Okay, so despite just having 2 of my wisdom teeth extracted, I finally feel ready to put our weekend's adventure into words!! It was both hard and ridiculously enjoyable. We met some great people, and were helped on our way by the generosity of random strangers. Our support team alternated between complete failure, and inspired brilliance, but I am pleased to say predominantly the latter, and everyone returned back to London on Sunday night safe and sound, and with a skin colour range somewhere between baby pink and Jamaican brown!!
Day 1
So after meeting at 32 Grove Lane early doors, we decided to have our pre-cycle breakfast at one of Camberwell's many bohemian style cafe's, 'Johanssens'. Here we jointly created not only a new energy drink, but also an entirely new brand of health product. i shalln't go too much into it now, but it basically consisted of a Beetroot and Apple Smoothie, and was selected on new scientific evidence that fresh Beetroot juice increases stamina by a rather substantial amount. Thanks Charlotte!!
After sweeping as much food as possible into our rather eager mouths, we headed off for our first checkpoint 'Richmond Park', via a quick stop off at Tom 'The Machine' O'Neill's house to collect tents, bicycle seats, helmets, and other such vital pieces of equipment. The London Leg was always gonna be a bit hectic, what with traffic, and people, and general insanity, but it went by quickly, and we were left sucking on ice lollies, waiting for our support team to arrive, in the splendour of Richmond Park, on the hottest day of the year. NIce.
Eventually, after, the inevitable issues with traffic, the support team arrived, and video monkey, Phillip Wright, set about filming profiles of each cyclist. These included 'natural cycling posture', and the much anticipated 'special move/stance', which will feature in the ensuing video, coming soon from the 'Mustard Up' factory.
After leaving Richmond Park, with spirits still high, and the bright sunshine keeping smiles on everyones faces, we began the next leg of our journey. Our planned destination was the Town of Chertsey, 15-20 miles away, and it was here that we planned to have lunch. This was the first hiccup of the weekend. After pushing hard and fast for our lunch time break, we arrived in Chertsey eager for refreshments! I in particular, was craving food, and as pointed out several times over the weekend, I need my regular meals!! The support team, however.... were LOST!
After several confused conversations on the phone, we eventually decided to target 'Bagshot' as our revised lunch location. a small town approximately 10 miles further along our route. Now, and yes, I am making excuses, but I feel it is only right to inform people at this point, that my water bottle had gone array sometime after leaving Camberwell, and we had brought no food with us whatsoever. This resulted in what can only be described as a rather epic sugar crash in between Chertsey and Bagshot, and thus a quick stop for Rubicon and a Snickers was needed in Virginia Water. Now this earned me a little banter, but I'm a man who knows very much when I need sugar, and this quick stop kept me going til lunch.
With memories of the sugar crash still fresh in my mind, and with a little encouragement from O'Neill, I decided to order the 'Megasaurus Steak'. A 20 oz rump steak, of what I can only describe as liver-like consistency. I did my best to devour it, but needless to say, my eyes were bigger than my belly, or indeed my balls, and soon it became a team steak, sampled by most, and enjoyed by very few.
We left fed and refreshed and continued on our merry way to the final checkpoint of the day, which we had planned to be somewhere near Andover. The heat didn't relent, and I again became the bully boy, when I got the first puncture of the weekend! We quickly swapped inner tubes, had a quick refreshment break, and then enjoyed the nicest time of the day. The early evening sun, and the gentle breeze it brought with it, made the last 15 miles of our day the most enjoyable, and soon we had stumbled upon a beautiful campsite just outside Andover, and were ready to set up for the night.
Joe 'Michelin Star' Broom-Fendley cooked up a storm in his wagon, and soon we were enjoying the evening warmth with lots and lots of essential carbs, in the form of pasta, and of course the odd drink or two. After a quick hit on the site's driving range, our exertions caught up with us, and an early night was in order. Everyone was out cold as soon as their heads hit the pillow, bar of course the gruesome twosome of Price and O'Neill, who turned into schoolboys upon entering their tent, and spoke for the next 4 to 5 hours, predominantly about boobs!
(70 miles down)
Day 2
We woke early to yet another picture perfect English morning, The cyclists quickly showered, ate breakfast, and then left the support team to finish the tidying up operation. Yesterday evening's weather had convinced us that we should try to get the majority of our miles in early, and then break in the mid afternoon heat, leaving us to finish off with a couple of hours in the evening.
We set off at pace, and before we knew it had completed the first 25 miles of the day. Passing through some lovely little English Towns, the pick of which was Monxton, the morning air was fresh and energising, and soon we had arrived at the world famous Stonehenge. We viewed this from behind the security fence, and Jess and Jen's Thelma and Louise-esque break in, was scuppered by a guard. We stuffed ourselves quickly, predominantly with fruit and cake and then decided to make our way to our lunch stop in nearby Chitterne.
We found a lovely small pub, complete with beer garden, patrolled by peggy and betty, the in-house chickens, and set up for a nice long rest. We ate, and relaxed in the beautiful sunshine, played a little totem tennis, and then realised that we had perhaps stopped for too long, and had to get our legs moving again.
We reluctantly remounted our bikes, and set off on the road again. Our plan had changed slightly, and we decided just to get the cycling out of the way. We had about another 30 miles to fit in, and decided to just go for it. I should mention at this point that O'Neill was struggling to pass solids, and this would be a theme that was set to continue.
We made good progress, and for about an hour seemed to be 10 miles short of our target destination 'Shepton Mallet'. We had decided to take back roads, and this decision appeared to be limiting our progress, but maximising our enjoyment. A decision at a small town crossroads, however, lead us up our steepest hill yet, and reluctantly we had to swallow our pride and push for 5 minutes. We remounted half way up, so we could at least half conquer the incline, and rested at the top to replace the fluids lost through severe sweat.
A phone conversation with our support team at this point had left us cursing! They had decided to go 5 miles past our target destination to North Wooten. This meant that after our most challenging phase of the journey so far, we were still 10 miles away!! I let out a wail, that echoed throughout the valley below, we gave each other encouraging back slaps, and got on with it. We were heading to a field, a farmer had kindly permitted us to camp in. We were keen to get there.
We somehow managed to navigate ourselves through the little village roads, to North Wooten, where up ahead we finally saw our support team, who had a wonderful surprise in store for us. The farmer, Nick, had in fact offered for us to stay in his holiday home, next to his main house. Complete with flatscreen TV and a wet room, we set about the task of cleaning our sweat coated bodies!! We again enjoyed one of Joe Broom's culinary delights, and then the cyclists proceeded to watch the Champions League Final, and watch with pained expressions, as Mourinho again displayed his lack of class.
This was exactly the type of human kindness we hope to come across regularly throughout the 'Real Way Down' journey, and it was a lovely boost of morale to come across such a genuinely nice guy on our first mini expedition. Thank you Nick for welcoming us so kindly into your home, and we hope that you continue to follow our adventures online.
After relaxing back in front of the tele for a few hours, we rather excitedly retired to our bedrooms, to get a well deserved nights sleep. I can;t speak for anyone else, but I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow, and woke feeling refreshed, and ready for our final days cycling.
130 miles down
Day 3
With a large proportion of the cycling having been done on the first two days, we had left ourselves with only 50 miles left to go. Tom O'Neill had tweaked an achilles on the previous day- a result of having a single geared bike along a hilly route, and everyone else was starting to feel the wear and tear on their bodies. We thus decided that we would get the cycling out of the way as quickly as possible, and set off with the intention of getting half the days cycling done without stopping.
We had a lovely mornings cycle, predominantly down hill, and on nice quiet roads, and made good ground quickly. We stopped at a garage to pick up Nurofen for O'Neill's achilles, and my knees, and informed our support team that we were going to keep pushing on.
After covering the first 15 or so miles on nice quiet roads, it was a bit of a shock to the system to join a major A road, and be greeted with signs detailing the high number of accidents which have occurred over the past 12 months. We thus decided to stop, and find a more 'off the beaten track' route, and soon made the decision to take the risk of tacking 'Halsway Hill'. Now, we weren't sure whether this would be as bad as it sounded, and as we were nearing the end of our journey, decided we could face one last big challenge.
As we approached the hill, it dawned on us, that it would indeed be a challenge. The hill was not only steep, but long, the worst kind of hills. We pressed on, however, and as we neared the top, were looking forward to the nice easy road down the other side. This, however, didn't happen, as the way down was as hard on the wrists and arms, as the way up had been on the knees. It was so steep, that the brake pads had caused a burning smell by the time we managed to tentatively reach the bottom, and was almost as tiring as the way up had been,
After a quick refreshment break, we ploughed on with the final ten miles to Minehead. It was very much heads down, and the increase in pace was a clear sign of our eagerness to finish. Before we knew it we saw the support team up ahead, armed with balloons, and cheering us on through the WWF megaphone. It was a great relief to pass the sign into Minehead. however we were all to aware that we still had a further 7 miles to go until we arrived at the car, and thus we were keen to get back on our way.
The final 7 miles involved a lot of rather nasty hills, and at one point I could hear pricey screaming his way through the pain barrier! There were several road signs, showing us we were getting closer, however, and we all kept plodding on. It wasn't long before, our support team were seen up ahead again directing us into the Car Park where our beautiful Land Rover 100 station wagon was waiting for us, in all its glory. We dismounted our bikes, and through them rather unlovingly onto the rack. Hugh who we had purchased the vehicle from, very kindly offered us the use of the Fire Station facilities to shower and clean, and this rather took over from the excitement of having seen the car.
After showering and changing, I talked logistics with Hugh, who has been an absolute star throughout. He had got quotes for having the car towed to the Felthams garage, where the initial work was to be done, and so I simply gave him the cash, and he agreed to sort it out for us the following week. We were also introduced to his nephew, Pete, who had cycled form Nordkapp in Norway to Cape Town, a couple of years previous. His efforts were truly inspirational, and it was wonderful to hear about his adventures. You can read about his exploits too at http://www.kapp2cape.com/.
After again thanking Hugh for his support, and discovering that all of the local pubs were not serving food, we missioned it back to Minehead on 4 wheels for our much needed celebratory lunch. We found a rather bizarre place, that looked like it may well have been shipped in direct form benidorm, and I purchased my long anticipated bitter shandy. We all ate at a fast pace, and then decided to make moves, and begin the long journey back to the capital.
Me, Phil and Jess took the FIat, which Jess drove the whole way, as my legs were pretty much ruined, and the prospect of me falling asleep at the wheel was extremely high. It took just over 3 hours, and soon we were resting up back in Camberwell. The rest of the motley crue went in the Campervan and arrived back about 45 minutes later. The main thing was that we were all safe and sound, fit and healthy, and had enjoyed a wonderful weekend away.
The trip was also extremely successful in terms of fundraising, and although I haven't added up the exact amount that we raised, it was somewhere in the rehion of £1300, which is absolutely fantastic, and will cover the cost of purchasing the car, towing the car, and also some extras that we may need to pay for at a later date. I would like to take this chance to think everyone who sponsored us, and made this trip really worthwhile. Without the support of our sponsors, the 'Real Way Down' project, really would just be a dream.
I would also like to thank the 3 Js in the support team, Jess, Joe and Jen, for being fantastic throughout the weekend, and Phil for working so tirelessly with us to capture it on film. Of course a massive thanks and pat on the back to the cyclists too, Big Tommy P, The Machine O'Neill, and Big Joe Cooper.
Please keep an eye out for the video of the 'Wheel Way Down' and for more news on the vehicle, and other stories 'Real Way Down' related over the coming weeks. Only 6 months to go!!!
180 miles down
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
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