Furthermore to increase the adventure and comply with the exact route i took make it cross country.
So we chatted about it some more over emails and then it occurred to me that i should perhaps make some charity money out of it. A good friend James pointed me to JustGiving and so i started the site gradually developing the story (its never sealed on the first attempt).
The pictures i already had from my walk. I wanted to describe the journey in the form of scenes of paths throughout the journey and whilst i'm not a photographer i believe the images i uploaded reflected this idea well.
And so the hard struggle began to push friends and relatives into parting with their hard earned cash. It wasn't difficult. I'd put a 2000 pound target but only because James had recommended it. Gradually the donations came in, some extremely generous, some modest, all greatly appreciated.
And so began sorting out the other bits. Unfortunately i'd left the other bits a bit too late. I drummed up some interest from the local newspaper (the Dunstable Gazzette) but by the time they'd interviewed me and sent the photographer round, the article would appear two days before the event. Oh well, better than after it!
David suggested some Teeshirts so i got them made up. The JustGiving site address was a bit long so i convinced David to set up http://www.bike100.org/ and redirect visitors to the JustGiving page. This also meant i had something easier and bigger to put on the teeshirts.
I'd bought and trained on an extremely heavy bike with full suspension and whilst it had survived most of the pounding i gave it, it was no comparison to the light and sturdy one David offered to lend me.
I'd got some interest from people at work to participate but all chickened out by the event date.
Only David promised and saw his promise through.
I created a new email address for the event so people could contact me (rather than me revealing my own personal address) and also set up a Twitter account. I installed a free Twitter app on my mobile and twittered the progress of the event and eventually the progress of the ride itself with my mobile.
And eventually the day arrived to depart.
Day 1 - Dunstable to Chorleywood (20 Miles)
I rode up Buttercup lane, got off and walked up the path then over the golfcourse and to the Visitors centre.
I locked up my bike and went inside.
I got some interest from a couple of people and they donated their pennies towards the cause and then 1pm arrived and i bid dunstable farewell.
I rode directly south through Whipsnade, by the side of the Tree cathedral, across the green, along towards Holywell then turning as i sped through the woods and hit Studham. Gradually the places came and went as i cycled onwards without pause or rest.
Down into the valley then walk up the other side panting for air and into Hudnall common, across the crossroad, along the edge the common then turn to side on Little Gaddeston then along the road, down and up the steep valley shortcut and over to Potten End then finally to hit the long descent to Bourne End.
Weeeeeee! Such joy!
Then up towards Bovingdon the slow walking slog (i rarely ride a steep hill). On the bike again as i pass through this quaint village and on through Flaunden then down the hill to Chenies, up and over and along the path to finally arrive at Chorleywood and the end of the first leg. A total of 20 miles.
Just as i rode into Chorleywood i met the old man i'd met all those months ago at Easter time when i walked to the south coast. The 84 year old was about to go for a walk and we chatted a while. He tipped me off for tea the next time i was in the area. I'll definately call in. I wonderful old fellow with wonderful stories of working on the Grand Union Canal and how life has changed so much since then.
I then realised i hadn't brought the address of the first B&B and my phones battery was dead. I remembered the shop i'd visited when walking to south coast and found they were very willing to help me out. Before long i arrived at my lodgings for the night.
The B&B was a simple affair, just as i like it. It was also extremely cheap at 30 pounds a night.
They even invited me in to have some dinner with them!
For pictures of this route refer to the South coast walk i did back in the spring ?here?
Day 2 - Chorleywood to Chiddingfold (48 Miles)
I left around 7am after a nice continental breakfast and rode up the hill then all the way down Old Shires Lane which took me all the way to Denham, Surrey. Just round the corner was West Hyde and the Coy Carp where a waited for a good hour to meet David who would join me for the rest of the journey.
It was my fault i guess. I had left too early again and raced down. He had set 9:30 meeting time.
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| Coy Carp, West Hyde |
David arrived spot on 9:30 and after a few snaps we set off due south along the Grand Union Canal. Its tow path flitting left to right side of canal, we crossed bridges, ? and locks and gradually the scenery changed to Uxbridge then Cowley.
It was at Cowley that we would turn off the canal for a while, taking a shortcut through Little Britain then rejoining the Slough branch of the GUC for a short time before turning off completely passing through Thorney Farm Golf Course, then Thorney and eventually Colnebrooke.
Unfortunately David had brought thin trousers. Whilst these had a definite advantage of drying out quicker than my jeans he did rather get stung by the high nettles.
However it was in the journies curriculum vitae that we'd be going cross country.
As we reached the outskirts of Colnebrooke the nettles dissipated but the heavens opened with a downpour of rain drenching both of us. We had both known the weather would most likely be quite foul this weekend but i'd looked at the following weekend for help and that had looked even more unsettled.
We stopped off at a shop in Colnebrooke then continued to Poyle and had a lemonade at a rather pretentious pub just outside. We ate the food we'd bought and discussed the journey ahead.
Eventually we mounted again and rode aside the Wraysbury river to Staines and the Thames path.
Again we stopped at the Thames Lodge, a rather pricey hotel but nice environment and the same place i'd stopped off when i walked to south coast.
After Sandwiches and tea we continued down the Thames Path. This time on cycles we ate up the miles and before long we had reached the Chertsey bridge. We crossed and this time took a shortcut to Addlestone, accross a playing field, along an urban path and back onto the road again.
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| Me posing next to lock at the start of River Wey ride |
At this point i had thought i lost my way. I didn't recognise the roundabout that lay ahead and my intuition seemed to be leading me way too far west, but eventually we both arrived at the River Wey bridge and we descended to the tow path and rested a while on the side of the lock.
We ate and drank some more then carried on the cycle ride following the River Wey as it wound its way serenely through the Surrey countryside.
I had experienced all this scenery before but way back at Easter. Now the trees were full of glistening green, the ground a swaith of dappling colours with bluebells, rose and all the grasses.
The cycling surface was pretty awful. It seemed that the council that managed this path had decided to use soft sand to repair the pot holes and land slides, rivelets and puddles that lay all around. But the sand made cycling treachorous. I was lucky to bring my mountain bike but even that gripped little sand and slid and slided precariously next to the canal.
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| Drying out in the fleeting sun of the mid-afternoon |
David had brought his racer and that was even worse.
At several points we passed cyclists with children in tow. We even spoke to one guy who had almost fallen off.
We stopped quite a few times as the distance taken by tow path was almost double the distance taken by road.
For some reason cycling did not so much eat up the miles more than walking but put the miles into perspective. From memory i do not remember the walk taking so long from Addlestone to Guildford. It had in fact taken 4 hours on foot. By bike it was nearer 2 or 3.
We Eventually arrived at New Haw Lock which marked a half way point to Guildford.
It seemed to have taken most of the day just to reach here, I think we were both tired of canals by now.
But we soldiered on and eventually got to Guildford. Here we tried to find a nice restaurant to have some food. It was already about 5pm and we still had many miles to go.
We looked around for about half hour before finally settling on a drink and some peanuts. We just didn't have time. I had no lights on my bike so being caught on roads or track in the darkness was no mean feet.
We then discussed the possibility of going by road instead. But looking at the map the river pretty much took the same direct route as the road would to Godalming.
Also we could easily follow the canal route. Following unfamiliar roads in unfamiliar areas could prove a problem.
So we continued along the canal tow path and eventually arrived at Godalming around 6.30pm.
We stopped to get some supplies from the supermarket then walked up the hill and over to Tuesley. I guess i'm glad we chose to do it in July rather than Spring otherwise it would have been dark by then.
Down amongst the plant tents again with long lost stories of singing tramps!
We reached Hydestile by about 7pm then up through the unfathomable footpath through the West Surrey Golf Course then find that random path south and by luck we found south bound path and eventually as dusk began to fall we arrived at Hambledon.
We lifted our bikes over many a stile before reaching the road to Chiddingfold. It was dark and only David had lights. In fact it was worse than that, i had no reflectors at all.
Nevertheless we risked it and at about 8 or 9pm we finally arrived in Chiddingfold. Near 50 miles out of Chorleywood. We'd done it! At least we'd get to sleep before the final ride on sunday.
After a few frantic phone calls we eventually found the B&B I'd booked.
The house was an old Edwardian Thatched ediface. Low ceilings meant both David and I kept banging our heads. No TV in the bedroom but that didn't bother us.
However no tea making facilities either. David investigated. The chap who had let us in didn't seem so friendly. He was a bit short with us but this didn't thwort David.
Eventually he turned up with a tray of hot tea and biscuits. Apparently we only had to ask. Hmmm like we were supposed to guess?
I don't know about David but i slept very well that night and awoke about 8:30. We both took another shower and went down to breakfast.
We had a thin helping of Porridge and filled up on toast. We had specifically avoided the cooked option. Riding suddenly after a heavy meal is always a bad thing to do.
We eventually rode away around 10am. I decided today we would take the road instead. It was becoming increasingly difficult to find comfortable positions to sit on the saddle so i think we both appreciated this decision.
However just outside Petworth David took me aside and said in no uncertain terms.. "Jonathan, i've looked at the map and i don't think we're going to make it before night fall".
Now this was quite a shock to me. I'd planned the route, we had just 32 miles to do today. I was now walking up hills (i admit that) and we yet had the South Downs to contend with but i really had no intention or imagined he'd come to that conclusion.
