Thursday, 22 December 2011

The Final Flourish! The Big Finish?

After a camp cooked breakfast to raise the spirits of even the most despondent we were delivered back to the top of Ditchling Beacon. After waving off our boys we set out on our final day of pedalling, looking forward to lunch and (eventually) the big finish.

The weather wasn't too bad (a bit gloomy but dry) and under tyre was soft and grassy with easy tracks so we made excellent progress We even found time to stop and talk to cows and a calf and enjoy the gorgeous surroundings.

Day 2 begins here! Keen as Mustard!!
One short section saw us off our bikes briefly as gradient, tight turns and tree routes made it impossible to stay on board and then we were back on and whizzing along happily. The morning was going brilliantly.

At Rodmell we met fellow cyclists, a dog walker who though it was OK to let her dogs run loose among cattle and 2 very friendly runners who were happy to stop and chat a while. We left them via a very steep grass track over a rutted field and limericks, depicting our potential fate, took hold.

There was a young lady called Amber
Who found herself on a steep camber
She flew round the bend
And met a bad end
Now get well cards we'll all send her

That was the publishable one! Crossing the bull field Sian's limerick involved a rave, a bull called Dave and an early grave.

Up on the high ground we enjoyed fabulous views across the beacons and watched with dismay as the clouds moved closer and closer and lower and lower and got darker and darker. Lunch time soon though - so no problem!

The rain started as we arrived at Black Cap our lunch time meeting place - but what? no van? Andy and Joe arrived first. Van was lost. We had to cycle one more car park to get to them. The wind picked up. The rain took hold. We were very, very cold (there is a limerick in there somewhere). We sat behind the car until van arrived and the speed at which we all jumped into the van was supremely impressive!

Note: I'm still smiling - the wonders of kettle chips!

The bad bit was having to start all over again. With hoods pulled down tight under our cycling helmets we braved the elements and peddalled over the open downs with cross winds swiping at us all the way. It was utterly miserable. It was grim beyond belief. It was total madness. I can't think of any other way to describe it but nasty. It felt like an age until we finally dropped off the hill and started a slippery descent on chalk into Jevington and then eventually into Alfriston. The joy of finding civilisation caused us to lose concentration for a few brief moments. We glided through the village at such pace that a (slight) navigational error was inevitable and eventually re-routed to enjoy a relatively calm trip along the river and through woods.

As the weather brightened so did we and I almost remember the long, long, going onward and upward and never ending chalk track with affection. Really!

And then, all of a sudden, Beachy Head was ahead (tempting but...) and the cruise along the coastline down into Eastbourne was a truly enjoyable event. We arrived in Eastbourne and headed for Tourist Information to end our epic ride. And round the corner stood our lovely, long suffering and ever supportive families together with our slightly bemused friends (Scott, Karen and Charlie) who had 'daytripped' to Eastbourne to see the end of 'the ride' expecting bunting and banners and cheering crowds and were surprised to find they were it.

With much cheering and waving and handing out the all important champagne we were welcomed back to reality. 

Cheers!

And that's it. All over. Watch this space. 2012 is just around the corner.

Monday, 21 November 2011

Bamboozled by Brighton

With Alex recovering in hospital today (after being hit by a car while out walking on Saturday) I turned my thoughts to brighter times and realised we still have to share days 2 and 3 of our South Downs Challenge. Day 2 is hard for me - I have put it off, as the events at the end of our day's cycling still plays on my mind - but here goes.

We were up bright and early and decided to just pop a note through the door of our good samaritan farmer (rather than wake him up) - I hope he got that note and knows just how much we appreciated his field.

Amber didn't appear at first but, after much nagging, she ventured out and her tent was dismantled before she had chance to get back in! and back on our bikes we headed up hill out of Cocking to the South Downs car park by the Cowdray Estate for breakfast.

The scrambled (more frambled) eggs, bread and coffee were not quite up to Master Chef Steve's usual standards but it hit the spot and we set off with purpose to attack the brilliantly named Didling Hill - a downhill that then involves a mile of uphill. After that we then made really good time on a nice (smoothish) track and only stopped for a quick banana skin throwing contest (which Amber won easily - top banana award to her).

Around 10.00 ish we came across lots of runners warming up. Because Belles do stopping to chat best we quickly established that these were the Stage 3 runners of the 3 section relay taking place as part of a half marathon event. With marshalls watching from the bottom of the hill I was absolutely determined to get all the way up a long, steep slippery, rutted chalk, track that ordinarily even I would have walked up! at the top I was rewarded with the opportunity to cheer on the front runners of the relay as I waited for my fellow Belles.


The long hill is the chalk line on the far side heading into trees.

At some point we got a bit lost and found ourselves on a farm track we shouldn't have been on. Surprised by a speeding farmer on a quad bike (really he was going far to fast for a public track) we stopped and suspecting we were on the wrong route we redoubled and found we had missed turn. Female logic is grand. Though you will soon find it failed us later in the day.

We were soon back on track and crossing the river at Amberley. Pub was mentioned in Amberley but we didn't find it - the South Downs Way manages to skirt the entire village and gives no opportunity to get to the ever evident pub with it's very inviting umbrellas. We did take full advantage of the water tap on route though. Aah well, remember this is all for charity!

Lunch eventually came upon us - we had to run a very busy A road but on the far side Steve and Annalise were waiting in the car park (Washington I think) with a fabulous feast of handmade sarnies (from a little shop in Brighton where these 2 had been to play on the beach and for us seemed so far away) and strawberries, oh the strawberries were a true inspiration. Their efforts were slightly outshined by the Korean MB support team who arrived and set up a table then loaded it with a high calorie, protein filled feast for the team in training who were today doing the entire length of the South Downs Way - honestly there are times when...

With tummys full we set off uphill on a loose stony track and just kept going. The track opens up onto downland for the first time today and we found ourselves on a beautiful sweeping grassy track that was soft under saddle (for a while). Here we 'reunited' with a couple we had met yesterday and stopped for a catch up - they had been concerned about us and where we would end up so we had to tell them the cock up story. Tonight they are stopping at Truleigh Hill YHA - we have quite a bit further than that to do so waved farewell and trundled on.

This is a ride for meeting lovely people. Next we met a horse rider and her fabulously crazy boyfriend who was happy to walk alongside to open gates. Also a couple of (older) ladies were cycling at their own pace and having a wonderful time. Oh, we also came across the Koreans again waiting to serve afternoon tea to their chaps - no Steve and Annalise here though - no wonder the Koreans can do it in a day!

Up to Truleigh Hill and over Devils Dyke the views are amazing - the new Brighton and Hove Albion football stadium was ever present and eventually we could see the sea before we dropped off the ridge and came to a small village (Saddlescombe I think) and hurrah, hurrah we found a tea stand where we had the honour of being last customers of the day and had our coffee topped up for free.


From here the phone calls began - the boys had found a campsite and were pitching tents and wanted to know how long we would be - we hadn't got a clue of course but were now feeling the day was coming to a close. Then disaster, we got lost. Not very lost but lost enough to get confused. We somehow had missed a turn just before the A23 and didn't realise. We followed our route directions and they worked perfectly, logic and instinct didn't tell us we were about half a mile short of where we should be as we crossed the bridge over the A23. Here it became obvious we were not on route. We found a friendly mountain biking local and asked advice.

No problem said he - go up the road, round the corner and up the road again then take any (yes any) bridlepath to the left and it will bring you back up to the South Downs Way. So, it was a slight diversion but it saved us having to back track and we felt it was OK to miss a little bit. Big mistake.

We managed to get on the only (any) bridlepath that ended up as a dead end on a footpath. We couldn't see the South Downs Way and we really didn't want to lift our bikes over anymore stiles. My sense of direction is good and, despite the stiles, I felt we were headed in the right direction (and this was proven by my sat nav on phone). However, nerves were stretched and tiredness was taking hold and now, we had a stile to lift over.

Before I admit to what happened next, I would like to present a case for my defence. I was feeling quite sick with nerves. True I had the courage of conviction that we were close on route but I didn't know which side of Ditchling we were at and I was absolutely dreading the thought of the Belles reaction to discovering we had to cycle Ditchling Beacon. I simply didn't realise the South Downs Way crosses the top of this infamous local landmark and that we were already up top. So, I was very, very worried. (Case dismissed - no not really!).

Poor Vicky (of all people) 'whinged' just a little about the stile and my nerve cracked. We lifted 3 bikes over the stile and (unfortunately) Vicky turned away before my bike had made the crossing. So, oh this is hard to say, I did something I am truly ashamed of...

...I threw my bike over the stile. My poor bike that has served me so well. And, I threw it without even thinking what it could do to Vicky (nothing luckily). I then got on my bike and peddled off leaving 3 stunned (though still stroppy) Belles behind me. I hit the road and was relieved to spot (before the spectre of Ditchling Beacon had chance to present itself) a Green RS Focus coming along the road - hooray for Andy and the smiling Joe! They stopped briefly then drove on to find the others giving me time to calm down in a layby while waiting for them to find the others and get their bikes onto his car before coming back for me.

We then drove down Ditchling Beacon into the village and out the other side to a lovely little campsite with tents pitched, basic (but functional) loos, a shower and no rain.

Wine, chips and the thought of being able to sleep in properly put up tents with duvets and pumped up mattresses, soon calmed the nerves and we got on with entertaining our boys with stories of the day and discovering the delights of the toilet at the camp site!

Alex, Amber and Vicky all know how sorry I am about 'the incident' but still, to this day, I am truly ashamed and often wonder if, in that short moment, I took the shine off the Pollicott Belles just a little bit. For now, though, we have more important issues to consider - how to get Alex mended and back on a bike?

I dedicate this blog edition to my lovely friend Alex and hope the arm mends fast.

Saturday, 27 August 2011

Camping Cock up in Cocking

The pain has passed and it’s time we shared some of the highs and lows of our trip along the South Downs Way. I am going to start with the camping cock up in Cocking.
Day One took 13 hours of hard pedalling (don’t ask me why – we didn’t let up any) - and despite meeting some lovely people we were all getting despondent as we neared the end of the day.
Then phone calls started to come in from our support team (problems afoot) and supporters club (which pub are you in?) which slowed us down even more AND added to the trauma.
Earlier in the day space at Graffham campsite was confirmed as ours. A nice campsite with showers and a pub nearby - wonderful - that thought had spurred us on. However when our support crew arrived they were told our tents had to be erected by 8pm or we would lose our space - because Caravan Club Rules cannot be broken under any circumstances. I'm not going to go into why our tents were not immediately put up but the long and short of it is that we lost our space and needed to find an alternative place to sleep.
On the trail we Belles could do nothing about it but pedal and hope the problem would sort itself by the time we arrived. Frantic calls were being made out of the black van but no solution had been identified by the time we arrived at Cocking.
There were plenty of fields around so Vicky and Amber went in search of a house and found a very helpful lady in a nearby cottage. Turns out this is all Cowdray estate land and she phoned the estate manager who was categoric that NO camping could be done on his land. So that was not an option. With tempers extremely frayed and potential for saying things we might regret, we turned our focus on a car park and were debating illegal camping when my brother Rob (supporters club coming to join us for a quick drink) declared the problem solved.
Rob and the Bluebell pub in Cocking had, between them, got it all sorted. 10 minutes later (at 10pm) we found ourselves pitching camp in the dark, in a long grassed field, in the rain, for a night of ‘wild camping’ courtesy of an elderly farmer who (as Rob put it) quite fancied the idea of 4 lovely ladies sleeping in his field overnight. He is such a salesman that boy!
As tents were pitched by all hands (including Heather and Tom my niece and nephew who impressively got one tent up all by themselves) Suzy and Rob went in search of food - which they found at the local Spar. (It was another downer to find that the Spa (reportedly along the road) turned out to be a Spar!).
So it was soggy sandwiches in the back of the van rather than a hot tub and sauna before a quick drink at the Bluebell (with their ladies loos spookily labelled ‘Belles’ - it was meant to be) followed by a second night of less than comfortable, cold, sleeping with rain a'drumming on the tent and Vicky providing my night time 'entertainment'.
Next morning, on discovery that we had not, after all, died from hyperthermia in the night, we dragged ourselves out of bed (and then we all dragged Amber out) for another day of fun on the trail - starting with a breakfast of scrambled eggs on bread and coffee in the car park.  


Friday, 22 July 2011

Congratulations Belles

We had this lovely letter from Helen & Douglas House. Perhaps it will inspire others to do something similar, sponsor us a little bit more (and/or us Belles to take on another challenge next year!). Here it is (thank you Helen):

Congratulations

Congratulations for completing your South Downs Cycle- I hope all the Pollicott Belles enjoyed the adventure! Please accept my apologies for the delay in sending this e-mail, there have been a few change overs in our team and this seemed to have slipped through the net until now.

I enjoyed reading over your blog and the amount the team has raised is truly amazing. I can see from your Justgiving page that you actually doubled the intended fundraising target, which is absolutely brilliant! To give you all some idea how this donation could be put to good use it would be enough to employ a Care Team member for nearly three weeks. This is a vital contribution as it allows us to continue providing the one to one care that is so essential for the children and young people that visit us here. It allows all their medical needs to be taken care of, as well as helping them to participate in different activities that they might not be able to at home.

I would also like to take this opportunity to invite you and the other ‘belles’ to our annual Open Day on September 10th. Both the houses are open from 10am-4pm with plenty of music and entertainment for the whole family. If you would like further details do let me know.

Thank you for the generous support of the Pollicott Belles your donation really will make a huge difference to the children and young people that visit Helen & Douglas House.

With best wishes,
Helen Cordiner
Fundraising Administration & Support Officer

Wednesday, 22 June 2011

‘Training’ it to Winchester followed by ‘bunk housing’

Our epic adventure started on Thursday evening with myself (Vicky), Alex and Amber being chauffeured by Andy in the ‘lean green machine‘ to Oxford station. On arrival I was both nervous and excited as to what was in store for us over the following few days!!

We boarded our train and set off and I took the opportunity to take a look at Alex’s newly acquired book on ‘Mounting Biking the South Downs Way’, maybe ‘ignorance is bliss’ would have been a better option to take because the insight into what was to behold us was somewhat daunting to say the least!! Whilst Alex are I were chatting excitedly about our forthcoming adventures, Amber was engrossed in her I-phone apps and listening to her headphone music!!

Apart from a slight delay in approaching Reading station and a very abrupt stop and swerving along the track further down the line we had a uninterrupted journey to Winchester station. On arrival our 1st mission was to find a McDonalds to combat our ravenous appetites, we were working on the theory that whatever we eat now would easily be worked off in the next few days!! After wandering the streets for what seemed like an eternity with our rucksacks, looking like the archetypal tourist, we eventually found those famous ‘golden arches!’ our ‘meal’ didn’t even touch the sides and we had polished everything off in about 10 minutes!!

Our next mission was to try and find a taxi to take the 7 miles from Winchester to Marwell Activity Centre, our 1st nights accommodation. We wandered seemingly aimlessly around the streets of Winchester searching vainly for any taxi’s (why is it never like in the films where you can just hail a cab virtually anywhere!!) the only thing we could find was a tramp inside a huge Biffa bin searching for food scraps and a rather amorous middle-aged couple around the back of an Iceland store!! I was starting to panic a little and I was certainly out of my comfort zone (a far cry from my cosy Pollicott!!) Eventually we found a taxi and were overjoyed when he said he could take us to our destination, so we bundled in. During the journey I was trying to take in the route as I knew that we had to cycle from Marwell back into Winchester the following morning to start the South Downs, I was somewhat alarmed when we went on the M3 for a junction, but I was quietly confident that there would be an alternative route!!

On arrival at Marwell we were met by 2 young ladies who showed us to our exclusive ‘bunk house’. There were 4 of us and the bunk house slept 10 so we had plenty of room, but I did feel transported back to my school trip days though when faced with a room full of metal bunk beds and plastic mattress covers!! After choosing our favourite beds we waited eagerly for the arrival of Sian and Andy (again in the lean green machine), but MOST importantly our bikes on the top of said machine!! Sian travelled separately to us as she had had a very important work commitment in Brighton that day and Andy had very kindly offered to bring her and our bikes directly to us!! We barely had allowed Sian through the door to our exclusive bunk house before we cracked open the wine (only a small glass) and once consumed we settled down for the night all cosy in our sleeping bags with our bikes safely stashed by our bedsides! We felt like naughty school girls giggling in our sleeping bags and after seeing Sian’s electric blue with yellow binding sleeping bag we decided that they must have made it out one of Anneka Rice’s old ‘Challenge Anneka’s suits!! I drifted off to sleep listening to Amber humming the ‘Challenge Anneka’ theme tune!!


Wednesday, 15 June 2011

South Downs Way - June 2011 - Belles on Bikes

Finally the big day arrived. Let the challenge begin. I'm going to give you here an overview of our journey and a brief insight to our experience. Over the next couple of weeks I hope all four of us will drop in to the blog to share a few tales of the unexpected.

The adventure started on Thursday evening when 3 Belles travelled by train (there is a story already here) to Winchester and then on to Marwell Activity Centre bunkhouse (another story).

Belle 4 (that's me) hot footed it back to Pollicott from Brighton and travelled by car (thanks to Andy) to said bunkhouse - together with 4 bikes. Wine was waiting for my arrival and we enjoyed a late evening relaxation before nestling into our plastic sheets for some pre-cycling rest/recuperation.

8.15am Friday 10th June - we left the bunkhouse. To get to the South Downs Way we had to cycle a good 8 miles, up hill and down vale. We stopped for coffee and bacon/egg sandwiches in a little tea shop in Twyford on the recommendation of a friendly 'passed by' with greyhound.

We started the South Downs Way at 10.30 - it took us a while to find the start on our map  - ominous? yep!

By mid morning it was clear that this was no Ridgeway cycle which was a cruise in comparison - the hills were bigger, and the terrain was more varied and extreme. High spirits turned to quiet contemplation as we trundled on at not much more than a walking pace. A quick pub stop lifted us a little until we were (soon) joined by the friendly walker we had passed some time back. We left resigned to the fact that today would be a long one. It was. With just a few short breaks we were cycling for 13 hours!

9.20pm Friday 10th June - arrived at Cocking. This has another entire blog worth of story waiting to be told.

7.30am Saturday 11th June - departed Cocking following a hearty breakfast of 'frambled' egg sandwich lovingly cooked for us over an open 1970's camping gaz stove by our van based support team Steve and Annalise. Our destination today is Ditchling Beacon (anyone who has cycled London to Brighton will understand how daunting this was). Once again it was a long day. Oh and we got lost - there is yet another tale of high emotion related to this. Luckily, waiting not far away was our, now extended, support team and a bright green car arrived to save us from ourselves as we sat by the road wondering where we actually were.

By 8pm we were at our camp site, with warm showers, chips and wine all round to cheer us up.

7.30 am Sunday 12th June - we left Ditchling Beacon in the right direction on our final leg (or is that last legs?) toward Eastbourne. A poorly Alex and mid-morning horizontal rain meant we were very pleased to meet up with our support team in Bo Peep car park for an early lunch. Then we pushed on through the last 9 miles, which included 2 extremely long and steep hills, for a champagne celebration at the Tourist Information Centre with an even more extended support group of family and friends.

So, that's the general shape of it - a very hard, emotionally draining 3 day trip from which there is so much more to share that I hope you can find time to drop by and read all about it over the next few weeks.

Sunday, 5 June 2011

Rabbit, Sniff, Rabbit, Sniff, Rabbit...

The final training session before the big trip could have got off to a better start. Last minute work commitments for Amber and an alternative weight loss programme for Alex left just Vicky and I game on. Well, OK, game on is an overstatement for Vicky - full of cold she did try putting me off via text but I failed to take the hint.

So Vicky and I set off down Brick Hill (the 1:10 hill out of Ashendon which, if taken in a downward direction, usually means it can be avoided for the upward return journey home - I say usually!). At the bottom of the hill, by the old station, came Rabbit no. 1 - a sorry little chap blinded from mix amitosis and hopping around the road directionless. We stopped, discussed who would put it out of its misery (and how), failed to come to a decision, helped it to the kerb and left the poor thing to whatever fate befalls it. Downhearted we carried on to Dorton and up the hill to Chilton.

All familiar ground so far until we got to the Chearsley turn out of Chilton and here we ventured forth onto new territory. You may recall my excitement a few blogs back (the day I cycled with a very grumpy Amber) at finding a new bridle path - well here it was and today was the day to try it. We found ourselves on an overgrown, downhill, rutted track. Here I'm afraid our morosity re: rabbit was quickly overcome. We had excellent fun - travelling downhill at speed (my brake blocks are non-existent), lifting our legs clear of stinging nettles (most of the time) we concentrated on staying on top of our bikes as we hit unseen ruts. Then, after adventures in a wheat field and a short pedal over a meadow we emerged on the Thame to Bicester road near Oakley. We crossed over the road and picked up another bridle path.

Now on flat land we kept a good pace until we encountered Rabbit no. 2 - which was actually a magnificent Hare. We stopped to watch as, completely unaware of our presence, this beautiful creature sat upright sniffed the air then lollopped away across the field. As we set off again the Hare became aware and, rather than using speed to escape us, it flattened to the ground and folded its ears down to 'hide' from us. Brilliant, there we were in a field playing hide and seek, on bikes, with a Hare.

We tore ourselves away from the Hare entertainment and continued through fields and along tracks until we came out on a bend in the road close to Worminghall (by the recycling unit for those who know it). A quick left and left again took us onto the Shabbington road where we passed quite a few stables and yards before turning onto another bridle path headed back toward Westfield, just outside Long Crendon.

And here was Rabbit no. 3 - 'Hare' I shouted excitedly causing a shorter eared, shorter legged common garden (and happily healthy), obviously less inventive than a Hare, Rabbit to leap to its feet and tear off into the undergrowth.

The track here was extremely uncomfortable - obviously the stable owners on the Shabbington road make good use of this facility whatever the ground conditions leaving lumps, bumps, potholes and gouges that are incompatible with bikes. Our travels became punctuated with oohs, and ouches as we bravely pedalled on. Until Vicky suddenly abandoned her bike and dived into the bushes unable to take the continual shaking any longer!

At this point Vicky was now on familiar territory from her days riding, and working with horses, in and around Long Crendon. With the wind in my ears I really couldn't hear her but that didn't stop her rabbiting on and I got occasional insight to the lives of the residents of Westfield.

At the end of Westfield lane we found ourselves in the familiar surroundings of Long Crendon, carefully avoided the coffee shop and turned toward Chilton with plans afoot to turn right for Chearsley and approach Ashendon via a gentle, relatively rolling, hill. However, a last minute decision was to return home the quicker way via Chilton and Dorton (we nipped through Ashfold school for a last little off-road moment) and, despite my bike chain throwing itself off in protest, we climbed wearily up Brick Hill to home and breakfast cooked by our boys.




Monday, 23 May 2011

Pollicott ‘Pikeys’ to hit the South Downs

Despite sterling work by our experienced accommodations manager, Vicky, it is now clear there is none to be had, at a price we can pay.

Right from the start it was looking bad with the Winchester YHA closed down. Then B&B prices began to reveal an alarming fact: cycling The South Downs Way is going to be NO budget trip. It’s a minimum £50 per person per night even in the most (apparently) simple of abodes.

But wait...enter our own super hero - Steve – a man with a plan yearning to become a man with a van.

The plan? - said van, complete with a magnificent support team and amazing logistics, will transport our tents, packs, pots and pans over hill and dale so that we can go self-sufficient. Sorted.

With decision made, Steve was fast on the case calling local van hire companies to agree a fair price. And it seems the plan will become reality. The Belles trip is to become a Pollicott community travellers charabanc mini-break with plenty of room for anyone who wants to join us. Even Des gave the offer fair consideration until he realised he would be on cat duty. He’s looking forward to the welcome home party instead at Gatehangers.

Clearly, we are all very excited – the van adds an entire new dimension to our adventure. We can cycle and cycle all day, get picked up in the van and travel in (some kind of) style to any campsite that will have us. As free spirits we will be in our element (or open to them anyway) and are so looking forward to the freedom of the open road, skies and hopefully not heavens.

Obviously we do not intend to be just any Pikeys. Menus and knicker packing spreadsheets still need to be worked on which means...oh no, oh yes...another planning session!

The South Downs Way – 10th-12th June 2011 – bring on the Pikeys on their Bikeys!

Wednesday, 18 May 2011

May 15th Mega-ride


My alarm screaming at me at 6:00am on sunday morning was NOT a welcome interruption to my much needed beauty sleep, but I somehow made it from my bed to the front of the house with my bike by 7:10. I set off to Pollicott to meet the other Belles and didn't pass a single car on the way which was lovely - not only for the peaceful ride but also knowing that no passers by had been subjected to my miserable morning face heaving its way up the Ashendon hills. I arrived fashionably late to find only Vicky and Sian at the top of Pollicott - had Alex been as enthusiastic about the early morning as I had and was running a little late also? Oh, no. Just me then.. Alex was already halfway to Winchendon!


Myself, Sian and Vicky cruised our way down the hill towards Winchendon and caught up with Alex at the very top by the crossroads where we stopped for a drink, sweet and continued on towards Cuddington. I was becoming increasingly concerned about the noises coming from my rear brakes and expressed this concern to Vicky who agreed that I should probably change the pads soon to avoid having to bail out into a hedge at an inconvenient downhill moment sometime in the near future.


From Cuddington we made our way out onto the A418 via a small country lane, turned right at the main road and then look a left onto a severely overgrown jungle bridleway. Sian's "Oh someone has trodden it down! It's much better than it was. How kind!" baffled me as I looked at the 5ft tall mixture of grass and stinging nettles. TRODDEN DOWN?! Vicky braved the 'trodden down' path first with Alex behind, then myself and Sian followed with our cropped cycling trousers. Halfway through the A418 jungle we had to dismount to leap over a fallen log and right over the top of a badger set. I would be lying if I said I didn't have visions of getting mauled by an angry jungle badger. Ever the optimist. The girls kindly reminded me that angry jungle badgers are indeed nocternal.. so over I went! Many screams of pain came from myself and Sian over the course of the trail due to sever hammering of legs thanks to 'trodden down' grass and ginorma-nettles. Despite this there was a lot of laughter and I actually secretly really enjoyed it.


We emerged from the other side of the angry badger ginorma-nettle jungle into Haddenham where we turned left and continued past the garden centre towards Kingsey (I think! - At this point I had lost my bearings and couldn't tell exactly where we were) But before I knew it we were back on another offroad bridleway which wasn't overgrown but was very hard ground. Around 5 minutes down the track I spotted two horses in a field to our right and seized the opportunity to stop and give them a fuss. This would also give Alex and Vicky a chance to catch up with myself and Sian who had gone full pelt along the rough terrain. After 5 minutes or so we still couldn't hear or see the other two - so Sian made her way back to make sure they had taken the correct route, whilst I stayed and kept the two ponies company. I was in my element for about 15 minutes when the others emerged - and it had seemed that Vic and Alex hadn't taken the correct route and had started off in a different direction altogether! A quick farewell to my 4 legged friends and we were back on track - eventually bringing us out onto the Phoenix trail and into Thame.

From Thame we made our way to Shabbington - past The Old Fisherman (my favourite - cycling past your favourite pub on a sunny day is a HARD THING TO DO) then into Long Crendon for a well deserved and much needed bacon sandwich for myself and Vicky and a teacake for Sian. Alex was putting us all to shame by not having any food whatsoever! Fuelled up we carried on towards Chilton - where we lost Sian as she had to shoot off to spent some weekend time with son Joe which left Alex, Vicky and myself. Without our Mrs Motivator we sneakily stopped at the top of one of the final hills and enjoyed the view of the back of Pollicott, had a 5 minute sunbathe and sit down on a bench. On the final leg up to Brickhill I caught sight of a very attractive runner - I consulted Alex with an appropriate facial expression and she completely agreed. Two quick stops for me up the Brickhill and I was on my way home - where I arrived at 11:50. A long but rewarding ride - highlights for me were definitely angry badger jungle and bacon sarnie - Oh, and the runner! Looking forward to the next.


Amber xx

Sunday, 8 May 2011

Oh (la la) what a night...

Following careful planning (often over a wine or two) our French night finally came to be and, oh, what a night.

It all began when Andy Dale, landlord of our beloved Gatehangers Inn, Ashendon, suggested we Belles ‘take over the pub’ for a night. It captured our imagination. We had planned, anyway, to host a murder mystery based on the evening we all enjoyed for Chris Reeves 18th birthday (loosely based on Allo Allo). So it was decided we would change that plan and host a French night in Gatehangers.

We quickly agreed that each of us would prepare one course and ‘The Menu’ became the entertaining subject of many cycle training rides and then, eventually, came the very enjoyable process of test cooking and team tasting.






Each course had its own mini drama.

Canapes – by Amber – a selection of vol au vents:
Amber struggled to find vol au vent cases on Thursday night and plumped for DIY version after good advice from a lady in Asda. She was up until 2am trying to achieve this and failed. On Friday Waitrose came to the rescue and Alex made the mercy dash to collect them. The cases were then baked in Pollicott ovens various ready for Amber’s yummy fillings to be added last minute.

Soup – by Sian – French Onion with Gruyere and French bread.
Sian’s work and netball commitments meant the only time to chop onions (lots of them) was 10.30 pm on Thursday. Once again this became a team event as Alex, Steve and Andy all pitched in to get the job done by midnight. The onions were then caramelised between 6 and 7 am on Friday and the soup was finished off on a ‘just in time’ basis!

Main – by Alex (and Steve) – Coq au Vin with roast potatoes, green beans and carrot batons; with a vegetarian option:
The challenge was finding large enough pans to cook it all in so Sian called on her ‘friends in scouting’ and Liz Johnson of Brill scouts came to the rescue and delivered pots of all shapes and sizes in the run up to the event. There was also heavy negotiations by Vicky and Des to purchase the coq, and Parminters butchers (Haddenham) came up trumps by selling us their very high quality meat at a more low price so, we can only recommend you all go shop there from herein.

Sweet – by Vicky – Tarte Tatin with Pavlova as an alternative choice.
A relatively straight-forward, though time consuming, production that only required sharing of ovenproof frying pans between us all for Vicky to bake her tarte in.

Gatehangers is equipped for around 20 guests and we had 38 booked in so our final challenge was to find enough crockery, cutlery and glasses which we borrowed last minute from our fantastic village hall.

Finishing touches were also begged and borrowed. Isalda (my special French friend) came up trumps supplying the crowning glory flag and large Eiffel Tower and Joe (my son) handing over his very impressive Eiffel Tower collection for our table decoration. 

The logistics of sitting 38 people together in the pub restaurant required several site visits and the agreed table lay out seemed to be a winner – until we tried to walk between the tables when people were sat down! Soup was passed along sportingly by our guests.

How they laughed at my role based, time plan spreadsheet but it got us through the night swimmingly – never again can anyone justifiably scoff at my pre-planning processes. The only thing I didn’t allow for was bread cutting – enter Deb from stage right and all was resolved (thanks Deb).

With Andy ‘trained’ over several evenings to serve at the bar, ably supported by super salesman Roger (and Sonia standing in last minute to help him out) we were ready to greet our guests.

The food was fabulous and the entertainment worked!






The music quiz was well planned and seemingly well executed until I discovered the ‘shuffle’ feature on my iPod was turned on and... aah well... it added to the humour of the evening! No-one seemed to mind that Annalise and I failed to find a winner as everyone had most of the songs but not in the same order on their answer sheet. David Crwys-Williams stood up to the mark and auctioned our ‘exclusive’ music quiz prize – Les and Lesley were so pleased to win it that they donated it to Gatehangers and I am thinking an annual quiz now has a suitable trophy.

Some strange liaisons
French Connections went better – this game requiring guests to find a partner to the name found under their chair. It led to excitement, an opportunity to stretch and to meet new people before tackling the puds. I think, however, Michel is still hunting Albert! And Obelix is still wondering why Cleopatra’s needle did not welcome her with open arms!

I could go on and on about the evening for hours but I won’t. This bit says it all - donate what you think it was worth we said - £1,120 was the response.

Tres bien, c’est fantastique.

Thursday, 28 April 2011

Easter belles

To say Easter weekend was indulgent would be a VAST understatement, with the combination of my sister, Hannah, being over here on a flying visit from Oz, and the copious amounts of alcohol and rich food (and the odd bit of chocolate) being consumed, we certainly needed to burn some of those excess calories on the bikes.

Alex and myslelf decided on an easter monday outing, minus Sian (in Wales) and Amber (working unsociable hours!) HOWEVER we did manange to recruit a willing volunteer, for 1 day only, Belle in Damon, ok so he's a young lad not really a 'Belle' but he did tackle riding my old bike with enthusiasm and cheer, until he discovered those troublesome gears!!

Time was of the essence today so we opted for a short and sweet route to Ludgershall and back, and while Alex and I chattered away (mostly about food!!) we were aware of Damon ahead of us, he obviously didn't share our passion to talk about food!. We met up with him at water stops where he checked on the route with me before speeding off again!!

Upon returning to Ashendon the dreaded 'Brickhill' loomed before us, needless to say I made it up in one go this time and only waited about 5 minutes at the top for Alex so she did good too, maybe the thought of food helped!!

Upon our return the statutary bacon Sarnie awaited us and we then got on with our day's chores which mostly consisted of gardening!!

We now wait with eager anticipation of our French Night in the Gatehangers this coming Friday!!

Monday, 18 April 2011

Bouncing Belles

Though it was sad not to all be cycling together this week it’s probably just as well that Alex couldn’t join us for our Sunday evening cycle – her bra would have almost certainly emptied itself over middle England. Because…we found a totally brilliant off-road route that literally shook us to the core.

For just over ten miles of our 25 mile route we enjoyed a bouncy, traffic free, off-road route that covered byways, bridleways and a short section of an Aylesbury Vale cycle path  that took us all the way from Kimblewick to Westcott. What a great find. We bounced over ridges (power plates are nothing compared to this) and sank into tractor ruts. We scrambled on gravel and glided over grass.
A few weeks ago I searched hard to find some new local off road routes believing there must be more bridle paths in Aylesbury Vale. All the internet could turn up was the Ridgeway – and for that information I had to sign up to some dodgy horse riding club website. Our route this week is living proof that perseverance pays: my annoying habit of asking locals about local paths and tracks turned up an absolute gem. Victoria (who works with me), brought up on a farm in Bishopstone, came up trumps during interrogation on a car journey through her homelands.  Thank you Victoria. The good news, Belles, is that Victoria has described (in detail) several variations and we may be able to get even further next time on safe, fun, routes.

Alex held out glasses of orange squash as we returned to Pollicott and listened in awe  as we described our route and is now keen to get on the track next weekend (while I'm enjoying some R&R in sunny Wales).  Oh when will we four ride again?!

Our final task of the day was to draw our book token lucky squares fundraiser – Carol Smith  has won the £10 book voucher and Helen & Douglas are £26 better off as a result of our (ever supportive) friends, family and neighbours willingness to chip in a £1 each for a lucky square.  Congratulations Carol – happy reading.

Thursday, 14 April 2011

Be Prepared - Dib Dib Dib

Sometimes a Sunday morning training session is so much harder than the one before. With the glorious early Spring weather forcing us into an early firing up of Roger and Vickys barbecue, and the many delights that go with it, my Saturday night suggestion of a 6am start met with more than just a grunt of disapproval from Vicky. Don’t you just hate that warm sunshine, Rogers barbecuing skills, and wine?

Come Sunday morning, with grim determination and steely resolve, Vicky and I met in the lane at 9am (“oh come on, with Miller out of the way for the week and Amber working you didn’t really think we’d be out at 6am did you?”).

As we cycled out of Pollicott we hung a right and headed off towards the crossroads up at Nether Winchendon. No matter what way you go from Pollicott there’s always a hill, the top couldn’t arrive quickly enough but our destination this morning was the coffee shop in Haddenham, which meant the next bit was all down - whichever way you go. Our choice of route this morning was Barrack Hill, Cuddington, and into Haddenham and as usual, at the mere mention of coffee, Vicky began to peddle faster and faster.

Funny how some things can play with your mind. As Vicky began to pull away, clearly motivated by the vision of a steaming mug of coffee in her hand, I began to reflect on something I’d heard on the Jeremy Vine show about the power of positive thinking. The show in question featured people who had achieved exceptional outcomes in their lives simply by getting themselves in a positive ‘frame of mind’.

I’d been having a few ‘confidence’ problems since my little mishap in the ice, plus I’d been struggling with the hills lately – we used pretty much the same training routes as last year yet every hill seemed just that little bit steeper….and longer. Now I was watching Vicky powering away at the mere mention of coffee.

Without realising it we were in Haddenham pulling up outside the coffee shop where we were unexpectedly greeted by our Pollicott neighbour Robert who was sat outside enjoying a nice coffee on another day of beautiful sunshine. There is something nice about good company, warm sunshine, hot coffee, and butter croissants but, as the saying goes, all good things come to an end and soon Vicky and I was back on the bikes and making our way back out towards Pollicott.

As I pondered the ways in which I could turn positive thinking to my advantage Vicky almost had me cycling into the hedge - “I have to say Alex, I’m always amazed by what you keep in your bra” she yelled as we made our way back into Cuddington. Sensing my bewilderment I was offered a full explanation.

It appears that, since The Belles began cycling together many items of necessity have been produced from within my bra: mobile phone; keys; mints; and today money; “that is one heck of a bra” – chirped Vicky – “you ought to have been a honourable member of the scouting movement…..have bra, always be prepared”.

Dib dib dib back to Pollicott.

Alex xx

Monday, 28 March 2011

All Cheers - No Fears!

Sunday morning, British Summer Time has arrived and at 7.30am on Sunday morning I was up and ready for our 9am start. This was (even by my standards) a bit keen and the truth is that I was totally confused the night before so set the alarm (on my iPhone) to cover all eventualities: clocks forward or back and (crucially) iPhone automatically changing or not.

After our long slog last weekend we agreed today would be a short, enjoyable, committed pedal incorporating a coffee shop. The latter was to be Little Italy, Haddenham (known to be reliably open at 10am on Sunday mornings). The one hour time target presented a challenge - Haddenham via the direct route is 30 minutes and other routes would take over an hour. Lucky I had 1½ hours to kill - I set to work on some serious route planning.

As a result I am now fully signed up to websites for most riding clubs in the area, can list the ‘moredirt.co.uk’ mountain bike site among my absolute favourites (though more suitable for virile young men) and found bridleways.co.uk to be the most unenlightening resource centre ever with just one route listed for the whole of Aylesbury Vale - The Ridgeway! Despite all my technical know-how and web based wizardry it was a paper Ordnance Survey map that gave me the inspiration so sought – I spotted a bridleway, a new one, never cycled before by us, lurking between the A413 and Haddenham.

Already one Belle down (due to Georgina’s 6th birthday party) at 8am Amber texted to advise of a last minute summons from work. That left Alex and I to check the map, agree the route, and set off on a simple zig-zag through the villages via a road that is pointless by car, yet today would lead us to a short hop on the A413 and onto the ‘new to us’ bridleway. What a find it was too - a wicked good bridleway with ridges, mud, brambles, fallen trees, a river crossed by a narrow bridge, grass track and shingles – perfect all terrain training for the South Downs Way.



We arrived at Little Italy at 10.03, parked our bikes outside and sauntered in for an Americano and Croissant break. Then, suitably refreshed we took a more direct route out of Haddenham to Cuddington and headed home via the Chearsley dog leg. A very enjoyable morning out.

Later in the day, in true Tour de France style, our (new found) positive attitude was suitably rewarded with lashings of Dom Pollignon – another new discovery, this time by Steve, of things that can be done with a sodastream (and a bottle of pinot grigio).


 


Wednesday, 23 March 2011

Amber - but not Orange!?

Saturday morning saw me defying the undeniable and almost gravitational pull of my bed at 7:00AM. Yes. A-M.. and by 20 to 8 myself and my trusty steed were making our way upto Pollicott to meet my 3 favourite fellow early morning cyclists. I was a little disheartened, as I had built myself a reputation for being eternally loyal to my bright orange Helen & Douglas House t-shirt whilst the others had all been unfaithful opting for warmer attire over the last few rides.. but today I was the one who wasn't sporting the orange as I had been living at Mum's for the past week, catching up with some washing and had left it there!! Oh no!!! Words cannot express how gutted I was when i'd defied my gravitational bed and received a text from Sian explaining that we would be needing our t-shirts for a group photo at the end of the ride! However, I couldn't justify driving to Mum's as it would have cut the ride short..
So, I arrived at the top of Pollicott in my non-orange completely YELLOW high vis jacket. Sian, Alex and Vicky appeared soon after in their lovely H&DH t-shirts (and a few extra layers due to cold!) and Sian explained the route she had in mind.

I have to admit, as always, my first thought was 'oh no, hills!' but we were soon on our way upto Winchendon. With Vicky behind me consistently cheering me on, I made it to the top in my fastest time yet and we then made our way to Cuddington. A quick cross at the A418 (I think!) and a sweet stop.. which is when I had a bright idea. Sian had mentioned that we'd be crossing in Stone to get to Eythrope a little further along the route.. With Mum's house only in Fairford Leys (5 mins from Stone) Could this be the end to my lack of Helen and Douglas House t-shirt? I deployed my iPhone with the intention to speak to Mum and see if she would be able to meet us in Stone with my beloved orange garment... but it soon became apparent that Mum had not been able to drag herself from her own gravitational bed as there was no answer.

We continued on our route and before I knew it we were approaching 'Little Meadle' - this is when I started to panic a bit - Little Meadle? I glanced at Sian who looked just as confused as I did - despite living a few miles away neither of us had EVER heard of it! How bizarre. With all of the major hills out of the way I started to really enjoy the gorgeous weather and was taking in the views! We were passed by two groups of racing cyclists - sleek and lovely with their featherweight bikes, elastic band tyres and streamlined Lycra. Casual, effortless 'good morning's coming our way.. There I was leading our pack with my halfords special mountain bike - tyres fit for a land rover and my not so streamlined hoody, yellow high vis and invisible orange t-shirt. With out of breath, couldreallydowithsomeoxygen 'Hiya's somehow coming out of my mouth.

Another sweet & drink stop in Bishopstone confirmed my thoughts - Mum had infact only just got up and would be in no fit state to meet us in Stone in the 5 minutes we had to get there. So, a little disappointed that a reunion with my t-shirt wasn't meant to be, I continued to take the lead and we arrived in Stone and carried onto Eythrope (which is apparently dog central - have never seen so many dogs and dog walkers in such a short space of time!)

The long and windy slope back upto the Lodge between Upper Winchendon and Waddesdon was a killer on my legs, and I have to confess, I did have to jump off and have a little stroll for a short distance, with Alex not far behind. With Sian and Vicky ready to get going again when we reached the top, we took a nice freewheel down the other side of the hill and came to the Manor crossroads. 10 minutes later we had all tackled the steep downhill muddy track without getting off OR stopping, and I was lucky enough to be very nearly home. The hills back up to Ashendon were sadly on the cards for the others as i'd already cycled them earlier in the morning (mwahahahaha)...

But before they could depart - we still had a photo to take! With only 3 orange t-shirts!! My pining for my lovely t-shirt coupled with the fact that i'd just cycled 20 miles and my legs were about to wobble away from my torso meant that a photo was the LAST thing I wanted. Sian had been clever enough to improvise and had worn her ORANGE high visibility jacket, which I sneakily adopted especially for the photo so that I too, could be orange. My techno-phobe father was handed an iPhone, shown roughly where to poke on the screen to activate the camera and we all posed with our best 'honestly, this is a genuine smile' faces in our orange attire.
After a quick chat, the 3 Belles set off on their way home, whilst me and my legs wobbled our way indoors and got straight into a hot bath., grateful that I lived at the bottom of a hill. Not at the top!




Monday, 14 March 2011

Boots, Belles and Blow...

9am Sunday morning saw we Belles squeezing our booty into Andy's car. We quickly filled it and Alex, Annalise and I squeezed in and headed to the metropolis of Ashendon to tout our wares.

It was raining so we were diverted to the cover of the hut and our car boot sale became a table top sale. Luckily we managed to blag a table!

As we hurried to unpack trading began. Professional buyers hustled for china, jewellery, smellies. We dug through our bags and boxes to satisfy demand and even the hardest booter among them gave us a fair price when we explained that our money today was destined for Helen & Douglas House.
Bargains galore on our stall.

In true Belles style we took the opportunity to enjoy ourselves immensly. We can only apologise to our fellow traders: Pietro for the toilet humour, Louise for leaving x-rated goods on your stall and Jessica for selling your x-rated goods.

We must also beg forgiveness from our customers. 
Isalda sorry for selling you the x-rated goods (and for this photo).
Pam Rand can now set up an art gallery (with Gill) so we are sorry for that and also to Clare for being so blatantly opportunistic. Luke I was totally out of order for telling you Waynes World 2 is a really great film. And we are truly ashamed that we sold Freddo Frogs to children at 3p over market rate.

England Rugby fans we are so not sorry for what we did to Martin Johnson (and on a big match day too).
 
















All that puff left me looking like an orange chipmunk but for £3 it was so worth the effort!
Big Up to Vicky, Tans and Andy for the Leek and potato soup which was a welcome follow on to egg/bacon rolls washed down with plenty of coffee and tea. Also thanks to the Ashendon Playing Fields Association for giving us the chance of a fundraiser.

We shut up shop with £126.22 in the bag for Helen & Douglas House and headed home.  The driftwood tree made it home though so please someone make an offer - it's very arty and will look lovely decorated with eggs for Easter, shells for Summer and baubles for Christmas.
Tree needs a home.


Sunday, 13 March 2011

Unchained Malady?

My decision to get out of bed on Saturday morning despite a frenetic week scuppered Amber's plans for a quick whizz on the flatlands. I thought she wouldn't notice, when I suggested she meet me at Pollicott, that I had plans to re-route. But she had and at 7.40 am I got a call from Amber - "my chain is rusty and it's slipping" says she, "I'm not sure I can keep going - I might go tomorrow instead..." - I admit to being tempted to go back to bed but somehow I found myself saying "keep pedalling - I have lubes!" (Indeed I do have a wide selection of lubes for all occasions).

And so it was, at 8am on Saturday morning, Amber and I set off to do the hill training 'rollercoaster' route up the hills and down the vales that surround Ashendon. This was not the flat route of Amber's choice but if we can't do hills we will be walking a lot of the South Downs Way and the plan is to cycle it.

At the top of hill number one, Amber was very pale and admitted to being very worried about what was to come on our route. Guilty? me? no... "c'mon" I said, "you can do it". She didn't smile but she did keep going so I took that as a positive sign. We had a nice downhill cruise out of Chearsley with me yabbering away (trying to lighten the mood) and Amber giving me sideways 'I hate you, you are not my friend' looks.

At the end of the long (but not as steep as it feels) cruise up to Chilton I was ahead of Amber and took the opportunity to investigate a bridleway opposite the junction. What an exciting find, I just need to look at the map and I think we have a new route. As I looped back to find Amber she was definitely NOT in the mood to discuss my new found route and (after a short moment of pure joy when Amber realised we had only been cycling 36 minutes) we turned toward Chilton in contemplative silence.

Between Chilton and Dorton the unspoiled views across the Pollicott valley make this part of the ride truly glorious and even Amber managed to agree that it is a marvel to behold.

In Dorton we took the 'up and over railway line' hill in our stride and started the final leg toward Ashendon. This involves the Brick Hill climb (a short and sharp 1:10 hill with a mean little bend at the steepest point). The thing is Amber had already told me she "can't do it". The truth is she has never tried and I was in a meanly determined mood so - my response? You’ve guessed it "yes you can - you just have to believe you can (and get in the right gear)." Amber hhmmpphd at me stood up on her pedals and set off ahead of me toward said hill.

Concerned I may totally kill Amber's enthusiasm I stayed at the rear and despite stopping twice she didn't walk even one step of the way. She stopped, I circled round to stay behind and she set off again - twice. AND before we knew it Amber Ewers had cycled up Brick Hill and didn't even stop at Hill Farm (which is a perfectly acceptable breathing point when needed).

By the time we said our farewells in Ashendon Amber had got her colour back. By the time she was back in Westcott I think she had her smile back AND renewed enthusiasm too. There are moments in this cycle training lark that give me immense satisfaction!

Monday, 7 March 2011


This weekend's training took place in 2 seperate sessions, this is quite normal for us nowadays as busy lives mean we rarely have time to all cycle together and training has to be done so if it means seperate sessions, so be it!!

Saturday's session started at 7am with myself and Sian amazingly keen to get going and with my recently eaten banana releasing its energy we set off. Our route took us right out of Pollicott and up to the crossroads, straight across and down Cannons hill where my already VERY temperamental gears decided to behave even more eratically, my chain kept releasing and re-tensioning all by itself whenever I free-wheeled which alarmed me somewhat, however I decided to just grin and bear it.

Onto Cuddington and then Haddenham and along towards Stone, this normally busy road I had expected to be quiet at about 8am on a Sunday morning, however this was not the case and the speed some of the motorists were going nearly rocked me out of my saddle! Sian was keeping quiet behind me as she was making sure I didn't come a cropper with my dodgy gears!!

Once we got to Stone we headed up to Eythrope and on through the lovely estate, we have not cycled this route for a fair while and I have missed the lovely estate views and scenery, we came to the lodge house at Upper Winchendon where we took 5 for a breather and I produced a penguin bar for us both to tuck into, needless to say it didn't last anywhere near the 5 minutes but with renewed energy we set off over the other side and on towards the manor and Westcott.

Back at Westcott we were on the home straight back up to Ashendon, by which time my gears had decided to sort themselves out and behave!!

16.73 miles, 346 feet climb, 592 calories (minus a penguin!!)
Sunday morning saw myself and Alex meeting at 9am at the Old Forge corner, I am always a few minutes late on Sundays as I do my horse before and ALWAYS underestimate the amount of time it takes!!
We did our Brill, Ludgershall, Wootton, Ashendon route, although we had intended on doing the Dorton, Chilton, Chearsley route but a hectic Saturday afternoon culmonating in a trip to A+E with my youngest had left me physically and emotionally drained so a relatively un-taxing ride was definately in order!! Needless to say said child is fine now!!
We happily cycled and chatted and didn't even notice the time but upon reaching Ashendon we realised we had shaved half an hour off the previous week's time so we headed home to our other halves and a joint full english brunch awaiting us!! (It is totally worth doing ANY training for this!!)

Friday, 4 March 2011

Everyone in the 'HOUSE' a winner...

Despite a lower turnout than we had hoped for, bingo turned out fun again last night and we raised a fabulous £131 for Helen & Douglas House. Huge thanks to Andy and Hilary Dale for allowing us to commandeer Gatehangers, Ashendon and a big up to everyone who came out on a cold night to join in the fun.

Vicky, Alex and Gill mustered up so many raffle prizes that, along with the bingo cash prizes (wooo), virtually everyone in the house was a winner. Only Amber was down on her luck but she gets the special award of a 7am start for training cycle tomorrow to cheer her up!

After his somewhat dodgy bingo calling last time, Andy (landlord) did his background research this time and came up with...hmm...a list of bingo terms from the Internet! They were spurious, but clean! Some tampering of his list during 'half time, drinks time' livened it up - honestly "one fat lady with a fat head" and "fat man snores" were (we thought) truly hilarious compared to "Torquay in Devon" and "saving Grace" (the latter was also tampered with and the strategically placed 'h' almost lost Andy to giggles!).

Our next fundraising event will be the Beautiful Belles Bargain Booth at Ashendon boot sale to be held on the car park at Ashendon Playing Fields 10-2pm, Sunday 12th March - please come and buy - all proceeds will go to Helen & Douglas House.

Tuesday, 1 March 2011

The Long and Winding Road

Well, as you will no doubt have learned from Sians last blog the next Belles adventure sets off on June 9th – plenty of time for us girls to get into shape and conquer the South Downs!!

You may recall my last training ride was not the happiest, with icy conditions causing me a few problems that I’ve not forgotten, so it was with a little trepidation I entered the weekend with training firmly in my mind. On that occasion events required me to leave my bike down at Amber’s house so, before I could even begin to take on Sundays training, I needed to go and get my bike back.

One of the disadvantages of living out in the sticks is nobody has a pick-up truck when you need one, so 10am Saturday morning Steve and I set off on the two mile walk to Westcott to recover my trusted steed. Despite the cold rain and wind the walk down was easy enough but I was reminded on the way back just how daunting the ‘long and winding road’ up to Ashendon looks like when you’re heading up from the bottom.

When we arrived back Andy was out in the driveway doing the kind of things men do in driveways on Saturday mornings – more to the point a jet washer was conveniently plugged in and ready to go. A quick flutter of the eyelashes and the promise of cold beer from the fridge and “Hey Presto” – my bike looked as good as new. All I needed to do now was repeat the charm on Steve and the bike would be oiled up and ready for Sunday.

Saturday night was never going to offer suitable preparation for Sundays training session – Claire Cooks birthday party down in Cuddington was always going to be a test, particularly as all of the Belles had been invited along with partners who didn’t have to get up and cycle the next day. In the end we all decided that the best thing to do was to take it easy. Whilst it was many months ago we all still remember the wild Saturday night that ended up with a rather hung over cycle the next morning.

The Sunday morning weather seemed to be a great improvement on Saturday as I headed up to meet Vicky on the bench at the top of the hill. Sian and Amber were otherwise engaged today so just the two of us – ‘do we cycle or do we go and sit in the coffee shop for a couple of hours and say we’ve just done fifteen miles?’

We threw the idea round for a while and having decided we’d never get away with it Vicky and I headed off down Dorton Hill towards Ludgershall – meet ‘Wimp’ and ‘Wimp’ the two new Pollicott Belles.

As we began to gather speed and enthusiasm I pointed out two positives to Vicky. Firstly the sun had come out and it was actually feeling quite pleasant, secondly Steve was going to have a Full Monty ready for us when we got back (the English breakfast kind, not the one where he whips off his underpants wearing a police uniform).

Vicky was perhaps even more impressed with the four men I’d managed to accumulate on my way up to meet her, and not just any old four men - men with tales of the South Downs. It turns out these guys had cycled the very route that the Belles were going to take on this coming June – in the words of Chief Brody in the film Jaws “we’re gonna need a bigger bike”.

In no time at all Vicky and I was powering our way back up Dorton Hill. So much power in fact that when we met a sweating, gasping, dehydrated, fellow cyclist at the top who was amazed we’d arrived so cool, calm, and collected – I quietly owned up to having a little walk. Oh well, I tried.

Soon we were back in Pollicott, bikes parked up, boots off, and into the kitchen ready for Steves Full Monty – da da da, da da da da, - what a disappointment, we thought we were getting bacon, eggs, sausage, grilled tomato, and toast.

Now before I go a quick, yet important, reminder – the Pollicott Belles fund raising bingo night is this Thursday 3rd March up at The Gatehangers, hosted courtesy of Andy and Hilary.

Eyes down, look in, and see you Thursday.

Alex

XX