Day five should have begun with smiles and cheer, but instead our valiant seven woke up in various versions of grumpy, grumpy moods. Start time was delayed, but the time was used wisely for blagging our stay for free. Who can resist a charity escapade? Not Hendra Holidays of Newquay, that's for sure. Good job guys!
The beginning of the day followed much the same formula of the previous afternoon, cue lots of rolling Cornish hills. Progress was good, and all our spirits lifted as we went along, although we did have our first and only roadside puncture - Luke's back wheel decided to give up the ghost on the uphill. Being the stellar team we are, everybody cycled to the top to wait for Luke, who then carried his bike up on his shoulders like a regular iron man. We used the waiting time for an early break, and due to a lack of trees the one banana skin is now hanging on a roadside sign.
Puncture fixed we cracked on. Unfortunately for us, so did the wind. Right into our faces. Forever. It was almost relentless, seeming to stop only when we were in the very bottom valley between hills. Even going downhill seemed a chore, the downward slope and pedalling in our highest gears combined could hardly get us going a good speed. After the 25mph stint yesterday it felt very slow indeed. At one point we all pulled over just so that we could have a good bitch about it (and some food, of course - don't forget to eat before you're hungry to keep your energy levels up!).
And then it was A30 time. We joined in our previously discussed beautiful swan formation, but it turns out that even being a flock of brave birds is pretty intense with traffic speeding by and the cycle lane being gritty and peppered with debris. There was worry that it might be punture city, but we flew through it with two chains off as our only mishaps. After exiting the dual carriageway it began to feel like lunch time, and we stopped at a little pub that had a gypsy-caravan-organ-mobile just around the corner. It played lovely organ music just for us as we ate our yummy lunches. Chilli vinegar for the win!
After lunch the wind dropped a little and and hope shot right up when we saw our first sign for Hayle (the next beach along from our destination). We rejoined the treacherous A30, but by this point our biking skills were so great that it didn't faze us anymore, and we were even overtaking cars by the dozen. There was a traffic jam, yes, but you can't deny our awesomeness. We stopped on the verge to eat some more, go to the loo in nature and watch a man pull over to kick his exhaust pipe back on, and then it was once more time for action.
Our last part of the epic journey were the roads we knew so well. The last few hills were hardcore, but we were so close and full of that "almost there" feeling. Before we knew it we were all going down the hill to Carbis Bay beach together. "We started together and we ended together", in the words of Ben "Poetic" Williams (not his official nickname, but a fitting one none the less).
A lovely bunch of wonderful people were there to celebrate our arrival with us, there were balloons, banners, champagne and a lot of hugs - brilliant! Our pilgrimage was complete when we'd climbed the rocks to see Bestie.
The concluding adventure for our cycle bum shorts was into the ocean for a rather chilly experiment into just how much water those padded bottoms could absorb. Not as much as we expected, it has to be said. And now with our journey complete and an enormous shared feeling of satisfaction we're chilling on the beach and having a drink. Bliss.
The End.
Until next year...
Friday, 10 September 2010
Thursday, 9 September 2010
Day 4 - Bude to Newquay
Roadkill sighted - fifteen.
Most exotic roadkill - North American black squirrel.
Rubber gloves from a distance mistaken for roadkill - five.
Chains off - five.
Tears - one.
Laughs - uncountable.
Total buzzard spottings - three.
Best morning idea - pie in the face for the last person to get up the hill (undoubtedly Jenny every time). This fell flat as support failed to provide home made pies, 'cause you know, it's not as if they have anything to do or whatever...
After the angst and trauma of yesterday, this morning we were tired. But, after half an hour or so of smooth downhill cycling and sunshine, we were emotionally reborn into happy, shiny and positive cyclists who could do this. The road was straightforward, the terrain was smooth and the hills much more achievable. We saw the sea, a proper sea - yeah, not stinking estuary sea. We had lunch before our energy levels crashed and before Jenny had her pre-lunch cry. And, before Ben and Sarah had a little pop at each other. Just before lunch we zoomed through nine miles in half an hour. Also, we had resounding success in throwing three of our four banana skins in the nearby trees. We finally got the hang of eating lunch; eating before we're hungry and eating sweets right after for the sugar rush that gets you through the post-lunch blues.
After four days of practice, we have finally got our roundabout form down - swooping in like a beautiful squadron of elegant swans ( in dayglow). We can stay perfectly in a line and can all indicate with our arms as we go.
Sarah wee'd in a field with three voyeuristic bovines.
In the afternoon, we had forty blissful minutes of Miss Massey in the lead keeping the team at 25mph. And, we found the campsite unaided - due to an emergency phone call from the support team with a revised and simple route.
And...the campsite had a POOL! With flumes! When we got there, we were so excited at the prospect of submerging our limbs in water that we bombed it down the super slide in quick succession...and then we got told off at the bottom as apparently we could have broken each others spines, which would have made tomorrow's endeavors a wee bit tricky. Lesson learnt; wait for the miniscule green light - good tip for on the road at traffic too. This was then topped off with a beer at the campsite bar, a round at the arcade (Jamie and Jenny both won tiny little bouncy balls, which bounced really high and changed the fabric of time and space, through which a dragon flew and set fire to the swimming pool - pictures to follow) and a slap up meal courtesy of Phillippa 'Greasy Spoon' Harrop.
One final note - Jamie apologises for the lack of maps - smartphones aren't nearly as smart as the name suggests.
Most exotic roadkill - North American black squirrel.
Rubber gloves from a distance mistaken for roadkill - five.
Chains off - five.
Tears - one.
Laughs - uncountable.
Total buzzard spottings - three.
Best morning idea - pie in the face for the last person to get up the hill (undoubtedly Jenny every time). This fell flat as support failed to provide home made pies, 'cause you know, it's not as if they have anything to do or whatever...
After the angst and trauma of yesterday, this morning we were tired. But, after half an hour or so of smooth downhill cycling and sunshine, we were emotionally reborn into happy, shiny and positive cyclists who could do this. The road was straightforward, the terrain was smooth and the hills much more achievable. We saw the sea, a proper sea - yeah, not stinking estuary sea. We had lunch before our energy levels crashed and before Jenny had her pre-lunch cry. And, before Ben and Sarah had a little pop at each other. Just before lunch we zoomed through nine miles in half an hour. Also, we had resounding success in throwing three of our four banana skins in the nearby trees. We finally got the hang of eating lunch; eating before we're hungry and eating sweets right after for the sugar rush that gets you through the post-lunch blues.
After four days of practice, we have finally got our roundabout form down - swooping in like a beautiful squadron of elegant swans ( in dayglow). We can stay perfectly in a line and can all indicate with our arms as we go.
Sarah wee'd in a field with three voyeuristic bovines.
In the afternoon, we had forty blissful minutes of Miss Massey in the lead keeping the team at 25mph. And, we found the campsite unaided - due to an emergency phone call from the support team with a revised and simple route.
And...the campsite had a POOL! With flumes! When we got there, we were so excited at the prospect of submerging our limbs in water that we bombed it down the super slide in quick succession...and then we got told off at the bottom as apparently we could have broken each others spines, which would have made tomorrow's endeavors a wee bit tricky. Lesson learnt; wait for the miniscule green light - good tip for on the road at traffic too. This was then topped off with a beer at the campsite bar, a round at the arcade (Jamie and Jenny both won tiny little bouncy balls, which bounced really high and changed the fabric of time and space, through which a dragon flew and set fire to the swimming pool - pictures to follow) and a slap up meal courtesy of Phillippa 'Greasy Spoon' Harrop.
One final note - Jamie apologises for the lack of maps - smartphones aren't nearly as smart as the name suggests.
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Day 3 Exford to Bude
With the pain and the aches setting in from the day before and the knowledge that Exmoor was not over, we decided to look at our original route and find a way to get out of Exmoor as quickly and as flatly as possible. We took some back roads which we were informed by the campsite owner would be a lot less hilly. They were not anywhere near as flat as what we were hoping, and found the beginning of our day going up some very steep hills but after the monster of a hill that we had beaten the previous day we felt that we could handle it. It may have been tough but the route was stunning; we went down hills, through fords, over brooks and along the moor. The view and beauty almost made up for the hills but our legs were very tired. Again we had some great fun coming down off the moor and ended up in some very quaint villages which were a pleasure to go through.
After a little diversion due to a police road block (and having fun with the farmers with our walkie-talkies) we arrived for lunch, after Ben had to quickly pop back up a hill that we had just come down because he left one of the walkie-talkies up there. Doofus! After that we were pretty content in the knowledge that we had left the hills behind us until we received a text from our support team saying that we had a very steep decent with a steep ascent afterwards. It wasn't until we got there and saw the gradient on the signs said 20% that we were worried, all apart from Luke 'The Mentalist' Spencer who threw all caution aside and bombed it, cranking up a very impressive (and stupid) 39.9mph.
After this our day was long, but good, cursing every hill and even cursing the descents with the knowledge that what goes down must go up again. As the time went on, and after a great but crackly phone call to Tim Mars at Stroud FM, we had our support car meet up with us and lead us into the sunset like a beautiful mermaid leading a ship to safety and comfort. We have to say that without our support team we don't know where we would be, actually yes we do: still in Gloucestershire.
After a little diversion due to a police road block (and having fun with the farmers with our walkie-talkies) we arrived for lunch, after Ben had to quickly pop back up a hill that we had just come down because he left one of the walkie-talkies up there. Doofus! After that we were pretty content in the knowledge that we had left the hills behind us until we received a text from our support team saying that we had a very steep decent with a steep ascent afterwards. It wasn't until we got there and saw the gradient on the signs said 20% that we were worried, all apart from Luke 'The Mentalist' Spencer who threw all caution aside and bombed it, cranking up a very impressive (and stupid) 39.9mph.
After this our day was long, but good, cursing every hill and even cursing the descents with the knowledge that what goes down must go up again. As the time went on, and after a great but crackly phone call to Tim Mars at Stroud FM, we had our support car meet up with us and lead us into the sunset like a beautiful mermaid leading a ship to safety and comfort. We have to say that without our support team we don't know where we would be, actually yes we do: still in Gloucestershire.
Day 2 Cheddar to Exford
This day started with everyone in great spirits, the rain that had plagued us the following day had gone and the sun was out. These good times were not to last, we made our way to Minehead we had difficulty with the hills but our spirits were improved when our support team met us at the top with our lunch. As everyone know what goes up must come down and we did have some great fun going down hills, and even did a bit of sweetcorn scrumping. Have to say that we really enjoyed going through Dunster, which is beautiful and i recommend anyone to go. That is where our fun and games ended as we made our way into Exmoor and the Exmoor Quantok hills. None of us have ever been up a hill like this and we all struggled. This went on forever and ever, well maybe an hour or so. We did it though even with a bit of walking, but you would have as well if you had seen it. When we got to the top we were cream crackered but had enough time for a quick go on the slides before we had to go again. And on we went up and down the hills which we were extremely sick and tired of. I think the only way we all made it there was by the knowledge that we would be meeting our support team at a pub. The thought of a cold pint and a warm(ish) bed got us to the meeting point and then it was just a short cycle to the campsite, after a pint or two. The camp site was in the middle of nowhere with no electricity but what it lacked in mod cons it more than made up with beauty and tranquility.
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
Day 1 - Eastington to Axbridge, near Cheddar
Chains off: 5
Tears: 1
Top Speed: 37mph
Bikes being turned upside down for "maintenance": 5
Okay, so it's the end of day one and we're here! Here being campsite one just outside Cheddar. We made it despite being hammered on by rain for the last 20 odd miles. That was not particularly fun.
We left Eastington at about half past nine. There are photos, but we don't have good enough internet to upload them, sorry! Many thanks to all the people who came to see us off, and especially to Mike who worked out how to fix Jenny's pedal when it fell off 0.9 miles away from the starting line.
From then on there were no bike problems apart from a few chains coming off. We sailed the A38 to Bristol with ease, then spent a while getting annoyed with the Bristol traffic... Then we went the wrong way. But not for very far, and after a few horrible hills on the other side, we stopped for lunch in a pub carpark. Classy!
Then the rain set in. We got about 5 miles out of Bristol before it started getting really heavy, and it was sweeping hills going up, then down, getting water in our eyes and reaching devastating speeds of up to 37mph, according to Luke's speedo.
The rain didn't quit for the rest of the journey, and we finally rocked up to our campsite absolutely drenched but with big smiles of accomplishment on our faces, so it was basically all good. Hot showers and delicious dinner sorted us out
Tears: 1
Top Speed: 37mph
Bikes being turned upside down for "maintenance": 5
Okay, so it's the end of day one and we're here! Here being campsite one just outside Cheddar. We made it despite being hammered on by rain for the last 20 odd miles. That was not particularly fun.
We left Eastington at about half past nine. There are photos, but we don't have good enough internet to upload them, sorry! Many thanks to all the people who came to see us off, and especially to Mike who worked out how to fix Jenny's pedal when it fell off 0.9 miles away from the starting line.
From then on there were no bike problems apart from a few chains coming off. We sailed the A38 to Bristol with ease, then spent a while getting annoyed with the Bristol traffic... Then we went the wrong way. But not for very far, and after a few horrible hills on the other side, we stopped for lunch in a pub carpark. Classy!
Then the rain set in. We got about 5 miles out of Bristol before it started getting really heavy, and it was sweeping hills going up, then down, getting water in our eyes and reaching devastating speeds of up to 37mph, according to Luke's speedo.
The rain didn't quit for the rest of the journey, and we finally rocked up to our campsite absolutely drenched but with big smiles of accomplishment on our faces, so it was basically all good. Hot showers and delicious dinner sorted us out
Sunday, 5 September 2010
Day 0
This is roughly the route we're going to take, but we will be using GPS and smart phone technology to hopefully show you exactly where our tires cover the track - Oooooh! Also, we'll be providing words and photos to further illustrate our excitement, views, fatigue and accomplishments.
View Biking for Bestie route in a larger map
Maps will be added every day to show how far we've got.
If you would like to donate to our cause, please visit www.justgiving.com/bikingforbestie
If you would like to know more about the man we're doing this for, please visit http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/artist_songs/379600#/andrewbest
View Biking for Bestie route in a larger map
Maps will be added every day to show how far we've got.
If you would like to donate to our cause, please visit www.justgiving.com/bikingforbestie
If you would like to know more about the man we're doing this for, please visit http://www.reverbnation.com/artist/artist_songs/379600#/andrewbest
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)