I do Like to be Beside the Seaside

There comes a time in every father's life when he's realises that his child is bigger and stronger than him. For me the realisation came yesterday when Christopher and I went on a day trip to Brighton. A round trip of 95 miles.

On my previous day trip there,  I had travelled lightly and therefore quickly to Brighton and before eating a portion of chips with mayonnaise on the beach. The subsequent journey home was truly horrible and the chips were thrown up after the first couple of miles.

For yesterday's journey, Christopher insisted that I bring my big camera and at the last minute I threw in a couple of tools - all unnecessary weight for me I thought.We suffered a nightmare outward journey as the bearings on one of my pedals failed enroute resulting in frequent stops to bodge yet another repair. At least the tools came in handy! The picture above shows us stopped for a another repair with the South Downs at Ditchling looming in the background.

In the end I nursed the bike up Ditchling Beacon pedalling mostly with one leg and we ended up arriving in Brighton a mere 3 hours late. Crucially we didn't even have time to stop for tea at all!

After a brief visit at Evans cycle shop in Brighton to replace the offending item Christopher insisted on a fish and chips lunch. Oh the woes of short term memory, I foolishly agreed.

As you can guess, history repeated itself as we headed homewards and the sound of my caring son laughing echoed around the hills. I don't think he has done the sympathy course in med-school!!

I had done my research before leaving home and planned a relatively flat route home in case of emergencies. Of course the 'flat' route seemed even hillier than the outward journey. As I huffed and puffed up successive steep inclines the pain was only made worse by the little voice coming from behind urging me to "hurry up!"

Like most Dads I am still competitive with my offspring so my training regime will be stepped up. The test will be when I join the Anerley Club ride to Brighton and back in a couple of weeks time. Anyone for fish and chips?

Getting There

The most important part of our pilgrimage is to get to Spain! As with our previous fund raising ride in 2010, our most favoured choice is by ferry. Flying might be quicker, but crowded airports and the many rules and regulations for taking bikes on planes are a definite turn off!
Liz French has again worked her magic with Brittany Ferries and they have very generously provided return Portsmouth/Santander crossings during the very busy month of July. The normal cost for the four of us, including our bikes and a 4-berth cabin, would be £970, which amount we donate to SECHC. Thus the fund raising kitty will be boosted by nearly £1000 before we even set sail!
So that is another bit of our travel plans now taken care of.
These two pictures show us at Santander, about to board the ferry in 2010. Note the luggage on the back of our bikes, luggage which had to be lugged up the Picos de Europa mountains. So your very generous donations for that charity bike rider did alleviate some of the pain!

A Long and Winding Road

In addition to our ever tougher cycle training (150 very hilly miles last week) to get fit and ready for the rigours of cycling across Spain, there is also a lot of planning involved. For example, how to travel to Spain and having got there, how to find our way to Santiago de Compostela. There are many other things to be resolved. How long will it take? How far can we travel each day? Will we find somewhere to stay each night? Over the last couple of months we have been studying maps, researching on the internet, and trying to answer these and many other questions that need to be answered.

There are 2 main pilgrimage routes across Spain, the Camino Frances (shown in blue in the diagram above), and the Camino del Norte marked in yellow and which has several options branching off.The latter is the obvious route for us because it passes thru Santander where the ferry from Portsmouth docks. In reality the Camino del Norte follows the coast more closely than shown in the diagram. It passes thru the coastal city of Gijon and many small fishing villages where we will have the opportunity to enjoy a glass of Asturian cider with barbecued sardines. Or if we are in an mood adventurous mood, octopus or some such Spanish delicacy!Having reached Ribadeo, the road inland starts a long climb, up and over the mountains where we hope to stay for one night at the beautiful monastery at Sobrado. Los mojes, shown on the diagram above, means the monks. Not too difficult to translate!

Returning from Santiago we will first head east along the Camino Frances, then take the yellow route to the old town of Lugo, famous for it’s encircling Roman walls. The route thru Lugo to Oviedo is known as the Camino Primitivo. It will be the hardest part of our journey, with 3 days in a sparsely populated mountainous region!

After that I need a rest! Hasta luego.

Last of the March Hares

British Summer Time actually felt like it was summer time! With an afternoon temperature of circa 20 degrees and a cloudless blue sky, we could could not have been a better day for getting out on the bike. Christopher, had come back for a short break from his medical studies so we all set off on our own, very circuitous route which became more of a nature trail!

After passing the windmill on Reigate Heath we had our first encounter with Surrey’s wildlife. In a field by the top of Trumpets Hill we came across these strange looking sheep.

And then a mile further on we passed the deer herd sunning themselves in the parkland of Wonham Manor.

We continued on our 34 mile, circuitous ride to the tea shop at Tulley’s Farm. Cycling along a narrow, off-road woodland track at Shipley Bridge we encountered our next bit of wild life. A rather large, running horse which had obviously escaped from it’s field. I don’t know who was frightened the most, us or the charging horse!

Tulley's farm sandwiches and salad platter were very generously portioned.However there was one disappointment.Seeing the sign which said ”No ifs or buts, you must come and see our beautiful bunny girl, wearing nothing but a fur coat!” , this is what we found.

This had been a very interesting ride, much of it thru wooded lanes and the day’s sunshine had worked it’s magic for as we climbed the hill up to Nutfield ridge we saw our first display of very early bluebells. Proof that British Summer Time has indeed arrived!

A short break before our Tuesday ride took us over 100miles for the week. Making the most of this glorious weather we did another circuitous route, to our tea stop at Four Elms. After the long climb up Ide Hill we had the welcome view of Bough Beech Reservoir in the valley below, and proving that spring had definitely sprung, a mass of bluebells on the wooded hill top where we frolicked more or less gaily.

Kent has long been known as the Garden of England, and as we pedaled up the hill into the lovely village of Chiddingstone we had sweeping views of green fields and hedgerows, stretching into the distant high ground of the Weald. And what could be more representative of the farming tradition of the hop fields of the Garden of England than it’s many oast houses.

What happened to Spring?

A couple of mixed weeks weatherwise in which we thought
Spring was finally here only to be horribly disappointed. My training has been
restricted to cycling with the Anerley – sometimes as the only Picos rider but usually meeting up with Des.

Christopher has only been training in his University gym which he thinks is a cool place because it’s attended by some celebrity DJ called David Guetta. No idea who he is but I bet he is not a patch on Sir Jimmy Saville!

Des and I have managed our first 50 mile ride this year to East Grinstead where we were treated to a full English breakfast. I was so hungry that I gobbled mine up before I thought to take a photo but this is an example of what was presented to us after a VERY hilly 30 miles of riding. At £4.99 including tea it was a bargain and worth the trip to East Grinstead in
its own right! I have to admit that my breakfast tasted all the better without
the weekly unappetising viewing of the dead tissue on Ewa’s chilblains. No
wonder the poor girl is so thin...

And finally a new milestone for myself. I was the most senior Tuesday rider out today accompanied by a couple of whippersnappers on shiny new bikes. Jeremy on the left modelling a fixed gear Halfords special and Ricky on the right with his lovely new touring bike.

Ricky has decided to join us on our pilgrimage and is a very welcome companion. He has a very compelling reason for doing the gruelling trip but we'll leave that for another day...

Finally more of the more exotic animals found on British farms these days. What are they? Young ostriches I think?

Well to summarise the last few weeks, you will not be too surprised to find that we are not yet as fit as we need to be!!