This ride came about because my friend Keith wanted to ride from Woking to Liverpool for his dad's 85th birthday party and asked me to devise a route for him. As Keith is , to say the least, navigationally-challenged, I thought it might be an idea if I rode with him as far as Stafford (from where there might be signs for Liverpool), after which I would peel off towards East Anglia, and back to London through Diss.
We set out on Tuesday 29 April, the rain starting just as we did, and within an hour we were soaked through, but a coffee stop at Marlow gave us a chance to dry off a bit. Then it was into the fairly substantial climb to Stokenchurch. Keith did superbly well considering his lack of cycling practice in recent times, while I was delighted to discover how much easier the climb seemed compared with the last time I tackled it a few months back.
All went well until near the top when we were caught by a violent hailstorm. The vents in my helmet filled up with hail and the top of my head was freezing! Fortunately that was the worst of the day's weather over and we had a good run through Thame and Bicester, one final nasty little hill excepting, to our night's B&B at Sulgrave, near Banbury, with exactly 80 miles under our belts.
Wednesday dawned bright and clear and stayed that way until midday. Our route was planned to keep us on quiet roads and lanes through as much of the West Midlands as possible, so we passed through Warwick and Kenilworth before cutting between Coventry and Birmingham and skirting Tamworth and Lichfield. The only really busy part of the day’s ride was through Burntwood and Hednesford.
Fortunately a sudden downpour coincided quite nicely with our need for a lunch stop, so we didn't get too wet, and the onset of another hailstorm later also worked in nicely with the need for a coffee break. We did, however get soaked riding over Cannock Chase and worn out by some substantial hill climbing towards the end of the day. The evening was marked by a failure to find anywhere decent to eat in Stafford.
On Thursday morning Keith and I parted company, he to continue north to Liverpool via Nantwich, Winsford, Frodsham, and Runcorn, me to head east.
One of the aims of this trip was to test out the technology I plan to use on my Dover to Durness ride in June. Unfortunately as I set off from Stafford my GPS was telling me that my next turning point wasn't for 66 miles! It seemed that the route points were all in the machine, they were just linked in the wrong order. Not very helpful!
In the pre-technology past I used to write out routes in detail, but I hadn't on this occasion, so it was back to stopping to look at the map every few miles, a process that seems to add ages onto the journey. And hanging about wasn't something I wanted to do when all around I could see rain clouds depositing their contents. Fortunately I managed to miss every shower.
I was also surprised to find how hilly Leicestershire is, probably because all the valleys head N-S whereas I was heading W-E. Much of it was rather lovely, with the exception of the bit south of Coalville, where even minor roads were very busy. Once again, I tried to keep on quieter roads, traveling via Alrewas, Measham, Ibstock and Markfield, before cutting between Leicester and Loughborough. From there I headed due east, keeping south of Melton Mowbray.
What with one thing and another - including a puncture about 10 miles from my day's destination - it was 7.30 by the time I got to the youth hostel in Thurlby, Lincs, and I was pretty tired, but still up to walking the half mile to the nearest pub, and after 90+ miles I deserved a couple of pints.
Friday dawned with brilliant sunshine but with a brisk southerly breeze, just what I didn't want for a long ride across the exposed Fens. It made the going quite hard. People think that the flat landscape must be perfect for cycling but you have to pedal the whole time, with no downhill bits for a respite, and with the wind in your face it's even worse. And I got another puncture!
Bypassing Peterborough and crossing the Bedford Rivers at Welney, I managed to miss the rain until just before Littleport, when it came on in earnest. However, as I entered the town I spotted a cycle shop and dashed in to restock my rapidly depleting collection of inner tubes. The owner took pity on me and we settled down to a coffee and a chat until the rain eased. An hour later I managed to get on my way again!
I passed through Lakenheath, on my way to Brandon, just as the workforce was leaving the US airbase, and took great delight in passing by the horrendous traffic queue that this involves. From Brandon I headed across to Thetford and then back onto the lanes through East Harling.
I finally arrived at my parents' cottage in South Norfolk about 7.30 after a five mile detour to get a bottle or two of beer - they live some way from the nearest pub - only to discover that I'd done 96 miles, so I set off for a ride round the village to bring it up to the magic 100. May’s century was done before the month was more than a day old!
The following day was a rest day, with only an 18-mile ride through the lanes to Diss to Mike Madgetts, my favourite bike shop, for new tyres and brake blocks.
The Sunday promised to be a warmer day, though still with a stiff breeze blowing from the south. Leaving much later than I’d planned, I set off along my favourite cycling route between Norfolk and London, heading through Diss, then Mellis and Finningham to Stowmarket for a morning coffee stop. From there I went across to Lavenham and Great Waldingfield, to join the route taken by the Dun Run.
It was mid-afternoon by the time I reached Great Waldingfield and I still had a 60-mile slog into London to come. This turned out to be less than pleasant, since the warm bank holiday Sunday evening seemed to encourage more than the normal number of car-bound lunatics out onto the roads. It was nearly 9pm by the time that I arrived at Waterloo station, after 112 miles, and I was mighty glad to get on a train home.
