Disaster Strikes!

We have had to abandon LeJog having got as far as Huddersfield. Chris has a broken rib and can barely move, let alone cycle.  Neither of us slept a wink on Sat night as he was in agony and I was trying to work out the best way to get home. As all the car hire companies were closed on Sunday I got on the train to Bristol via Sheffield - a journey of 6 hours due to the diversion caused by Bristol Parkway being shut (we went via Wales!!).  The icing on the cake was the 3 hour stoppage outside Cheltenham due to signal failure. Got home 10 hours after leaving the hotel and then drove 4 hours back in atrocious weather and through multiple sets of roadworks.  Not feeling my normal cheerful self and we are both pretty gutted.  Just about to set off for a visit to A&E in Bristol - another 4 hours in the car 😰

Will see some of you sooner than expected.........

It's Raining Again

That song has been going through my head all day.........

After a farcical breakfast scrum, brought about because we had been told to make an early start as it was a hilly day. Breakfast was negotiated to be at 7.30am rather than 8.00am, but nobody told the kitchen staff!!  As a result when we arrived there was a jug of orange juice but no glasses, bread but nothing to put on the toast, packets of cereal but no bowls and a plate of about 10 croissants. As the staff struggled to sort things out there was almost a blood bath over what was there - and don't even mention the fuss with the people who wanted porridge or a cooked breakfast.  We managed to grab cereal and toast and were one of the first away - initially on a dry, cool but cloudy day. That must have lasted all of 4 miles up the road when it started to rain, and rain and then rain some more. We got a bit of variety when heavy drizzle turned to heavy rain and the moved on to torrential downpours.

We climbed up to Monsal Head, where we had been instructed to stop and admire the fine views - one of the pictures below is of me indicating the general direction of where the view would be on a better day. We rolled on with plenty of climbing to reach the suggested coffee stop at Bamford. A few miles before we got there the heavens opened and sheets of rain poured down, so that by the time we arrived we were both drenched and shivering uncontrollably. 2 coffees and a substantial wedge of coffee cake helped, but not as much as the arrival of the luggage van and the opportunity to retrieve some extra clothes!!  By now some of the others had arrived and we were quickly turning the Community Cafe into a fishing lake, so we decided to press on as the rain had subsided to light drizzle.

The next section was over a section of road used on the Tour de France in 2014 and on the Tour of Yorkshire. Called 'The Strines' it includes some steep descents with equally steep pulls out - one of which is meant to be around 25% at the steepest pitch.  The saving grace was the fact that the road had been resurfaced for the TdF so is still smooth and easy to cycle even in rain. We got over the section in the dry and even saw a bit of sun, but as soon as we started to come off the moor the rain started again in torrents, only stopping as we descended to Langsett.

This is where we were planning to have lunch, but it was dry so we decided to go on to Holmfirth. Not such a great plan as we ended up in a bus shelter with the bikes waiting for the worst of the thunder shower to pass...... We found a cafe in Holmfirth, where we were able to park the bikes under cover in view of out table. Hot drinks and toasties restored morale and I caused a few raised eyebrows by using the teapot as a drier for my gloves. We stopped off at a supermarket to get a couple of pairs of marigolds for riding tomorrow!  We finally got drenched again about 3 miles from the hotel trying to navigate our way through the suburbs of Huddersfield. 

We are now at the Old Golf Course Hotel in Outlane - unfortunately for them the M62 was built over the course - which now allegedly has just 8 holes!  We are mingling with 120 smartly dressed wedding guests and getting a few funny looks........ 

Dodging the showers

We left our rather posh hotel this morning with wet roads and overcast skies, but no actual rain. The forecast was for heavy showers all day and if you look at the photos you'll see the clouds - but unbelievably we managed to stay dry all day, with just occasional spots of rain which thankfully came to nothing.  The first 25 miles was almost entirely flat, but along narrow back lanes with huge puddles and a lot of mud.  The bikes (and us) were soon plastered with muck but we made good progress to our first objective (and only biggish town) of the day - Stone in Staffordshire.  Coffee and cake was duly ordered and we made the place look as untidy as possible.   

The route then got a lot hillier, but still on quiet roads, with enormous thunder clouds on view rather closer than we might have liked. We arrived in one village just after they must have had a huge dump of rain, but amazingly we managed to time it just right.  From this village the route took us through a fence and up a narrow path covered in moss etc, to pop out through a hedge on to a main road - probably surprised a few drivers as we would have appeared to be emerging from a ditch!  A little further on the road actually went through a house - think I would prefer not to have the bedroom above the arch (see below).

We eventually got to Carsington Water after 55 miles for a late lunch, at which point the odd glimpses of sun became full hot sunshine as we enjoyed our bread and bananas at the outside tables watching the world go by - and meeting up with some of the other cyclists as they arrived. From there it was only 7 miles to our hotel in Matlock Bath, which is another upmarket place (although we are in the less salubrious rooms). Luckily they had a hose outside so we were all able to get the bikes washed before putting them away (although given the forecast for the next two days I'm not sure it was worth the effort).  

Question: what has happened to the good old launderette? We haven't found any yet, except in Weston - but it closed before we even arrived. As a result we seem to be sharing the shower with a pair of muddy socks and / or cycling shorts most nights 😳

I am hoping this will post OK as we have no Wifi in the room, but it appeared to work downstairs. Photos are on the route today and our two posh hotels.

Cake and culture

So here we are in the Midlands in a place called Shifnal, about 5 miles outside Telford.  The day started with a bit of sun on a chilly morning but the day was mainly cloudy although mercifully dry. We did 75 miles, working our way almost due north through Herefordshire and Shropshire on mainly very quiet undulating roads - probably the easiest day so far in terms of terrain / weather / wind and lack of mechanical issues.  It was a buffet breakfast so no fisticuffs with the OAPs, especially as it was open from 6.30am.  We got on the road early as rain was forecast for late afternoon. The first (and really only) issue came when we got entangled in a humongous traffic jam in the village of Mordiford. Sitting behind cars belching fumes was not a great experience but we later saw a poster protesting about gridlock in the village due to the closure of a parallel 'A' road. They weren't wrong.

We were soon back on small lanes and were making good progress so we pushed on to Ludlow for a slightly late cake and coffee stop near the castle.  The cakes were substantial but probably wouldn't have won any awards at the Gourmet Food Festival starting tomorrow - the town was heaving with people who didn't want to miss a minute of the three day event. To try and fit in I bought Brioche burger buns to have with bananas for lunch as they sounded quite posh (and were the only rolls in a small pack!!).  The next few miles were basically flat with a slight tail wind on reasonably well surfaced quiet lanes - what's not to like??  It got a bit hillier before Much Wenlock and then again before Ironbridge.  We stopped in Ironbridge for a bit of a look round and were going to have a tea, but looking behind us the clouds were gathering so we made a run for the hotel - arriving as the first spots of rain started to fall.  The luggage had just arrived so we were able to crack on with washing the kit, ourselves and charging up batteries etc.  Holidays like this can be quite full-on at times.....

So why am I feeling inferior when it comes to food??  Well, one lady on the tour makes everything herself apparently - bread, pasta, you name it. Another never uses anything tinned, packaged or frozen (unless she froze some of her own home cooking for later consumption), while a third grows all her own vegetables, makes ten cakes at a time and either gives them to neighbours or freezes them. A fourth (and her husband is as bad) don't really like to eat out as you don't know exactly what has gone into the meal - although we did catch them scoffing cheesy chips in a cafe yesterday!  One of the blokes will eat no carbs, but appears to eat enough fat to block every artery in every rider on the tour while another (a food and exercise zealot) only eats 'healthy' food - which appears to include 3 boiled eggs plus scrambled eggs for breakfast after porridge and followed by mountains of toast with butter and jam.  To my mind it you can't eat cake on a bike ride of over 1,000 miles what is the point of life??

Photos include Chepstow Castle from yesterday, the Ironbridge, our stop in Ludlow and some other shots on the route

Note for Ken and Jeff: having been on the route of the Wellingtom Boot on Tuesday and the Wye Forest 50 yesterday, today we covered 3 hundred routes - Marches 1990 and 1995 plus the Houseman in 2011. At least 2 more in the next day or so

A good day on the bike!

A dry day with some sun (at last!). Breakfast would have been funny if we hadn't wanted to get away in good time. The coach load of OAPs were queuing at the door before 8.15, but we're still enjoying a leisurely fried breakfast as we left.  Most hotels operate a buffet for cereal, fruit juice etc and some also do the cooked food this way - not the Sandringham! I am guessing that most of their guests can't walk more than a few yards without taking a breather and presumably couldn't manage a bowl of cornflakes plus their walking aids. As a result we were waiter-served bowls of cereal (presumably measured out last night) tea that was so strong it could have been mistaken for molten tar and cold toast.  Luckily we weren't looking for what appeared to be a heart attack on a plate to appear.  I just hope they all survived until their coffee stop......

Anyway we finally got going shortly after 9.00am and navigated our way out of Weston. Being so close to home the only parts of the route we weren't familiar with were the first and last 5 miles.  This made for a much faster riding day, although we had to go slower over the section round Bristol as we ended up with a tail of riders locked on our back wheels to avoid getting lost. Our first stop was Chepstow for lunch, which we had bought earlier. We sat in the centre of town watching the world go by and enjoying the sunshine. We had done 42 miles of relatively easy riding, although crossing the Severn Bridge in a howling wind was a bracing experience, especially for those who hadn't tried it before. The hills started in the afternoon, not too steep but lengthy with a steep descent from Symonds Yat down to the Wye valley and on to tonight's stop in Ross-on-Wye.  I had 'lost' my lowest climbing gear (careless I know but that's me I'm afraid) so we visited the bike shop there where a lovely young guy sorted me out while Chris hid outside..........

Everything we saw today was familiar, but the weather was kind, there were no mechanical problems and we didn't get even slightly lost - so in my book that counts as a good day on the bike, although I'm looking forward to something a bit different tomorrow (and I don't mean more rain!!) Tonight is one of two nights on the tour when dinner is not provided but since we are in a Premier Inn on a dual carriageway we will be eating in the Beefeater next door (there is a back road to the hotel for getting in and out luckily but nobody is planning to get back on their bike).

Photos are Weston at night, some shots of Chepstow and the Wye Valley, plus an iconic view of the first Severn Bridge

Fawlty Towers (Weston Style)

A lot happened today so my inferiority complex will have to wait.  We woke to leaden skies and by the time we had finished breakfast it was raining. We took our time and it managed to stop just before we left at around 8.30am. It was busy getting out of Exeter and we got stuck going uphill on a narrow road just outside the city, with a double decker bus metaphorically breathing down my neck, with Chris stuck behind it.  Spotting what appeared to be a dropped curve at the entrance to a property I turned left to get off the road, only to discover that the kerb was only partially lowered - the inevitable happened and me and the bike went down with a bus load of commuters staring out the window. Apart from being shaken I had a cut knee and grazed leg, with copious amounts of blood but no real damage done. We stopped to wash it and put a dressing on and then carried on - having done all of 3 miles!!

It was one of those days when your jackets were on and off with monotonous regularity. It was warm and humid, with wet intervals, during one of which a group of us enjoyed a wonderful coffee and cake stop in Culmstock. We carried on to Wellington, on the outskirts of which Chris got his first puncture of the day. Having managed to navigate our way through Taunton he got his second before we had reached Bridgewater. This one took longer to fix because the valve got bent and pliers had to be applied. Having finally sorted that we were about to leave when we discovered a problem with my rack pack. The rack had slipped down the seat post and was resting on the wheel😡. The tools all had to come back out and it was 3.00pm before we finally managed to buy a sandwich in a garage for lunch.

We had a longish slog across the Somerset levels and were a bit worried about time so had to step on the gas, finally getting to the hotel in Weston-Super-Mare at 5.20pm, with dinner at 6.30pm.  This would have been OK except we were told we had to clean the bikes before the hotel would store them for us - so we joined 7 other riders in a small alleyway at the back of the hotel with buckets and sponges, plus one hose pipe to get them in a fit state to be allowed in.  It was then a mad rush to get our bags up to the 4th floor and shower in the smallest shower, in the smallest bathroom, attached to the smallest bedroom you could imagine. It is classic 50s/60s guest house decor and fittings and is actually quite funny. Dinner is served between 6pm and 7pm and don't even think of being late. Menu was again classic guest house (I guessed the 'choice of desserts' with unerring accuracy and they were astonished when Chris said he wanted trifle without 'squirty cream'.  The vegetables must have been cooking since lunchtime if not last night and were obviously designed for the coach load of OAPs who were also in the dining room.  

We went for a walk along the sea front and came back to discover that were missing a Bingo session in the bar and what appeared to be a poorly cat singing into a very loud microphone - fairly hard to recognise any of the tunes but the OAPs had possibly turned their hearing aids off anyway. Breakfast is at 8.15am and thou shalt not be early. The menu is as interesting as dinner, but at least you can't over cook cornflakes 😀

 

WiFi only exists in reception so I will go down and try to publish this from there - unless the lure of bingo and a sing-a-long is too great.

Photos are the view from our 4th floor room, the Mechanic at work, coffee stop and a rather surprising totem pole in Culmstock

Forgotten Photos

A soggy welcome to Devon and still smiling in the rain yesterday 

Fuelled by cake

Evening all from Exeter, where we have arrived after what was billed as the hardest day of the whole tour - 65 miles with 6,500ft of ascent.  We were told to start by 8.00am this morning if we expected to be slow, so obviously all 21 riders were in a queue for breakfast when it opened at 7.00am.  Due to some precautionary faffing about by the mechanic there was only one rider behind us when we left Lostwithiel.  The first few miles were up an 'A' road which although not particularly busy still had more traffic than we would have liked. It was good to turn off up the back lanes, although we had still only passed one other rider. Reaching King Doniert's stone we found everyone else had just arrived and after the obligatory photo stop we managed to get on the road with only 3 ahead of us so we didn't have to keep our eyes on other peoples back wheels. We cycled up to Minions, allegedly the highest village in Cornwall and then had a hard 20 miles to Tavistock with the road plunging down and spiralling back up with alarming regularity. 

At Horsebridge we crossed into Devon (note the welcome sign below which was just about keeping above the water line) and the road continued to rocket up and down until finally depositing us in Tavistock with nearly (or only, depending how you were feeling) half the distance covered. We had a wonderful coffee stop with some 'seriously serious' cake - sticky ginger for afficianados - and 3 more riders joined us just before we left. By now there was only one rider ahead of us, but with the prospect of a 1,000ft climb up on to Dartmoor we decided to press on before the effects of the cake wore off! The weather had been humid and dull all morning, but as we came up the road out of Tavistock we climbed into fog/low cloud with no views until we started to drop off the high ground approaching Mortonhampstead. I had forgotten how much the road rolls along the top of Dartmoor, but it was quite fast as photo stops were a bit pointless. We got a bit damp with the fog, but apart from the odd few spots of drizzle it stayed dry and steadily improved as we did the final stage across to Exeter. 

We had lunch in the centre of the village so we could spot the others coming through and we left when the leader arrived with the van. He was waiting there for the last rider and then bringing the bags to the hotel.  We were joined on the last leg by Stephen, a guy here on his own who rides about the same pace as us. It was a fabulous run, 3 stiff hills and wonderful descents on well surfaced roads. Navigating our way through Exeter to Jury's Inn was 'interesting' but we made it in one piece and then had to wait about 45 mins for the luggage to arrive.  We are just about to go for a walk and stretch our legs before dinner - but I will fill you in tomorrow on my rapidly growing inferiority complex with regards to all things domestic. I am waiting for someone to suggest that Chris should be taken into care 😥

Note for Ken and Jeff: today we have been on or crossed the routes of the 1984 and 1994 Dartmoor 100s as well as Camel Teign. More to follow! 

And a star to guide her by

Complete the quotation using one of the photos below!  It was a day of  two halves, torrential rain, followed by drizzle - the latter accompanied by low cloud and fog so don't expect too much from the photos.  Shortest day of the tour (perhaps fortunately) to give people a chance to get used to navigation with their garmins if necessary and to have a first introduction to the hills of Devon and Cornwall. Hoping that the rain might ease off and not wanting to arrive too early at the next hotel we made a late start, but after more than 12 hours of heavy overnight rain it was still pouring when we left. Luckily it was warm so we didn't need waterproof trousers, but within the first three miles we had to negotiate a flooded road, with an enormous shark infested puddle in our path. We took a run at it but the water still engulfed our shoes and went over the top of our calf length waterproof socks - and if you want to know, once there is water inside a waterproof sock it isn't going anywhere!

Coffee stop was at a National Trust property, which is probably still trying to dry the cafe out, although not everyone bothered to stop. We then crossed the River Fal (Carrick reaches) on a vehicular chain ferry. Apparently there has been a ferry operating there for at least 500 years.  The climbing started in earnest as we rode off the ferry and then carried on for the rest of the day. We passed some of the riders who hadn't stopped for coffee and kept pressing on until we reached Charlestown on the outskirts of St Austell. I suspect it is heaving on a good day with some spectacular views, but was a bit subdued in the conditions today. We only wanted a hot drink and a sandwich so stopped at a cheap and cheerful kiosk selling all pasties at half price due to the weather. They had an outdoor seating area with umbrellas and although the tables and benches were all sodden they presented us with pieces of cardboard to sit on and made us very welcome - whereas I suspect the 'Artisan Coffee Shop' next door might have been a bit less welcoming.

We are staying at Lostwithiel tonight and arriving at 3.30pm there were only 2 others there and the luggage van was behind somewhere. I went off to buy a newspaper to stuff in the wet shoes and arriving at the Co-op shortly before closing time I asked which was the cheapest Sunday paper, as I wasn't planning on reading it. 'No idea' said the assistant 'but it ought to be The Star or failing that The People'.  He was correct!!   We are now sitting in what appears to be a Chinese laundry trying to get stuff dry.......I'm sure Lostwithiel is a charming town, but apart from the Co-op it appears to be shut!

Anyway tomorrow is meant to be the hardest day of the tour, although I suspect that remains to be seen - hopefully the weather will be better and I'll get some decent shots. 

To 'tech' or not to 'tech' that is the question

I'll get back to the title all in good time. First of all we met the rest of the group last night, 21 riders and the leader, made up of the usual assortment of oddballs, eccentrics, the mildly deranged and a few masquerading as normal (but who will probably be outed in due course). We fit right in.  Remembering all the names is the first challenge, a responsibility that the mechanic has passed on to me.  Of the 21 riders 7 are female (all one half of a couple) and there are 7 single guys. 2 of the couples are over from Australia, one couple from Scotland and one chap from Cork who is doing the same tour for the 4th time!!

This morning we didn't have to repack the bags (this only happens once more on the tour) but we did have to collect our pre-programmed garmins to use for navigation. I had already decided against the option and have printed the whole route off Memory Map on A4 paper using 1:50,000 OS maps.  Just as well, judging by the way Chris and some of the others got on!  We were riding from Redruth to Lands End and back today (using different routes each way) but it turned out that most people did that yesterday on their way to the hotel, so the headed off to the Lizard. Having had a lesson in garmin usage and a short practice in the car park I eventually got Chris going. It was lucky I had the maps - I will say no more. We also crossed paths with the only other 3 doing Lands End and they were struggling to use the technology. There were very envious of my maps.........

The weather started bright and sunny, but clouded up earlier than expected so was a bit dull when we made it to LE. We took the quiet coastal route and stopped for coffee in Mousehole. There is a monster hill out of the village and it is a narrow one way road except for bikes, which can go both ways. We gritted our teeth and set off only to be forced to dismount and try to sidle past a Tesco delivery truck which had stopped on the way down the steepest part and then, seemingly been abandoned by the driver - of whom there was no sign. We then had to squeeze past the cars trapped behind it and found it impossible to get started again until the gradient slackened a bit.  By the way I strongly recommend a slice of hedgehog cake it you ever find yourself in the area.

Land's End is, reassuringly, just as tacky (if not more so) than it was in 2002. The photo below of us with the signpost in the background is evidence that we are too mean to pay £10 to stand beside it!! We picked up a tailwind on the way back to Penzance and flew along before stopping for a bit of lunch in the tourist hotspot (?) of Penzance.  We have felt a bit let down at missing many of the holiday attractions such as Circus Funtasia, the 'All new Daredevil Stuntshow', the Dairyland

Fun Park and so many more.  Perhaps next year?

There have been weddings on both days we have stayed here and it is quite amusing to see sweaty cyclists rubbing shoulders with poshly dressed wedding guests - you do feel you are lowering the tone. Chris is currently trying to work out the garmin, while I sort out the maps for tomorrow. It will be interesting to see if everyone has made it back!!

The blog is up and running....

And The Humes are up and cycling!!  After a bargain basement breakfast of a giant bacon bap and a bucket of tea, for the princely sum of £2 each, we set off to dump our bags at tonight's hotel and then drive to Penzance to drop off the hire van.  I had to explain to the disbelieving guy at Enterprise that there was a problem with the locking system (shades of NZ all over again) that meant you could only lock the car by locking the boot (which locked all the doors). To get back in again you had to first open the boot (which only opened the boot) use the key to unlock the passenger door (but only if the boot was still open) and finally open the driver's door from inside.......

How I laughed as he unsuccessfully tried to prove I had got it wrong 😂

Anyway we finally got going at about 11.00am and headed for Lizard Point, using little Cornish lanes as much as possible. We had to start on the coast road past St Michael's Mount and we were very glad to escape - wall to wall cars, people, chip shops and cheap tat (or more likely not so cheap tat). We had a few head scratching moments, but eventually got on the straight main road to the Lizard with a tail wind - great while it lasted!!

The Lizard is lovely when you actually get to the lighthouse, the village rather less so. The sun was out and after the obligatory photo stop and look round, we decided to have our lunch in the centre of the village and watch the world go by for a while. However time was marching on and our return route was into the wind so we set off about 2.15. The route I chose was gorgeous (though I say so myself) on empty roads across Goonhilly Down and on to Gweek. More deserted lanes round Sithians Reservoir and an inspired navigational triumph that saw us drop off the lanes into Redruth on quiet roads emerging about 10 yards from the entrance to the hotel. 

We are about to go down and meet the rest of the group, so I will either post again later or leave it until tomorrow - depending on how interesting it all turns out to be

Another Test

Test

Ignore......

I have no idea!

Really, I have absolutely no idea what is going on. On Google's suggestion I changed my password for my e-mail account a couple of months ago and now, for reasons I can't even begin to explain, they won't let me post on my old blog. When I tried to set this new one up 2 years ago they blocked it and now this is the only one they will allow me to post on??????? 😡😡😡😡

Anyway I have no idea if anyone will be able to read this so I will send another e-mail and hope for the best (while confidently expecting the worst!). We have got as far as Cornwall and unless Google have got access to our bikes we should be able to ride tomorrow.  I'll post again if I can find out how to access this blog!!