Cycling to Copenhagen

You Tube Footage Of The Ride

2009-12-15T10:49:00.003Z

Watch the bike riders cycling their way over to the Copenhagen on YOU TUBE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_jXgiuA6Pc

The Arrival

2009-12-15T09:23:00.002Z

Our final morning was marked by light clouds and fierce North Easterly wind. The route was a little more complicated than previous days and I navigated carefully only to arrive at our coffee stop 20 minutes ahead of everybody. (This included me over shooting a turn by 500m and stopping to take a photo of some swans on the salt lakes as we took a cycle path up the coast.) I was just about to set off for the home stretch into Copenhagen when we were informed that our route into the city was blocked by police. We took the main roads instead and arrived late for our grand entrance. People did cheer us on and there was a small crowd to greet us as we arrived at the Cathedral square. The police had apparently moved on a sizable crowd, but the Archbishop of Canterbury was in among the few who remained. I then made a quick change into my marching outfit. We joined the coach loads of Christian Aid campaigners at the main march. It was a diverse mix of campaigning groups including a very vocal bunch of students calling for nothing short of revolution. The anarchists passed by and probably made up the bulk of the reported 300 arrests later in the afternoon. One of our group was on hand and described how the police moved in on a specific group while informing the other marchers that they were acting to keep them safe. As darkness fell the temperatures dropped and we didn't make it to the Bella Centre where the talks are being held. Sunday morning was marked by a symbolic handing over of some half a million petitions calling for climate justice. We had noone less than Archbishop Desmond Tutu handing them over to the UNFCCC chief. This was shortly followed by the ecumenical service in the Cathedral. We queued up in the cold with several hundred others while hordes of dignitaries were channelled in front of us. I had a seat right at the back with a big TV camera behind my shoulder. The format and choice of hymns was very good. The Queen of Denmark arrived along with some politicians but they were all sidelined by the church leaders taking part. Archbishop Rowan gave the address entitled "Love conquers all fear". It was simple and effective. The highlight for me was a choir from Greenland. This reminded me that Climate Change is very much a reality for the Danish in remote parts of their nation.

Letter of Solidarity Delivered

2009-12-14T11:43:00.006Z

Ben hands over a letter of solidarity from President of the Methodist Church in Britain, to Golam Rabbani, from Climate Action Network in Bangladesh: http://tinyurl.com/ycfqrfz (The pictures of Golam and Ben were taken this morning.) Here is what Revd David Gamble, President of the Methodist Church in Britain, wrote in the letter: Dear Golam, As world leaders meet this week in Copenhagen to discuss the action they will take on one of the most pressing moral issues of our time, I write to express the solidarity of the Methodist Church in Britain with the people of Bangladesh. Your country has already endured the suffering of extreme weather conditions. Church leaders along with many Christian people joined other concerned organisations and individuals in a very well supported and publicised demonstration of concern on Saturday 6th December, when more than 40,000 people took to the streets of London. During that afternoon, representatives met with our Prime Minister and the Government minister who is taking the lead on this issue at Copenhagen. The demonstration was preceded by a service in Westminster Methodist Central Hall, attended by around 2,000 people. At this service we heard first hand from Umme Kulsum (Prodipan, Bangladesh) about what is already happening in your country. She confirmed what we have already read in media reports stating that climate change experts are aware that Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change. We continue to hold the people of Bangladesh in our prayers as we take actions to change our own lives, as individuals and as churches. May your work continue to help contribute towards a sustainable future. Yours sincerely, Revd David Gamble President of the Methodist Church in Britain.

A Biting Wind

2009-12-14T09:23:00.000Z

It was still dark when we gathered for our second day of cycling. The front of the hotel was a blaze of fluorescent jackets as other guests came down for breakfast. The previous evening had given us some maintenance time on our bikes followed by a fun group time. This included a quiz which much to my team's shock, we won! The rain subsided overnight and it was just a question of how cold the wind was going be. It was distinctly colder that our cycling through suffolk and essex. It ranged between 3 and 6 degrees C depending on whether we were in the open countryside and the towns. The wind was almost in our faces, a biting North Easterly. We were straight into the countryside our route initially took us over gentle hills with few hedges. After our first pit stop we cycled through the centre of Odense. Despite it being a large urban area the cycle paths rapidly conveyed us though to our lunch stop at a church on the other side. My morning had been jaded by a pair of punctures. Thankfully one of the support team stayed behind to keep me company. It cost us almost half an hour, but we made good progress and caught up the back markers. The last stint was the most gruelling. The wind had picked up and the temperature was dropping. Three of us teamed up and made good progress sheltering behind each other. Again coming into the finish we took a wrong turn. With the insurmountable obstacle of a railway line, we were able to find our whereabouts on the and correct our error. To our surprise we arrived first of all the cyclists including those who had left early from lunch. As the last bike was being loaded onto the van, the sleet started to fall. In the relative warmth of the minibuses we transferred to our hostel for the night.

Safely to Harwich

2009-12-10T15:55:00.007Z

Following the briefing and some group photos, we set off from Stansted at 8.30am. The first two hours were at a modest pace and from our bikes we introduced ourselves. The group came from all over the Great Britain. But if anything, I think I have identified a Westcountry bias to the group. Much to our delight there were elements of a cooked breakfast at our first pit stop. I was very pleased to have arrived 4th and thereforenot last. Before the muscles seized up we were back on the trail. The route not only came in a compact book but was also marked with bright yellow arrows. One group, overshot a turn and sadly missed the first break. (They've been referring to themselves as 'the breakaway group') But I caught them up and refrained from telling them about all the things they had missed out on. Everybody safely made it to lunch in the car park next to Dedham Mill. The beauty spot known from a number of John Constable paintings. There was one puncture and one split tyre amongst the group during the morning. An unnamed individual did fall off their bike, but they were apparently stationary at the time! The last 15 miles involved more of the long medium-gradient hills, but always rewarded by a speedy bit of coasting afterwards. I was cycling on my own for much of the afternoon and this gave me time to muse on how the countryside has changed since Constable painted his famous Haywain. I was just thinking about the lack of horse drawn transport that makes the central subject of this picture when around the corner came this horse and trap. The approach to the dockside meant going into central Harwich. I hadn't consulted my map and following me nose, arrived in Old Harwich, the old port with a stone lighthouse. With no ferry in sight, I knew I had made a wrong turn. In fact I had overshot the terminal by well over a mile and had just strayed off my printed map. Doubling back, I soon found my way to the rendezvous. Having stowed our bikes, we checked in for the ferry. Though there were police at the customs area, none of our group were identified as troublesome elements and we were able to get showered and fed for an early night in our cosy cabins.

The packing is done

2009-12-08T21:48:00.002Z

There is always a time for talking, but now it's time for the action!

I have finished the packing. There were some hard choices between the sensible cycling gear and my rather bulky creature comforts. Everything looks in place and all I have to do is wake up on time. A staggering 4.45am to get to the start on time. The good news is that my bike is in good shape having been serviced over the weekend. The uncertainty is how good a shape am I? I think the first day won't be too punishing and we'll have time to recover on the ferry. That's assuming we aren't tossed around in stormy seas.

I have looked at the weather, and the MET office guys have given some rather positive projections on what to expect. Cloudy tomorrow, but for our big day of cycling on Friday, some calm, clear and crisp anticyclone winter glory!

All I have to do is get a good night's sleep and then get on my bike!

The Wave

2009-12-06T14:24:00.014Z

The Wave yesterday was a great day out. It all started off with a simple ecumenical service in Central Hall Westminster. The hall itself was at full capacity and several hundred were prevented from joining the 2000+ people inside. After the service folks headed up to the start point in Grosvenor Square. With everybody spread around the edge, it wasn't easy to get an idea how large the march was. Leading the way was an open-topped campaign bus with a girl leading some chants. I would like to say she was doing a great job, but her voice was getting hoarse and it was actually quite abrasive. (maybe that's the point?) I decided to stay quite mobile and managed to find the Methodist President and Vice President near the front. The march drew to a close around Parliament, but on both sides of the river. Once this giant loop had been brought together I decided to track down some of my friends. As they were near the back I headed towards the start point on my bike only to find the end of the march was still over a mile away, outside Fortnum & Mason on Piccadilly. That's impressive! With my event manager hat on, I estimated over 50,000, so it was a little frustrating to have the figure of 20,000 quoted by the police. (I am guessing they didn't want to admit that they only prepared for that number, and a few more turned up.) And just to remind us what we were marching for, at 4pm it started to rain. I have to confess I took cover in a pub, where I found a warming drink and a mince pie.

When is the time to compromise

2009-12-03T12:15:00.005Z

This morning various news sources have been quoting a scientist who wants Copenhagen to fail. He has said the starting point for negotiations is so far short of the mark that it would be better for the planet not to arrive at a deal. To be honest my first thought was, 'that's why scientists hang out in clean labs and politicians do the dirty business of politicking in some convention corridor.' The scientist is right is saying there needs to be radical change, but as soon as you use a word like 'radical' it's amazing how many folks batten down the hatches and wait for ideological storm to pass by. Whatever the outcome in Copenhagen, some people aren't going to be happy campers. There's lots of money to be lost. It's going to cost us all somewhere down the line. We all know there will be winners and losers in Copenhagen. My hope if for the vulnerable poor to be the winners. I wouldn't like to speculate on the losers, but it's probably only going to work if those who have been plundering take the hit. Their way of doing things has to be left behind in the a new low-carbon age.

The Order of Things

2009-11-27T12:30:00.006Z

Up until this point I have been trusting the organisers from Christian Aid with the running order (or cycling order). However I spotted amongst the blurb the comment 'you will have some free time' which has inspired me to read what information I do have in a little more detail. Thus working out where I am going to be when. The first shock is that we are not leaving from London, we are in fact leaving from Stansted Airport. It looks like the airport have successfully convinced the organisers that it is part of London. 'Commuter belt' maybe, but London, certainly not! Part of the grumbling on my part is that I'll have to get from home in London to Stansted Airport for 7.30am in the morning, then cycle all day. I can already see a need for a serious coffee investment. We're cycling the on the first day to Harwich. That's in Essex, not Suffolk as some people have been trying to convince me. The second day is mostly spent on the M.S. Dana Sirena, a less the luxurious ferry. We arrive too late in the day to do any cycling, so it is straight to the hotel to psyche up for a full day of cycling on day three. Day four (that's Saturday, as we didn't cross the international date line on ferry) we cycle into Copenhagen and join the campaigners heading to the COP 15 conference centre.

The Sunday we'll meet some of the Danish Christian campaigners. And the Monday is free time to 'see the sights of Copenhagen'. Tuesday we set off home and leave the politicians to get the job polished off. By the time I get home on Wednesday afternoon, I hope to see the Beeb reporting some monumental and positive outcomes from the summit.

Carlisle Floods 2005

2009-11-24T12:52:00.004Z

As Cumbria is in the news, I thought I'd show you what it's like to have your home flooded. We saved almost everything except some IKEA furniture and an old piano.

Punctures and Preparations

2009-11-23T14:39:00.004Z

I could put together a series of hints that indicate a regimented training schedule is underway. Sadly this isn't the case. As I cycle almost every day, I am trying to take a well-paced and calm attitude in the pre-match. Physically, things aren't looking 100%. The physio has told me to take things easy for a few days. (I am always ready to hear that kind of medical advise.) On the up side, if I continue to eat a controlled training diet, I am going to need to start wearing a belt with my work trousers. So here's the diet. Breakfast is a home made muesli made with oats, rye, barley, mixes seeds, roasted hazel nuts and wheat germ. No sugar, but a few raisins. Lunch is a protein rich, low fat soup. Dinner - well that's where things are slipping. I've been quite busy in the evenings and the food on offer is invariably pasta and some Bolognese sauce, often accompanied by a token amount of salad (not that I don't like salad, it's just the host doesn't leave space on my plate for its inclusion; that's the problem!) Part of my preparations involve pulling together a few bits of specialist gear. It is one thing cycling at break-neck speed for 20-40 minutes in the city. It's a whole different ball game if you are out in the exposed countryside in a winter squall. Two weeks ago emphasised this when I got caught in very heavy rain just a couple of miles from home. I was wearing jeans, so those were like a sponge, but I discovered my gloves aren't waterproof and if there are two extremities that are going to get cold, it will be my feet and my hands. This weekend wasn't much better. Not only was it wet but I got my first puncture with my current bike. That's over 2000 miles of cycling without a puncture! Not to be grumbled at. It all happened on a horribly busy junction at Vauxhall in South London. Thankfully I managed to find a bright, dry and surprisingly warm bit of overhang, just next to the ventilation units on a large block of flats. At least I think it was a block of flats. They did have security and I managed to find myself nicely obscured from the sight of two CCTV cameras. And before you ask; no, it wasn't the MI6 building. The offending item was a large piece of brown glass. Had it been something more precious and not glass, it might have weighed in at around 10 carats. I wasn't overly surprised. The road surfaces in Lambeth are terrible, even without the smashed bottles. Anyway, I was only delayed for 20minutes (a rather slow repair) and then back on my way. Experienced cyclists are always telling me you are likely to get a puncture on wet days. At first I thought this was just them remembering more readily this form of compound misery, however it turns out that the water makes the rubber in your tyres softer and therefore easier to pierce.

An evening with the scientist

2009-11-20T08:15:00.012Z

Last night I was out in the West End, not at some glitzy show but at an event with the former chair of the IPCC. (That's the international panel of climate scientists. The bods who did all the number crunching that's enabled us to clearly say "Climate Change is happening!") The chap's name is Sir John Houghton, and he delivered a very concise presentation to a mostly Christian audience. He had a few graphs, but his best was saved for some scary dead-pan predictions of the consequences of inaction. He didn't beat around the bush, this is some serious stuff. One of his points was the recent unprecedented European heatwave in 2003 where upwards of 20,000 people died prematurely as a result of the 40C+ temperatures. Being something I experienced and remember, it was alarming to have this highlighted. My memories of that hot summer center on being able to swim in normally ice-cold lakes and rivers of Cumbria. I wasn't thinking of people dying of heat exhaustion. It was also not more than a year and a half later, in January 2005, that we had the extreme flooding in the centre of Carlisle. Something, seen firsthand, I would definately class as an extreme weather event. I remember quite vividly the destruction, the cleanup and the effect it had on many of my friends, some of whom were out of their homes for almost a year. On that occasion some 3000 people were forced out of their houses and flats. These memories struck a real cord with what the stats Sir John was quoting. He gave figures in the tens of millions for people being forced to move due to sea level rise and extreme weather events. The presentation was followed by questions to a panel which included two other Climate Change specialists. One was "what career should I do if your passionate about Climate Change". All I could think was "not event management". Despite the scary predictions it was an insightful event. My evening came to the end with a Scandinavian chap bending my ear on a research project, measuring rates of collapse in some part of the Greenland icecap. A little random to say the least. I am convinced that he only came to me because I was wearing a suit. Note to self - don't wear a suit to Climate Change events.

The Commute Home

2009-11-19T09:00:00.002Z

My poor bike

2009-11-17T08:54:00.006Z

You know when you have done something wrong, you have that terrible feeling, that you are not sure your actions can really make up for your negligence. The last couple of days my back brakes on my trusted commuting bike have been making a strange clonking sound. I only just got around to investigating what the cause was. It's not good, the brake pads had worn down to the metal and I've been trying to brake by lathing my rear rim. If this means nothing to you, then you are probably in the majority camp that don't do cycle maintenance. You, like me, believe it's one thing getting your hands dirty, it's a whole different matter spending as much time trying to remove the grime from your paws as it's taken to perform the task.

Running late for work, I thought, as an act of restitution I would stop by the local bike shop to pick some new pads. Little did I know that the guys there were ready not only to sell me the aforementioned items, but also to be judge and jury. Not only did they tell me off for the state of my wheel rims, but then proceeded to give me stick about my tyre pressures, seat post and chain before sending me on my way.

I took the lecture in good spirit and was glad that they inflated my woefully saggy tyres to a pressure that means I can feel every pencil-thin crack in the road. There is the added speed, but seriously feels like a bad Thai massage when I had gone over the Paddington Station cobbles.

Lesson learnt, I must look after the trusted steed.

My Commute to work

2009-11-15T17:50:00.001Z

I'm signed up, it's official

2009-11-14T12:36:00.004Z

Hi, and welcome to my world of the Climate Change Cycle Ride. It's an exciting thing to think that in one month I will be on the streets of Copenhagen, giving the world's politicians my backing to a comprehensive and compelling global agreement. Not just something on paper, but something actually binding. Something that is going to reduce global carbon dioxide and the other emissions that are already causing weather havoc around the world.

"So" you might ask "how did this all come about?"

Very good question. I'm a pragmatic kind-of fellow and having understood a little about advocacy and campaigning as part of my time working at an international relief and development charity, I thought it was right to offer my time and enjoyment of cycling to the cause.

I think we can all see that I couldn't exactly justify flying out to Copenhagen for the COP15 event. It was for this reason that my employers The Methodist Church of Great Britain had been put off sending a representative. So I offered myself and teamed up with Christian Aid who have pooled together 30 or so other passionate folks to cycle there as well.

I do think the time is now, I do think it will be hard to implement, I do have hope that there is going to be the political will to sign on the dotted line, and I know that people are already suffering and dying because we haven't already acted decisively on this.