Movie time!

Take a look at my first video diary that I made over the weekend with some help from my dad on the technical side. A special mention to Karen Bradburn in El Salvador, all the children at ABC, Ainsley Harris my former PE teacher and all her students in England. Enjoy!

Wow! Now I'm even more famous!

Wow! Now I'm even more famous! I'm in the local newspaper! Check it out. I'm in the newspaper!
http://www.pattayamail.com/ourchildren/12-year-old-regent-s-student-takes-on-temple-2-temple-challenge-30555

I also went for another 23km ride after school tonight. It was a bit too far and we arrived home in the dark. The flies were out and I got one in my eye. It wasn't a pleasant experience.

Training, training, training!

Today was a big training day!!

First we did a new 31.5km route with Rich Reardon and Sam Nicholls. Almost the whole team. Mr Madden was a bit unwell after a tiring week. Then I went for

 some training about dogs. And later in the afternoon, my dad and I went for a second ride, another 31km! Our usual route but backwards, so it was hard! This is the first time that we have done 2 rides in one day. 62.5km in total. It was tiring but now I feel normal but my dad said he was saddle sore. There was no chicken today, so we had beef. It was in a wierd sauce so I think I prefer chicken. I'm proud that I did 2 long rides but I'm nervous that I will have to do it everyday for 6 days because I won't have any rest days and I will have to do 75km for 6 says in a row!

Terry Wilcox, Manager of Pattaya City Footbal Club, gave me some dog training today and was teaching me how to know what dogs are thinking.

He told me that a dog thinks of 4 'f's = Friend, freeze, flight or fight? So when a dog sees another animal, it wants to make friends first of all and tries to find out if you are a friend.

 Then we saw bingo 'freezing' when she was interested in the dog biscuits...

and I had a go at feeding her too.

 

Then we took his dogs for a walk and then went to see a pack of other dogs that live down past the corner of his house. 

 They all started to bark and I was a little bit frightened but then Terry reminded me that they were just being alarms snd saying 'roof, roof, help, there are others here, help, roof, roof ' and that I didn't need to be scared of them.

 When we got back to his house he showed us all of the holes that Bingo digs, their doggy pool and all the coconuts that Bingo steals every morning.

It makes me feel more understanding of dogs, less affraid and more confident around them. We had lots of fun rubbing Bingo's belly and playing with her before it was time for us to go home and we hope to go back again soon!

Yeah! I'm famous! Well almost... I made it to the secondary newsletter. Check it out. http://regents.ac.th/pattaya/source/publication/file/254.pdf

Today I had an interview for the Primary newsletter at school. Two Year 6 boys interviewed me; Andrew and Seo Bin. It was interesting because Seo Bin actually sounded like a real reporter asking all these questions. They had really good questions which have made me think more about the trip I am doing. I have a radio interview next week but I don't think it will be the same because I will be interviewed by an adult but it was still good preparation. You will be able to read the interview in the Primary News letter next Friday.

Oops! It felt really wierd today because... we had no helmets! We left them at home because we were in a rush to get to school in the morning. We went around the lake and I found it very hard because we were going into the wind. At one point it started to rain really hard, that made it even harder but then it stopped and we picked up the pace when we turned onto the dam and the wind was behind us.

 I've had a few more donations. Thanks to Philomena in Hong Kong and a work friend of hers from the US Gary Kiernan. Also, Toshi from Germany, I don't know you but thanks so much. You are all very generous and have such kind hearts.

Money, money, money... Hey everyone! Guess what! Today the CEO of Nord Anglia Education donated US$500!! Wow! I was really amazed with how much I was given. So was Mr Madden and my dad. We are ecstatic. This is a huge step towards raising the money that we need to help Yok. Thank You! I would also like to mention a special thanks to Man Cheung NGOR (Patrick) in Hong Kong who has donated £100 GBP! Wow! Thank you so much.

Today we went on a different route that Mr Crouch recommended. The route was 26.68km long and took us 1h 46m 41s to complete and gave us an average speed of 15km/h. This was including off roading with the After School Activity. The route had a lot of uphill but when we went downhill it was really fast.

I got hungry half way so we stopped at a 7-Eleven and bought 4 chicken-on-a-sticks for B20. When I had finished both my pieces and set off again, they were so decicious that I missed the taste and said to my dad 'We should get more of those.' He said 'We should have chicken all the way.' The man was really smiley and thought we were funny stopping to eat chicken at his BBQ.   

My dad said he was really impressed when we got to the roundabout at Bira Circuit and asked which way we should go. I said "Which is the long way?" He said "To the right." I said "Let's go right then." He asked "Are you sure?" I said "Yes, I've got to get used to the long distances." He said "Wow! Great decision Poppy, well done! I'm very impressed." Then we had great fun racing down hill. I've done 3 long rides in 3 days and it feels... normal. The training is really working.   

Wow! My dad just checked the PayPal account and found the balance had more than doubled since yesterday! A big thanks to Leah Wright, Tony Mallia and Steve Rand. Thanks so much. I can't believe that people are giving before I've done it! Thanks again.

Here are a couple of pics my dad took today of Heather and Jasmine at the Bike Hour. They really enjoyed it! Heather is 4, she did one and a half laps and Jasmine is 6, she did 1km.

Guess what! Over 1000 people have looked at my blog already! Thanks for sharing. :-)

Bike Hour

Today it was bike hour! Have no idea how many times I cycled around the oval but I did 30 km and dad did 33.8km. We arrived a bit earlier and left a bit later so we ended up riding for 2 hours. The challenge was for the boarders and was to complete 200 km between them all but Miss Nicholls, Mr Madden, dad and I joined in with them anyway. The boarders did well over 200km, closer to 300! Well done!

I enjoyed the ride, especialy when Heather and Jasmine were cycling too! Jasmine did 1km on her bike and then went to play in the playground with Heather. 

What a fantastic ride today. Mr Madden and Miss Nicholls joined us on our ride today and had lots of fun. We saw someone road skiing and was going really fast up hill and was probably zooming down the hill  real fast. 

Mr Madden and Miss Nicholls are P.E. teachers at the school and are going to be joining us on the ride to Cambodia along with some other teachers from the school. They are really looking forward to cycling to Cambodia because they have never been there before. When we stopped at Bira circuit Miss Nichols said she doesn't think she will need any cycling shorts because she has natural padding and then dad said "It's 418 km." and then she said "Oh yeah, good point!" She's really looking forward to seeing Angkor Wat.

I would like to make a special thanks to some people who have already donated money. Some I don't even know. So a big thanks to Robyn Fox in Sudan, Kerry Varma in Glasgow, Mr & Mrs Bolland here in Thailand, Pammy Nathan in Tasmania and my old friends Sunny and Tilly in Perth. It feels amazing to have donations already when there is a month to go. Thanks!

Today I went to the deaf school and I saw Yok. I spoke to Khun Toy, one of the teachers at the deaf school, about the posibilities of Yok having a hearing operation and how much it would cost to have one done. Unfortunately she doesn't know how much it will cost so we don't have a target of how much we would like to raise yet.

Yok and her friends taught me how to say 'What's your name?', 'How old are you?' and the letters of the alphabet in sign language. Then they wanted to watch TV so this is when I spoke to her teacher. I hope that we can raise enough money. We will try to meet again on Saturday after my training ride to find out more about the cost.

5 weeks left!
I've been training for 5 weeks now and I have five weeks left of training, it's so exciting! Today's ride was different  we went to the sand pit which  is completely over grown and made my legs itch alot. We then went down to the quarry so I thought we were going to pass all the dogs that are really scary, but luckily we went a different way and through some more over grown fields. Then after all of that, it was time for us to cycle back to school and drive back home.

Dogs!
I have a fear of dogs! Dogs really scare me. Once before, during training, we went past all the dogs and at the time there were 3 but they were still very scary. 2 of them were chasing dad but the big one was running by my side and barking really loudly at me. I was so frightened I screamed at it and it ran away to join the others in chasing my dad. I hope we don't meet too many dogs like that on the big ride!

Today it was fun, it was only a short ride with the after school mountain biking club but it was still fun because we rode through puddles and got wet, especially when we went through the stream! We all enjoyed it, but the best part of all was going down the hills really fast! It seamed really easy to me but I suppose it's because I'm doing 29/31 kilometers every Saturday.

This Sunday dad and I are going to do the cycle hour which is at the same time as earth hour where everybody turns off their electricity for one hour. This means that we are going to cycle around the oval as many times as we can, non stop in one hour. We are hoping to have an average speed of 20km/h so 50 laps. Do you think I can do it?

Todays ride was an easy ride because it was cool and a bit rainy, we stopped for a drink at Mr Crouch's house and stayed there for a bit too long. We only had enough time to go around the roundabout so we didn't stop at Bira circuit for a snack bar. When we where going down the last hill I made it to 46.4 kmph and dad made it to 53.1 kmph. It was awesome!!!
                         
                       

Yesterday I went to the deaf school for my after school activity and saw Yok, as soon as she saw me she ran straight up to me, gave me a hug, grabbed my hand and showed all of her friends who I was. We played together and then I learnt some sign language, we were learning fruits and Yok helped Nadine and I. We had a lot of fun! I didn't get to speak to kun Toy to find out more about the operation because someone was going to adopt a child so she was in a rush.

Wow! This is amazing! I just found out I made it onto the international round square news letter!
Click the link below to read more.

http://roundsquare.info/uploads/media/RS_NEWS_-_September_2013.pdf

Today's ride we only had 45 minutes so we went as far as we could in the time that we had. We went up past the back of Grand Regent's, all the way to the bridge, over it down the road through the bamboo forest and on to the main road across it past the market and the bouncy castle, down a back street and back onto the main road again, around some of Lake Map Phrachan back to school and then home in the car. It was fun because it was a new route!

 

Good news! A few people have already asked how to donate... well here it is. My dad just created a donation button. Please click on the donate button here and follow the instructions. Thank you in advance. You could also send me a message to let me know if you would like confirmation of reciept and a personal thank you.

You should see 'Temple 2 Temple' and my dad's email address. You do not need a paypal account to donate, look for the 'continue' link near 'Don't have a PayPal account?' at the bottom left of the page. If your country is not supported by PayPal, please get in touch. Thank you!

Yesterday we went for a ride, I did my activity first which was mountain biking and I got a scratch on the back of my leg from my pedal, then I did a 10k ride back home and got 35kmph down the hill not my best but my legs hurt, dad got 50kmph which is pretty fast.

Todays ride was amazing, we went up to the roundabout before Bira circuit, got the highest average speed ever which was 20.5kmph, and had a maximum speed of 43.3kmph! It was amazing.

Hi,

Good news, the bikes just got back and they are so lush, the brakes are working well, in fact the first time I used them I almost fell off! I can change to 3rd gear on the front cog really easily now and we got speedos with them. Our bikes look brand new and wheels look as if they have never been used before. It's totally WICKED!!!!!!

Hello!
Saturday was excellent because we bought new matching cycling gear, helmets, cycling shorts, cycling shirts, cycling gloves, speedos, water bottles and some handle grips for my dad.
Then on Sunday I did the longest ride ever! It was 31kms long, up past Mr Crouch's house, all the way to Bira circuit then down to the lake on the other road, round the other half of the lake, past the dump and then home, it took me an hour, 46 minutes and 55 seconds, and I had an average speed of 17.04kmph. When we got back home I fell proud of myself, tired and hungry so we went out for Sushi and my dad bought me a phone so that I can map my rides and update my blog.
Some people have asked ''Why have you decided to do this ride?''
My answer to this question is: Last year I completed the Global Citizenship Catalyst Award and even won the Brittany Tang award for Outstanding Global Citizenship at my school. I donated the $300 bursary to the Deaf School. This year I have decided to complete the Athletic Global Citizenship Award. In order to do this I need to be innovative and proactive to reach the 16 initiatives that I need to complete through sport. I have never done anything like this before, the furthest I have ridden is 8kms (to school and back) so it will challenge me, give me a sense of adventure and would improve my personal confidence.

Hi again,
Now I'm going to tell you about my training so far. My first ride was 12.76km long and took me an hour and 2 minutes, it was off road, bumpy and fun. My second ride was 15.86km long and took me 57 mins 47 seconds, was around Lake Map Phrachan, found it hard going up hill easy and fast going down hill and also saw some buffalo racing. After that I did the same route 4 times again and each time my average speed increased. Then my 7th ride was 18km long and went half way to Khao Mai Kheow, down to highway 36 and through the village of Nong Pla Lai, it took me 55 mins 33 seconds and I had an average speed of 19.4kmph. Awesome!

Hi everyone.

My name is Poppy Mulford, I am 12 years old and live in Banglamung, Thailand. I am a student at the Regent's School, Pattaya and I will be cycling from Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Thailand, to Angkor Wat the ancient capital of Cambodia - 418 kilometres over 6 days (hopefully!).

I am doing this cycle ride with my dad, Nathaniel Mulford,
and some other teachers from my school who would like to join in. The purpose of this ride is to raise money for a seven year old Thai girl who has hearing disabilities. We became friends during my school's activity week in January 2013 - Round Square Week. I had opted for the activity called Community Sports. My seven year old friend came to visit us with her school, to join in with our sport games. We played 'seaweed' in the gym and then we went swimming which was a lot of fun.

I have to go and do some homework now so I'll tell you more later.