Training in the South of France

Today is the first time in two weeks that the temperature in the shade has dropped below 30 degrees Celsius. It is a chilly 27 and I have been driven indoors briefly to check e mail and write this.

How is the warm weather training going? Well I think it is going very well.I have been out in the heat getting some kilometres into my legs and generally assuring myself that I have not bitten off more than I can chew.

My Shimano SPD sandals are great. They keep the feet firmly attached but let the air circulate around your feet. They are very comfortable both on and off the bike. I am training on an old BSA with an equally old Brooks professional saddle. I could do with more than the five gears but it is great for training on.

My wife bought me a new pair of bib shorts for my birthday which are on the snazzy side. However lycra clad older men don't merit a second glance in this part of the world.

The sponsorship is starting to roll in which is great but it carries with it a certain pressure to perform. To all the sponsors so far I say "Thank you very much indeed it is greatly appreciated" To those who are prevaricating I say "Get your money out - it is a very good cause"

I got "The man who cycled the world" by Mark Beaumont for my birthday. What an incredible trip that was. It puts my little trip into an appropriate context. It is a very good read and I would recommend it to anyone.

Unfortunately there are only two more days of warm weather training before we need to return to reality.

Freedom

The day has finally come. Not the start of Brian's Big Bike ride, but the day of my retiral. Just think - no more work - ever! In many ways it;s a scary thought, but I don't expect to be spending too much time in my favourite armchair thinking about it.

The parents and pupils and staff of Kettle Primary School sent me on my way in fine style on Thursday July 1st with an evening of entertainment and reminiscing. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. It was good to see so many faces from the past and gratifying that they took the trouble to share the evening with me and my colleague Janice Russell who was also retiring.

I would like to thank everyone who attended or who sent their best wishes.I thank the members of "Kettles got nae talent" for their entertaining song and dance routine. I thank the three headteachers with whom I worked for their kind words. I will miss all of their support but my attention is now firmly focused across the Channel.

Those who were unable to attend may be faintly amused by my final( I promise) Poem what I Wrote

The final poem

It's become customary
A tradition at such time
For me to stand up (wherever we are, often Balbirnie)
And prattle on a bit in rhyme

It didn't used to take much
To be sufficiently of note
You just needed to have a special birthday, or leave or retire or come back
To get a "poem what I wrote"

So as Kettle's poet in residence
It seems to fall to me
To say a few words
At this our leaving spree

But where to start, what to say?
I can't fit in the half
Of what I think that I should say, to mark this day,
Of our leaving Kettle's Staff

Start at the very beginning,
A very good place to start
When there's a tale to tell
It's the most essential part

It started off in the annex (now the nursery)
In 1983 in May
Finishes twenty seven years later
Almost to the day
(well it is a poem )

What terrible deed did I commit
In some other life I wonder
To deserve such a life sentence
I'd have got less for murder!

There has always been certain children
As everyone here knows
Who have a highly developed talent
For getting right up your nose

They niggle and they wriggle
Could start a dispute in an empty class
Engender panic attacks in visiting teachers
Won't let other children pass

Like ....
Well I'm sure we all know who
And to name them here and now
Would be so unprofessional to do

But

tonight I am retiring
And shy and smiling sweetly
So I'll keep them up my sleeve
To myself - discreetly

But there is one thought – yes just the one
That has lately been exercising my brain
It just won't go away
It returns again and again

When we're finally prised away
For we're both in with the bricks
How may Fife Council workers
Will it take for them to fix

The gaping whole that will be left
In the fabric of the school?
That's an easy question
We're neither of us fool

Enough to think that we're unique
The A team the number one and only crew
I'll answer my own question
It'll take just two

Nicola and Claire they'll both be happy
At Kettle, have a laugh
Part of what has always been
A pulling together staff

For me it was a privilege
And a pleasure it has been
To be an integral part
Of this Kettle school scene

But everything has its time
By which it should be done
Everything a sell- by -date
Which should not be overrun

It's a natural progression
Like cradle to the grave
All good things come to an end
Goodbye must be waved

So thank you all for being
Here for us tonight
To send us on our way
On a note that is just right

(e sharp) Its a private in- house
sort of joke
Which only imminent retirees
Would dare to invoke

It is a fairly sad occasion
and we might yet shed a tear
But they'll turn to tears of joy
Very rapidly never fear

Thanks to friends and family
And to esteemed colleagues too
Thanks to all the parents
Without which a school cannot do

Thanks for your best wishes
And for your gifts and friendship too
Finally, thanks for your being further back
In the retirement queue.