The 25th of my 40 donations goes to Sofia Sofia; whilst it is blatantly obvious what first caught my eye about her, the energy and positivity of her YouTube shorts have brightened up nearly every day since.
For what it’s worth, I haven’t quite learnt how to shuffle… yet
Having been spending a bit more time on YouTube and coming to appreciate a little more how it works and how copyright claims can be so constricting, I was disappointed to hear that despite how many views Sofia Sofia gets on each of her videos, her earnings were low to non-existent. Added to that, her Mother became unwell and so this is where I thought #40s440 could help – albeit in a way that is new to me.
https://youtu.be/nV7AEBlEkZ4
A bit like supporting a local band or a busker a bar or in town, becoming a Patron is an contemporary international vehicle that enables the provision of regular financial support to your favourite creators and being recognised for doing so with a sort of membership.
I initially thought I’d pay a pound a week for 40 weeks but the transaction had to be per month and 40 months is a lengthy time frame so I may yet change it. Irrespective, my donation will add up to £40 in total.
Furthermore, if each of her subscribers paid even just once pound each, I’m sure that would make a significant difference – here’s to my £40!
Edit: I was mindful of transaction costs (unclear on the platform but could be detrimental to the artist and / or me) so amended my pledge to £10 a month for 4 months. This is also a much more appropriate period of performance that aligns with #40s440.
Patreon powers membership businesses for creators by giving them the tools they need to acquire, manage, and energize their paying patrons. With a subscription-style payment model, fans pay their favorite creators a monthly amount of their choice in exchange for exclusive access, extra content, or a closer look into their creative journey.
This model is a win-win; creators retain creative freedom while getting the salary they deserve, and fans get to rest easy knowing that their money goes directly towards creating more of what they love.
For over 90 years, the RAF Association have championed a simple belief – that no member of the RAF community should ever be left without the help that they need.
Not since WWII has the RAF been so constantly deployed on global operations – and across the generations, the need for support is becoming ever more complex. Demand for RAFA services is therefore increasing significantly.
They were there for us in our darkest days. We must not fail them in theirs.
**The winner who predicted how for I could cycle in 40 hours is currently on an expedition so their preferred donation will be included subsequent this one, upon their safe return…
Event started at 3am Thursday morning 03/06/2021 KSA time / 1am GMT and ends 7pm KSA / 5pm GMT on Friday 04/06/2021 – read below for a summary of what happened, the Garmin data and links to a couple of videos…
Video of the event itself:
Introduction and preparation the evening before:
So how did the event go?
My original plan was to cycle outside for at least 9 hours on my road bike, then come inside to ride my time trial bike on the turbo trainer where I can control the air conditioning for 7 hours. I would then join the 24 hour spinathon and use a spin bike.
However, the spin bikes do not track distance and as the disc wheel is fully enclosed, I had no way to rig up any trustworthy equipment. This meant I would have to alternate between the road bike and the time trial bike or simply stay on my time trial bike for a lot longer than originally anticipated.
The reality is, it was too hot to stay outside for any longer than 6 hours and so this was suggesting I was due to spend 34 hours on a Time Trial bike?! I tried not to think about it.
I figured if I take it easy and just stay awake, the distance will rack up. If I maintained 25 kilometres per hour average then this would allow me to outturn at 1,000 kilometres distance over 40 hours. I had my nutrition and hydration sorted, I had support on hand (thank you), had taken the day off work and a 24-hour spinathon event to look forward to as the finale.
It wasn’t easy to get up at 2am and in fact I snoozed until 02:40 so I missed some of my breakfast and this likely led to me becoming slightly dehydrated early on. That said, I started on schedule at 3am exactly as per the below:
The first 6 hours outside flew by. I maintained a low ‘easy’ heart rate and was making good progress with an average speed between 25 and 30 kilometres per hour as per the below. I took 15 minutes breaks every 2 hours 45 minutes so I was aiming to simply repeat a 3 hour cycle.
However, at the 6 hour point, it had become seriously hot outside (over 40 degrees Celsius) and I decided to move inside on the turbo trainer and my time trial bike as I was dehydrating. You can see from the below diagram that this was immediately around 20% slower than being outside (I was averaging around 25 kph outdoors and 20kph indoors). I also had to replace the battery in the speed sensor once I moved inside and the impact of this can be seen below by my slow start after the second break.
Sector 1 performance data
It was at this point, that I realised I had not factored the heat, the breaks and the increased rolling resistance of the turbo trainer into my calculations properly. It was looking like I would cover a lot less than my 1,000 kilometres over the 40 hour period.
Realisation sinking in
The statistics for the first sector and almost 7 hours worth of cycling are as follows:
Sector 1 statistics
I originally wanted to record the whole 40 hours as a single activity but after 6 hours and 51 minutes the battery in my Garmin 245 needed charging. I understood that it could be charged mid-activity but made the mistake of plugging it into a laptop port which made the Garmin assume I wanted to transfer data and it stopped the activity! Having charged it enough to get it out of the red, I started the second sector and considered how to resolve the matter.
Sector 2 header
Sector 2 was all on my Time Trial bike indoors. Sector 2 at 1 hour and 51 minutes plus the earlier 51 minutes on the Turbo Trainer from Sector 1 and ~15 minute break made up the third 3-hour long section. The negative impact to my average speed is clear here as being consistently lower than when outside.
It should be noted how the GPS signal recorded some quite significant movement when I hardly moved at all for almost 2 hours.
Sector 2 performance data
At this point I stopped for my third 15 minute break and stopped the activity to be sure I recorded it, in advance of trying to charge the Garmin again.
Sector 2 statisticsSector 3 header
I started the new activity at the end of my break (so there is a circa 10 minute gap of unproductive time in the data) and then plugged the Garmin into an external battery pack – thankfully, it kept running meaning I would only need to have three sectors. I was pleased and relieved in equal measure – lesson learned!
Sector 3 includes the final time I spent at home, the time I took moving the equipment to the school sports hall and the whole 24-hour spinathon period. You will notice so odd data. There are significant sections of down time.
Sector 3 performance data – note the significant down time
I maintained until we had watched the film Top Gun. As much as I love it, Goose’s untimely demise did not provide the adrenaline shot I required. Jester was not dead, but I was in a lot of pain, my hands were numb and needed to do something to help myself. I decided a walk and some fresh air would help and I used the opportunity to fetch my torque wrench from home. This allowed me to dismantle the headset and raise the handlebars on the time trial bike by a couple of inches. The idea being that a more upright position would reduce the weight burden on my hands. It helped but I was already too far gone by this point.
Our DJ Gladderz arrived in the early hours and this was a welcome addition.
Nonetheless, I had become increasingly tired, the rotating and morphing geometric visuals that were projected onto the whole wall right in front of my bike became like something out of clockwork orange, I was suffering from some gastrointestinal discomfort, coffee wasn’t helping and at the 27th hour I had to make the difficult decision to take a proper break.
I was very frustrated at first but upon arriving home and experiencing extreme difficulty inserting and turning the key in the lock due to impaired dexterity, I knew I had made the right choice. I slept, I showered, I changed, I ate pasta, had a cup of tea, sorted my head out and went back for more.
The final 5 hours were like a different event for me. I absolutely rinsed myself and loved doing so, especially when Gladderz came back on for the final hour.
Sector 3 statistics – note the significant down time and erroneous max. speed (I think caused by my hand slipping when I was adjusting the head set (I recall setting off the Garmin crisis assistance feature on my watch))The finish line Respect
Challenge and sweepstake results:
The challenge and associated sweepstake was to guess what distance I would travel in 40 hours and I have to say how impressed I am at all the predictions and guesses, not least because they were so high. I’m humbled that you have such high expectations of me – thanks for your contributions!
The long and short of it, as per Garmin, is that I only completed 552 kilometres in a 40 hour period. This was not only below my expectations, it was below every estimate that anyone put in!
Therefore the lowest estimate presents a clear winner: Congratulations Nelly Attar whose prediction of 600 kilometres was the closest to how far I cycled in 40 hours!
Nelly Attar is the most experienced person I know in fitness training, endurance and sporting challenges such as this so it should have come as no surprise. Nonetheless, thank you to everyone who took part and made the event possible.
Whist the average speed over the full period appears to be woefully slow at 13.8kph (552 / 40) it’s interesting to compare against ‘moving time’ alone. For example, only 27 hours and 28 minutes were recorded as moving time. This provides an average speed of (552 / 27.5) 20kph which is acceptable / understandable / more like it – certainly on this particular turbo trainer and considering my relatively unscientific approach to data collection (for example, the watch remained on my wrist as I walked home and this slow period would probably also class as ‘moving time’ – I think my pure cycling moving average was more like 23kph).
I’ve learnt loads from doing this. The main thing is that I’m not doing it again unless truly exceptional circumstances present themselves. It is clear to me that things go down hill after being awake for 24 hours and going past this whilst trying to operate at a high level of performance is not only stupid, it is dangerous. I think missing a night’s sleep two weeks in a row also has a compounding effect, as does working the day before undertaking anything like this; I didn’t sleep well or long enough the night before.
It highlights just how important proper breaks are and sleep is for us to operate properly; really good rest is essential for us to operate at our best. I often forego sleep to hit deadlines or have a good time and it’s not worth it.
My nutrition and hydration strategy remains sound and I’m glad I over-provisioned (I estimated 500 calories an hour and 1 litre of fluids) but I ended up wanting other things, like cups of tea, cookies and nuts, not just energy bars, gels, dates and electrolyte fluids (too samey over 40 hours). In the end, I kept my heart rate as low as possible to go the distance and this meant I Garmin tracked me using 11,998 calories which equates to ~300 calories per hour over the 40 hour period.
I had a few technical and mechanical issues throughout the 40 hour period, my speed sensor battery, charging my Garmin watch, my bottle cage came loose and I had to change the geometry of the bike by raising the headset. In hindsight, setting the bike up better in advance would have helped my longevity but really, I do not believe a time trial bike is good for a spinathon. It was not my plan to use a time trial bike but in the end was the only way I could track the distance.
For sure this turbo-trainer is slower than being outside. I like the set up but it does feel like you have to put too much effort in to achieve a low speed relative to the road outside and the fact you can’t coast at all sucks!
I’ve learned a new appreciation of my capacity for pain and ability to sustain effort over a prolongued period.
In the end my frustration at taking some time out to rest was offset by me realising it was the right decision for me. I listened to myself; I needed it.
The fee for the spinathon went to the Royal Air Force Association, I paid in full. I was not asking for donations, I encouraged estimates as to how far I would travel – the ability to win charitable prizes in return.
Closest estimate won:
1). a #40s440 t-shirt 2). a £40 donation to a charity of your choice 3). Choice how I spend 40 minutes of my time
If you are inspired to make a charitable donation, then check out RAFA or any of the other worthy causes that I have already made donations to on my ‘Forties for 40’ blog @ www.40s440.com #40s440.
Follow me on Instagram @cjburgoine and see how stories unfold as they happen…
My twenty first donation goes to the Saudi Arabian National Donation Platform to buy Ramadan breakfasts for people who cannot afford to feed themselves.
£40 converted into approximately 208 Saudi Arabian Riyals and I was able to purchase 5 Ramadan breakfasts for SAR 210. I hope the people enjoy eating them as much as I did purchasing them.
This purchase was made even more fun because the National Donation Platform is 100% in Arabic so my friend and colleague Nouf translated for me (actually remotely) so this was a very memorable transaction for us both 🙂
The Smile & Olive Foundation (founded in 2012) provides relief & aid to displaced persons and refugees to help them rebuild their lives. Today they operate across Lebanon, Turkey & Iraq. The empowerment of women & young girls through capacity building & developing transferable skills is a primary focus.
Huge areas of Beirut were destroyed in August when a massive blast tore through the Lebanese capital. The explosion, blamed on 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate stored at the port, sent a shockwave across the city that shattered windows and collapsed roofs. Unfortunately, the death toll is in the hundreds with many thousands injured.
The disaster hit a nation already struggling with an economic downturn, rising food prices and the coronavirus pandemic.
The governor of Beirut estimated the cost of the damage as more than $3bn and said up to 300,000 people had suffered damage to their homes, leaving some uninhabitable.
The Lebanese Red Cross (LRC) provided ambulances, staff and first responders to help the most vulnerable affected by the explosion. They’ve also established triage centers across the city in mosques and centers to help the people they can’t reach in their homes.
The twelfth of my 40 donations goes to The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust.
The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust was named after Stephen Lawrence, a black teenager who was murdered in 1993 at the age of 18 in an unprovoked racist attack in southeast London.
The Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust was founded on the premise that inequality must be tackled in all its forms. This includes inequality of access, and of opportunity, wherever it occurs. It is committed to “transforming the life chances of young people and improving the world in which they live”.
You can read more about Stephen’s story on this link:
In 2018, BBC One broadcast a three-part documentary series titled Stephen: The Murder that Changed a Nation, exploring the story of the Stephen Lawrence case and the impact it has had on British society in the 25 years since Stephen was murdered. The series won two Grierson Awards (Best Documentary Series and Best Historical Documentary) for its opening episode, ‘The Loss of Joy’.
A range of short clips from the series are available to watch on the below link:
The eleventh of my 40 donations went to support Mr Pepito Lopez’s family via my Residents Association’s Just Giving page.
Pepito Lopez was Accommodation Supervisor on my compound. A lovely, kind, considerate, caring, hardworking man who always thought of others and had time for everyone, a consummate professional serving all members of our community. Nothing was too much trouble, always happy and happy to help and do anything that was asked of him an incredible role model to all the staff, loved and respected by all.
Unfortunately, Mr Lopez became a victim of COVID-19.
Pepito leaves his beloved family, his wife Maricor who he always said was the love of his life, 3 sons Gregg, Neil Ian and Ronn David, 2 grandchildren, one being Timothy who sadly he didn’t get to meet. May he rest in peace and be remembered in the hearts of his loved ones and friends forever.
I’m really proud of my community for raising as much as we did and sincererly hope it helps his family in this time of uncertainty and need.
Previously known as ‘Time Square’ and ‘The Mad Ferret’, The Ferret occupies a unique niche in Preston’s grassroots live music scene supporting emerging musician and artists.
This venue was my local when I lived in Preston and I’ve frequented the bar since college.
I was disappointed to read that since coronavirus hit, the venue has been struggling. It goes to show how far reaching the impact of this pandemic really is.
The Ferret adds so much to the city’s arts and culture scene, its loss would be a tragedy to the Community that love it.
You can read all about their campaign via the following link:
The UK Sepsis Trust‘s goal is to end preventable deaths from sepsis and improve outcomes for sepsis survivors. They believe that earlier diagnosis and treatment across the UK would save several thousand lives a year.
The UK Sepsis Trust was founded in 2012 by NHS consultant, Dr Ron Daniels BEM. Renowned for his systems and translational expertise, Ron had spent the previous 7 years developing and disseminating the Sepsis 6 pathway across the NHS and globally.
My Father passed away 7 years ago today and whilst it is clear he was not well as he was undergoing treatment for cancer, I firmly believe he would not have died when and how he did, had the hospital ensured he was administered antibiotics within one hour of experiencing rigors.
Unfortunately, antibiotics were not administered for a number of hours and by that time, the damage was done and his body went into septic shock and he didn’t recover. I commend the critical care staff who looked after him for those painful last few days and am grateful that now practice has changed to ensure antibiotics are administered concurrently with chemotherapy drugs to mitigate the risk my Dad fell foul of.
