40 Something!

What is it about turning forty that makes you want to try and run fast back wards and recapture your youth?

The female of the species at this time of life, purely from my observations, seems to worry about wrinkles and things moving south which I presume is a reference to the over population below the Watford Gap.

Men on the other hand who from the first moment they were able to look in a mirror new they looked fantastic don’t worry about how attractive to women we are. This is largely due to David Mellor or politicians in general because if they can get a bird we all can if we were bothered.

No upon hitting 40 we seem to worry about life getting dull and remember the fun that could be had with a couple of mates with a stick that be came an AK47 and the recreation of Apocalypse Now. If you ask most men of my age had they been to Nam the answer would be yes as aged 12 [in their minds at least] they had recreated the whole conflict in the backyard or down the lock rec.

So how do we compensate for this turning of the years? Well while the other half is looking at the cost of botox we look at our toys and decide we need a new one [or second hand if the house hold expenses are tight]. This will often be in the 2 or 4 wheeled variety and must sound right. The right sound being the noise created by pegging some football cards to your bike frame so they were flicked by the spokes of the wheel creating that V8 effect.

As we sit in or on our new toys our minds connect once again with the little boy that is inside us and we are Nigel Mansel or Barry Sheen and for a fleeting moment we are back in the yard with no responsibility just having fun and dreaming dreams. So does the male of the species really need to grow up, my wife often comments she has 3 boys in the house. We just need to remember that Jesus said if we are to enter the Kingdom of Heaven we must see it through the eyes of a child!

Look it up if you don’t believe me [Matthew 18.1-5]

Nagging Doubts

After last nights BBC 2 viewing aimed at petrol heads, ‘Top Gear Vietnam Special’ and ‘The Real Italian Job’ with Chef James Martin I have been hit by those waves of doubts whether 2600 miles in a Caterham is such a good idea.

Jezza, The Hamster and Captain Slow took up the Top Gear challenge of riding knackered motor bikes and a moped 1000 miles from South to North Vietnam, at the end having to covert there bikes into boats for the final leg. Thankfully I won’t have to convert the 7 into a boat as Brittany Ferries will take on the challenge of getting me home from Spain to the UK in comfort and style.

At the end of the program my confidence for this trip was brimming over if they can do a1000 miles on those old bikes on terrible roads then 2600 in a 7 across beautiful EU funded roads should be no problem.

However I then watch ‘The Real Italian Job’ with Chef James Martin who entered the famous ‘Mille Migglia’ a 1000 mile rally around Italy for classic cars. His budget was considerably greater than mine buying an £800,000 1948 Maserati, and having a man in a van with loads of spares and mechanic to boot, not forgetting his very attractive co-driver Sarah. This is something I had not thought about though I’m sure both my wife Kate and the Bishop would have something to say if I zoomed off on my pilgrimage with a very attractive blond navigator. Then there would be the problem of where to hide her when I was staying at Monasteries. I will just have to settle with the warm female voice of my Tom Tom sat nav, at least she will know the way!

Sadly despite James’ huge investment, back up team, dishy blond and a rather snazzy 1930 white driving cap, [which I will get] he only completed 200 miles of the race before his engine blew and it was all over. There’s nothing worse than seeing a grown chef cry.

I therefore went to bed with the little voices in my head saying if he can’t do 200 miles in a classic car with all the kit what chance have I in my little 7 on my own, with only a spare accelerator and clutch cable, a roll of aluminium tape and a multi tool pen knife. I thought of the embarrassment of returning to the parish 3 days after I had set off because to car had packed in.

Then I remembered who actually was going to be my co-driver on this adventure the main man the Supreme Being, God of God’s Lord of Lord’s the one and only JC. He may not be able to fix an oil leak though I hope would direct me to some good catholic mechanic who would and encourage me along the way. That reminds me better pack a dog collar; it always helps in those situations. In any case Mary made it from Nazareth to Bethlehem 9 months pregnant and on a donkey [the BBC had to use 9 you know] so what have I got to worry about.

The Count Down Begins!

In 23 weeks time I will be setting off on my Sabbatical Adventure driving a Caterham 7 Roadsport from Shrivenham to Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain.

Admittedly this is a rather unusual way of undertaking one of the most famous pilgrim routes in all Christendom, which normally begins from either Canterbury or Winchester down through France across the Pyrenees and then along the North coast of Spain.

To walk this route normally takes several months for the seasoned walker but I have only four weeks and decided to try and visit as many Holy sites as I could on route including Taize, Cluny, Lourdes, Loyola, Avila to name a few, oh and a bit of a detour to take in the 24hr Le Manns. This will involve me driving around 2600 miles or about 200 miles a day. Having been a professional Photographer in my past incarnation I am also keen to create a photo easy of the journey and to publish daily photographs on this blog.

So why in a Caterham 7 you may well ask, not the normal mode of transport for the clergy. The answer is partly an early midlife crises, ( I will be forty next year) and have dreamed of owning a 7 since I was 19 and first saw Patrick McGoohan as No:6 in ‘The Prisoner’ driving one in the opening titles depicting freedom of spirit, ‘I am not a number I’m a free man’. Also as it’s a very small car it had to be now before my middle-aged spread meant that getting into it required a shoehorn and Vaseline, though I have lost well over a stone since acquiring the car in February due to that fear!

The main reason apart from the enormous fun is the challenge of living out of a car that has a boot the size of a small child’s rucksack, a roof that takes over 15 minutes to put up so there’s no point as your wet through by the time you have finished, no air con, no stereo [even if it had one you wouldn’t hear it over the engine noise] it’s just me, God, the road, 135bhp, a tent and couple of pairs of pants.

Jezza as Top Gear fans know him, said of the Caterham 7 ‘that owning a normal sports car like a Prosche or Ferrari is like stroking the tarmac with your hand, owning a Caterham is like getting down on your hands and knees and licking it with your tongue! It’s also vastly cheaper.

In this type of car you are not cocooned from the world around, you feel the elements and because it has no roof when you go through and town or village and pause people immediately come and speak to you, which means you have to interact with complete strangers one of the most important experiences on any pilgrimage.

Finally I hope to raise some money for charity Leukaemia Research as this is the charity that the Lotus 7 club supports, so please sponsor me for making the trip.

This blog will be written while on the trip so that you can all keep up with the adventure but for now it will just be updates on the planning.