The First Update -
Northampton to Dover
Day
1 - Northampton to Islip 23/7/06 - I've
been looking forwards to this cycling trip from England To South Africa
for almost a year now, and it feels tremendous to be finally underway.
I wanted an early start, as the weather had been unusually hot over the
last week or so, and I set my alarm for five. I'd stayed the night at
my brothers house (thanks Steve and Lowri!), although they weren't
there, as they had taken the kids to visit my parents for the weekend.
After a shower and a cooked breakfast, i loaded my bike, and left at
06.15 (as per my plan!!).
 The
days cycling was reasonably uneventful - which is fine by me! The bike
felt quite heavy when fully loaded, but I guess it's something that
I'll get used too. The weather was kind to me, with lots of cloud cover
blocking the heat from the sun, and despite threatening too, it didn't
rain, although i understand it was torrential in certain parts of
Oxford.
It was a bit of a nightmare following the
Sustrans route 51 cycle paths through Milton Keynes, as most of the
signposts had been stolen. I decided to just follow the main roads
instead, and the thought crossed my mind a couple of times that if I
had just done that to Oxford from Northampton in the first place, I
would have cut 30 miles from my journey. Oh well, you live and learn.
Well I live, anyway.
Whilst following the A34
towards Oxford, I saw a signpost for a caravan site, and followed it to
the Diamond Caravan and Camping park near Islip, where I paid fifteen
pounds for the privilege of setting up my own tent in a field,
surrounded by families with loud, shouty children. After a shower, I
walked to a pub where I had Sunday lunch... it's a hard life!
Day
2 - Islip to Clifton Hampden 24/07/06 - Well, i think there is only one
word to sum up the days cycling effort... shit. It went wrong almost
from the outset. I decided to take the A34 into Oxford rather than the
Sustrans route, in what can only be described as a serious error of
judgment. The traffic was absolutely insane, and in several places, the
hard shoulder disappeared, and because of the sheer volume of traffic
and the narrow lanes, i had to resort to pushing the bike along the
grass verges. There was lots of cursing and shaking of the head.
Eventually, I escaped the A34, and cycled into Oxford, where I easily
picked up the Sustrans route 5, which would take me south.
An
hour into this route, I was just starting to think that things had
improved, and I'd be able to make some time back up. Silly me. Along
the cycle track which ran parallel to a rail line, I started coming
across big pools of blood. I'm no expert, but it looked only a few
hours old. Whatever had bled, couldn't have had a great deal of blood
left in it, as i started coming across more and more of it. Maybe I was
concentrating too much on the blood, maybe it was just bad luck, but I
got my first puncture of the trip. Terrific. I unloaded my bike, took
the wheel off, and then spent a while trying to wrestle the tyre from
the wheel. Finding that the tiniest piece of wire had pierced both tyre
and inner tube, i decided to fit a new tube and repair the old one
later. During this time, people are passing backwards and forwards
asking me if I've got a puncture (no, i just thought I'd take the wheel
off for fun!), mentioning about the blood and commenting on the
weather. I see a cyclist go by who kindly asks if I have everything i
need, and I respond yes, although i mutter that i am slowly losing my
will to live! The inner tube and tyre are eventually back on the wheel
after another gargantuan wrestling effort, and then I start fumbling
around with my Cyclair (copyright the crap company) cycling pump, which
clearly does not want to inflate the tyre. People come, people go,
policeman ride by on bicycles asking questions, and another half hour
passes as i struggle to get my pump to work. Whatever I do, I can't
seem to inflate the damn tyre. The cyclist from before returns, and
says that the police have cordoned off part of the track where I have
just been whilst they investigate an incident. I borrow the cyclists
pump, but between us, we still can't get the thing to inflate. Worse
still, the back tyre is going down now! Bouncing buggery bollocks.
Short on inner tubes, and with a broken Crapair pump in my hand, I am
unwilling to spend any more time trying to fix it there and then (1.5
hours lost already at this point), so i decide to push the bike to
Abingdon. It's hot, its sweaty, the pedals bash against my legs and
police helicopters hover overhead. I eventually made it to Abingdon for
12.00, and dumped my bike in a bike shop, asking them to replace and
fit the two inner tubes front and back, fix my front rack, which has
decided to become loose, and sell me a decent pump. Sweating profusely
(it's a scorcher) and covered in oil and cuts to my legs, I get changed
in the shop, and wander into town, seriously wondering if i will even
get out of the country, let alone make it to South Africa.
I
have a nice meal which helps to cheer me up a bit, buy a book, a map,
and find out there is a campsite close by. I collected my bike at two,
and headed out to Clifton Hampden where the strange old lady
that runs it let me have a pitch for five pounds, which made me feel a
little happier. After setting up camp, I sorted out a minor rear break
problem. So the days lessons learned were...
1.
Inflate the spare tube a little before using it to make sure that both
tube and pump work.
2. Work faster
3. Throwing money at problems
solves things as a last resort.
4. Cyclair pumps
are crap.
I
never found out where the blood came from, but am convinced that
something bad happened, and that its bad karma helped to screw up my
day!
Day 3 - Clifton Hampden to Laleham - Tuesday
25/07/06 - Well, today was a little more like it! There was a bit of a
mist early in the morning, but it soon cleared when i set off. There
were some steep climbs, but on a bike, you always get to speed down the
other side, so it more than makes up for it. That's why I think that
jogging is so rubbish. When you run up a hill, you still have to run
down the other side again... grow a brain people! Stopped off at a
place called Knowls Hill for an all day breakfast, and then carried on
the cycle route to Maidenhead, (which gets the Dave Briggs award for
having the best signposted Sustrans route yet). Through Eton and
Windsor, passed Staines and I arrived at Laleham, where i went to a
campsite once more. Much of my ride was a long the River Thames, and
it's been that hot, that people were swimming in it. I know it's
supposed to be a very clean river nowadays, but I still have my
reservations about it!
Day 4 - Laleham to Rochester
- Wed 26/07/06 - It was incredibly warm and humid today. Even packing
the tent away at 6.00 am made me sweat, and the temperature and
humidity
built steadily throughout the day. I left Laleham and followed the
Sustrans route 4, which shadows the River Thames all the way to London.
Most of the journey to Putney Bridge was quiet and tranquil, and I
passed through Hampton, Kingston and Richmond. Although I didn't reach
Putney Bridge as fast as i wanted too, it was still reasonably early,
so i made the decision to clear the city and get as far along my route
as possible. Despite not having a map, and no idea of where I was
going, I somehow managed to get through London, and joined up with the
A2 heading towards Dover. The bicycle journey through London was not
altogether pleasant, with a lot of traffic, oppressive heat and traffic
lights, but it had to be done. I made a few stops in petrol stations to
stock up on fluids, but made it through ok. At some point, I'm not sure
where, I joined back up with a Sustrans route 1, otherwise known as the
Garden of England cycle route.
After much time and sweating, I made it
to Rochester, and after taking a picture of the castle, I managed to
find myself a bed and breakfast. At £45 for the night it's
certainly not cheap, but I was so exhausted, I didn't care. Had a
lovely cold bath! I currently have interesting tan marks (elbows to
wrists), sunburn (calves) and insect bites ( ankles and knees). There
is a certain satisfaction you get when you've had a hard physical day
and you finally get to rest though that outweighs things like that.
Day
5 - Rochester to Dover Thursday 27/07/06 - Another monumental days
cycling! After a big breakfast (how am I ever going to survive without
a full English!?) I set off with the intention of making it to
Canterbury. For some reason, I was flying along today, and i made
Canterbury easily, so I pushed onwards to Dover. The A2 decide to go up
every big hill possible, but the descent in to Dover was worth it.
Booked into another B+B (where i am typing this up after 'acquiring'
free wireless access), and had a wander around town. This will be my last night in England for a while. I get the ferry to
France tomorrow, and i plan to stay the night in Calais, before
embarking on the next stage of my journey which will take me across
France and to the beginning of the River Danube section.
|
