J.A.M.

Foghorns, originally uploaded by Dave Gorman.

I took part in a recording of two episodes of Radio 4's Just A Minute yesterday at Derby University.

That's the third time I've done the show - having done two episodes a while ago in London and a single episode at Hay on Wye last year - and it remains as damnedly difficult a game to play.

It felt like I spent the whole of the first show pressing my buzzer and trying to challenge only to discover that I was pipped to the post by my fellow contestants.

Early on there were plenty of times when I'd be sitting there thinking, 'oh good... I know exactly how I'll handle this subject' - but every time that was the case, I'd be unable to mount a fast enough challenge. After a while I stopped trying to think about what I would say if I got in and suddenly, I found myself faster on the buzzer and occasionally able to steal the subject. Next time I play - if there is a next time - I'll do no thinking at all and just let my thumb buzz when it wants to.

It was a hugely enjoyable evening with a lovely, fun audience. Tony Hawks, Josie Lawrence and Justin Moorhouse were all on fine form... you only have to add the remarkable presence of Nicholas Parsons to the mix and it transforms into something quite special.

Absolutely Lovely

This is Martin, Danielle and myself celebrating after our first show together on Absolute Radio. We weren't just celebrating our first show... we all had something individual that's worth celebrating and it says something about the confessional nature of radio that words slipped out on air that I would be nervous of typing here. The work/life separation feels more blurred on the wireless for some reason.

I reckon it was nice and relaxed for a first show and while I'm sure things will get smoother here and there I liked its rough-around-the-edges feel. Martin's song at the end - summarising the e-mails and texts that had come in over the two hours was really something to behold. Amazing really.

The listeners do as much to define a station as anything else so seeing so many texts and e-mails come in really did make us feel very welcome. Thanks all.

It wasn't just messages either... there were a few jingles made by listeners too. Thanks to Jerry Mandarin (nice jingle, surely not a real name... gerrymandering... hmmm), David Wilks (very bizarre, that one) and Tom White (made us laugh each and every time we played it) for those. We have some more that we haven't heard yet and we'd love it if you kept them coming in. It set a really nice tone for the show.

If you're not a Sunday morning kind of person, the podcast is up already.

Jingle Jangle

8 Ukes and a Light Switch, originally uploaded by Dave Gorman.

So... as I said a few days ago, I start presenting on Absolute Radio on Sunday morning. (10 til 12 since you ask.) The only thing is that while I encouraged people to get in touch with us about the show by visiting the show's page on the Absolute website, that was before we discovered some technical fault meant that your e-mails weren't actually getting through. There's an alternative suggestion coming up...

We'd really like the show to be as interactive as possible... and we thought one way of getting people involved would be to invite our listeners to contribute jingles. I really like the idea of having some homemade jingles and it would mean the show's tone of voice would - in a way - be set by the people who listen to it. We haven't got any particular purpose in mind, just a generic show jingle... so anything that works for an Absolute Radio show presented by, um, me would be dandy.

Now this may be a longshot - and we might get nothing out of it - but at the same time, there must be some musically minded people out there who'd enjoy the idea of writing and recording something nice and short and, um, jingle-y.

I've already mentioned this to my mailing list and I encouraged them to visit the show's page and get in touch that way. Oops. That doesn't work... so if you've got a jingle for us - or anything else for that matter -
send us an email instead.

(mp3's are the best format, ta)

Radio Radio

Radio City Music Hall, originally uploaded by Dave Gorman.

It's taking me a while to adjust to life after the bike ride. My body was shocked for the first week and a bit of intense exercise and now it seems equally shocked by the fact that it's ended.

I have to be careful - I'm still eating like a man who's cycling 50 miles a day. I could undo all the good work I've just done in a very short space of time.

I was concerned that going straight into a new project wasn't going to be a good idea but as it goes, our first meeting about the new show on Absolute Radio really helped to draw a line under the tour and the cycling. Finding myself being all excited about what I'm about to throw myself into was actually the best way of throwing off the shadow of what I've just experienced.

I'm going to be presenting a show on Absolute on Sunday mornings (10 til 12) starting this week and it's really exciting starting with a blank piece of paper and building from there. I say, 'we' because the first thing we've added to the mix is a couple of co-presenters in the shape of Danielle Ward and Martin White - both of whom are excellent and funny and - most importantly - highly distinctive and definitely not cookie-cutter you-know-what-you're-going-to-get kind of stand-ups. I'm really looking forward to it.

We'd like to make the shows as interactive as possible so do pop along to the show's page on the Absolute site and get in touch - especially when we're on air.

Final Day Catch Up...

I'm back in London after a lovely couple of days of decompression in Edinburgh...

I did read through the comments left on the post I made on Day 33 (both here at gormano.blogspot and on facebook where the blog is automatically imported) and I don't mind admitting that it wasn't long before the wave of warmth and support had me shedding a lovely tear. Thanks all.

So here's how Day 33 panned out...

At just under 14 miles it wasn't a very long ride:
And while the last seven miles were uphill it wasn't especially steep...
But what was against us was the weather. It was raining heavily and the wind was raging... and Caithness is so flat that when the wind gets up there's really nothing to get in its way. If we'd have been doing the ride 24 hours later we'd have had 80mph winds to contend with and that might have meant it was impossible.

We. Yup.

I hadn't planned on having a Human Sat Nav for this ride. I figured it would be a weird thing to share with a stranger. I knew that completing such a mammoth task would have an emotional impact on me of some sort and it would be odd sharing that moment with someone I'd only just met and had only been with for an hour and a half or so. I also knew that I didn't need to have anyone show me the way... it's not as though there are several roads leading to Dunnet Head.

But I did have company. In the shape of The Delightful B. I knew she was coming up to see me at the end of the journey... but I really wasn't expecting her to volunteer to share the final ride with me. It made perfect sense. There's nobody else better placed to understand the way I'd be feeling at the end of this thing and nobody I'd rather share it with.
So it was the two of us who braved our way through the elements, with TDB on Boardman1 and me on Boardman2...





But we made it...

Here's TDB at the finishing line
I told you it was wet.
And here's me opening a celebratory bottle of champagne...
Still... there's always someone wetter...
I'm so proud of the last month. At times it's been harder than I thought but I've come through it in better shape than I imagined I would. Whenever I spoke to people who'd done long rides - Lands End to John o' Groats for instance - they all said the same thing; "when we got to our B&B, we had a bite to eat, one pint and then fell asleep." Nobody ever talked about doing 4 or 5 hours of energetic work at the end of the day but that's what I managed to do.

Doing the shows was the untestable part of the whole venture and I can't quite believe that I made every show on time and got through them all without much of a hitch.

I couldn't have done it without the messages of support from folks along the way, the Human Sat Navs - heroes every last one of 'em - and my tour manager, Ed:
This was always going to be a strange tour and because of the unusual nature of what we were doing Ed was taking on far more than the logistical and technical duties of a normal tour manager.

Now... I'm back in London. It's raining. I'm not sure what to do with myself. I might go for a little bike ride...

Reddit

Normal service will be resumed soon.

In the mean time... someone's told me that there's someone pretending to me on Reddit.com.

It isn't me. I'd never put a post on a website describing myself like that... please don't fall for it...

One thousand, five hundred and sixty three!

That's how many miles I've cycled. From the southernmost point of the British mainland to the easternmost point to the westernmost point to the northernmost point. With a full show each and every night along the way.

I'm exhausted. I'm also exceedingly proud.

There's not much of an internet connection here so I can't offer pictures or maps or whatever but I'll catch up when I'm back in London. I'm going to take a couple of days off before that happens though. Lots to sit and think about.

It's been an amazing month - the most exhilarating of my life - big thanks to everyone who came to a show (no spoilers now, it tours again in the spring!) and to everyone who's offered encouragement along the way. It's been much appreciated.

Yours, with a slimmer waist and chunkier thighs,

Dave