The Doddler and the Duffer, an account of the 2010 Dorset Doddle organised by the LDWA.
2010 was looking to be a 'transitional year' for me as a cyclist and I had missed most of the major Audax events of the year, so I decided to have a crack at the Dorset Doddle, a 32 mile walk along the coastal path from Weymouth to Swanage organised by the Long Distance Walkers Association, the pedestrian equivalent of Audax UK, the national Long Distance Cycling organisation. This was my first LDWA event and my first serious hill walk for a very long time but I was feeling fairly relaxed, fit from running, cycling and some gym work. It was only 32 miles in twelve hours (albeit with ~8000ft climb and ~8000ft descent), so how hard could it be? Well, those that knew thought it could be very hard indeed!
LDWA had organised a coach from Swanage to Weymouth - we were to walk back - and my initial thought was to take a leisurely ride down to Swanage, do the walk then ride over to Poole to hop a train home to London. As the date approached I was delighted when fellow AUK Matt said he was up for a Doddle as well so after much deliberation over logistics we arranged to travel down together the night before by car and stay at the Swanage Auberge bunk house which worked out just fine. We were planning to take the main road route all the way to Swanage but we overdid the following of signposts to Poole and found ourselves on the chain ferry across the bay to Swanage. Getting out of the car on the ferry was an experience as the weather - all blustery drizzle - was rather reminiscent of a winter cross channel ferry and proved a fair portent of what was to come.
Next morning we gathered at Weymouth for the start where there was a familiar yet different atmosphere from the start of an Audax. With no last minute fettling of bikes to worry about everybody seemed very relaxed and, um, more normal looking. The Doddlers were all different shapes and sizes and few exuded an aura of being uber-athletes but you definitely got the feeling they were all pretty fit, capable types up for a good albeit hard day out. Pretty hardcore really and it felt good being part of the event. About half the walkers were in fact runners though most carried some form of backpack. A noticeable exception was a diminutive woman of 60 something who was trotting about in vest and shorts chatting with various folk about recent exploits. Her 'luggage' consisted of a small bumbag with a mug slung off the waistband. Impressive.
Heres a picture of me and Matt trying to look relaxed and, um, normal.
9am arrived and we were off, the runners followed by a wave of walkers. Matt had found an old workmate was doing the walk and was chatting with him so I pressed on alone along the Esplanade. Soon we were into the early headlands and a stretch of 'singletrack'. Ahead of me a couple of women walkers chatted non-stop which was a bit wearing and I looked for opportunities to pass them which I eventually did but it took longer than you might think because whilst they were chatting they were definitely not dawdling.
After this the terrain opened out and the real coastal walk began, a never ending series of ups and downs, mostly fairly steep. I seemed to be tackling the 'ups' ok but I soon realised I had a problem with my walking boots. I had been planning to wear a pair of lightweight Saloman trainers with vibram soles but the weather forecast persuaded me to switch to boots as the trainers soak up water like a sponge. The boots would also provide more ankle support, useful on a hilly walk. However whilst I'd had the boots for several years I'd not done any serious walks in them and the Doddle quickly exposed they were too small and I was to finish the day with some serious blisters. Climbing was fine but descending put pressure on my toes to the extent that I had to descend very slowly and couldn’t 'stride out' on the flat. Soon other walkers started to stream past, including Matt and his friend, and I pushed on as best I could. No choice really!
An immediate consequence of this was that I was now walking mostly on my own, which was a bother as the Audax style route sheet wasn't especially great and I had to look after my own navigation. Also, the weather had deteriorated and I was mostly walking through clouds and drizzle. Whilst there was plenty of scenery about there was precious little to be seen, and the limited visibility made it feel rather like walking on a treadmill. By the time we got to Lulworth Cove the weather was really rather miserable. Fortunately it wasn't particularly cold and I was working plenty hard enough to keep warm enough in shorts and a T –Shirt, so I was cheerful enough. I had a long sleeve top (my Willesden C.C. Jersey, as it happens) and a waterproof in my pack but there was no reason to put them on. The path at Lulworth Cove was heaving with holiday makers trekking up and over the big headlands to visit the Durdle Dor in the cloud and rain. Poor sods.
After Lulworth Cove the path headed up another big hill and at the top I met another walker, an ‘old girl’ who seemed to know what she was doing. After a while we realised we were off track (and I realized she didn’t have a route sheet and was simply following the coastal path way signs,). Instead of following the ridge of the hill we were looping down towards the ‘Fossil Forest’ along the coast. Checking my companion’s map we could see our path would rejoin the official route so we pushed on. Initially the path followed the line of the cliffs and we were below the clouds for a while so we could see the sea and various groups of sea kayaks paddling along the coast, which was grand. The walking was easy for a while and we made good time until we reached the point where we had to head back inland. Here the path went straight up an uber steep hill in which a ‘staircase’ had been cut, and we hacked our way up the hill back into the clouds with great care. A fall here would have been very bad news. I had the feeling that it was just as well that we were walking in the clouds. If we could actually see how exposed we were it would have been rather scary. As it happens we weren’t the only ones to go wrong here, several others did including Matt!
Once back on top of the hill and the official route the walking was fairly easy for a while and we made good time, chatting with another couple we met who were simply out for a walk. I had somehow acquired a collection of small stones in my right boot so I told them I was stopping for a moment. Did they stop and wait for me? Did they heck. So boot back on I pushed on alone into the gloom, ruminating on the fact that if I turned an ankle and/or the weather deteriorated I might be in serious trouble. As it happened after a while I caught up with my erstwhile companion and we pushed on together but I fell behind again on a long flat section as my feet/toes were really starting to hurt.
Nominally we were on the run-in to Kimmeridge, the 18 mile control point but I missed a landmark for a turn. The end result is that instead of arriving at Kimmeridge ‘just in time’ I arrived some 90 minutes late. I was walking fairly hard for most of that time so I must have covered several miles. Anyway with 8 hours on the road, problem feet and well out of time, my walk was over. The problem now was to find the actual control and get back to Swanage. The LDWA provide transport back to the start from controls but where were they, and would they have waited for a walker so late? The route sheet simply referenced a car park in Kimmeridge so initially I went to the village centre but the locals knew nothing of the LDWA event so I headed down to the car park by the bay, about a mile or so away. That proved to be fairly deserted as well and I sat for a while to consider my options. There was no telephone signal and even walking back to Kimmeridge would be a trial. Happily for me I found a family of holiday makers who offered me a lift. They had been snorkeling in the bay and were changing out of wetsuits into the back of an MPV so I figured they would be up to helping another outdoorsy person. Like Blanche DuBois, “I always rely on the kindness of strangers”. Even more happily they were headed back to Swanage, so an hour later I was back at base with a mug of tea and a meal. Fortune favours the brave. Sometimes.
Matt arrived shortly after 9pm, just out of time but in good shape and spirits and once he was fed and rested we headed for home through the clouds as the weather settled in for the night. Most of the journey was in pounding rain and we were both suitably grateful the walk was over.
Epilogue: Immediately after the walk I felt pretty beaten up but a day or so later I was 'fine' except for my little toes which have painful blisters which make walking in shoes a trial. I'm pleased about my performance on the climbs; I think the conditioning acquired riding a fixed gear bike on hilly Audax events really helped there. All of my kit worked well - especially a Camelback Octane 8+ backpack which I'd bought for the walk (I'd not used one before) - except for the most important item, my footwear. If I hadn't had problems with my boots I'm sure I'd have completed the walk.
An important lesson I learnt is that compared to cycling (to state the obvious) walking is rather slow and if you are on a schedule there is little scope for making up lost time. Going off route for whatever reason is a real no-no and if you do get into trouble you are that much further away from help. Taken together this means any problems are more likely to have potentially serious repercussions, so these events really do need to be taken seriously. I found this out the hard way as even a lap of Richmond Park (my nearest ‘countryside’) as ‘training’ (gulp) would have shown up the problem with my walking boots.
Next time I'll be dressed/equipped as a runner with trail shoes so I can at least jog along on the flat and attack descents. The combination of the weather, terrain, time limits and my footwear problem meant that I had to concentrate on every footfall so there was little scope for admiring the view, although that wasn't an issue on the day. Walking with sticks would have helped here, as they offer support and encourage you to walk 'head up'.
The event notes suggested maps were not really necessary but the route sheet was barely adequate ISTM with for instance, no distance indications between landmarks. Next time I'll carry a map and/or program the route into a GPS with OS mapping (I generally use a GPS for navigation on the bike). Similarly, controls offered only water whereas the notes suggested snacks would be available. Not good, as there were few opportunities to buy snacks en-route and would have been costly time wise. I had some food with me but I was down to emergency wine gums by the time I packed. The welcome and food at the finish was exemplary though.
I had my eye on a 50 mile event in September (The Sussex Stride) but I'll probably pass for now. To tackle it as a runner rather than a walker will entail some training. I have a horrible feeling I'm going to spend the winter months running round Richmond Park with a pack on my back…
