annahornby

[annahornby]

“Why does this keep happening?”

In the wake of another cowardly and violent terror attack in my beloved London, I’ve been reading first hand accounts of friends who had been at the scene and thinking of the victims, like the girl who - like a rabbit in headlights - stood and stared at the knifemen, only to be knifed down seconds later as the three descended on her.

My thoughts quickly turned to politics.

We see the election looming near and I have never felt so strongly about the need to make a change; how important our choices are in this time.

Fear is rooting so many people to the spot, like the tragedy of the yet to be named girl.

Fear is an incredibly dangerous thing. It can make us make bad, knee jerk choices or even none at all.

This forthcoming election means we need to make considered choices and not give in to fear.

I see fear every day. People are afraid to travel; afraid of people with different coloured skin; afraid of people wearing a hijab. In my day to day life I have personally witnessed this distrust and fear.

To quote Yoda because at this point I’m looking for something deeper… “Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

Fear can be useful and can keep us safe. It helped our ancestors survive. But a fear born from ignorance or one unchecked can lead to dangerous reactions. This reactive fear is something that is breeding, multiplying in our society,

We no longer have the depth of community that we once had in Britain.  Many people attribute this to the number of immigrants in the country, but the same finger could be better pointed to many other reasons. Perhaps the cost of living; people having to move away from where they grew up because they can no longer afford to live there.

No longer knowing their neighbours, living anonymous lives in places that they do not have the roots of community.

In a time of extremism, it is easier to point a finger than look inward. I find myself looking at a culture baying for more blood, for hard-nosed answers to difficult questions.

“Throw more money into nuclear weapons.”

“Sell arms to help our economy so we can protect ourselves.”

“Bring in more surveillance”.

“Throw people in jail and lock away the key”.

“Hang them.”

“Bomb them”.

“Deport them.”

“Don’t let them in.”

We need to look at the reality here and not give in to fear, not alienate those who are “different”.

Because, logically none of these things have been working. After the recent attacks in England and across the world I often hear “Why do these things keep happening?” and “How can we go on like this?” from the same mouths baying for blood.

The reality is. We need a change and we need to not continue down this bloody path. That is how we stop these things happening.

We need to fight hate with love.

We need to be continue to be an open society

We need to get to know our neighbours, we need to continue to reach out olive branches, not shut out people not become more and more closed.

The Muslim community in Manchester alerted authorities to suspected Manchester Bomber Salman Abedi on a number of occasions. These warnings were overlooked. His own community and family members warned of his radicalisation and yet authorities did not take action. This is not the fault of the community who now face violence and more segregation because of their religion. This points to a wider problem.

We need to learn to separate these issues and innocent people.

In the ever rise of racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia, those who find themselves slipping into this must open their eyes and hearts.

Like Will.I.am sang, “If you only have love for your own race, then you only leave space to discriminate.”

Being a Muslim does not mean being a terrorist.

Being a terrorist does not mean being a muslim, or asian for that matter.

But alienating cultures within “our” own culture will further serve to play into the hands of those trying to spread the fear.

All the cultures that make up Britain are ours, we are them and they are us.

Living on this tiny, mixing pot island, a British Community, full of beautiful differences and cultures unified by being a part of the human race.

We must remember that hate breeds hate; we must not sink to that.

Rather than consistently looking at the effect of issues like the recent attacks in England we need to look further into cause.

Why have ISIS formed? Who is funding them and why has the home office admitted that an investigation into the foreign funding of extremist Islamist groups may never be published due to “sensitive information.”

Is our good friend Saudi Arabia (a morally bankrupt and human rights depleted country,) who the British recently sold £3.5bn of arms to funding ISIS?

Ask yourself does selling arms to countries on the human rights list serve Britain?

Does the bombing of countries which creates displaced people serve Britain?

Does privatising our biggest and best life saving Asset - the NHS- potentially leading to being charged for treatment, best serve Britain?

Does putting £4.8 billion into replacing four Trident nuclear submarines best serve Britain?

Because let’s be clear, pushing the button on these is first an illegal move defined in 1998 by the Rome Statute, which set up the international criminal court, as “a systematic attack directed against a civilian population, resulting in extermination or torture, or an inhumane act intentionally causing great suffering”.  

10 times more powerful than Hiroshima, and indiscriminate of whether it hits civilian sites, like schools and hospitals it would wipe out millions of lives and leave a lasting legacy of trauma, cancer and deformities for years to come.

By the way, this would almost certainly lead to a definite return attack and leave us much the same.

Are we ok with killing?

Are we ok with creating more refugees?

More anger?

More resentment?

My thoughts on politics stretched further, as they are prone to do when so many issues are inextricably linked.

Our NHS is facing the biggest challenge in it’s history, where nurses and doctors are overstretched and costs are rising; nurses cannot afford to finish their qualifications meaning being understaffed in the future as well as now; healthcare is facing privatisation with high costs for treatment.

On Saturday night innocent people were rushed to the Accident and Emergency departments. Doctors and Nurses worked through the night to save lives. We need the NHS, of this there is no doubt.

The people who went in for care will not face bills that they can not pay in the morning.

Families of those who died will not face the phenomenal costs of air ambulances that were called out to try to rescue their loved one.

People from other countries were rushed to the hospital too. They will not be faced with these charges either, because they are here adding to our economy and on our soil and worthy of having their lived saved without checking if they can pay.

Our policeforce is stretched beyond reasonably limits, further cuts directly threaten our safety. In community policing and national security.

People are pushing to be able to survey Britian more, channelling people’s anger and confusion by rationalising we need to be watched more. 

Let us remember that both two of the most rescent terrorists were known to police. Let us not confuse a direct problem with resourced with one of lack of power.

Terrorism and Extremism and the radicalisation of often angry young men and women poses so many more questions too about our wider economy. 

On prisons:

Does paying £64000 a year for a person in prison serve Britain rather than working on reform programmes to teach convicts life skills and getting them into housing instead of back on the streets and potentially reoffended serve Britain?

Does hard punishment instead of reform serve us or does it serve our blood baying?

We must face that reform is the key to prevention and in the wider picture reform we must.

Not only must we reform those in prison but we must reform ourselves and the way we think, we must not self serve and worry about our tax cuts more than our safety. Reform is key to a safer society.

Look to the closing of prisons in Sweden and the Netherlands due to lack of prisoners; In the Netherlands crime rate has declined an average of 0.9% yearly. The punishment is taking away of liberty and the aim is to get people into better shape to re-enter society.

With re-offending rates at less than half of those in the UK it clearly works.

When we talk about the poor economy do we look fully at the zero hour contracts that do not guarantee a certain hours of work?

Do we look at work being illegally outsourced to prisons, taking jobs from those that need them because Prisoners are much cheaper. That legally is termed slave labour.

Prisons, where the radicalising of angry young men has been known to happen, are underfunded and being squeezed, there are not enough officers to keep inmates safe and are in danger themselves.

A breeding ground for radicalisation and being made to work as many hours as needed, punitively with no hourly wage, with no levels of real reform or ways to change their paths out of prison to me seems a dangerous combination.

Having a home and a job affect offending and reoffending. There is a causal link between education and crime. In layman terms, being homeless and not having a job makes you more likely to commit crime making society less safe.

Only a third of prisoners reported being in paid employment in the four weeks before custody. 13% reported never having had a job.

When we talk about a poor economy, we are not just discussing how many people have a home or can’t afford a meal out we are genuinely discussing life and death.

People are struggling to survive, visiting food banks and living hand to mouth.

We haven’t even touched here on mental health of the homeless and those incarcerated or the cuts to mental health benefits or disability allowances. Cut to our public services, healthcare, police.

The lists go on and on. But I have in some way tried to point to some of the reasons why these things can keep happening and how a healthy economy can work towards combatting issues such as terrorism.

Of course, we do not need to point out that bombing countries and creating refugees, then not giving them refuge can hardly help.

I don’t believe there is a “magic money tree” as Conservatives keep pointing out. Perhaps the only thing I agree with them on.

I believe there is a fully costed manifesto scrapping our death weapons and adding taxes to the highest earners that will ensure more police on the streets, more help for the poorest in our society, more nurses in our hospitals, more education, more trust within our society.

I don’t believe it’s perfect but I believe it is better than current circumstances, which only threaten to get worse.

The Conservatives have also been the biggest borrowers absolutely and on average over the past 70 years. Austerity is proven to not work, to tread further on the downtrodden.

I aspire to work hard, to get a great job with a nice house, I’d love to earn a lot of money, honestly don’t get me wrong. I do not feel that I am deterred by the taxations of businesses and the highest earners.

I think it is a responsibility to contribute to the society that has grown you. If get there I know my position will be privileged and I know I will be ok with paying more tax.

I always try to bear in mind that studies show you need £49000 a year to be happy. That’s £31000 less than the amount you have to earn to be in the 5% that will see higher tax rises.

As a floating voter I have been convinced by Jerermy Corbyn.

I don't care if he looks out of place in the suits; that he doesn’t play to the crowds or know how to court the country.

I care that he is there, fighting for the British people and not his rich establishment friends.

Consistently voting on the right side of Britain for over 20 years, fighting for our human rights, peace and actual stability - not u-turning and only offering soundbites but looking for meaningful solutions.

For the first time I feel strangely hopeful when listening to his arguments.

We need reform and we need to care for the most vulnerable in society.

We need to grow in love and look outward.

We need to give people the opportunity to grow and guide them through education.

People need homes and security.

I don’t think there is a fail safe answer to any of the questions we face but I think there is a better one than cuts, than poverty and than looking out for ourselves.

I believe when we start looking at these problems, it will have a wonderful effect on these scary wider problems. We are all better and stronger together.

That is why I will be voting to remove Conservatives from their reign of power on June 8th.

#votelabour #voteconservative #votecorbyn #labour #terrorism #prison #reform #politics #myvote

[annahornby]

So I discovered Dubsmash at the weekend. Found my calling.

#dubsmash #lipsync #lipsyncbattle #lip #sync #mean girls #titanic #iron man #pokemon #chicken nuggets is like my family #black betty #spongebob squarepants #trouble #rapping #little britain #i'm a lady #do you think I'm cute? #yes or no #geordie #simon cowell #it's a no from me

[annahornby]

Today is a big one 105km from Tan Chau to Sadec

Another early start 6.30 breakfast, and just a nice 4 toilet visits before I got on my bike. The struggle was real. Most of us cycled with these problems every day, and popping the Imodium every morning was par for the course. I didn’t feel strong on this cycle at all this day but I was ok, as a rep for the charity I hung back a lot with people when they were struggling and was pretty happy to do that with some of the ladies who were finding this day tough, however we ended up getting quite separated from the group, I was finding that tough mentally. I got on really well with Alex our ground handler however so kept pace with him and waited a few times for the others to catch up. A few of the team ended up on the bus for various reasons, dehydration, heat exhaustion and a manner of ailments. We were really started to flag.

Stopping at a break point I got in a Ca Phe Sua Da. My favourite Vietnamese beverage, so bad for you but so good. Coffee, Condensed Milk and Ice.  We stopped at the most random little roller derby place for the break. I love Asia.

Here Mumma Jane was fixing up my cousin Susann’s leg which was getting infected after an unknown creature had bitten her. The break wasn’t long and we were back on our bikes to get to our next stop for lunch. By this point people were falling like flies. One of the team was being sick in a corner, definite dehydration and another was flagging. It was decided that a 15km stint on the bus would be good for them to get rehydrated. We couldn’t risk any hospital trips. I had no real appetite for lunch but picked away as I knew we needed the energy. We had a great choice of noodles and sea food and spring rolls. It was a boiling day and being on the road constantly with no shade was relentless. My wrists were burnt and I was feeling it. My chammy cream was handed around the team who were near me with shouts of “no double dipping!” (Someone did honestly there was no shame at this point) and we were good to go. After lunch we set off at pace and I immediately flagged, I got a heart palpitation and felt really faint. Jane was beside me pushing me on, I had to stop and sit down and Susann came round and shoved some Jelly Babies in my mouth. I had an energy bar as the energy gels didn’t agree with me and one with caffeine in had given me a palpitation the day before. Lisa and Jeannette were plying me with water and I felt very looked after. I felt a little better and a as we cycled off I had Susann, and Tim in front and Jane to the side, as the day was such a long one we knew we had to keep up, but I struggled. I really was feeling it.

At our actual break I had two banana’s shoved at me by Tim (no pun intended) and Kirrily filled up my water bottle. A wee in a hole and a quick lie down in a handy hammock and we were off again.

We had a few quick stints on ferries and were off again.  Vietnam was proving to be tough with bridges everywhere. It was as if there was a river for every few kms, so the gears were being used more than ever, pushing up and over and at least having a little bit of free riding down. It was a tough day but we worked well as a team, cycling together in twos and helping each other along. It was a real, wheel to wheel not even looking at what we were cycling past time to clock up the kilometres. A hard stint.

A proud moment for me after struggling so much that day was riding up in the front with Susann, Jane, Shaun and Kim who had both been smashing it and setting the pace for everyone. This was the last 16km’s or so and we kept up a strong 27kmph or so for the whole of the last bit. Jane kept telling me that it was ok to slow down, and I really was almost dying having to keep up but I was determined to not give up. I knew it didn’t matter if I hung back with the others but after feeling so weak before I really wanted to push myself

The first 4 people in on that extremely hard day were the four of us ladies. We were pretty ecstatic and were whooping withh delight, until Kim’s bike slid to the side and she gashed her arm, I very nearly cycling over her face and swerved just in time. Dramatic stuff for our last part of the day.

I honestly have never felt so proud of myself, I couldn’t believe that someone like me, who is not really a person who incorporates exercise into any part of her life….could do something like that, and after days of cycling too. So with stiff legs, bruises, sore back, and massive chaffage and saddle sore butt. I cycled 105km. Boom!!

We stood and cheered the rest of the group in and I felt so much love for our team!

#vietnam #sa dec #cycle #challenge #105km #boom #smashedit #thisgirlcan #charity

[annahornby]

[annahornby]

Takeo to Tan Chau, Vietnam (85 km)

The ride to the Vietnam border was mostly road, an 85km day today – which actually was closer to 95!

Russell, the only person who brought his own bike on the challenge decided he would be sneaky and change his tyres to his road tyres to make it easier to cycle compared to our thick mountain bike wheels. 4km in he blows a tyre. Russell. So I stayed back with him and we lost a good 15 mins which is quite a lot when a whole team is off on a mission to get to the border early. So once fixed we were off and at a pace! 16kms at an average of nearly 27kmph. I have never in my life done something to that level of fitness and I genuinely had a moment where I wondered what the hell I was doing on this cycle. I severely doubted at this point whether I would be able to do this. We managed to reach the others and get a quick break, I took on some extra electrolytes and water as I was feeling pretty shaky at this point. The three of us cycled so well together though, every few Km the one at the back would push forward and take the lead, which meant the person who had previously been ahead could push their front wheel up to the person aheads back wheel which allowed the person ahead to pull them along in their slip stream. I was really proud of the three of us, it was a tough leg of the cycle and we made it.  

It was a heavy cycle in 2 legs to the border, one 20km and one 30km. Rejoining the rest of the team for the 30km leg there was a fantastic show of team work again, riding in twos and helping pull each other along, every few km’s people breaking out and taking the lead. I felt a huge swell of love for these people who I essentially barely knew but who were showing such amazing shows of kindness and care for each other. In a time of such crap in the world it really was beautiful to watch. At this point Jeannette came off her bike and the pack stopped, dusted her off and helped her pack on her bike. Go team! At the border we said goodbye to our wonderful Cambodian team, which was a sad moment, they had been so supportive and friendly, riding along side of us and we were sad to see them go.

They had been so great and supportive we really bonded with them. Through the border (with more worries about certain peoples passports thankfully working out ok) we hopped on a bus and made our way to where we would be having lunch and meeting our new team.

Everyone was a little tired and stressed and hangry so it wasn’t the best time to be meeting the new Vietnamese team. We tried to find new bikes among the ones provided to fit us, then the team had to fix our saddles that we had bought, camera bag attachments for some of us and handlebar ends if we had them. I highly recommend packing handle bar ends if you do a challenge like this, so good for giving your wrists a break whilst you are cruising.

It felt strange being back in Vietnam after 3 years. So much has gone on in my life since I was there last that it felt quite overwhelming and emotional but familiar too.

The vietnamese ground handlers got us our dinner and finally we were off, it was a great part of the cycle, cycling through little towns where people really do live outside, little business set up outside houses. Rice and Chillies drying on hessian sacks laid out right near the road.  Pretty sure Justin ruined a few people’s livelihoods by accidently cycling over these.

It was already clear that Vietnam is a richer country than Cambodia, but still obvious that there are places that are far behind and in need. We got slightly less “hello’s” but they still came very often, we got a lot more bemused looks. We were getting pretty used by this point to the fact that we were a real source of entertainment. The travelling circus! It really did make people’s days when we shouted hello back!

Justin and I passed a fair amount of time quoting Dumb and dumber to each other on this leg of the cycle. Don’t judge folks, I’m telling you, If it gets you through! (Pretty bird…can you say pretty bird?) It was tough getting used to a new team and a new way of operating, the vietnamese snacks were much healthier though, nuts and raisins and other good things to keep our strength up. Getting used to a bus instead of vans that were more accessible with our packs was tough too. This time we only had one guy cycling with us and to be honest - he couldn’t pace us. (Quite nice for the ego boost but not at all practical.) We missed our Cambodians especially when some of the team accidentally missed a turn! However we were placated by the beautiful scenery and some incredible back roads cycling through beautiful little villages by the river and being waved on the whole way. 

Another beautiful sunset and we arrived finally in the dark on this cycle. A pretty knackered bunch, very ready for our beds.

#dumbanddumber #cycle #cycling #vietnam #cambodia #border #camnam #challenge #charity #forthekids

[annahornby]

Cycle to Takeo (70 km)

Day 4 of cycling (Day 5 of trip) was a morning visit to the killing fields, a number of sites in Cambodia where collectively more than a million people were killed and buried by the communist Khmer Rouge regime, during its rule of the country from 1975 to 1979, immediately after the end of the Cambodian Civil War. As I have spent time here before and was feeling quite unwell (we all suffered from the runs at different points of the trip!) I decided not to go in again. However they are an incredibly important place to visit, harrowing and sad but important. The team were really affected by this visit but managed to get into the cycling headspace as it was a long day ahead. The group got separated at one point which meant people waiting on hot roads and lots of confusion. This was also the day of my second fall. Cycling along on gravel feeling strong and confident, cycling fast I feel something buzz up against my chest and I swot it away, suddenly I feel something buzzing in my sports bra. I actually threw myself off my bike much to the confusion of the team around me. Tim was by me again, thinking I now had form for stacking it. As everyone is around asking what the hell happened I am lifting my top shouting “a bee!!! A bee”. I did get stung, but I don’t think it was a bee. Falling off was my only choice people.

After this saga and getting cleaned up again, Alex started fixing the chain on my bike…whilst this was happening the support van slowly drove over Alex’s bike. It genuinely was like slow-mo drama unfolding before my eyes. So after I was cleaned up, I had to leave Alex behind to sort a new bike. My legs now looked like I had gone through 5 rounds with a tiny boxer who could only reach my thighs but who could certainly pack a punch or actually because of the cuts from my gears like I had been attacked by a wildcat.

Another highlight of the day was Russell deciding to buy 42 ice-creams for 42 children who were nearby when we stopped for lunch. A beautiful little girl also came and befriended the group, sat at the back of the van feeling sick from falling off and from my stomach not being great I saw and chilled with her sat on my knees for a little while. So cute. When you’re cycling by yourself it really becomes difficult, you may be going at your own pace but it’s tough for your state of mind. These were the points when I really doubted that I’d be able to finish the cycle, the points that really knocked me. Being tired and at points emotional, feeling ill or low on sugars. These were the points that the mantra my friends Abi gave me really helped. “When I am weak, God is Strong.” And “One foot in front of the other.” It’s incredible how your body can automatically keep going, just methodically pushing on and on, and that phrase really stuck with me. That is all we can really do in this crazy, hard world, put one foot in front of the other in a journey that we are not always sure of. This journey was one of those for me, I was blindly following our guide and never really knowing how many KM’s we had done or how many more we had to do. I just kept going until it was time to stop.

One of these moments, and I really can’t remember where we were now (it all blurs into one) I had been at the back with some of the team and my legs had started to really hurt going at that pace, It sounds strange but I needed to go quicker and get my momento going to be able to feel that the cycle was easier. Probably because most of the cycle I was cycling on gear 1 or 2 and 8, which meant pushing harder but less. Anyway, I was with Susann my cousin and we were both going pretty fast, I didn’t realise that she had slowed off and ended up by myself for a while, it really started to get into my head and for the first time my doubts turned into a moment of thinking “I can’t do this.” I started to say “When I am weak God is strong” a few times and at that point Tim zoomed in and cycled in front of me. Halleluiah! I was so happy to see him and to have his support by me it made such a mental shift that I felt strong again. Moments like those on the cycle made me really see how we approach life and our mental health is so important in succeeding. The killing fields are a number of sites in Cambodia where collectively more than a million people were killed and buried by the communist Khmer Rouge regime, during its rule of the country from 1975 to 1979, immediately after the end of the Cambodian Civil War.The killing fields are a number of sites in Cambodia where collectively more than a million people were killed and buried by the communist Khmer Rouge regime, during its rule of the country from 1975 to 1979, immediately after the end of the Cambodian Civil War.

The cycle was long that day and as we had been slower at the beginning we had about 25km left to do in failing daylight. This meant we didn’t get a proper chance to watch the most incredible sunset over the paddy fields, however cycling along with my cousin Susann, there was an incredible feeling of achievement and also awe at the incredible beauty of the world. We felt very lucky taking in the lilacs and pinks reflecting so stunningly into the water. It felt like God saying, well done girls. You did good today. The cycling over pot holes in the dark didn’t seem so terrible after that!

#takeo #cambodia #70km #cycle #challenge #vietnam #camnam #forthekids

[annahornby]

Sawang and I in our bicycle tops. #Representing 

#bicycle #cycle #bike #top

[annahornby]

Transfer to Pnomh Penh

Day 3 was the day we transferred from Siem Reap to Pnomh Penh, we had to travel in this way rather than cycle as the roads were peppered with huge pot holes. This meant a bone shaker of a journey. The team caught up on some z’s and watched half (it crashed) of a harrowing film about the Khmer Rouge which gave an idea of the harrowing and really very recent history of Cambodia. Dinner looked over the Mekong River, sat and chatted to Peter, our eldest member of the team at 71. Between us as the youngest and eldest there was a difference of 44 years between us. Peter is an Australian Vietnam Vet and a fantastic soul. He is so fit and a fantastic inspiration, quietly giving back to a country that makes up a hard time in his own life’s history. Peter didn’t talk a lot about the war, but I was incredibly interested to know more from his perspective, despite working for an organisation that operates in Vietnam I have so much to learn about the history. I sensed that there was a deep reason as to why he was back and cycling for a charity helping children in Vietnam.   The one thing I feel so strongly, having in the past visited incredibly disadvantaged families with disabled children borne of the legacy of chemical bombs such as Agent Orange is that atrocities were committed.  The My Lai massacre, in which American ground troops killed, at close range, more than 500 unarmed, unresisting, South Vietnamese civilians, most women, children, and old men over a four-hour stretch on March 16, 1968, for one. Something Peter mentioned that stuck with me, following orders that in hindsight were so senseless because the civilians were potentially aligned with Viet Cong, quietly he said “I don’t think it should have happened.” In a time where our most powerful leaders are again making decisions to drop bombs on countries the sadness reverberated through my body. There will be more civilians killed, more legacies of war. More children like the children in our centres who are disabled and still living from the legacy of a handful of people’s decision to drop chemicals bomb in the 60s. If only we learnt that killing and blood shed is not the way. Driving through Cambodia, a country of people that has experienced such hurt, and making headway towards Vietnam that day I couldn’t help but reflect on the futility of all of these deaths.

#pnomh penh #war #vietnam #cycle #camnam

[annahornby]

Ankor Wat, Cambodia

#cambodia #ankor wat #siem reap #camnam #cycle #cycling

[annahornby]

2nd Day of Cyling - Banty Srei

Day 2 of cycling was our first long one 80km Ride focusing around Banty Srei, the lost Temple. This day also included a long stretch on a big road. With the sun beating down on us on the road, some of the team really flagged, a mixture dehydration and becoming accustomed to the climate.

Our first rest break culminated in a visit to a little school. The team weren’t expecting this so it was a wonderful moment walking through the gates as the children lined up and welcomed us in. Beautiful Cambodian children with the sweetest smiles lined up to receive presents of pens and colouring books from the team and a classroom sang the ABC in English. There were countless highfives and selfies (I had a reputation for selfies through my own silly admission on the first night as iphone now separates your selfies into an album and I had found myself to be around 10% vain… and so lived with that as my “thing” for the trip, but I can confirm – Kat was the uncrowned queen of the selfies as she went into all situations and asked random strangers for a pic. Props to you Kat.)

The visit was lovely and I think really helped the team focus on the meaning of the trip, helping children and really started to make people look forward to our arrival at the Centre of Social Assistance for Disadvantaged Children in Vietnam where the funds from the trip are going to help.

This was the day that my face met the sand after spectacularly falling off my bike into the sand. I had already become fairly well known for my maverick cycling style and had thought we were going a different way resulting in a near miss with my team mate Tim, further up the sandy road and due to this Russell thought it would be funny to shout “watch out for Tim, Anna!” at the very moment that I was very quickly cycling a sandy corner, my front wheel went one way and the rest of me followed. Stacked it. Surrounded by 5 men cleaning me up and fussing over me I dealt quite well with my fall. Sand wiped off me and electrolyte filled water down my neck, bike camera bag stored safely in the support van instead of on the front of my bike and we were off again (shakily for me). Thank you Russell, Tim and Alex for looking after me so well. The damage, some very bruised legs and a cut on my front knee, not ideal for a cycle but I was ok.  

By day 2 the team were really bonding and showing their wonderful characters. Mamma Jane showed off her hair plaiting skills and became the team hairdresser, Debbie was free and generous with her sun cream and made sure I was ok after my sand covering.

The day ended with some of us finishing at Angkor Wat and getting tuk tuks back, and others adding a few extra KM’s to our trip and cycling back in the diminishing light through some crazy traffic, but not before Tim and I had a good run behind 4 of the guys tuks tuks, being pulled along by the strip and being the first back to the hotel. Great advice from Tim on how easy it is to be pulled along when someone else breaks your headwind. More high fives and the team were elated. 120km down

#bantysrei #ankorwat #cambodia #siemreap #cycling #cycle #challenge #80km #charity #cncf #charitychallenge

[annahornby]

[annahornby]

1st Cycle 13th November

The cycle ride was incredibly intense and there was barely time to sit and write and the internet just wasn’t agreeable so apologies for my lack of blog posts. Love that one of the only ones that posted was me looking hella miserable before my 105km day after a bad case of Asian Belly. Nicccce.

I shall endeavour to update you on my trip but first I want to thank all who contributed again for your sponsorship. You will not know how much it meant to me and how much it pushed me on to train and complete the challenge. Something I did not think I would be able to accomplish. I was touched by every single donation and message of support, they truly spurred me on.

I did it!! I cycled 420km over 6 days. Really cannot believe that sitting here now but I will tell you the biggest thing that I’ve learnt on this trip is that you can do what you put your mind to. It’s as simple as that, I would encourage you to do something amazing next year that you wouldn’t think possible, because if I can, believe me, so can you.

The cycle itself really was a challenge. There were 23 of us cycling altogether including our two main Ground handlers and the representative from the company who organised the cycle, along the way we were joined by other cyclists who worked with the ground handlers which was awesome. They were mainly in Cambodia and local to Siem Reap and were a great support and team. Our first day, after fitting our own saddles (mine was a ladies Italia Gel Selle – highly recommend!) we cycled 40km around the temples of Ankor Wat. The Khmer architecture of the largest religious monuments in the world are incredibly breath-taking, hundreds of thousands of intricate carvings adorn the walls of every temples and huge carved heads tower over you as you wander through the maze of walls in the different complexes of the temples. This was the team’s first day together and it was great to spot each other in our new kits, we really started to bond from the beginning of the trip and this really helped cement the feeling of being a team from the offset. It also helped when getting lost in the temples to spy a fellow lycra clad friend in white, red and yellow! The 40km cycle eased us into the start of the trip and did not feel too strenuous, lots of walking around temples and getting to know our team. It was a great way to start, my favourite part of the day was cycling down some back paths, past little houses and paddy fields, past water buffalo lazing in the sun and down to lunch, where I got my first fresh coconut of many, a great source of potassium and natural electrolytes to help with the cycle.

We ended back in the hotel in Siem Reap that was base camp for a few days. Really felt quite proud walking back in in my now quite dirty kit. We got showered and dressed and went out for a lovely meal and on to some cocktails at one of the ground handlers friends bars….perfect preparation for a long cycle the next day!

#camnam #cycle #challenge #blog #cycling #cambodia #cncf #forthekids

[annahornby]

The CamNam team in Siem Reap.

Team Noble! 

#camnam #cambodia #vietnam #cycle #charity #challenge

[annahornby]

CamNam Blogs. Number 1.

Monday was a stressful day, so much pent up anxiety about the trip ahead. Needing to finish bits and pieces for work and waiting for some deliveries to come through. One being my brand new camera and GoPro which were due before 1pm on the day I was to fly out to Cambodia. This is how I live my life. Aargh

 I called to confirm and the courier told me it was due between 12 and 2. Pushing it.

 2.20 and I called again. Could arrive between 3 and 5. This is not what my poor heart needs right now DHL and I appreciate you are reading from your set speech but I will come through that phone wire and I will help you understand that I need that kit. I cried.

 It arrived at 4pm - I had to insure quickly and jump on the tube, no time to even check it was all ok.

 Stress factor 2. My bags were with dad and he wasn't answering his phone.

 I arrive at the airport to meet my cousin Suzanne and Second cousin Jeanette and mum and dad. A quick repack and some badass negations with Zayn and I got the cycle kit bag on for free. Score.

 My sister Laura and family turned up to wave me off. It was very surreal cuddling my 4 year old niece who had been a baby when I left last time for Asia. I was devastated then as I knew it would be 5 months till I saw her again. Amazing to see her waving to me and telling me she loves me now. How time flies.

 As I went through security by myself I watched my passport and tickets flap precariously on the box going through the X-ray machine and thought...hmm that could fall off.

 I met susann on the other side and after a little wander I realised...I didn't have my passport. Fecking eejit.

 Mad dash back and a security bloke she my frazzled face and asked if I had lost my passport and pointed to another guy who had it in his hands. Stress number 3 over. By this point Jeannette, Susann and I (after they missed their first train to Loudon) realised it could be one of "those" trips!!

 The flight was hilarious, we were gagging for a G&T. As the carts came we could just taste the sweet nectar. The fear came when we saw only orange juice and lemonade, what sort of airline is this?! Air China, that's what kind folks. We had already been cackling in our row giving a distinct impression of being drunkards. However stone cold sober we were and merely slightly hysterical by this point. "Alcohol?" We asked. "Gin and Tonic?" No alcohol she said.

 We got off the plane.

  ....

 Joking, she found us some warm beers and we settled into synchronising Pith Perfect 2. Sorry to all those next to us but our family laughs.

 4 hours in Beijing (beige-ing) most boring airport award goes to! At least we found a place to charge batteries and get a coffee.

 Finally after 24 hours for me and 30 for the girls we arrived in Cambodia. A tiny incident ever so slightly fraud-u-lent including passport pictures that I can't publicise occurred and finally. Finally! We were picked up by a minibus and taken to our hotel. Beddddd.

 The next day involved Asian breakfast, rubbish manicure an the weird massage whilst dressed in pajamas! But we were loving being there and soaking it all up.

 That evening we met the rest of the Aussie contingent and some of the English team and realised that we got on like a house on fire. Score.

 The next day we met the rest of the team as they started to arrive and Kirrily, the Australian CNCF manager and I went out to hunt for a selfie stick and camera microphone to take some videos of the cycle. This consisted of Davuth the tuk tuk driver taking us about Siem reap and visiting random little shops. Turns out go pro accessories are not cheap in Cambodia. One selfie stick for $85 purchased....ouch. I was feeling pretty tired and jetlagged. We got back and had to move rooms, twice and in the process I smashed my phone...ooooouch. I wandered down to reception to get some sellotape and met with the Gulf for good team who had organised the trip. Unfortunately I still hadn't had lunch and hadn't drunk a lot of water. After a good hour and a half meeting I hit a wall. Going upstairs I got my bikini on finally to get some rest and sit by the pool, immediately it started to pour it down. It wasn't a good day!! However we met with all the team in the evening and it was fantastic to see all of the faces of people who we have been talking to over the phone in organising the trip and to add people coming from all over the world to raise funds for the children in Vietnam which really is amazing.

  I felt really drained and not at all ready to start the cycle the next day

#cycle #cambodia #vietnam #journey #travel #dontflyairchina #pitchperfect2

[annahornby]

What do you need before a 105km ride through Vietnam? The runs! Woo #cramps #givemeahug

[annahornby]

80km smashed yesterday. Bus sleeps now!

[annahornby]

I am the Don of packing.....however this was me at 5pm today. Night night! Xx