Cakes

We are having a cake sale at the heart of the campus of Sheffield hallam. We will be here until 3 so come on down! Lots of beautifully home made cakes available.

Training weekend #1 report

The group assembled for our first training weekend on what was a deceptively mild Sheffield on a Friday evening. We got to see each other’s expedition bicycles, some of which had only recently been acquired – Ben’s bike had been brought up from London on the train with Troy only two days before! In order to re-create the daily life we will be living on expedition, our first stop was at Tesco where we split into smaller groups and stocked up on three days of food on a budget. Unfortunately Ben’s bike, which had already been serviced with new gears the day before, suffered a ever so slight problem in that one of the pedals had fallen off. This provided an early test of Adam’s bike mechanics as the pedals thread had completely worn away. Eventually, just as a few drops of rain could be felt, Adam was able to secure the pedal back in. But how long would it last?

 We then proceeded to head out of Sheffield into the Peak District in what was pretty much a reverse of the originally planned route. This was partly due to the realisation that parts of the Pennine Trail would not be suitable for touring bikes. Continuing the theme of reversals we had a very early pub stop at The Fox House. By now the rain had been falling at a steady rate so that when we had finished the ascent out of Sheffield we were thoroughly soaked as we went to the pub for a quick pre-dinner drink. Although we had dried off somewhat, after a couple of minutes outside again we were once again suitably drenched as we pushed our bikes off road into a wooded area not far from the pub. By now we were into the early hours of the morning as each ‘food group’ hurriedly made dinner before retiring to the tents for the night. 

The next morning we were up early for breakfast and conveniently the overnight rain had pretty much completed the washing up from the previous dinner. We had a quick group meeting to reflect on the weekend so far before leaving the campsite group by group in the direction of the next rendezvous point. RV points will be used when we navigate on the expedition so it was important to get into the practice of using them! We headed further out across the Peak District in the direction of Manchester and we hadn’t travelled much further than the small town of Hope when Ben’s pedal came off again halfway up a long ascent. The wind was blowing very strongly at the top of the hill we were on so we free-wheeled down to seek a bit more shelter in a car park and attempt to repair Ben’s bike. Unfortunately there wasn’t much else to be done without the proper parts so Adam and Ben had to head back into Hope in the *cough* hope of getting parts from a local bike shop. It turned out that Ben needed to go back into Sheffield to get his bike sorted and so the plan was for Ben and Adam to meet us later on in the day in Glossop train station. 

A few hours later the group minus Ben and Adam reached the RV point of Glossop train station. A quick phone call later and we were made aware that a horse on the train track was delaying the service from Sheffield for several hours. We then decided to head North out of Glossop towards the A628 to set up camp whilst it was light and wait for Ben and Adam there. Unfortunately Troy could only get a few days off work and had to be back in London on the Sunday so it was at Glossop that we had to part ways. Troy’s exit was typical of him – he checked multiple times which road he had to follow all the way into Sheffield until he (and we) thought he had it clear in his head. This is Troy we were dealing with however and he comically took the first wrong turn he could possibly have taken. We waited a few seconds preparing to humour his joke but he did not re-appear prompting James to have to chase after him and send him on his way back to Sheffield via Snake Pass.

We followed a beautiful winding road out of Glossop that hugged the side of a hill with a drop to one side leading to a reservoir. The reflection of the sunset was beautiful and the skies were clear for probably the first time since we had left. After much deliberation over where to pitch our tents we finally decided on pitching behind an old abandoned house just off the A628. We did look to see if it was possible to spend the night inside but the only unlocked door led into a room filled with old sinks which was less than helpful. The group then cooked dinner before heading into the tents with the plan to wake up at 23:00 to take it in turns to head back to the main road to flag down Adam and Ben who would finally be re-joining us. Alex and James were able to bring them to the camp and re-heat some food for them and although a few hours previously it had looked unlikely, the whole group (minus Troy) slept in the same place on the Saturday night. I guess it’s a good job that we are cycling and won’t be getting the train to Morocco on that day’s evidence!

After a day and a bit of riding I probably wasn’t the only one who was expecting the going to be tougher on the Sunday. It soon became apparent however that actually after a decent night’s sleep we were all fully recharged and able to make very good progress on the Sunday. Heading East along the A628 we kept a very reasonable pace before heading South through some smaller B roads to join the Snake Pass back into Sheffield. These smaller roads were great practice for our hill climbing as there were a series of steep sided valleys that we had to roll down one side and climb back up the other. To give an idea of how steep some bits of these were – there was one person we encountered also out cycling who had stopped on a descent as he needed to let his rims cool where his brakes had been overheating and were consequently smoking! 

We arrived back in Sheffield at approximately 15:00 where we took the opportunity to take a few group photos as well as review the weekend. It was really encouraging to see morale remain high throughout the whole weekend despite having some terrible weather. On the Sunday morning when we got out our tents to the miserable grey sky and drizzling rain James reminded everyone that the day is what you make of it and regardless of external factors, it’s down to you if you enjoy yourself. Truer words could not have been spoken. 

Bring on the next training weekend!

A great weekend

We made great time today and were back in Sheffield at around 15:00 after travelling across from the other side of The Peak District. Morale remained high for the course of the weekend and this was very evident in our final review before going separate ways late this afternoon. I can report that Troy did in fact make a train on time but unfortunately for him, the train he caught was for Derby and not London. Ben and Adam both made it safely back to camp last night which was pretty good going.

We next meet on Wednesday to discuss fundraising ideas, so if any of you blog followers have your own great ideas, let us know on the comments secton below - all help is appreciated! A more thorough overview of the weekend will follow, but currently I (and I assume the rest of the group are too) am shattered so this will have to wait... As if this isn't enough to look forward to, there will also be more pictures of our beautiful faces and some photos of our even more beautiful bicycles.

Bed time

Well we are coming to the end of what has been a rather eventful day. The full stories are going to have to wait until after this weekend as I'm confined to using a mobile for these updates. Most of the group is now camped by an abandoned house just off a track the other side of glossop. Troy had to leave early due to work tomorrow but whether or not he made it back through snakes pass on time for his train isn't known. Unfortunately Ben had trouble with his pedal and had to take the bike back to Sheffield for parts. Currently Adam is waiting for him at glossop station where he is expected in at 11. We will be putting 2 people out at the end of the track from about half 11 on a rotational basis so they can find us. I guess this means its not quite good night for the group, but we shall hopefully all wake up ready to return to Sheffield in the morning.

First day

A complete change of route has left us camping in some woods not far from The Fox House pub and slowly the group is emerging from tents after what was a slight improvement on the first nights sleep from selection weekend - 5 hours sleep. We had a lot of rain most of yesterday evening and last night so there will be plenty of wet saddles today. And don't forget... teamwork, makes the dreamwork. James is getting a fair amount of stick after coming out with that quote in the pub stop yesterday evening.  A lack of signal means this blog post may be up late, so just for the record, its 7:30am

First Training Weekend

The first training weekend is upon us and it looks like we're going to be more fortunate with the weather when compared to all the snow we had back in December for the selection weekend. In fact, the only rain that is forecast is for the early hours of Saturday morning, by which time we should all be nicely asleep in our tents! We meet at 18:00 this evening so look out for mobile updates between then and our return on the Sunday afternoon. This will mark the first time that the whole group will be on bikes together, so it should be interesting to see how our 'pod system' (groups of 4-5 riders) works out. Hopefully we don't lose anyone!

Sponsorship

We can announce that Decathlon have kindly agreed to sponsor us with printed cycling jerseys as well as various accessories and cycling tools. Look out for us in our Decathlon gear - I'm sure group photo's will follow in the not so distant future. Decathlon offer a wide range of sports clothes, equipment and accessories for a variety of sports so we are very grateful to have their support for Africa Expedition 2011. We welcome any other potential sponsors to contact the team, details of which are on the 'contact page' of this blog.

http://www.decathlon.co.uk

Route for training weekend #1

The planned route for our first training weekend can now be viewed below. At 114km the route should give us a good gauge of what our current fitness levels are at as well as providing us all with a short term target for which to train for. The route follows stages of the trans pennine trail and will be a suitable surface for touring bikes making it as realistic as possible to the sort of terrain we will be encountering this summer. The profile of the route is in our favour with the longest climb being right at the start and the final 8km or so being a descent back in to Sheffield. With our departure date being just under two weeks, the whole team is looking forward to what will have been the first time we have all been together since the selection weekend.

First Training Weekend

With the departure date for the expedition being just 6 months away the team's training is going to be very important from hereon in. Everyone's started their own individual fitness routines with a couple of small group cycles being organised here and there. Our first official training weekend has now been planned for Friday February 25th to Sunday February 27th. A lot of the planning for the weekend is still underway and so further details will follow!

We are planning on running this weekend similarly to how we will be living our day to day lives when travelling to Morocco. This means we will all be on bikes, purchasing food as we go, wild camping and cooking. There is even a chance that we will get out in kayaks onto one of the reservoirs but this is yet to be finalised. Training weekends such as this one will be vital to ensuring the actual expedition runs as smoothly as possible.

If you've not already watched it, check out the video from the selection weekend that is posted below.

Video trailer

A promotional video produced by (c) sam corbett

Selection Weekend

The weekend started on the morning of Friday 3^rd December as final alterations and finishing touches were made to ensure the smooth running of the weekend for all involved. It soon became apparent that in this country if someone’s friends’ cousins’ dog sees a single snow flake fall to the ground the whole country falls to its knees. Unfortunately for us this left us with nowhere to meet as our previous meeting room couldn’t possibly be opened for us in such treacherous conditions. Luckily for us we managed to persuade the kind people at ‘The University Arms’ to give us access to a conference room complete with a projector in place all ready for James’s presentation for the Expedition. Due to the logistical nightmare of telling twenty odd people of a new, perhaps unknown to them, location for the meeting point, the group assembled as planned at 5pm outside the original location. Here we all had our kit checked by each other to ensure that no one had taken my previous advice of sun cream, shorts and a t-shirt. Once everyone was ready we were able to head over to James who was waiting to deliver his presentation.

James expertly delivered a presentation with some well picked motivational music in the background to really get everyone buzzing with excitement for the weekend ahead and ultimately for Africa Expedition 2011. Videos demonstrating what we would be doing on each part of the expedition were shown, and for one video James was able to demonstrate his advanced presentational techniques – it involved stopping and starting one of the videos at random intervals. I think that he called this particular technique ‘buffering’. At about 20:30 we were all ready to begin the weekend and so we headed out on foot from Sheffield towards the Peak District.

After a quick stop for extra supplies at Tesco’s we encountered our first command task along the route that the Navigational team had set out for the weekend. The group was split in two and each group was designated one ‘shepherd’ whilst everyone else was a ‘sheep’. The aim of the task was for the ‘shepherd’ to herd the flock of sheep into a ‘pen’ set out with climbing rope. This sounds easy enough, except all the sheep were blindfolded and the shepherd was unable to speak. Impressively, both groups developed a method in their ‘planning time’ that got the whole herd into the pen pretty quickly. As would be the case for many later command tasks, an extension of the task was made with extra parameters to make it more challenging. For this task, the degree of difficulty was increased by randomly selecting a ‘shepherd’ only after all the ‘sheep’ had been scattered and disorientated. Of course, the ‘shepherd’ was nowhere near the ‘pen’ and consequently we actually had one ‘sheep’ cross over to a different group. Eventually, both groups did manage to herd all their respective ‘sheep’ into the correct pen.

After this task it was down to the respective groups to navigate to the next checkpoint on the maps. Every time the groups would consist of different members so everyone got a chance to work with everyone else. This setup would continue for the whole weekend with a rotation on who was navigating, team leader, observing the group for feedback and who was the backmarker or ‘Charlie’ as he or she was known.

A quick scout of the terrain ahead of us on the planned route made it apparent that it was a bad idea to try and reach Robin Hood’s cave where we planned to sleep for the first night as it would require a swim (for want of a better word) through the deep and untouched snow. Accordingly we altered our course for Lady Cannings Plantation where we hoped the tree cover would provide for shallower snow. The snow was falling sporadically with light flakes interspersed with a few heavier downfalls as we battled our way up the steep side of a ridge that would lead us so cruelly past a still open pub and down into the plantation. It didn’t take us long to find a suitable area to pitch our tents as by this point it was about 02:30 in the morning. After some quick flattening of the snow, all tents were assembled and everyone hurried into their sleeping bags to try and get some warmth and rest before an early 6am start for what would be a hard days walking.

By 7:30am the food team had us all filled up on porridge, the tents were back in backpacks and we were pretty much ready to continue our journey. Heading North West we would continue out into the peaks. After a couple more hours of walking we stopped by a stream to refill water bottles. Unfortunately the chlorine tablets did nothing for the colour of the water which remained what can only be described as an unappealing urine-like colour (see picture below). After the bottles were filled we had another command task to complete. This time we were split into three groups with each group standing in their own circle facing one another. Every member was made to hold their left hand with someone else’s left hand that was not directly next to them, and the same was done with right hands. Accordingly this resulted in a massive tangle of arms which each group had to untangle so that everyone was arranged in a circle with no crossed arms. If this wasn’t hard enough we then had to attempt the same challenge blindfolded. For one group this somehow proved easier than the initial challenge but for the other two it did take a while longer before eventually everyone was freed.

Continuing the setup of two groups, each with navigator and team leader, we were given coordinates of the next checkpoint and given until 12pm to make it there. Interestingly the two groups opted for different routes, one taking the more direct route whilst the other group went for the slightly longer but ‘easier’ route on established footpaths. I was in the latter group so can’t make much comment on the other groups route other than it definitely turned out to be the better choice. Had we not had quite so much snow then it may have been a different story but unfortunately it soon became apparent that the well-trodden path we were hoping for was actually going to require us to wade through snow for a good few kilometres. At one point Nick who was leading the group in single file nearly disappeared as he fell down a particularly deep snow drift. Eventually we arrived approximately twenty minutes after the other group at the destination where we were to be greeted with another command task. For this task we had a series of strings as equipment and were required to pour ‘hazardous material’ from one tin can into another before removing the second can from the ‘contamination zone’. Here the difficulty arose in that no one was allowed within 6 feet of the can containing the rice, or as it is better known, ‘hazardous materials’. After some careful planning and good attempts two groups proved their methods partially successful with the other group unfortunately spilling the contents of their can on the floor.

The time was ticking away and we were still a fair distance from the destination for the Saturday. We were told that we would be having a pub dinner at The Royal Oak in Stocksbridge and that the food had been pre-organised to be ready for 19:30. After some discussion we decided as a group on the route we would take to Stocksbridge, favouring a slightly longer but less hilly route than the alternative more direct route. Learning from our previous route choices earlier in the day we travelled as a group on minor roads to ensure that we could cover ground quickly. Unfortunately, the slightly harder and icier ground began to give many in the group pain from the greater impact and our pace had slowed as we crossed a main road. We were behind time and would struggle to make the pub for 19:30, couple this with a lot of weary pairs of legs, and we decided as a group to take the bus from the main road into Stocksbridge.

The pub gave the whole team a much needed morale boost as we were served a lovely hot dinner and had the chance to get out of our walking boots for the first time in over twelve hours. After sharing stories including one particularly interesting one involving James and a sheep (you should ask him about it), we headed back out into the cold but in high spirits as we met our final command task for the day whilst setting up camp in some nearby woods. This time we had to set up tents in three separate groups. Each group had one leader who had frostbite and was unable to use his hands whilst every other member was snow-blind so was blindfolded (no one was actually snow-blind or frostbitten - don’t worry). Unfortunately we weren’t allowed to use the popup tent but we did still see some good efforts and perhaps with more time we would have had erected tents suitable to sleep in. A much earlier night meant that we were asleep by 23:00 and ready for another early start of 06:00.

Fuelled once again by porridge we were ready to leave out camp by 07:30 and head to a small ravine that would be our next and final command task before heading back to Sheffield. Here we were challenged to cross from one side to the other with only the first member being lowered down to climb up the other side – everyone else had to cross without touching the ground between either side. The method decided upon that would get us and all our gear across was the Tyrolean Traverse. Even with many skilled climbers in the group our crossing took the best part of 2 hours. This left us with only about five minutes with which to make our way to the bus stop, a fifteen minute walk away. The group was able to muster a decent running pace however and we arrived at the bus stop with a minute to spare.

On behalf of the group we should thank James for his personal motivation and drive to come up with such a great idea and for working so hard to make this happen. Now, the onus is on the group. It is all well and good saying we’re going to sail, cycle and kayak to Morocco, but it’s definitely going to take a whole lot of planning, training, determination and most importantly teamwork for us to realise the dream.

More updates will follow as we continue the planning and training aspects for our trip so look out for these.

Day 3

With another 6am start we're just finishing up dismantling tents and getting all equipment in our bags. Clear skies meant for a particularly cold night so warm porridge in the morning was particularly welcome. In a few minutes we will be departing for a rope challenge in what should be an exciting end to a great weekend. A thorough overview of the weekend including  pictures will follow.

Day 2

It's nearly 7pm and after a lot of walking we're all enjoying a much needed sit down in a pub in Stocksbridge. The day has been physically demanding with the deep snow making each step more difficult than otherwise. Still, we are all facing these difficulties as a team and it is only drawing us closer together. After we've eaten our highly deserved pub meal the walking boots will be back on and we hope to set up camp for the night 3-4km away.

First night

After an introductory presentation yesterday evening we were ready to leave the warmth of indoors and head for the peaks at half 8. A few command tasks later (details of which will probably have to be saved until after the weekend) we soon realised the conditions were not on our side and that "nipple high snow" was blocking the planned route. Still, every problem has its solution and we were able to head to a suitable site to set up camp at lady cannings plantation.... at 3am. A quick three hour nap and we're up again and preparing to continue.

Sent from my HTC

The route

We’ve finally reached the day the Selection Weekend begins and it couldn’t have come sooner as we all eagerly await our time of departure out from Sheffield and into the Peak District. Temperatures were as low as -10C last night but cloud cover tonight should be on our side making our first night a bit warmer. It can be confirmed that the minimal distance we will be covering is 25.8km but this doesn’t account for any optional control points we visit. The provisional route can be seen below:

This past week has ensured the whole route will be snow covered but this does have its advantages. The better visibility at night will definitely be welcome when erecting our tents / igloos. Although we’re not banking on this sort of weather for mid-summer in Morocco, it will be a good test for everyone involved for an ability to cope with difficult conditions. It should be a great weekend and good luck to everyone involved. Finally, keep a tab on this page as it gets updated throughout the weekend.

Not long now

As this is my first post, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Francis May and I’ll be heading communications for the selection weekend which involves updating the blog. So, unfortunately you’re stuck with reading my dribble for the foreseeable future! Just as background information I’m 20 and in my final year at Sheffield University. Anyway, this blog is about the Africa Expedition 2011 and not me so I shall get back to subject. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I’ll enjoy writing it.

Less than four days until the selection weekend and I hope I speak for everyone when I say I’m starting to get excited. This post is more of an introduction and will be followed (with great anticipation I hope) by subsequent posts over the weekend. After deciding it probably wasn’t feasible to plug in a computer in the middle of the peaks using an extension cable measuring thousands of metres, I discovered the joys of technology that will allow remote updates to this blog via a phone. So watch out for these. Still, if phone battery gets low we may be falling back onto the world’s longest extension lead. Finally, a review of the weekend will be up shortly after we’ve all returned in one piece.

Right, let’s get introducing to those who are reading this and wondering what on earth I’m talking about. Those who know what it is all about, I apologise but I will not be refunding the wasted minute or two of your life. On the 2^nd August 2011 a team will set out from Weymouth on a self-propelled 45 day journey, culminating in the climb of Jbel Toubkal, the highest peak in Africa’s Atlas Mountains range. The journey will involve a number of mini challenges and obstacles that the group will need to overcome. More information on the main trip can be found on the ‘about’ page of this site. Selecting the team that is cohesive and capable of the planned expedition will be done via the ‘selection weekend’ which departs this Friday the 3^rd December for the Peak District and returns on Sunday the 5^th. During the weekend everyone will be setting a task / challenge for the group to complete. Details of each task remain a mystery except to the person(s) whose task it is. With this in mind it’s all set to be a fantastic weekend unless of course someone has taken it upon themselves to have us run along Stanage Edge in the nude.

We’re currently looking at rather interesting conditions for the weekend. We’ve not had this much snow in the peaks since….. since it last snowed this much. Part of me hopes we’re in for warmer weather but at the same time the cold, fresh air and crisp snow can make for a beautiful environment. Either way, the BBC is currently forecasting more snow on and in the run up to the weekend. Judging by their track record I would like to advise everyone to pack sun cream and a swimming costume. Thank you for reading, and please keep an eye out for new posts. Expect at least one more before we leave and additional posts as the weekend progresses.

Selection week end

If you have been invited to the selection week end then you should have been emailed a task for the week end, if you have not then get in contact quick!

Please also read the 'selection week end information page'

And the 'Frequently asked Questions'