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Hullo faithful friends, now that i'm able to lift a finger to the keyboard without fear of collapsing, i can convey some sincere thanks for your support and generosity over the last week. we've managed to raise almost £1,000 for Plan and their work in Kwapa, Uganda, in a very short time.  i've been incredibly touched by your show of collective munificence, so thank you again. the ride itself was epic: nearly ten hours in (or around) the saddle, four and half of those climbing, and almost the same amount of time under rain.  the descents were slick, exhilarating and, once the fingers began to fail from the cold, more than a little worrying.  but what an amazing feeling, plummteting out of the clouds alongside a select group of lycra-clad nut-cases (proving there's still some truth in the old proverb about shit and hills). i managed to place respectably (1476 out of 4696 starters) from a position fairly far back in the pack (i was a little too honest when answering the questions about previous experience).  When i commented to Tash that next time i would do whatever it took to start near the front, i was met with a gaze of such withering intensity that i quickly realized i'm not likely to be hitting anyone up for funds again, any time soon. so, there's some further evidence, if you can be arsed, in the shape of:   photos route and stats videos   you'll be pleased to know, none of these show me in a particularly flattering light. with thanks and salutations.   jay p.s. tomorrow (Wednesday's) stage of the Tour will follow our exact route -- Pau to Bagneres-de-Luchon.  it would be nice to see the views on telly that were hidden by clouds on the day, but, if i'm honest,  i'd probably rather the pro's got served a heaping plate of rain and suffering.  is that so wrong?…

for those few of you out there who don't read The Wife's Blog, here's a wee update: due in February. Gender unknown. Siblings would have rather gone to Disney Land. And, as my Dad pointed out, there goes Freedom Fifty-five. All that aside, the results of the scan show there's a healthy little person in there who, we hope, will bring a nice triangulate effect to the current head-to-head action going on in my house. And we're over the moon. I've opened an account at the Bank of Sleep and plan on making some deposits. happy Wednesday all.

Hard to believe, but that most anticipated of weekends has come and gone quicker than a whiff of distant toilets. It was a bit of an odd one for several reasons: weather - all four seasons rolled into one weekend that seemed to just keep rolling an all-media blackout come Sunday: worked the SLR, which died, and then the phone, which also died. but there was a lot of output from those first few days. namely: 200-odd photos some videos (some of which may get cut down any minute by the copyright bot on Utube) we met an owl mud in quantities not seen since the Somme despite yelling his name repeatedly, we never found Dan (or Darragh, for that matter) our neighbours packed up at daybreak on Sunday, citing a 'Bad Glastonbury' (we weren't brave enough to ask if we contributed to the Badness, but, to our credit, we discussed how we could fix it for them for hours after they left). [Team, you know who you are, and you know there are more: feel free to contribute your own bits of oddness in the comments.....]   highlights, to name a few: Queens of the Stone Age - thanks to David, and his very generous back stage pass, i managed to sneak up alongside the Other stage and watch the entire gig from beside the smoke machines, about 20m to the right of the band. it was an up close display of some incredible guitar-based jousting, and probably the musical highlight of many a Glastonbury for me (a fact cemented by a chance run in with Josh as he came offstage, a quick shake of his massive, calloused, ginger hand and some effusive compliments from me) Absynth: the twister of many a face, stomach and, i'm sad to say, morning Fuck Off: it became the watchword(s) of the weekend, for which we discovered many interesting uses (including some that…