Skydive

Well I was supposed to complete my skydive yesterday evening, but the rain put paid to that, so bright and early this morning, I was up at the aero club getting my last minute brief before I did the jump. The weather was spot on, the sky was blue, the wind was in the right direction. It was on! Mally was the instructor who would be strapped to my back and basically offering me a lift down. It took 20 minutes to get to the Drop Zone, then we had a 7 minute hold due to "traffic". I never knew the skies above Guernsey were so busy.
All the way up the banter between the skydivers was following, as I just sat there looking at some amazing views of Guernsey. I was strapped in to Mally, then the door opened and we shuffled forward. My legs well and truly tucked under the plane, quick wave at the cameraman and we were out. AWESOME! Although the freefall only lasted about 20 - 30 seconds it was amazing. Hopefully we got some good footage for the video, and I even manged to get a 40 hand signal in. Whilst in freefall the noise was immense, but the sensation was breathtaking. Suddenly I saw the cameraman "drop" suddenly and it all went quiet. We were under the canopy. The first thing you notice is the silence, it is so peaceful under a 'chute and I had plenty of time to look around at my beautiful Island home, which lets face it, in the sun with clear blue skies is hard to beat.
It took about 6 minutes to fall to the landing area, during which time I took a turn at steering and we managed a few 360 degree turns. The that it was it, on the deck getting unstrapped. Would I recommend it? Yes 100% no question. If you get the chance... DO IT!!

4 x round the Island

On Sunday I set off at 0600 from Grandes Rocques and headed clockwise round the coast. Just over 8 hours later I left Grandes Rocques and headed clock wise to the pub!
As I cycled upto Grandes Rocques I wondered who was going to be there to cycle wit me. As I got closer I saw the tell tale twinkle of a bike light, YES!! I had company, it was Rob from work a keen cyclist and cancer survivor and the official "sat nav" thing bloke. (Click here for stats)
The first lap was probably the most enjoyable, beautiful sunrise as we got into town, and all round the Island I think we saw 3 cars in total.
On the 2nd lap it seemed like very other cyclist on the Island was going the opposite way to us, and we did see a few people more than once! The wind was hitting us side on pretty much from the Imp, to Grandes Rocques but when you turned the corner just after Port Soif the wind was head on, this must have been the worst part of the whole lap. After turning left by the Mallard, it was nice cycling until you hit the Imperial again. At the end of the 2nd lap we nipped back to mine for a water bottle refill, and some much needed food. We only stopped for about 10 minutes but the rest was well worth it.
Lap 3 has sort of disappeared into a blur, as it was no different to the first 2 apart from at the end we both commented that it was starting to hurt now! Then there we were onto the last lap.
This was probably the most eventful lap, as Rob and I lost each other, Rob went for a pit stop at Bordeaux, I carried on thinking he would catch me up quite quickly. After a while I thought it was strange Rob hadn't come by. Got into town, still no Rob, then my phone rang. "Oh Rob's not sure where I am" I thought, no it was Martin wondering where I was and how I was doing. I arranged to meet Martin for the last leg, but still no Rob. "OK I thought I'll get to the top of Val de Terres and then give him a ring" As I was walking up my phone rang again, this time it was Rob, I explained where I would wait for him and on I went. When Rob caught up with me, it turned out he didn't think I could have been that far ahead after Bordeaux so had turned back to try and find me!! Cheeky get :-)
As we headed North from the Imperial, Martin came round the corner, bless him he had bought water, jelly babies and other goodies with him, and he cycled the last leg with us. We passed Grandes Rocques and headed straight to the Hoummet Tavern. We got into the car park, stepped off our bikes and both just looked at each other, we'd done it!! Martin then did the honours and got the beer.
Thanks Rob for supporting me that day, and cheers Martin for the last 20 minutes and the next 3 pints.
After the beer I had to head up to the Aero Club for my safety briefing for the skydive I was hoping to do Tuesday night. Unfortunately........no wait that can wait for the next post.

Remember folks this is all for charity so if you could spare a couple of quid please go to www.justgiving.com/dean-cooper/ and help to make a difference. Thanks for stopping by.

Sunday 5th September

I'm off on a little bike ride on Sunday, 4 times round Guernsey + a little bit more = 100miles. Aiming for to complete it in around 8 hours. Starting from Grandes Rocques (bus stop) at 0600, heading clockwise round. Aim to be at the bridge for 0630, town 0645 then 2 hour laps. Finish at the Hoummet Tavern.

If you're on the Island and on your bike, feel free to tag along, or give me a shout as you pass.

Update to follow

BBC Radio Guernsey

After the article was published in the local paper, I got a phone call "challenging" me to appear on local radio, BBC Radio Guernsey. Although I was only on for about 20 minutes, it was enjoyable and with a bit of luck more people heard about the 40 / 40 Challenge. It was part of a bigger show called "Interesting places, interesting people" so not quite sure why I was invited on :-)
A general conversation about where the idea came from, and how it all started and how I used Facebook, and this blog to spread the word and get the challenges together. There was mention of catching up with me again later on in the year and a request was put out for any other challenges which listeners could have. I managed to catch one phone call where someone challenged me to appear as a speaker for the WI. I'm up for that !! I've already emailed the local section, so lets see what happens with that one. And another challenge was to challenge the Island to do a challenge. So maybe the mass swim on New Year's Eve to close the challenge may go ahead. Anyway that's it for now. Thanks for stopping by

On the radio

After the article was printed in the press I got a phone call from the BBC. They want to do an interview with me. So on Friday 3rd September between 10am - 11am I will be on BBC Radio Guernsey. Tune in folks :-)

Guernsey Press

Well hopefully you've read the Guernsey Press and that's why you're here. THANK YOU.

Looking forward to see what the Press readers challenge me to do.

Enjoy the blog and thanks for stopping by