Today we took it easy. Kind of. We were staying at Horton near Ilminster and meant to take the whole day off but changed our minds when our hosts, Chris and Rose, went off to a wedding. We sorted out a b&b at Culmstock, some 3 miles beyond Hemyock and set out about one-thirty. We had only about 14 miles to go - a doddle you might think. Chris and Rose supported Harry against Gigi and we took what appeared to be the direct route. We soon understood why Gigi had recommended a more roundabout route. We climbed and climbed and climbed. Sadly Gigi took umbrage and turned herself off for no reason. She has never played this particular trick and I am at a loss to know the real reason but the details of that particular section of our journey appear to be irrevocably lost. A pity because i am convinced the record would have been stratling for the change in elevation. In this part of the world hills are so normal that the roads have normal names like Uffculme Road when they should have names like Horrible Hill, Horrendous Hill, Humungous Hill, Hairy-as-a-very-hairy-indeed-thing Hill and so on. It took about half an hour to get up the first one, which rose from Horton and went on and on. Then we went down the other side (the hairy one) and started thinking about finding a bike shop to get new brake pads. Eventually when I was at breaking point we found a most excellent pub which I whole-heartedly recommend called the Candlelight Inn which fed and restored us even though it was after two thirty. "The best sandwiches I have ever tasted" Harry said. Plus they had a little garden with lots of butterflies. And very good cider. The young (about 40) publican encouraged us saying the hill ahead was the last serious one on our journey and his personal best doing it on his bike was 7 minutes. It took us 15.
I should mention finding the Hastoe scheme at Hemyock. I had no post code nor address so I Googled it and got an idea that Hastoe's houses were on the site of the old St Ivel milk processing factory. We tracked this down eventually and then on the way out of the town I spotted a development which looked the sort of thing Hastoe does and sure enough it was so. I'm inclined to claim that as two schemes if my sponsors will put up with that.
Tomorrow we expect to have another half day and that will make up our full day off, spread over two days.
Riding for Ruhanga
Saturday 31 August 2013
From Corn to Cattle
I am in big trouble from various members of the family for not posting photos of Harry's wounds. The swelling in the arm goes up and down but it seems to be getting better on the whole. To tell the truth, they are not very photogenic but I've added some random ones and will try harder in future.
For ten days now we have been riding through fields of wheat. In Norfolk we saw two fields which together must have amounted to 600 acres. Harry remarked how we never saw any cows, only a few sheep here and there. Suddenly yesterday (Friday) this all changed and we were in cattle country, with smells to match. We did 48 miles through Somerset with plenty of ups and downs and arrived here (near Ilminster) rather tired. It was lovely to be met at Whitelackington by Mandella from Hastoe. This was one of Hastoe's early schemes, built in 1991 as a result of enthusiasm by Ewan Cameron, the big landowner around here. And as it happens we are staying with his estate manager, Chris and Rose who used to manage a farm in Barcombe many years ago - which is how we know them.
One of the housing schemes we visited yesterday was at Ditcheat (to rhyme with itch it). A delightful village full of race horses being taken up to the gallops and children playing in the streets. We passed through another village called something Beauchamp, which disappointingly was pronounced as you would expect, Beecham.
Harry has just told me I must stop as we are off again. This was to be our day off but our hosts are going out so we decided to move on. I suppose a start after 1.00pm must pretty well qualify as a rest day.
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| Arm, 20th Aug |
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| Knee, 20th |
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| Arm, 22nd |
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| One of the White Horses, 29th Aug |
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| The beard, 29th. |
Thursday 29 August 2013
From Marlborough, Wilts to Nunney, Somerset
We have now done some 488 miles and we are perhaps half way through our trip. Rather exciting.
What had promised to be a long day turned out to be a mere 39.69 miles. Estimates made at home in good faith often turn out wrong. Mostly too low but in this case too high. We called at Hastoe schemes at Dilton Marsh and Nunney. At Nunney we were inspecting with interest some redoubtable Land Rovers in a back garden and the lady of the house came out to see what we were up to. As usual, I introduced myself and she remembered getting a letter from Hastoe about us so she didn't
set the dog on us. We found that she and her man spend their leisure time testing the capabilities of these awesome machines on Salisbury Plain and keeping the byways open.
According to Gigi, I used 2501 calories today. I have no idea if that's a lot. I have lost no weight nor gained any. Does she allow for the hills, I wonder? Those hills are not such a terrible thing as we had expected but they are not a bit crotch-friendly. Curiously the average speed doesn't seem to fall but crotch-wise one notices the difference. Max speed today was 34.3. With heavy panniers and steep hills it's not difficult to achieve but a little scary sometimes. We were directed up a narrow back street in Dilton Marsh which was steeper than anything we have met so far, probably only 400 yards but... UP, note. Very UP indeed. Using the bottom of all the gears I could just keep going. My wing man even found it a bit testing.
She is still nursing a sore knee and a sore elbow. Today an experimental spell without pain-killers proved premature. While we were in Buckingham the other day, the pharmacist would not sell Voltarol because she admitted to taking some blood pressure pills. She had to visit another chemist who omitted to assk the same question. While all this was going on, I found a charity shop where I was able to buy another shirt to replace the one I had brought with me - which turned out to be short of a button and out at the elbow. Oops. The wing man doesn't appreciate such slip-ups.
Nature report: Rat and badger have now joined the list, both dead on the road. A few more bird specie, including (where we are staying) a red-legged partridge which uncharacteristically came and sat on the roof for some time.
What had promised to be a long day turned out to be a mere 39.69 miles. Estimates made at home in good faith often turn out wrong. Mostly too low but in this case too high. We called at Hastoe schemes at Dilton Marsh and Nunney. At Nunney we were inspecting with interest some redoubtable Land Rovers in a back garden and the lady of the house came out to see what we were up to. As usual, I introduced myself and she remembered getting a letter from Hastoe about us so she didn't
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| I commandeered a smaller bike while at Pookfield Close, Nunney |
According to Gigi, I used 2501 calories today. I have no idea if that's a lot. I have lost no weight nor gained any. Does she allow for the hills, I wonder? Those hills are not such a terrible thing as we had expected but they are not a bit crotch-friendly. Curiously the average speed doesn't seem to fall but crotch-wise one notices the difference. Max speed today was 34.3. With heavy panniers and steep hills it's not difficult to achieve but a little scary sometimes. We were directed up a narrow back street in Dilton Marsh which was steeper than anything we have met so far, probably only 400 yards but... UP, note. Very UP indeed. Using the bottom of all the gears I could just keep going. My wing man even found it a bit testing.
She is still nursing a sore knee and a sore elbow. Today an experimental spell without pain-killers proved premature. While we were in Buckingham the other day, the pharmacist would not sell Voltarol because she admitted to taking some blood pressure pills. She had to visit another chemist who omitted to assk the same question. While all this was going on, I found a charity shop where I was able to buy another shirt to replace the one I had brought with me - which turned out to be short of a button and out at the elbow. Oops. The wing man doesn't appreciate such slip-ups.
Nature report: Rat and badger have now joined the list, both dead on the road. A few more bird specie, including (where we are staying) a red-legged partridge which uncharacteristically came and sat on the roof for some time.
Wednesday 28 August 2013
The Vale of the White Horse
If there's one thing I've learned from watching Top Gun it's that you never leave your wing man. Well despite serious damage, my wing man, Harriet, has not let me down and we have stuck together. I'm glad of it. Alone, I would have got lost and forgotten to have lunch and generally floundered. She is well on the mend though her elbow is somewhat compromised and will probably need attention when we get home.
For two nights we have been put up by very good friends and in each case the couple includes one character with very forceful views on the meaning of life and how it should be. They know each other and have very different, very forceful views. So H and I came away wonderfully refreshed with alternative and contradictory world views. Of course I have a world view also, very different again. And Harriet has her strong opinions on almost everything. So you can see we have had a quite invigorating time. And that's without the cycling.
Today we had a shorter day in miles but no mean ride as it turned out. We started at Bladon on the Blenheim Estate and headed south for Chilton Foliat. Oxfordshire gave way to Berkshire and then Wiltshire. It seems only a couple of days since we were hearing the distinctive Norfolk burr and suddenly we are in the West Country.
Gigi the Garmin Gadget puts up the name of the street or road as we go along and the word "hill" occurred rather a lot today. Of particular note was the hill up towards Lambourn, seemingly without a name but let's call it One-in-ten Hill because that is what the sign said at the bottom. We had passed a notice telling us that Lambourn was seven miles away. The first three of those miles was occupied by One-in-ten Hill. It took us some time. Suffice to say we never got off. And Gigi never once decided to put us on pause. It's also fair to mention that the next four miles down to Lambourn took about ten minutes. Hungerford Hill followed and I am not sure which was the most demanding.
Hastoe's little housing scheme at Chilton Foliat is a delight. The six brick-built houses are - as so often - on the edge of the village. They have been constructed in the local vernacular with dark headers and standard stretchers. That's the short ends of the bricks and the long sides. Rather striking.
Tomorrow will be a long day. And free of hills - I DON'T think. then we aim to have a day off.
Good night.
Nick
For two nights we have been put up by very good friends and in each case the couple includes one character with very forceful views on the meaning of life and how it should be. They know each other and have very different, very forceful views. So H and I came away wonderfully refreshed with alternative and contradictory world views. Of course I have a world view also, very different again. And Harriet has her strong opinions on almost everything. So you can see we have had a quite invigorating time. And that's without the cycling.
Today we had a shorter day in miles but no mean ride as it turned out. We started at Bladon on the Blenheim Estate and headed south for Chilton Foliat. Oxfordshire gave way to Berkshire and then Wiltshire. It seems only a couple of days since we were hearing the distinctive Norfolk burr and suddenly we are in the West Country.
Gigi the Garmin Gadget puts up the name of the street or road as we go along and the word "hill" occurred rather a lot today. Of particular note was the hill up towards Lambourn, seemingly without a name but let's call it One-in-ten Hill because that is what the sign said at the bottom. We had passed a notice telling us that Lambourn was seven miles away. The first three of those miles was occupied by One-in-ten Hill. It took us some time. Suffice to say we never got off. And Gigi never once decided to put us on pause. It's also fair to mention that the next four miles down to Lambourn took about ten minutes. Hungerford Hill followed and I am not sure which was the most demanding.
Hastoe's little housing scheme at Chilton Foliat is a delight. The six brick-built houses are - as so often - on the edge of the village. They have been constructed in the local vernacular with dark headers and standard stretchers. That's the short ends of the bricks and the long sides. Rather striking.
Tomorrow will be a long day. And free of hills - I DON'T think. then we aim to have a day off.
Good night.
Nick
Tuesday 27 August 2013
Emberton, Bucks via Hanslope and Tingewick to Bladon, Oxon
We have done 51.6 miles today. for the record, these are the figures so far:
Approx total 412 miles in 8 days, average 51.5 miles per day.
Sadly when we visit schemes we often find no-one around. At Edinburgh Cottages on the Sandringham Estate, for example, there was no sign of the duke to greet us nor indeed anyone at all. So it goes. But today at Tingewick I think it was, a buzzard mewed overhead, then a raven flew over and a Green-veined White butterfly explored some buddleia flowers. Earlier we saw a heron and heard a bullfinch call and saw its white rump as it flew off and later a red kite soared overhead. So a better day, nature-wise.
I am in some trouble for not bringing a razor, to save weight. I now resemble one of my friends in the west of Ireland who tend to shave only once a week, usually on Saturday night so they are respectable for any partying and reasonably presentable still for church next morning. The beardling does not go very well with my hair which - because I wear a helmet - is divided by ridges and stands in three rows like a kind of nonconformist Mohican. A hairbrush is another thing I vetoed during the packing. In fact the packing was pretty disastrous. I brought two shirts for non-cycling wear. One is an aged safari shirt and the other turns ouit to lack a vital button and has worn through at the elbow. Today thereforee, in Buckingham, I saught out a charity shop and purchased a shirt to replace it while Harry negotiated for some more Voltarol as she is still prone to painful pangs from time to time. The first pharmacy declined to serve her after grilling her about other pills she takes for blood pressure. Luckily there are three chemists in Buckingham and the second one came up trumps, asking no awkward questions. Her arm has almost subsided although it remains a strange shade of puce. Her knee is still bruised and stiff but again almost recovered.
the swiss army knife that Hastoe staff gave me when i left has come in very handy. the scissors and phillips srewdriver have both been employed more than once and I find it not only tells the time (in GMT) but aslo the temperature and stuff.
Tomorrow we have a scheduled thirty something miles, so we look forward to reaching Wiltshire in easy style.
.
- Day 0 - 50.97 miles
- Day 1 - 62.63
- Day 2 - 33.6 (?)
- Day 3 - 49.44
- Day 4 - 50 (estimated; 39.91 recorded and some more while Gigi was asleep)
- Day 5 - 66.59
- Day 6 - 46.61
- Day 7 - 51.6
Approx total 412 miles in 8 days, average 51.5 miles per day.
Sadly when we visit schemes we often find no-one around. At Edinburgh Cottages on the Sandringham Estate, for example, there was no sign of the duke to greet us nor indeed anyone at all. So it goes. But today at Tingewick I think it was, a buzzard mewed overhead, then a raven flew over and a Green-veined White butterfly explored some buddleia flowers. Earlier we saw a heron and heard a bullfinch call and saw its white rump as it flew off and later a red kite soared overhead. So a better day, nature-wise.
I am in some trouble for not bringing a razor, to save weight. I now resemble one of my friends in the west of Ireland who tend to shave only once a week, usually on Saturday night so they are respectable for any partying and reasonably presentable still for church next morning. The beardling does not go very well with my hair which - because I wear a helmet - is divided by ridges and stands in three rows like a kind of nonconformist Mohican. A hairbrush is another thing I vetoed during the packing. In fact the packing was pretty disastrous. I brought two shirts for non-cycling wear. One is an aged safari shirt and the other turns ouit to lack a vital button and has worn through at the elbow. Today thereforee, in Buckingham, I saught out a charity shop and purchased a shirt to replace it while Harry negotiated for some more Voltarol as she is still prone to painful pangs from time to time. The first pharmacy declined to serve her after grilling her about other pills she takes for blood pressure. Luckily there are three chemists in Buckingham and the second one came up trumps, asking no awkward questions. Her arm has almost subsided although it remains a strange shade of puce. Her knee is still bruised and stiff but again almost recovered.
the swiss army knife that Hastoe staff gave me when i left has come in very handy. the scissors and phillips srewdriver have both been employed more than once and I find it not only tells the time (in GMT) but aslo the temperature and stuff.
Tomorrow we have a scheduled thirty something miles, so we look forward to reaching Wiltshire in easy style.
.
Last night's blog didn't get published. Here it is.
Bank Holiday Monday; Emberton, Bucks
Started from Ickleton near Cambridge at 9.00 with notes as to the first part of the route, gleaned from a real paper map.. Should be 42 miles. Gigi is asked to join the game and suggests starting with a right turn out of the front door. Our hosts ask: "how, then, will you get across the M11?" Gigi remains mute. Never explain, never apologise, seems to be her motto. We start to the left. From Cambridgeshire we quickly find ourselves in Bedfordshire. There isn't much to say about Bedfordshire except that its A roads have little token spaces at the edge called cycle lanes. Not very fun. Sometimes even those fade out, leaving one trying to cycle on the white line to leave room for the other traffic. Luckily lorries have a day off. Starting at nine and with only 42 miles ahead, I express the view that we might reach our destination in time for lunch. We actually arrive at 5.00pm.
Some of you will want to know about the wildlife. It has been disappointing. Maybe twenty species of bird in a week, nothing extraordinary unless you count Parakeets.Mammals include hares, falloow and roe deer, hedgehogs, squirrel and rabbit, most of them dead on the road. Only seven species of butterfly. When we found our route took us past the RSPB headquarters at Sandy, Beds, I thought I might do better but nothing added there, despite reports of hobbies and a raven which did not show for me.
Talking of stuff dead on the road reminds me of a sign we saw one day: GO SLOW; TAKE CARE; STAY ALIVE. We've had some success with the last of those so far. Not sure about the others.
Another story from a few days back. We passed a sign saying: ROAD CLOSED. We rode on. Half a mile later another notice ROAD CLOSED AHEAD. We continued. Another half a mile and a sign stated ROAD CLOSED DUE TO WALL REBUILDING. Clearly they could not seriously close the entire road just for a wall, so on we went. Finally a hand-written notice "YES IT REALLY IS CLOSED" by which time we could see an enormous crane taking up every inch (the word "literally" comes to mind) of the road. Our faces fell but luckily there was a set of stairs over a bridge for pedestrians and we managed to struggle the laden bikes over rather than face a round trip of several extra miles. Not sure what the moral of the story is.
Oh, by the way, the journey was 46.61 miles, a mere 4 miles over the estimate.
Bank Holiday Monday; Emberton, Bucks
Started from Ickleton near Cambridge at 9.00 with notes as to the first part of the route, gleaned from a real paper map.. Should be 42 miles. Gigi is asked to join the game and suggests starting with a right turn out of the front door. Our hosts ask: "how, then, will you get across the M11?" Gigi remains mute. Never explain, never apologise, seems to be her motto. We start to the left. From Cambridgeshire we quickly find ourselves in Bedfordshire. There isn't much to say about Bedfordshire except that its A roads have little token spaces at the edge called cycle lanes. Not very fun. Sometimes even those fade out, leaving one trying to cycle on the white line to leave room for the other traffic. Luckily lorries have a day off. Starting at nine and with only 42 miles ahead, I express the view that we might reach our destination in time for lunch. We actually arrive at 5.00pm.
Some of you will want to know about the wildlife. It has been disappointing. Maybe twenty species of bird in a week, nothing extraordinary unless you count Parakeets.Mammals include hares, falloow and roe deer, hedgehogs, squirrel and rabbit, most of them dead on the road. Only seven species of butterfly. When we found our route took us past the RSPB headquarters at Sandy, Beds, I thought I might do better but nothing added there, despite reports of hobbies and a raven which did not show for me.
Talking of stuff dead on the road reminds me of a sign we saw one day: GO SLOW; TAKE CARE; STAY ALIVE. We've had some success with the last of those so far. Not sure about the others.
Another story from a few days back. We passed a sign saying: ROAD CLOSED. We rode on. Half a mile later another notice ROAD CLOSED AHEAD. We continued. Another half a mile and a sign stated ROAD CLOSED DUE TO WALL REBUILDING. Clearly they could not seriously close the entire road just for a wall, so on we went. Finally a hand-written notice "YES IT REALLY IS CLOSED" by which time we could see an enormous crane taking up every inch (the word "literally" comes to mind) of the road. Our faces fell but luckily there was a set of stairs over a bridge for pedestrians and we managed to struggle the laden bikes over rather than face a round trip of several extra miles. Not sure what the moral of the story is.
Oh, by the way, the journey was 46.61 miles, a mere 4 miles over the estimate.
Sunday 25 August 2013
Five Counties
We started this morning, Sunday, in West Norfolk and rode through Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex and back into Cambridgeshire. Well, OK, four counties if you must. GG, our faithful Garmin Gadget, had gone into such a sulk yesterday that it turned itself off. It (he, she?) seems frightfully touchy and we had only overruled her a few times. Or maybe it had something to do with not having charged her up sufficiently. Who knows. Anyway our route, when uploaded onto the computer, was sadly short of the last few miles. Good news if you are sponsoring us by the mile.
We visited our usual quota of Hastoe housing schemes. For those who like lists: Saturday we started from Fakenham and travelled via Sedgeford and West Newton on the Sandringham Estate to stay at juts short of Foulden in West Norfolk. We found a chap moving a mattress out of one Hastoe property. He was helping his son move out so he could move in instead. They were doing a swap. At one site we found a delighted tenant who had moved in only a couple of months before and declared that he hoped and expected to die there. He was not old. I must say those houses had a delectable view over the countryside. Not untypical among Hastoe properties.
Harry is still nursing her swollen arm and knee and her shoulder isn't quite what it was but all these things seem on the whole to be getting better by degrees. She has possibly chipped her elbow but doesn't take kindly to universal advice to get it checked out. I must say the thought of a visit to casualty during a bank holiday weekend seems singularly unattractive so I play along. Not that it would make any difference if I didn't. My heart is behaving itself again.
Today we started at nine and called first at Foulden, then Lakenheath, Burwell, Bottisham and ended up here with friends at Ickleton, just south of Cambridge. GG - or Gigi (I have decided she must be female) - purred and took us along beautiful routes, straight and flat, through Thetford Forest and across lovely countryside. I believe she was feeling remorse after her tantrum yesterday. But perhaps she just knew that we were watching her every move and ready to overrule if needed. For the last leg of the journey we just trusted her and then it was that she had a brainstorm and deposited us in Saffron Walden, five miles too far south. the one consolation was tat she made us climb a long and unnecessary hill but I managed to top 30 mph on the way down the other side. Also it meant that Harry spotted a sign which read "HOME GROWEN TOMATOES" which she much enjoyed.
Tomorrow, Monday, we head for Emberton, near Milton Keynes. We have a plan to keep Gigi in check. The game is on.
We visited our usual quota of Hastoe housing schemes. For those who like lists: Saturday we started from Fakenham and travelled via Sedgeford and West Newton on the Sandringham Estate to stay at juts short of Foulden in West Norfolk. We found a chap moving a mattress out of one Hastoe property. He was helping his son move out so he could move in instead. They were doing a swap. At one site we found a delighted tenant who had moved in only a couple of months before and declared that he hoped and expected to die there. He was not old. I must say those houses had a delectable view over the countryside. Not untypical among Hastoe properties.
Harry is still nursing her swollen arm and knee and her shoulder isn't quite what it was but all these things seem on the whole to be getting better by degrees. She has possibly chipped her elbow but doesn't take kindly to universal advice to get it checked out. I must say the thought of a visit to casualty during a bank holiday weekend seems singularly unattractive so I play along. Not that it would make any difference if I didn't. My heart is behaving itself again.
Today we started at nine and called first at Foulden, then Lakenheath, Burwell, Bottisham and ended up here with friends at Ickleton, just south of Cambridge. GG - or Gigi (I have decided she must be female) - purred and took us along beautiful routes, straight and flat, through Thetford Forest and across lovely countryside. I believe she was feeling remorse after her tantrum yesterday. But perhaps she just knew that we were watching her every move and ready to overrule if needed. For the last leg of the journey we just trusted her and then it was that she had a brainstorm and deposited us in Saffron Walden, five miles too far south. the one consolation was tat she made us climb a long and unnecessary hill but I managed to top 30 mph on the way down the other side. Also it meant that Harry spotted a sign which read "HOME GROWEN TOMATOES" which she much enjoyed.
Tomorrow, Monday, we head for Emberton, near Milton Keynes. We have a plan to keep Gigi in check. The game is on.
Friday 23 August 2013
Getting to North Norfolk
Sorry for the radio silence - I have been too stupid to break into my own blog.
Day Zero
We started out from Barcombe on Monday, calling first at Alexander Close, Newick, the village where I was brought up. On to Crawley Down in north Sussex, guided by my Garmin Gadget (GG for short). A scenic and very up and down route. Then on towards Strawberry Hill where we would spend the night. 49.6 miles and we survived.
Day 1. Tuesday.
Made our way to Hastoe's head office in Hampden Wick where photographers from the local press and many staff gathered to give us a splendid send-off. Several of the staff came with us as we set off through Richmond Park and along the Thames to Waterloo. There we said goodbye to our escort and resorted to GG which had some slightly wild ideas of a route. After a while of being bullied by GG, Harry was so put about that she lost concentration and fell off and bruised her knee. We decided to soldier on but I guess the shock had affected her as she misjudged a turn and came a cropper again, this time injuring her forearm quite badly. After quivering by the side of the road, debating calling the ambulance (she said no) we proceeded rather cautiously through east London and eventually emerged into the countryside to find ourselves at High Ongar in Essex at 6.00pm where poor John Lefever of Hastoe East was patiently waiting for us. We met a Hastoe tenant who showed us into his straw bale house, the only social housing built this way in the UK ever.
Day 2. Wednesday.
Harry's knee looked pretty horrid but it was her left elbow, puce and looking rather as though someone had sewn in a large cucumber, which had onlookers turning away and holding the wall for fear of fainting. But she is not a quitter and we decided to ply on and called as planned at Castle Hedingham, and Lavenham. This should have been a 42 mile trip but we must have given GG some reason to be cross with us, for we contrived to cover 60 miles including some off-roading which Harry did not appreciate at all, reasonably feeling ill-inclined to risk another fall.
Day 3. Thursday.
Harry's arm now looking more like an aubergine, we were armed by our kind hosts with maps of Suffolk and Norfolk as a prophylactic against the worst excesses of GG. It worked. We made our way without incident to Hastoe housing schemes at Nedging Tye, Swilland, Kettleburgh, Framlingham and Pulham St Mary in South Norfolk. Some 54 miles. Our kind hosts in Pulham Market were also hosting a birthday party and I consumed rather more of their excellent Pimms than was wise, causing my heart to flutter - not in a good way. A recurrence of an old complaint - atrial fibrillation - left me starting the next day considerably impaired. We prayed. The AF departed after half a day. We gave thanks.
Day 4. Friday.
We started the day at Pulham Market, then a delightful visit to the Gaymer Memorial Cottages at Attleborough where a resident opened her house and we were treated to tea and goodies. These cottages were built in 1947, with outside toilets and still pretty primitive until a couple of years ago when Hastoe got a grant to modernise them with many high tech Eco-friendly touches. On to Hingham, Great Ryburgh, Fakenham. A day of quiet and flat riding so that our 47 miles seemed much easier than the distance sounds. We were with our hosts a little beyond Fakenham by 4.00pm.
Day Zero
We started out from Barcombe on Monday, calling first at Alexander Close, Newick, the village where I was brought up. On to Crawley Down in north Sussex, guided by my Garmin Gadget (GG for short). A scenic and very up and down route. Then on towards Strawberry Hill where we would spend the night. 49.6 miles and we survived.
Day 1. Tuesday.
Made our way to Hastoe's head office in Hampden Wick where photographers from the local press and many staff gathered to give us a splendid send-off. Several of the staff came with us as we set off through Richmond Park and along the Thames to Waterloo. There we said goodbye to our escort and resorted to GG which had some slightly wild ideas of a route. After a while of being bullied by GG, Harry was so put about that she lost concentration and fell off and bruised her knee. We decided to soldier on but I guess the shock had affected her as she misjudged a turn and came a cropper again, this time injuring her forearm quite badly. After quivering by the side of the road, debating calling the ambulance (she said no) we proceeded rather cautiously through east London and eventually emerged into the countryside to find ourselves at High Ongar in Essex at 6.00pm where poor John Lefever of Hastoe East was patiently waiting for us. We met a Hastoe tenant who showed us into his straw bale house, the only social housing built this way in the UK ever.
Day 2. Wednesday.
Harry's knee looked pretty horrid but it was her left elbow, puce and looking rather as though someone had sewn in a large cucumber, which had onlookers turning away and holding the wall for fear of fainting. But she is not a quitter and we decided to ply on and called as planned at Castle Hedingham, and Lavenham. This should have been a 42 mile trip but we must have given GG some reason to be cross with us, for we contrived to cover 60 miles including some off-roading which Harry did not appreciate at all, reasonably feeling ill-inclined to risk another fall.
Day 3. Thursday.
Harry's arm now looking more like an aubergine, we were armed by our kind hosts with maps of Suffolk and Norfolk as a prophylactic against the worst excesses of GG. It worked. We made our way without incident to Hastoe housing schemes at Nedging Tye, Swilland, Kettleburgh, Framlingham and Pulham St Mary in South Norfolk. Some 54 miles. Our kind hosts in Pulham Market were also hosting a birthday party and I consumed rather more of their excellent Pimms than was wise, causing my heart to flutter - not in a good way. A recurrence of an old complaint - atrial fibrillation - left me starting the next day considerably impaired. We prayed. The AF departed after half a day. We gave thanks.
Day 4. Friday.
We started the day at Pulham Market, then a delightful visit to the Gaymer Memorial Cottages at Attleborough where a resident opened her house and we were treated to tea and goodies. These cottages were built in 1947, with outside toilets and still pretty primitive until a couple of years ago when Hastoe got a grant to modernise them with many high tech Eco-friendly touches. On to Hingham, Great Ryburgh, Fakenham. A day of quiet and flat riding so that our 47 miles seemed much easier than the distance sounds. We were with our hosts a little beyond Fakenham by 4.00pm.
Friday 16 August 2013
Links
One or two people have had trouble sponsoring so here's a refresher about the various links:
- My blog (you're on it!): http://ridingforruhanga.blogspot.co.uk/
- The charity we are raising money for:
- The giving page: www.mycharitypage.com/bikeride
Pensioners and prep
Today a piece appeared in the local paper, the Sussex Express, describing us as pensioners. No picture though. We've stopped doing rides and yesterday instead went for a three hour walk on the Downs with a friend. Different muscles to ache. Preparations continue on the computer. More and more courses have been plotted and places to stay the night booked in. People are being very kind. Some overnight stops still need fixing, one in or near Avebury for example as Andrew Williamson won't be there sadly. Just off to collect our newly branded T-shirts in a moment. Hastoe organised for a piece to appear in the local paper, the Sussex Express, this morning. It describes us as pensioners. Such is journalism.
Here's a link to a twitter account for those of you who do that stuff:
Here's a link to a twitter account for those of you who do that stuff:
https://twitter.com/hastoebikeride
Tweet @hastoebikeride
Tweet @hastoebikeride
Sunday 11 August 2013
Amex Stadium and Downland
We set off yesterday on a round-about route of some 29 miles. This took us over a downland track to Kingston and then south. At Falmer we found stewards all over the place. Brighton and Hove Albion was about to meet Derby County at the Amex Stadium. Bike Route Toaster is my favoured method of route-plotting and I had allowed it some leeway. Which it interpreted to mean we would like do some off-roading. Through Stanmer Park this proved rather exhilarating - a rural track emerging on top of Ditchling Beacon. From there we knew a way back - little lanes and some serious downhill. But we were not prepared for the precipitous course descending the escarpment of the downs in a narrow and very steep defile - impossible to stay on the bikes and nearly impossible to keep control of them walking. Somehow we got down but it added rather a long time to our journey and our average time was under 9 mph, even allowing for the fact that a 4 hour ride was construed by the computer as 3 hours because the computer pauses itself for even the briefest stop. Another valuable lesson learned about the limitations of the technology. Sponsorship still pouring in and kind people agreeing to put us up en route.
Nick
Nick
Friday 9 August 2013
Information and links
To sponsor, you can just tell us how much you want to give by emailing one of us [nicklear@barcombe.net or hlear@barcombe.net]. We'll record the mileage each day and expect to do about 850 miles so one penny a mile should cost you about £8 or £9. We will visit as many Hastoe rural housing schemes on the way as we can, probably about 60. So 25p per scheme visited will work out in the region of £15. I like these kind of incentives but if you prefer to bypass all that, go to www.mycharitypage.com/bikeride and with a bit of luck you may be able to give that way.
Hastoe Housing Group has been linked with the community of Ruhanga in SW Uganda through the charity 'Let them help themselves.' I used to be deputy chairman of Hastoe and on retiring I agreed to do this ride. Harriet joined in enthusiastically and we aim to cycle up to Hastoe's Head office at Hampton Wick, then through East Anglia up to North Norfolk, west through Bucks, Oxon and Wilts, through Somerset and north Devon and back via south Devon, Dorset, Hants and finishing in Sussex.
At the end of it all we hope to send a cheque for at least £3,000 to Let Them Help Themselves for Ruhanga.
Hastoe Housing Group has been linked with the community of Ruhanga in SW Uganda through the charity 'Let them help themselves.' I used to be deputy chairman of Hastoe and on retiring I agreed to do this ride. Harriet joined in enthusiastically and we aim to cycle up to Hastoe's Head office at Hampton Wick, then through East Anglia up to North Norfolk, west through Bucks, Oxon and Wilts, through Somerset and north Devon and back via south Devon, Dorset, Hants and finishing in Sussex.
A word about Ruhanga. Ruhanga is a
remote village in South West Uganda. One of Hastoe's residents had a connection with the place and started a charity called "Let them Help Themselves" who got hold of money to build a community medical centre and the idea is to provide cash to fund the equipment for it. See
At the end of it all we hope to send a cheque for at least £3,000 to Let Them Help Themselves for Ruhanga.
Thursday 8 August 2013
Butterflies, honey and a ride
Slaved over the computer trying to iron out problems and settle route issues. Harry says the ride will be a doddle by comparison. Had a lovely time showing friends 16 species of butterfly then taking a crop of honey from my bees and potting 20lbs or so. Left time for a ride this evening. Garmin says 36 minutes; 8.06 miles; avge speed 13.4 mph; elevation 572ft. Avge cadence (a new word for me) 60 rpm. An eight mile ride isn't much in the way of training but we pushed ourselves. Average speeds much over 10 mph are not to be expected on the ride itself.
Wednesday 7 August 2013
First Ruhanga Ride blog post
Gosh. I have just set up my first ever blog.
We plan to cycle from Hastoe Housing Association's head office at Hampton Wick for 22 days visiting as many of their rural housing schemes as we can. We'll get to north Norfolk and then to Devon before returning to Sussex. About 800 to 900 miles. Through a UK charity, Let Them Help Themselves, Hastoe supports a a rural community called Ruhanga in the south of Uganda and we are looking for sponsors to raise money for medical supplies to equip a new community health centre they are building. In fact if you are reading this, you are probably sponsoring us already. Thank you so much.
Nick
We plan to cycle from Hastoe Housing Association's head office at Hampton Wick for 22 days visiting as many of their rural housing schemes as we can. We'll get to north Norfolk and then to Devon before returning to Sussex. About 800 to 900 miles. Through a UK charity, Let Them Help Themselves, Hastoe supports a a rural community called Ruhanga in the south of Uganda and we are looking for sponsors to raise money for medical supplies to equip a new community health centre they are building. In fact if you are reading this, you are probably sponsoring us already. Thank you so much.
Nick
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