Sean Conway

I had never heard of Sean Conway until his recent two part series on The Discovery Channel called Sean Conway: Running Britain. The basic premise of the show was that he had cycled the length of the country, swam the length of the country and now by running it he would be the first person to ever do so. I missed the first part but managed to catch the second part and I really enjoyed it. Sean came across as a really likeable person who was out to see what he could achieve without boasting about it. He also has quite a good sense of humour and is pretty self deprecating. I started to follow him on Twitter and he mentioned that he has written some books about his adventures. Being a bit bored I decided to buy one of them on my Kindle and see what it was like.

At the start of the book Conway admits that he wrote, edited and proof-read the book himself and this worried me a little. Some self-edited books in the Kindle store that I have read previously have been full of spelling mistakes and badly in need of an editor. This book does not fall into that category, its well written and there were no spelling errors that I noticed. The included pictures didn't really display correctly due to the text size I select on my Kindle but tapping them displayed them full page just fine. Conway doesn't really delve into the nitty gritty of equipment etc and instead presents his thoughts and experiences along the way. This suits his manner and the book perfectly and he explains that the book is written from a journal he kept along the way.

At appropriate times he dips into his life growing up and his life away from the adventure. These instances compliment the book instead of detract from it and they go someway to explain why he is the way he is. There are no huge revelations or eureka moments, it is just a well written honest account of an adventure. I really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting, my only reservation is that at £5.99 it was a bit pricey. In hindsight, I should have subscribed to Kindle Unlimited because it is one of the books available.… (altro)

Sean Conway was stuck in a rut, working as a portrait photographer he was bored of taking photos of uncooperative children; and his relationship had just gone south too. Whilst in this limbo, he heard about Mark Beaumont breaking the record for cycling around the world. He had managed over 100 miles a day and obliterated the previous record. Even though he hadn’t been on a bike for years, this was a challenge that immediately inspired him; but could he actually do it?

An arduous six-month training schedule would prove it one way or the other…

Somehow, he survived it. He packed his entire belongings into a set of boxes and joined some other like minded maniacs on the start line in Greenwich Park for the adventure of a lifetime. His aim was simple, cycle around 180 miles per day, every day and claim the record for himself. He started well, managing to reach his daily total and he cycled across Europe and then on to South America and the pan-American highway Atacama desert. Tracking the opther swho set out on their own journey. As America beckoned, with the wide road and good tarmac, he realised that he was in for a good chance of the record.

Then disaster! As he came to, he now realised that not only was record may slipping from his grasp, but he might not even be able to finish the challenge.

What comes across in this is his relentless drive to complete the challenge that he set himself. He wears his heart on his sleeve too as we follow his high days and low days, dodge tornadoes and chases dogs. He is no wordsmith though, but there is plenty of self-depreciating humour in the text, making this is an enjoyable read as we follow Conway racing around the world. He is quite inspirational too, proving that anyone can be ambitious and achieve their dreams. Not the best round the world cycling adventure, but still worth reading.… (altro)

Hundreds football words or expressions are explained, ranging from cliches and slang, to more straightforward terms such as 'pass', 'goal', 'boots' and positional terms such as 'Rover' and ‘Rucks’. It includes most terms which are peculiar to Australian Rules football, such as 'behinds', 'ride', 'had the sit', 'crumbs' and 'blind turn'. There are omissions, such as 'white maggots', 'straight down the guts', 'across the face' (of goal) and 'pack'. Some entries are merely popular Australian expressions such as 'Ave a go yer mug'. Lacks etymological explainations for popular linguistic terms, such as 'barracking' and 'ocker'. Includes a mixture of older and more contemporary terms, including old and new nicknames for VFL, SANFL and WAFL clubs and contains several cartoons and a useful index.… (altro)