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

August. What a month!!

August is over and the summer is coming to an end, but the challenges keep coming and going. 8 Challenges have been completed this month, which is almost as many as I did in the previous 7 months! So quick run down on the stats; 17 challenges completed, 4 in progress, 7 with arranged dates and I'm still 2 challenges short. Pressure sis on, but I'm sure I'll complete the 40 /40.

So where do I start? I suppose the Havelet Traverse is the best place, as this challenge was completed on 1st August. This is the only challenge that I knew I would not be able to complete, as it is a brutal traverse from Castle Cornet climbing along the wall down to the slipway at Havelet, and takes an average of 2 hours. My climbing arms are just not up to it. Which it is the only challenge which is labeled as "Attempt..." However I did manage to raise £45 as I had bets with a couple of people at £1 per metre. My first attempt was a respectable 20 - 25 metres, but I tried it again a week later and managed about 80 metres, unfortunatley I did not have time to carry on as I had managed to double book myself onto the Herm Fun Run.

In between my attempts at Havelet I felt good enough to attempt another climbing challenge, which was to "climb an E1 before the end of summer" I decided to do "Smear Test" at Pembroke. Next time you're down there walk around past the beach cafe, upto the car park next to the loophole tower. Then look over to Fort Pembroke, you should see the near vertical wall? That's the climb! As it is so blank, unfortunately you have to climb it without ropes, but lots of mats to slide down onto! Visit the Guernsey Mountaineering Club website for more details.

Anyway back to the Herm fun run, or the "Herm Run" as I noticed it was called this year, trust me to enter the year they took fun out of the title. My goal..... not finish last. And I didn't :-)
Start at the Harbour, down to Rousse, turn left up the steps onto the cliff path, down to Shell Beach, across the common, past the Mermaid (c'mon I had to run PAST the Mermaid) down to the harbour. My time was 33 minutes. My time in the pub afterwards was probably 99 minutes.

Next up was my scarecrow, Dave, ready for the Torteval Scarecrow weekend. The original plan was to have a hitch-hiking scarecrow and put it on the grass at Grandes Rocques and see how far up to Torteval it would go. Unfortunately as I was moving it, his arm fell off, and one of his feet. As the challenge was to "Build a scarecrow" I planted him in my back garden and the person who set the challenge came round and agreed I had past it. So another one down.

Back in January I emailed Oddsocks, and explained what I was planning for this year, and asked if there was any way I could get a part in A Midsummer Night's Dream when they came to Castle Cornet. I got an immediate reply saying yes, not a problem. I kept in touch with them throughout the year, and when I went to see the play introduced myself to Andy. What a nice bloke. We sorted out where I would be sitting and when the time came for a volunteer I was picked out of the auidence. At first I was a little disappointed as I was only up for a couple of minutes and it seemed like an anti-climax to the challenge. However was I in for a surprise. Just after the interval I was called upon again for my starring role. Now I'm not sure if you know the play but there is a scene 2 of the characters kiss through a crack in the wall. Guess who played the wall, and my 2 fingers were the crack. I had a "wall costume", and was left on my own in the middle of the stage area for what seemed like ages. Then the kiss. Both of the actors were basically licking my fingers, I know it sounds gross but it was hilarious, and when Andy looked me straight in the eye and said "How's that for a challenge?" I pretty much cracked up. Thanks guys.

Whislt all of this was going on I was cycling to work for 40 days, nothing really much to say about this except there is something quite liberating about cycling to work. Weird really.

Last week another 2 challenges hit the dust in pretty dramatic style. The first was "Exhibit vegetables at the North Show", the original plan was to grow chillies, but wth the house move unfortunately they died on me. Fortunately I had a backup plan. Radishes! And what wonderfull radishes they were, it seems a shame that I got beat by a bale of hay! All joking aside well done to everyone who entered and won at the North Show. I'll have you next year, possibly.

And onto the last challenge of August, and the reason why (hopefully) a lot more people are reading this. The Man Powered Flight @ the Harbour Carnival. What can I say, I came, I jumped, I got wet. I had a great night and the prize money was a great boost to Cancer Research. I do plan, but I always so that, to update the blog more frequently but with so many challenges happenign in August I really didn't have the time. Please come back and follow me in the last 4 months of 2010 as I attempt the 40 / 40 Challenge. Who knows maybe we can have a big beach party on New Year's eve and a mass swim to close the challenge. Hey maybe we could even get the press down. I wonder if I could get 40 people to join me on New Year's eve for the last of my challenges. There's an idea, or maybe even a challenge. :-) Thanks for stopping by.