Happy Birthday to my sister Janine who is 18 years old today!
Obviously I’m loath to embarrass my wonderful sister, but I wonder if you’ve seen this photo of her? Or this one? (The great thing about that last one is it’s also embarrassing for my brother, Jay).
Hope you have a great day sis 
I had been thinking about getting myself a mountain bike to help with my new healthy eating/fitness regime. Working in Darlington, I thought I’d pop along to the local Halfords on Monday at lunchtime to see what they had in stock. I found a nice Raleigh MT260 less than half price – £99.99 down from £259.99. In hindsight, what I should have done is waited until I got home then went to Halfords in Sunderland to order it. Like an idiot though, I went ahead a bought it on the spur of the moment. I had the bright idea of picking it up pre-built, ready to ride away and riding it home to Sunderland.
It wasn’t until I got into work and planned my route that it dawned on me just how far it was from work to home! It’s about 37 miles door-to-door – a little further than my usual journey to work as I had to avoid motorways, specifically the A1(M). Not only was it a fair distance but a lot of the country roads featured some pretty steep hills.
I took the afternoon off work today, collected my new bike and set off at 13:10. Everything was going well but by the time I passed through Coxhoe en route to Quarrington Hill, I felt absolutely exhausted! I was a bit concerned as I thought there was no way I was going to be able to continue all the way to Sunderland. After all the steep climbs though, I inevitably reached a nice downhill section. Not having to pedal for about three minutes gave me the opportunity to get a quick rest and, by the time I reached Sherburn, I was feeling tired but confident that I was going to get home before it got dark 
About twenty minutes later I reached the A690, the main road between Sunderland and Durham. Not far along that road is a sign reading, “Welcome to the City of Sunderland, Twinned with Essen and Saint Nazaire”. Once I passed that, I felt like I was home already. Unfortunately it was actually another hour and a quarter until I reached my front door at 18:10!
So, it had taken me five hours in total. I had reckoned that at an average speed of around 12mph it would take me about four hours. However, I did make a few brief stops to buy bottles of water. That coupled with the large number of uphill sections meant that it was always going to take me longer. Considering I haven’t owned a bike for about ten years, I don’t think I did too badly!
I took a few photos using my mobile along the way, mainly just to prove to any doubters at work that I did actually make the journey. I suspect they thought I might give up and phone for a taxi! You can view my photos here.
I am aching a bit now but by far my most painful body part is my derrière! I am very saddle sore, walking a bit like John Wayne and I’m playing football tomorrow evening. Methinks I shall require a cushion or pillow at work tomorrow 
Dan Mullen is an Analyst Programmer, entrepreneur and web guru. He lives in Sunderland with his beautiful daughter Katie.
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