Books By Bike reborn

What seemed like a good idea in the depths of last winter quickly turned, well not sour, but not exactly all sweetness and light.

I was under a 'hernia' cloud for the first few months of the year as my op kept getting postponed for a variety of reasons and then in March / April my garage was broken into and both my trusty Boardman commute (and 'books by bike(BBB)') bike and my Specialized road bike got nicked ... I contributed to this a little I guess in not making the garage more safe than it was and not securing the bikes inside that well , but still ... dirty rotten scumbags ....

Books by foot / Tram / Car just didn't have the same appeal .... and although an extended family member (who was now hooked on expensive road cycling) came to my rescue by letting me have the bike above from his garage, new wheels, tyres and other bits still set me back a bit.

Before I had chance to get it ship-shape however I finally had my hernia op in May, which really knocked me for six physically. It took a lot longer to get back into the swing of things exercise-wise than I'd anticipated. Having lost about 9 lbs over the first couple of BBB months I ended up putting 11 lbs back on - this including a week where I lost half a stone being sick as a dog.... I'm glad to say most of that has come back off:

I've actually managed to get rid of quite a lot of books via the local Altrincham charity shops (and BTW - make sure you gift aid - SCOPE and BHF both provide updates on how much money your items have fetched ..) I still have box loads I can get be giving away. I established some RULES back when I started which pretty much hold true but I'll be changing them slightly  - I also want to link contributions to local foodbank, but more on that in future posts.

First books to be added when I've updated the various linked accounts!

One Month in ... January Summary

• Books Delivered: 10
• Bike miles travelled: 159
• Weight Lost: 2lbs
• Charitable Contribution: ~£25

Before I review / remind you where I am, I have some book catching up to do:

Six Of Swords (12miles) – slight diversion, in that this was posted to a colleague in our US office but I did cycle into work with it.

Lawrence Dallaglio: It’s in the Blood (12 miles) – a handover in the Kings Ransom car park, occasioned by difficulties in matching schedules... a lady requested it for her husband who used to play rugby (injury i think) and she hadn’t told him what it was when I handed it over, which was kind of sweet

Picasso

Gray’s Anatomy (12 miles) – I considered keeping this but it would have sat on my shelf gathering dust so go it must. A 200yd diversion on my way into work (Note to self: I must do a post on Sale)

Picasso (12 miles) – another diversion... chap lives in Bolton but we tried to hook up in Altrincham as he was in town – we got snowed off. So i’m dropping it off on my way up to a meeting in Preston as it’s just a short hop from the Motorway

There’s one more to share but that’s a separate post.

So, the overview. I resolved at the start of the year to give away a huge pile of books (and I mean huge) using the range of social media at my disposal. I wanted to get off to a good start so used Freecycle which is where the bulk of Januarys books have gone. It has the benefit of people who want free stuff go on there and they’re all local!

Next Social Media. Twitter first, recently joined by a FB page and more esoterically Pinterest and Librarything (click on all links for my accounts). The last two being a repository for cover pictures and available book details respectively.

As a reminder, for every book I deliver by bike I add £1 plus 5p per mile travelled on the round trip to a charity pot which I’m pushing through to Justgiving once a month. In addition I also forgot that I also committed to £5 per lb of weight lost... the Justgiving page is: http://www.justgiving.com/booksbybike and I’m also happy to take donations in addition to what I’m putting in there myself.

A number of things I have learned already:

• I don’t know the hidden depths of the wider area I live very well – I’m discovering all sorts of wonderful things and sharing as many of them as I can
• Investment in a new winter hi-vis jacket with additional inbuilt rear light was a sound one
• I need to be more curious without being nosey – it’s a fine balance but people love to talk
• I need to keep re-explaining what I’m doing otherwise some posts just won’t make any sense

Card Tricks to Culketh

Card Tricks to Culketh

      Book: 165 Card Tricks & Stunts by Jean Hugard

      Miles Travelled: 30 9diversion to work and back included)

      Tumbles Taken: 1

So book 1 was a magic book and strictly speaking fell outside of the rules but remember rule 1 – these are just guidelines. This was an order from the ailing online empire but was just 10 miles away as the crow flies so was duly chosen as book 1 of the nascent project

Its worth saying at this point that I hadn’t really thought through what would be in each posting so I can’t tell you much about the book that Amazon doesn’t other than I bought it in a job lot of magic books on ebay and when they arrived they stunk of cigarette smoke – I had to stick them in the garage for months before I could go near them. Magic and cigarettes -  that winning combination.

I can’t tell you much about the recipient other than he shared a name with a Premiership football manager and appeared to be still in bed at 10:30 when I delivered the book (all the curtains being closed a giveaway – perhaps it was a late night of smoking and practising card tricks?)

As for the journey it was a pleasant enough rural road ramble north and west from Altrincham to Culketh on the other side of the M60. Two notable landmarks passed on the way: Dunham Massey Park (of which more in a later post) and the Warburton Toll Bridge which crosses the Manchester Ship Canal and is free to cyclists but charges all of 12p to cars (or at least did the last time I drove across it. As a cyclist it’s an unavoidable bridge as the only other crossings are a good way away and are in the main Motorways…. It’s here that the listed tumble (see above) occurred much to my chagrin. On this particular crossing the traffic was being controlled by lights and down to one lane. The first crossing I waited and let traffic through before me. The second crossing I stole a march and barged into the cordoned off area where I though I’d pootle along on the ‘pavement’ area. The cast iron ‘kerb’ had other ideas and in the wet condition unceremoniously dumped me on my arse – oh how the driver first in line must have laughed – the b*stard! I'll spare you the gory, bloodied knee picture.

Wikipedia can give you the lowdown on the bridge:

Warburton Bridge is a privately owned Statutory Tolled Undertaking which incorporates a public highway road length. The high-level cantilever bridge crosses the Manchester Ship Canal on the B5159 road, connecting the A57 with the A6144, and was commissioned under the Rixton & Warburton Bridge Act 1863. The original stone bridge spanned the River Mersey prior to its later diversion into the Manchester Ship Canal. The toll operation has a significant impact with maintaining the smooth flow of traffic into the surrounding areas. Along with the detection of unauthorised vehicles, attempting to use this three ton weight restricted route. Both bridges and the unadopted approach roads are privately maintained. It is one of the few remaining pre-motorway toll bridges in the United Kingdom, and the only one in Greater Manchester

So one book delivered and more to come – onwards and upwards.

The Rules

Well there aren’t any really, more a set of guidelines… what do you take me for? Some sort of Authoritarian?

In a nutshell, I aim to distribute as many books as possible to as many people as possible, generally within return cycling distance of Altrincham - WA14 4PH, to pick a random postcode (mylocal boozer). For the winter I’m going to limit this as far as possible to 50 miles (i.e .within 25 miles of above postcode) – when it gets a bit lighter and warmer (and I get a bit fitter) I may extend the distance. I will attract takers, I hope, by the use of various Social Media. I will share as much info as the takers are happy to share on this blog so if you have specific reasons for wanting the book, are happy to have a picture taken or will provide a review, all the better (but you don’t have to do any of these things if you don’t want).

I’m happy to deliver direct to your house or to meet you outside your local village landmark, whichever you’re comfortable with. If you live miles away but really want the book I can post but I’ll want a contribution to cost – I’m thinking minimum Amazon charge (£2.81) – any surplus goes into the pot – if it’s a large item which will cost more I’ll advertise the fact.

For every book I deliver by bike I will add £1 to the charity pot plus 1p per mile travelled (return) – so £1.50 for a 50 mile return journey.

The aim at the moment is to contribute to the Key 103 cash for kids Xmas charity next December (2013) (http://www.key103.co.uk/charity/about-us/about/ ) with monies / toys to be handed over on December 1^st.  If you want to contribute having received a book please do at http://www.justgiving.com/booksbybike - I’ll be adding a monthly amount at the end of each month.

I’m also expecting to get fitter and lose some weight as a result of my endeavours and I’ll be contributing £5 per lb lost (current weight 200lb) and will also encourage friends, relatives and complete strangers to sponsor me accordingly.

I hope you will help me in helping raise funds and awareness for vulnerable children throughout the Greater Manchester area at a time when services provided to them are becoming increasingly threatened.