My challenge will be to cycle a total of 239 miles (384km) in the space of five days across the harsh landscape of Jordan. Temparatures will reach up to 40 degrees. Phew. Its going to be tough. Cue the Rocky theme tune.
For those of you that aren't familiar with the Kingdom of Jordan it is a country in Western Asia spanning the southern part of the Syrian Desert down to the Gulf of Aqaba. Jordan shares borders with Syria to the north, Iraq to the northeast, Saudi Arabia to the east and south, and Israel to the west (I admit I copied this from Wikipedia, I was never very good at geography). Its also a little known place where this geezer called Moses was apparently shown the promised land. Impressive.
Jordan - the stat attack....
Full country
name:Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Population:6
million
Capital City:Amman
People:98%
Arab and 2% others
Language:Arabic
Religion:94% Muslim, 6% Christian
Government:Constitutional monarchy
Time
Zone:GMT +3
Area:89,341 sq km
First things first though. I need to get fit. At the moment I don't think I could cycle 10 miles in five days let alone 240! And non of this cycling from pub to pub molarkey...that won't work. Plus I am pretty sure there are no Red Lion's in Jordan, a few Fat Camels and Green Ghekos, but no Red Lion's unfortunately. I will have to follow a strict training regime over the course of the next year. I will have my personal trainers on hand to motivate me all the way, you know who you are!
In addition to the training theres the small matter of trying to raise my target of £2,750 for Marie Curie Cancer Care. This is where you come in. Yes I'm looking at you!
I will be holding numerous fundraising events throughout the next year to raise some money. Don't worry they will be good fun! In fact, they will be so much much fun, you won't be able to resist coming along to the next one, and more importantly kindly putting your hand in your pocket.
So please keep coming back here to find out the latest way you can help this cause. If you would like to spare a few pennies you can donate online at anytime at www.justgiving.com/tonybanks2010 0r click on the button in the top left of this page.So for now I leave you with some words of inspiration. As an ancient Greek author once said:
'No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted" (Aesop).
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