Great North Swim

This is a terrible pic of me, but I had just finished swimming my mile in some very choppy water and I was shattered. I drove up to Windermere early as I knew there was a huge bike run being held on the M6 for Hairy Biker, Mike Myers. I met Dawn there and we had a mooch around the event stalls before heading into the swim zone. Our wave was at 1pm and there were a couple of hundred swimmers at least in it.

From the start I found it tricky as there were so many waves bashing me in the face. My knee was a hindrance too, but I ploughed on. I saw quite a few people going to the kayakers and giving up, but there was no way I was doing that. It was a mighty challenge and it took me a long time before I got into a decent swim rhythm. I usually take about fifty minutes but it was my slowest ever swim at 74 minutes. I wasn’t in the best condition and the choppy waves tried to defeat me….but I did it and I felt great.

Driving home I was glad I was travelling south on the M6 as I passed thousands of bikers going the other way. The lay-bys and bridges were filled with people waving to the bikers and it was a truly magnificent sight. It did bring a tear to my eye as I saw such a wonderful tribute to such a nice man. I posted a pic of him a few years ago when I bumped into Mike in Manchester, he was lovely.

I was shattered this evening, but it was a sensational day.