Andy and I rode the Hit the North course earlier, and by gum it was slippery. The recent wind and rain has covered the wooded sections in a lovely layer of wet leaves and slimy mud, making riding a bike a lottery. We both crashed a couple of times, the bombhole almost put me in hospital had I actually hit that tree. I got away with a bit of back pain and a thick coating of crud all up one side of my body.

It rained, it was windy, but it was a laugh. Andy went home and put his Oakleys in the washing machine. Which is a novel idea, I think you’ll agree.

I’m loving running in the dark, especially in the dark and spooky woods. I got a Petzl Tikka headtorch a few weeks ago and it’s really rather good. Bright enough for running fast offroad, handy for walking home from work through the Clough and light enough so that it doesn’t slip down the forehead. 

I’m getting the dog one of those collars with the red LED’s on so that I can see him in the dark too.

The artwork for Hit the North is almost there. Warren’s done some great stuff already so once we’ve got that nailed it’s all on a website somewhere. www.hitthenorth.info with any luck. Once that’s up, folks will be able to enter the race, pay for their entry, book their dinner (really!) and marvel and our collective wit.

There’s a Facebook group and a WordPress thing for it already. Have a look.

http://hitthenorth.wordpress.com/

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20231029992

You have to be a Facebook person to see the second one.

One of the girls at work has been running a shoebox appeal. You get a shoebox and fill it with small gifts and basics for underprivilaged kids. Some of the kids that get these boxes get NOTHING otherwise. I opted to send a box to a 2-4 year old girl. You can get anything that you think they’d like as long as it’s not “war related”, dangerous or liquids. I got a bit carried away and spent a tenner on a jigsaw, a plastic tigger, a soft dalmatian, a little fire engine (I know it’s not very girly but it was cute), a couple of toothbrushes, some fruity toothpaste, some funky soap and a sponge that looks like a duck. All in the box, wrapped in shiny paper, label stuck on and off it goes. A tenner. It’s bugger all really.

There’s some bible messages they send with each box that I’m not too bothered about but if the gifts brighten an otherwise crap day for a little kid somewhere, I can live with it. It was weird though – I felt like I was buying for one of my own.