Newspaper Article

Monday 30th May

The Paisley Daily Express kindly ran an article on me and the Malawi bike ride. The link below shows the online version, and the story has its usual journalistic slant. It’s still a very good article and raises more awareness of the charity event.

http://www.paisleydailyexpress.co.uk/renfrewshire-news/local-news-in-renfrewshire/paisley-news/2011/05/28/brave-david-aims-to-stay-clear-of-hungry-hippos-87085-28775925/

Falkirk Wheel

Sunday 29th May

A group of the Malawi participants had arranged to meet at the Falkirk Wheel, some travelling from Edinburgh and others from Glasgow. I met up with Pat and Lucia just after 9am as we were all leaving from Glasgow. It was a wet and windy morning and lying in bed would have been an easier option, but the training needs to be done! We took the canal route all the way and the rain eased off which was helpful. There was a charity cycle group travelling from Anniesland to Ratho so we met loads of other cyclists along the route. It’s a great ride with nice scenery and an easy flat route.

There were high winds today and they were blowing along the canal route which was great on the way to Falkirk which we did in just over 2 hours. The Falkirk Wheel has a good visitors centre so we stopped there for a while and got some lunch. Unfortunately we didn’t meet up with the group from Edinburgh as we were too early and they were hit by strong winds and rain, so we decided to head back to Glasgow. This is when the fun began.

It was tough going back towards Glasgow as the winds were very high and at some points you could hardly pedal due to the wind. It was a long 25 miles back and it took about 4 hours to complete. We did stop a couple of times for a well required rest. Today’s cycle certainly was a test of our resolve but it was good for the training aspect. We don’t anticipate any wind in Malawi so thankfully we won’t need to endure that sort of journey again! Well worth it though.

Good old Scottish Summer

Tuesday 24th May

My training over the last few days has been limited to a couple of sessions at the gym. I managed to get my bike repaired and must say that I was pleased with the service that Halfords provided. I bought the bike there in August and they treated the repair as maintenance and did it free of charge.

The only problem now is the high winds and rain that Glasgow has been hit with. I’ve not ventured out yet this week as if I can fall off my bike whilst stationary, then what will I be like with gale force winds?!! Still, a couple of good sessions at the gym has kept the fitness level up. I also had some treatment on my knee and it is feeling great again.

Sponsorship is going great and I am well underway to getting over the current £4,000 target that I have set. Some more sponsorship from IQA suppliers and also from friends. As always, it is very much appreciated.

A NIGHT TO FORGET

Thursday 19th May

Planned a 3 hour cycle with my friend Bill, and the bad luck started straight away when Bill turned up with a puncture. We got everything set up just before 7pm and headed down Byres Rd towards the River. Now I use toe straps/buckles on my pedals for extra grip, and keep one foot slacker in case I need to stop quickly. Usually it's the right but on this occasion I loosened my left foot. Bad choice- I reached the lights on Byres Rd and undertook a few cars, and stopped on the Red. Went to put my right foot down and realised I couldn't as it was strapped in - so I fell to my right onto the ground! Right in front of a row of cars and onlookers which was very embarrassing especially when the lights turned to green and I was trying to untie my foot! Not a great start.

The fall also had an effect on my bike as a couple of the gears were slipping but I continued anyway. We headed West and ended up in Erskine where we travelled over the Erskine Bridge which was very windy. From there we cycled across nice country roads to Bridge of Weir and eventually to Lochwinnoch. At one point when going up a steep hill, my gears popped out and I was peddling but started moving backwards! You can guess what happened next, yes, I fell off! This fall was a bit worse as I landed awkwardly and have the bruises to prove it! Still soldiered on and the best part of the day was the long downhill stretch to Lochwinnoch, which was just as well as it was getting dark.

We celebrated a hard cycle with a pint in the Brown Bull pub and Bill checked the train times. We then realised the last train was in 8 minutes and we were a mile from the station! Had to leave the pint and dash to the train station where we just made the train!

A short cycle back to the west end and I was home (at 22:40) safe in the knowledge that I will never need to use those bloody toe straps again! Entertaining night, and a really good workout :-)

Ben Lawers- Practice Run for Malawi

Saturday 14th May

Today’s challenge is to complete a 60 mile cycle to finish at the top of Ben Lawers in Perthshire! This is a big challenge for me and I am determined to finish it. I attempted to complete the same course last month with a couple of friends however, I only managed to make it up a third of the mountain when my I badly injured my knee and had to turn back, which was extremely disappointing.

I set off in the car from Glasgow at 8am and picked up fellow IQA colleague Brian Ward and friend Bill French. We arrived in Kenmore at the end of Loch Tay and got the bikes set up. It was a mild day but with a lot of wind and a little drizzle.



Ben Lawers stands at almost 4000ft above sea level and is the 10th highest peak in the UK. Our base start at Kenmore is around 1000ft so we had a fair height to cycle (albeit our road doesn’t go to the very top). The scenery was amazing and the cycle was tough but very rewarding. The weather was fine but we hit some high winds as we climbed up towards Glenlyon, at the foot of Ben Lawers. An hour and 17 miles later we eventually got to Glen Lyon and had a quick rest before setting off up the mountain.

The incline was steady and we meandered up the single track road, which was surrounded by beautiful hills and countryside, plus the odd sheep and lambs. You could only really cycle in the lowest gear and if you stopped pedalling you would have moved backwards. It was tough! It probably took over an hour to cycle the 4 miles and what a rewarding feeling when we reached the top. We walked the last few metres to the viewpoint at the top and were greeted by amazing views.

Even better was the way down! I must have travelled almost 3 miles without pedalling which was a lot of fun, although at this point there was a strong rainstorm so it got a bit slippy. The best part of the day was arriving back in Glenlyon at the foot of the mountain, and visiting the Glenlyon Post Office and Tea Room. South African owner Becky looked after us and we had a fantastic lunch followed by the famous Scones.

This fuelled us up for the 17 miles back, and for some reason we really pushed it for a while and had a very fast run. I must have overdone it though as I hurt my knee once more and had to take it a lot easier on the final few miles. Luckily I had a knee support and that helped a lot. We celebrated our achievement with a pint in the Kenmore hotel before heading back on the 2 hour journey to Glasgow. A fantastic day and well worth it!

Managing Director is set to cycle around Malawi in July to raise money for charity

David Gowans is venturing to Malawi to take part in an organised cycle to raise money to help improve the education of children there. Link Community Development, based in Edinburgh, have organised the bike run and Davie will be joining 40 other people who are taking part in this challenge.

By improving the education in Malawi, some of the things they hope to do is increase the numbers of teaching staff and equipment to schools, shorten the distances children have to travel to school and offer improved support services to young people for some of the family and social pressures that they face.

Davie is keeping a blog of his travels where you will get regular updates and pictures from his adventure. If you would like to follow the build up to the trip or pledge your support then please do so by visiting:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiserweb/fundraiser/showfundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=DGowans

http//www.facebook.com/pages/David-Gowans-Cycles-Malawi