Hello my name is Paul Juillerat although most people call me PJ and I’m one of the riders of The Flying Crane! I have been meaning to write this blog since my shift in September but like many of the Freewheelers riders, co-ordinators and fundraisers I have been rather busy with my own work and life - so I apologise for the delay in passing on this piece of news!
During my shift between Monday September 26th of September and Friday September 29th The Flying Crane passed 40,000 miles! I was hoping to take a photo of the speedometer as it hit the 40k but as it turned out I had a rather busy shift and it wasn’t until I finally got home that I was able to record the event for you.
The Monday shift started normally with my co-ordinator Ken Fryer calling me at just after 7pm with the first run of the evening: a non-urgent pick up of blood samples from the RUH A&E at Bath to go to Southmead Blood sciences building in Bristol. As I was picking up the samples I got a second urgent call to go to meet a rider from Oxford SERV at Swindon Hospital and pick up blood samples to go to Filton Blood Bank for testing – and I had to get there by 8.30pm!
I headed off from the RUH straight away to Swindon intending to do the urgent run to Filton and then on to Southmead with my first batch of samples.
When I arrived at Swindon I was met almost immediately by the rider from Oxford SERV and we made the hand over. I called in the details to the co-ordinator who then informed me that there was another collection from the main reception at Swindon of some pain medication that needed to go to a patient in Chippenham. The patient in Chippenham had been given someone else’s medication and we needed to swap their pain medication for the right ones and then take the swapped tablets to the correct patient at Ashton Keynes! Phew!
The urgent run to Filton took priority but as I was practically outside the entrance of Swindon hospital I picked up the mixed up meds and then headed off to Filton; the drug swap would happen later.
During my run down the M4 from Swindon to Filton I watched as the speedo clicked over the 40k and realised I had no way of capturing the moment for which I am very sorry but I was a little bit busy!
I arrived at Filton and, after negotiating the security gates, delivered the urgent blood samples. I then headed off with the other well-travelled samples to Southmead.
The time was now around 10pm. I headed off once again, this time to Chippenham and a private address in the centre of town. When I finally found the address (thank goodness for the satnav) I was met at the door by a lady who was very pleased to see me as she explained that her husband was in a lot of pain and was extremely grateful to have the right pain meds.
I headed off into the wilds of Wiltshire and in search of another private address at Ashton Keynes. As I crossed the M4 the weather took a sudden change for the worse and it became very foggy (there are a lot of waterways and lakes in that part of the county). I had to slow down dramatically to deal with the conditions and once again the satnav was indispensable as I picked my way through dark, winding country lanes. Finally I arrived at the address and out of the window a hand appeared to receive the packet of medication; once again a young woman was extremely grateful, despite the late hour, to receive her pain medication.
It was now nearly midnight and I headed off towards home in Bath. The fog made the first part of the journey very slow and this wasn’t helped by road works blocking the junction onto the M4 at Chippenham; however I managed to get home with a slight detour to fill up with petrol. I arrived home at around 1am and drank a much-needed cup of tea!
Before I turned in for the night I remembered to take a photo of the mileage for you, and I say thank you for supplying a bike that carried me and my much-needed packages for 175 miles safely all night.
The rest of the shift went by rather more sedately and I managed to get to bed before midnight the rest of the week.
Cheers PJ
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