February frolics by the Thames

Having survived a wet and lengthy January with a few local rides with the Fairfield Flyer, the first weekend oh February coincided with the top of the table clash between Aresenal and Liverpool on the football field and so it was arranged to fit in some cycling around this, not to be missed, clash of these two Premier league giants. Circumstances have changed since the last blog so the Liphook Loafer now lives in Walton on Thames and shall now be referred to as the Walton Wheeler. He had arranged tickets for the game on the Sunday and had planned a couple of cycle routes routes for us on Friday and Saturday - The Royal Tour plan was to take in Hampton Court on Friday and Pizza Express in Woking on Saturday. With the car packed to the gunnels I set off from south Wales for Walton via Hillesley in Glocestershire where I had agreed to pick up the Bury Biker aka Jim. Jim had been at university in Brighton with the Walton Wheeler and who was joining us for said weekend. After Jim had loaded his bike, 2 guitars and cycling paraphenalia the VW Golf was beginning to creak under the strain. It did make it though downthe M4 and M25 to Walton on Thames and the leafy suburbs of Surrey.

A blurry start to Friday saw us heading towards the Walton on Thames Marina and dodging traffic along the busy roads on our way to Bushey Park. Passing the huge water works to the south of Sunbury on Thames we skirtred the Queen Elizabeth Reservoir and turned into Bushey Park to be greeted by a herd of deer basking the faint February sunlight.

A very gentle and flat ride accross the park and the sighting of the occasional ringed Parakeet found us at the entrance to Hampton Court. It is an Urban myth that the Parakeets that can be seen flying around this part of London are as a result of them escaping when the film "The African Queen " was being made at the nearby film studios in 1951! Our plan was to have tour of this Royal Palace, built originally for Cardinal Wolsey but later given to Henry VIII in order to try and check Wolsey's fall from grace. But the entrance fee of £55 was outside our budget and so we decided our money woud be better spent on lunch and beer.

Our route back to Walton saw us cross he Thames from the norh side onto the tow path on the south side. This well used path is shared by pedestrians, cyclists, joggers and wheel chair users alike so our progress was slower than our usual peleton pace! A couple of strategic stops for lunch and liquid refreshment and we were soon back in the warmth of the flat and the anticipation of a hot shower - except someone had left the hot water running for the last 5 hours - so we had to be satisfied with a large cognac to warm us up... the sacrifices we have to make?

Saturday dawned early with the arrival of the Viking from Highgate, who had driven down from Norf London to share in the fun of Saturday's ride. There had been some debate as to the choice of route but we eventually settled on one created by Komoot, our go to navigation app! Taking us intially south from Walton into deepest Surrey, we arrived in Cobham, real commuter belt, mock Georgian houses with pristine drives in roads called Accacia Avenue and Tulip Close and real footballers wives country. Suprisingly rural, we found tracks through Prince's Coverts, Oxshott Heath and Esher Common Princes's Coverts is owned by the Crown Estate ane named after Prince Leopold 1 of Belgium who lived in nearby Esher.

A refreshment stop in a very, very busy gastro pub, The Prince of Wales on the outskirts of Esher was well deserved after The Walton Wheeler insisted on taking us through yet more trecherous tracks which he deemed as being "proper biking". Eventually arriving back at the flat we had acheived the great feat of having gone over the A3 three times and under it once. Our ride could be likened to Julius Caesar's crossing of the Rubicon in 49BC - it had taken it's toll on the riders.

The Rude names tour

 It was over a post JOGLE beer or two, that Malcolm suggested the next cycle tour should be a route that incorporated places that had dodgy names.  He was up for it and I knew one or two other people who would welcome the chance to join in something so juvenile so I plotted, with the aid of Strumpshaw, Tincleton and Giggleewick's Marvellous Map of Great British Place names, a route that would take in Twatt in the Orkneys, Tickle Cock Bridge in West Yorkshire and Bell End in the West Midlands. Reality set in soon after my initial route was proposed - too far, too much time off work for those who did have jobs and logistically a bit of a nightmare.  So those of us who were able and as Barkis in David Copperfield so eloquently put it, "Willin." we settled for 3 days in the South East of England following three of Jack Thurston's routes from his Lost Lanes series of books!

I headed to the Liphook Loafer's house for the late August Bank Holiday and had proposed three circular routes, A tour of Chichester, A tour from Woking and finally a tour from Liphook, all of which are in the aforementioned book.

Chichester Loop

Gardener & Loafer

The Loafer and I drove to Chichester on Friday with our bikes and after the sustenance of a Greggs bacon roll headed south out of Chichester following the towpath of the Chichester Ship Canal before hitting the quiet lanes and fields of rural West Sussex and reaching the picturesque hamlet of Sidelsham Quay on the Manhood Peninsula (dodgy name alert).  The Viking had some pressing work so was unable to join us.

Sidlesham Quay

From here we headed west to the seaside resorts of East and West Wittering.  We paused on the spit at West Wittering to take in the view, with the eastern edge of the Isle of Wight visible in the distance. 

West Wittering

 Heading north on the quiet lanes we arrived in West Itchenor where liquid was taken on board at the Ship Inn before embarking on the foot passenger ferry which deposited us on the north side of the estuary just south of Bosham (apparently pronounced Bozzum, (dodgy name alert) before heading back to Chichester via the fantastic and quirky Bareg Cycles bike shop in Fishbourne. 

The Ship Inn

All aboard

Bozzum

Bareg Cycles

Saturday had been designated as football watching day so the Loafer & I had driven to Woking to get on a train to Waterloo and headed for The Emirates to watch Arsenal paly out a 2 - 2 draw with their London rivals Fulham. By Saturday night back in Liphook, The  Highgate Viking had joined us so we were ready for the Woking Loop on Sunday.

The Woking Loop

We managed to squeeze all 3 bikes on the 0925 on Sunday morning from Liphook to Woking and soon were well on our way on busy roads which given our location was hardly surprising! 

Pre cycle breakfast

Squeezed on

We stopped for coffee in Ripley, famed for its bike parts jumble which happens every April and headed for the Surrey hills. 

Coffee in Ripley

 Spectacular views looking north to London gave glimpses of Canary Wharf, The Shard and The Post Office Tower. 

The Surrey Hills

The tricky section in terms of route finding was where the A3 and M25 intersect. The massive engineering project that is going on makes it very difficult to navigate across to Wisley and its gardens.  After lot off of off road and undulating tracks, we made it to the safety of the tow path of the River Wey where we spotted John Terry (footballer) walking his dog! The return to Woking to collect the car took us passed HMP Send.  Back in Liphook, we celebrated with a beer or two and a BBQ!

The third of our jaunts was a loop from Liphook, billed in Jack Thurston's book as Quintessence of England.

A Quintessence of England

Monday departure

For rude names, this tour took the prize! The riding through the lanes was epic, Fernhurst, Lodsworth and onto Heyshott were mere points on the map and our brief visit to Cowdray Park for a quick chucka ensured our arrival in Cocking.  It took us ages to track down the only road sign with the name of the village on and getting the photo meant taking our lives in our hands as the traffic was taking no prisoners.

We dutifully dispatched the above photo off to various friends and the inevitable photo shop replica came back from the Mayor of Sant Joan, obviously too much time on his hands!

Shortly after we were gifted another gem, Didling and from then on it was a breeze back to the Rising Sun in Milland before our arrival back in Liphook.

 

Didling

So all in all, The Rude Tour is underway with 141km completed with 1000m of ascent,,,, more to come!

Redruth to Lands End

 The End to End Saturday 15th 

Suitably fed, watered and rested and with Malcolm & Natalie filming my departure, I swerved my way up the hill from the hotel and headed for Camborne along the NCR 3. My last day in the saddle was underway and it began to rain…. Well, I started this trip in the rain so it only seems fair I should finish it in the rain. Cycling up the estuary at Hayle was hard going but when I got to Marazion with its views over St Michael’s Mount, the gusting wind was ferocious! The plethora of kite surfers in Mounts Bay were having a great time… I was having difficulty staying upright, the wind was so strong.

Windy Mounts Bay

 

I briefly stopped on the quay in Penzance to record the daily video before heading down the lanes through Mousehole, once home of the Penlee lifeboat. In December 1981 whilst attempting a rescue, all 8 of the lifeboat crew tragically  lost their lives. The lifeboat station was moved to nearby Newlyn but is still known as the Penlee lifeboat. My final run into the tacky world of Lands End took me on the road above the surfers paradise of Sennen cove and onto the cliff path with fantastic views of the wild Atlantic and Wolf rock. As I swept through the entrance to Lands End the rain started, and there to capture the moment was Malcolm & Natalie with cameras in hand. 

Nearly

Made it !

The End to End Experience

The welcome party

1804 Km later

 

Malcolm & Natalie had very thoughtfully planned a little celebration and presented me with a medal, a congratulatory card, a beautiful picture and a collection of messages from friends and family… I was overwhelmed and for once lost for words.

So it’s done… off the bucket list and looking for the next challenge.

And for those interested in statistics… the journey was 25 days cycling, 1804 km long with 17,500 metres of ascent.

Finally, my heartfelt thanks to all who contributed to my trip, Dave & Rebecca in Scotland, Mike & Tina in Northwich, Einar, Richard & Sanna for the Bristol experience and Malcolm & Natalie for providing such a fantastic finish! And of course Sue for her understanding in letting me do it. 

I met a couple of cyclists on their way to Lamorna cove and they asked me if I’d do it again…. You betcha I would! 

Sunset over Portreath 
Tufty Copyright

Bude to Redruth

 Bude to Wadebridge Thursday July 13th

With 3 legs to go I was hoping for some better weather today… I was not disappointed after lunch but up until lunchtime it was hard going! Rain, steep hills and a wind in my face was not what I needed after a night at Fawlty Towers AKA The Tree Inn. Boasting as a cosy 13 th Century coaching inn, I was shown to my room , a twin, overlooking the flowered courtyard. A cracked sink in the room was only surpassed by the fact that one of the single beds had been slept in the night before and the sheets and towels were still in the room! I made a snap decision and accepted to sleep in the room in the other bed! And the final nail in the coffin was they didn’t do food. A fairly sleepless night was due to someone who had too much to drink throwing up in the courtyard below and the guy next door who put Richard Taylor’s snoring to shame! 

I was keen to get on the road so left early freewheeling down to Bude and following NCR3 again but it wasn’t long before torrential rain came and the hills got steeper. The climb up to Hallworthy on Bodmin Moor from Widemouth Bay was as hard, if not harder than anything Scotland had thrown at me back in May. 

The bleakness of Bodmin Moor was highlighted by the windswept section that took me across the old runways of RAF Davidson Moor, built in 1942 as part of Coastal Command for spotting U Boats. The descent to Blisland was equally steep as the ascent had been so the flatness of the busy Camel Trail came as a relief for the old knees! 

Just outside Wadebridge I bumped into a couple of other Riese & Muller owners who were taking their dogs for a run/ cycle! 

A quick stop at the Coop to replenish supplies before I checked into the Premier Inn and a long soak in the bath! 

Wadebridge to Redruth Friday 14th July

I delayed my start in view of the weather forecast… high winds and torrential rain … it was going to be. Marty Pellow day… WET, WET, WET. My optimism for better weather didn’t materialise so I was soaked to the skin by the time I rolled through Wadebridge town centre. But what is life without a little adversity I mused as I battled up hills and down dales into the teeth of the gale. 

On one nasty short steep climb just outside St Columb Major I encountered two young Canadian students who had just graduated from UBC in Vancouver and had decided to celebrate their graduation by cycling JOGLE… they were camping and on lightweight bikes and had set off in mid June. I wished them luck and sped off thanking God that I didn’t have to camp tonight. 

Passing signs for familiar places like Newquay and Perranporth , I sped along NCR 32 through the wonderfully named village of Zelah and into Truro, the county town of Cornwall. By now the rain had stopped and the wind had decreased to a strong breeze. Truro grew up in the 14th century as an important port for the mining industry. I didn’t have time to visit its magnificent cathedral, maybe next time?! 

The final leg of the ride took me on a single rough track through the Wheal Maid  valley where the mining of tin, arsenic, pyrite and zinc ore has left a Martian landscape with rust red lagoons and yellow soil. 

I finally arrived at the Peventon Park Hotel on the outskirts of Redruth where I settled in to await the arrival of Malcolm & Natalie who had kindly offered to drive my car down to collect me from Lands End. 

We availed ourselves of the spa facilities, dining room and bar before retiring in anticipation of the final leg!