July - Expediation Diary

The big training event has arrived; we all met at Hazlewoods Cheltenham Office at 8:15am for an 8:30am departure. 105 miles to our destination, Ferndown in the New Forest. Nerves get the better of most of us and an orderly queue was formed to make use of the facilities, we won’t be seeing them for another 3 days.

The riders departing are Nick and Natalie Bevan, John Williams, David Jones, David West, Victoria Jarrett, Rick & Julia from Hartpury College, Simon Firkin and myself. The weather forecast is not great but we are all in high spirits. The morning goes very slowly, just over 30 miles covered by lunch, a disaster, would we actually get there? For some reason we were not working as a team, the rain did not help, but after lunch it all clicked and the miles started ticking by. We came across some brutal hills en route but some fantastic scenery accompanied them, the rain had also relented by lunchtime making the rest of the trip really enjoyable. Everyone had their high and low points during the day, I recollect both Victoria and Natalie blasting past me on a couple of climbs, they were both possessed, they were not going to be broken by the gradient.

Aaron kept us well watered and fed and the energy bars and drinks were all going down well.Would it last?

We arrived at Camp at 8.30pm to find all the tents erected in a small area of woodland in the middle of a blueberry farm. We had all been allocated tents and so unpacked and got changed. My rear was suffering and Dave West was my saviour …… supplying Chamois cream to alleviate the pain.

Steve Jones got the barbeque going and soon we were all sat around the camp fire tucking into one of the best received barbeques ever and the odd bottle/case of beer/wine. Everyone was pretty shattered and we all gave up the ghost by 11.00pm.

Saturday

My best night under canvas ever, I slept like a baby. I felt like I was on the lower bunk as David Jones had brought a huge inflatable bed. Kirsty, Aaron and Steve organised the breakfast and we headed out of camp at about 10:00am for what was meant to be a 60 mile ride around / through the New Forest.

We tried riding in a pelaton, it was not working on the busy ‘A’ roads and there were a few near misses. When we hit the quieter roads it became far more enjoyable, it was turning out to be a hot day. We were passed by a group of serious cyclists in the morning who had the cheek to call us a bunch of “FAT munters". Little did they know how far we had cycled, they must have been referring to our steady pace and not our physiques!

The one thing about the New Forest is the fact that there are hundreds of horses roaming freely. Would they move from the middle of the road?... not a chance!

We stopped at Beaulieu for lunch, a roadside stop accompanied by a group of 3 said horses whom just stood in the middle of the road holding up the traffic. Julia our horse whisperer thought she would give them a little encouragement to move to the side. Big mistake, the bum bag bore the brunt of one kick , the second landed square in the midrift. Never mind the motorists , it’s the horses that need a careful eye.

By mid afternoon we came across a problem or two. The first was when we took a wrong turn for a few miles and ended up at a dead end. We were tempted to cross the busy dual carriageway to get to the other side but common sense prevailed and we retraced our steps. The second more significant problem arose when our Google maps had not highlighted that the road we needed to take was through a private estate. We were looking at a huge detour, so we summoned up the courage and rode through the estate waiting to be challenged. Thankfully the challenge never came. Cyclings eqivalent of Hells Angels!

We arrived back at camp at about 6:30pm – 80 miles covered. David Jones, Simon Firkin and I tossed a coin to decide who would be the first to use the solar bag shower. I lost and had to fill it up with cold tap water. It was freezing for the first minute, then quite refreshing. Party heads seemed to be on and we all settled around the camp fire for a pasta party with the odd drink or three thrown in. Everyone let their hair down , the logistics team included. Badger rub made a brief appearance and school boy and girl giggles ensued for most of the evening. The camp was dry by bedtime.

Sunday

Not a great night's sleep, awoke at 5:50am and made my way to the Portaloo which had been provided for the fruit pickers. To be honest I think the owners strategically placed it in a beautiful spot so that you could admire the views from the throne – if brave enough. Never before has a Portaloo seemed like 5 star luxury, it was bliss. John Williams had the same idea so my viewing pleasure was limited to about 10 minutes.

The aim was to be on the road by 8:00am, we left on the dot, Kirsty and Aaron had provided breakfast to keep us going.

Julia, who had never ridden more than 10 miles before, gave up the ghost at about 25 miles, how she had done the 180 in the first place was astounding, I could not have done it.

Simon Trippet and John Williams were in the support vehicle for the day. John had aggravated and old knee injury the previous day. They ensured we were making swift progress on the return journey.

The first major challenge of the day was a 16% incline which everyone had a good old go at, it was a real sense of achievement to have climbed it for many.

By this point we were all getting sick of power bars, energy gels and even chocolate bars. We were all craving savoury products, pasties, pies, crisps!

The road along the top of Salisbury Plain was a grind but the descent down was enjoyed by some of the lunatics in the group. Nick Bevan clocked 51mph with Dave Jones not far behind or ahead , they were a blur. They put it down to technique or the fact they were also motorbikers. Personally I put it down to body mass , sorry boys! All I could do was 42mph but put simply I was too scared!

The weather was kind until we reached the Cirencester lakes at which point the heavens opened and we all got a proper soaking all the way back to Cheltenham. Both Victoria and I felt like we were going to pass out on the final straight of the Old Cirencester road when the rain and spray was driving into your face.

The sense of achievement upon reaching Cheltenham was incredible and group hugs ensued. It was hard work , incredible fun and a great experience in itself.

We are a much tighter knit group now than we were at the beginning and we all now have at least one thing in common and that is – we’re ready for the adventure, bring it on!

Dave Williams - we're somewhere on this map chaps...