind in my training, but we're still going for it. Last sunday saw a group of 5 of us; Des, Ian, Darren, Rob and myself take off from the top of Mucklow's Hill in Quinton/Halesowen and head towards Rubery. About 20 miles in all.

We did ok, we were back within a couple of hours, the roads weren't the best we could have picked and we all had various teething problems riding as a group. We're hoping to get out this weekend, but I'm looking at the sleet and snow outside thinking that may very well not happen. But let's face it, time is running out and I need to clock up at least a few long rides, so fingers crossed, and if anyone runs a babysitting service, could you get in touch as my family's schedule is crazy right now!

Antic's galore

Previously on Andy K's Antics...A bike ride in December in a Santa suit, a bbq in depths of winter in January and various other crazy capers.

What of today's installment? What is on the horizon? Currently, I have 4 events on the go, which miraculously I'm nmanaging to keep a top of (although, I could easily drop in to a panic any time now)

First up, Guitar Hero night @ Varsity Bar, Harborne on February 25th. I'll admit it, I came up with the concept of this event without even playing Guitar Hero, but I now have a copy and tomorrow will be spending my day trying to figure it all out and how to run the actual event...if anyone's got tips, make sure you tell me. And if you're local head on over. http://focusbirmingham.org.uk/events/guitar_hero_gig


March will herald a world's first, ok, possibly just Birmingham's. A fundraising Geocache event. If you don't know what geocaching is then head over to who will do a far better job than I at explaining it. March 20th, Lickey Hills, it'll be fun and probably raining. The Big Search

Once those monster events are out of the way I have a personal task to accomplish which we shall review later.

April sees Team M & C (Maria and Christian) take on the first installment of their marathon challenge at the Virgin London Marathon, they'll complete the challenge on June 16th in Norway at the Midnight Sun Marathon in Tromso, Norway. If you're inspired by their antics you can donate at their Just Giving page or follow their progress at their blog and their Twitter Feed


The last day of Aprill, the 30th will be our Wear Bright for Sight day, so people of Birmingham, wear something bright and donate a gold coin, check out the Focus Birmingham events page for more info.

To supplement wearing bright for sight, I'm looking at organising a free bike ride from our Harborne office to our residential homes in Selly Oak and Erdington before finishing at Victoria Square outside the Council House.

June we might tackle the sponsored walk, but I haven't thought far enough ahead for that, hoping to spend some money on it and turn it in to a bit of an extravaganza, stay posted.

Now, this personal challenge...