Everything But The Kitchen Sink

Meet the Team Part 2 - Alexandre Krasnic

2011-07-20T05:57:00.000-07:00

Alex, of Chiswick (West London), took part in the inaugural trip last year to Morocco and was responsible for the choice of the MS Society as this year's charity of choice... Meet Alex:

Name: Alex Krasnic

Age: 36

Job: Acoustics Engineer

What makes you tick?

Football (watching Tottenham and occasional playing), Cricket, role-playing games (funny shaped dice, strange costumes and "casting spells"), Cycling (well I AM trying to get fit !)

Favourite films?

Favourite genres are usually Fantasy, Sci-fi, Historic (Lord of the Rings, Transformers, Gladiator etc.) But my absolute favourite film is Pretty Woman; I know all of the words to it (which is pretty sad) and I must have seen it more than 10 times.

Desert island disc?

Any Prodigy, Metallica and my old Techno mix tapes from 2000...

Favourite book?

Yellow Pages, Harrow Area (2011-12 edition)

How much training have you done?

Not as much as I'd like but I am ramping it up! Started doing around 15 miles per week for the last few months but If I cycle to work, I could complete 120 hours per week! I probably need to work on addressing the balance between could and will.

Which part of the trip excites you most?

When we get on the ferry from Ramsgate to Ostend, knowing we have completed the hardest part and are still travelling (but not cycling!)

As one of the EBTKS ‘originals’ what lessons can you take from the last trip?

Gaffa-tape Vincent's passport to his head...permanently.

Can you really do it?

The first leg will be tough no doubt, but after we get off the ferry in Belgium, should be more enjoyable...

Meet the team Part 1: Alan Clark

2011-07-08T00:21:00.000-07:00

First up we introduce Alan, one of 7 participants in last year's trip to Morocco for charity Water for Africa. Alan currently lives in Glasgow, having studied in Cardiff (and worked in 95% of its bars)...

Name:Alan Clark

Age: 27

Job: Admin/Customer service/general dogsbody...

What makes you tick?

Football (watching and playing), Drinking (beer and anything else), Cycling (err lies and more lies...)

Favourite films?

The Blues brothers, Trading Places, almost any James Bond film...

Desert island disc?

White Blood Cells (The White Stripes), Consolers of the Lonely (The Raconteurs) or Invaders Must Die (The Prodigy)

Favourite book?

Night Watch - Terry Pratchett

How much training have you done?

Actually genuinely cant remember the last time I was on a bike (minus an engine), but I am usually pretty decent at the old cycling malarky. I am however just starting pre-season training for two football teams so that should sort me right out!...

Which part of the trip excites you most?

The bit where we get to Amsterdam and I no longer have to worry about cycling the next day with a hangover, probably…

As one of the EBTKS ‘originals’ what lessons can you take from the last trip?

Keep Vince's passport and wallet (the first for obvious reasons, the second cos I am a bit of a tea leaf...) , Group "where to eat" decisions take hours, Belgian beer is hilariously strong...

Can you really do it?

Of this I have no doubt, at all…

EBTKS enters the poster war!

2011-05-01T14:01:00.000-07:00

Entirely appropriately, given that we are knee deep in elections across the UK, we are ready to launch our own campaign poster...

Please download and print out and help us to get the message out!

Greetings from Glasgow.

2011-03-28T01:36:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well...

It seems I have inadvertently signed myself up for another energy sapping jaunt across Europe, only this time substantially more tiring than the last time! Over 400 miles cycling: no idea how I agreed to it, although I may have been 'celebrating' when I heard the idea.

Anyway being completely honest of the five of us taking part (so far...) I probably have the least to worry about. Which might sound arrogant. I am a keen cyclist (I even owned one of those pretty racing bikes for a while), I play football a lot, and I actually have a gym membership (note: "membership" does not guarantee "usage"...).

Unfortunately I am also pretty lazy. I used to go out on long cycles quite often... I'd talk of places I cycled to which were thirty or forty miles away. That's not to say that i'd manage the cycle back. More often than not i would decide I couldn't be bothered and get the train home, usually via Macdonalds.

So perhaps lazy is the wrong word, it's more motivation I generally lack when it comes to cycling/exercising on my own. But this time I wont be on my own, I will be with mates, people will be watching and mainly we will be doing it for a fantastic cause - The MS society. Its a great opportunity to raise awareness and hopefully some money, so please donate generously! I, unlike the other lads, am lucky enough to have never had a loved one affected by MS, but I know what it is and i know what a debilitating condition it can be.

We've had a great start, with corporate sponsorship from a sink company which is fantastic. Much thanks to Carron Phoenix and hopefully plenty more will follow.

To sum up, all in all I'm quietly confident we will all achieve the challenge. Providing we push each other along, I learn to cycle with a hangover and we keep Vince's passport somewhere extremely safe! In the meantime I probably should get another bike and perhaps remember the way to that gym I mentioned earlier...

One thing at a time.

Krasnic speaks out.

2011-03-25T06:35:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking of ways to get myself in the right condition to take on the challenge that lies ahead. I should probably invest in a bike for a start - and as soon as possible because everyone i know who rides regularly tells me that it's gonna awaken muscles i never even knew existed. I haven't devoted as much energy as i should to sport in recent years because once you get to a certain stage in your career work overtakes all other considerations and you just want to enjoy the time you have outside of it.

Having said that, i'm pretty confident i can do this without wrecking myself and i've been working on developing a diet that'll feed my nutritional and energy needs throughout. (see above) We've had a good start, taking on Carron is a boost and we know that we've plenty of work to do to get anywhere near the target - which is why we need people to be generous and recognise the cause and the challenge when they decide how much to sponsor us. I'll write later about why i was so keen to have the MS Society as our chosen charity for this year - but i think the cycling angle is perfect... The mobility theme is appropriate, and the task itself will hopefully inspire people all over Britain to get on board and maybe even get involved.

Stay posted for more videprints from me.

2011-03-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

EBTKS 2011 - WELCOME ABOARD CARRON PHEONIX!

Sometimes it's only when you tell someone you're doing something that you really start to think about what it actually entails - and so it's proving with this. Simple things, like realising that you can't take bikes on the motorway. That taking B roads adds about 50% to the route. Like realising that you haven't actually ridden a bike since you were a teenager and that 400 miles and more is quite some distance...

Given that we've all got homes to get back to and (hopefully) jobs, we're not gonna have the luxury of taking the whole summer to do the trip. Still... Cardiff to London, then on to Amsterdam is gonna be a mission and a half.

In better news:

Welcome on board Carron Pheonix, purveyors of quality kitchen sinks, first official partners of EBTKS2011!

They have kindly offered to support the mission logistically, with some help getting the energy bars that are gonna carry Alex through. (Rather like the Imlil donkey that helped him, dodgy knees and all, down the Atlas Mountains last year) They have also agreed to make a generous donation to the MS Society - amount to be confirmed.

Most importantly though... being the connoiseurs that we are of all things sink related, we are going to be carrying Britain's finest Carron sinks throughout. A fine choice for the kitchen-ware enthusiast come outdoor adventurer!

Thanks to Fiona @ Carron for getting this rolling... take a look at their website for more information: http://www.carron.com/

2011-03-24T07:09:00.000-07:00

EBTKS 2011 - GET ON YOUR BIKES!

In early August 2011, the EBTKS crew will be embarking upon the follow-up to their acclaimed debut mission...

Cardiff2Amsterdam2011

This time there are no mountains involved. It's not even a race. But it does involve cheap bicycles, saddle sores and 400+ miles of pain. And a kitchen sink, of course.

This blog site will enable you to keep up with all of the preparations and the trip itself as the days tick by. This year we are raising money for the MS Society (Cymru) and we are hoping to raise at least £10,000 - which means we have to pull our fingers out early and get the hard work (and begging letters) done.

We are very much open to all and sundry, so if you want to take part then drop us an email... The reprobates above have stuck their necks on the chopping block anyway, and so many people are now aware of the trip it would be far too embarassing to pull out...

Keep an eye on all things KitchenSink related @:

http://www.everythingbutthekitchensink.co.uk/
www.facebook.com/EBTKS
www.twitter.com/Kitchensink2011