Trip to Bradford on Avon
and Abingdon.
The N70/GPS/Viewranger combo was problematic. It kept losing the signal from the GPS, and both the phone and the GPS had to be re-booted. Not good. I made it to Didcot (Power Station) along National Cycle Route 5 before needing to take a detour to join Route 40 to Wallingford, where Waitrose and my dinner awaited. All laid out in Viewranger. Of course it decided to stop working just at the critical detour moment - so I used used (Viewranger) map and compass from that point.
To my dismay, the track on the OS map leading me under the railway line to route 40 was a dead end of bushes. I had to improvise a route, and happily found that I was not the only cyclist taking the detour. The other cyclist was much faster than me though and I lost him around a corner. I suddenly found I was going back toward the power station. I had to be on the wrong road. Sweating profusely, I tried the GPS again in vain and a slight panic (it was 5pm already and starting to get dusky). While waiting for everything to reboot, again, I noticed out of the corner of my eye something flashing. It looked like lots of cars passing behind a bush. Looking closer I could see a railway crossing sign...aha!!! Back to the map on the phone and yes, there was a railway next to the road I needed (B1046). I rode up and there it was, Route 40. It took me a long way, but fast up a few hills and down again all the way to Wallingford,
where I camped. Sadly, the site was about 50 meters from the riverside:
But it had a fantastic, new and high-tech shower block; instructions for the no-touch controls below.
Next morning I rode down to Goring and Streatley.
I got there around 10:30, up and down several fast hills, but this was a bit late in hindsight, given that I had planned to stay the previous night in Streatley (but there was no room at the YHA) and leave there at 8am. I should have asked to camp in their grounds I guess.
Anyway, from Streatley, there was a ride along Rectory Lane and then the biggest ascent imaginable and on the worst quality road imaginable! Big rocks, split open with sharp edges. My poor tyres, they were catapulting these things left and right. I could barely keep upright. In the end I had to push the bike up, it was so rough. Note, I wasn't pushing because I was tired, so that's something. At the top I was greeted by the splendour of the Ridgeway! Er, misty and cloudy.
I passed a dog walker. She said it gets better (referring to road quality). She was right and wrong. You'd get 100m of impassable stones, then 100m of packed earth, then grass tracks, then rocks again. Argh! I had to get off!
But I had forgotten to buy the 1:250000 GB roadmap (in case of detours), so I had no map for a change of route. The map I had bought was for the Ridgeway and that was it (or so I thought). Looking on Tuesday though, I noticed that my map went nearly as far south and east as Hungerford - what a twit I was not to notice this since that would have made a big difference. I decided to ride as far as the A34, then detour somehow down to Newbury. Before I got there a concrete road appeared! North to continue the Ridgeway or South to Compton. My heart said North, but my brain over-ruled. A huge down hill race to Compton where Google Maps took over emergency map duties, and worked well, getting me to Newbury down Long Lane by 12:30.
Where the sun came out, and I made the fatal mistake of taking Cycle Route 4 along the Kennet and Avon Canal. It was not a very fast route (which I needed), and chucked me off onto hilly roads to get to Hungerford. Some lovely views on the way through.
Several times I could hear the roar of the Great Western Railway, and in to Bedwyn I rode along the canal again, but Route 4, took me away again. If I had consulted the map, I would have had realised that I was right next to the A4, take the main road, fool!
Instead, out of Bedwyn I saw Route 4 tell me to turn right, but there was no right turn. Odd. 200m later, there is a turning into the Savernake forest, but no Route 4 sign confirming this. The forest looked scary, so I carried on, and presently saw another route 4 sign. It turns out that Route 4 forked at that point and I should have gone through the forest. Later on I saw this confusing sign:
I came from Hungerford, so do I turn right or go straight on? It actually points in all directions! WTF? 5 miles later (after Burbage) I notice I am heading South East back to Bedwyn rather than west. So I turn back and take the right at the sign, but this new route is full of (albeit lovely) hills, and is taking me north rather than West. North to Marlborough.
Halfway to Marlborough, I cross the canal again. Aha! I think, I'll just ride the canal in a straight-line to Bradford-on-Avon, and sod the cycle route. Except the towpath is appalling quality with tree roots and more stones. Basically my speed is little above 10mph for another hour and it is now 17:00 and I only am vaguely aware that I should be in Wiltshire. I pass a cyclist and ask how far it is to Devizies. 1 hour he says (I am shocked). No, make that 2 hours, good luck! I am distraught. Devizies is 20 miles from Bradford! Argh! I've got get off this stupid tow path.
So I get off at the next bridge to find it's nothing but a farmer's field. Unknown to me, I am now firmly back on the Viewranger map, but I have to ask at a pub the way to Devizies. The tourist gets out his road map and suggests I go down the road to Pewsey. Never heard of it, but off I go, and not 2 minutes later I find a train station. Should I? Should I give up? I then get a text message from a friend I'm meeting for drink that evening - he's nearly there, and I'm due there in about an hour.
It turns out this in an inter-city station, and there is a train coming, so I made it in time and at least I rode from Bradford-on-Avon train station.
Pics from the weekend here, and here's a video I made:
Mountain misery 
I had to get to Theydon Bois for 11:00 for the ride, so I was a bit panicked. How to get across the river and to Straford in time? I really didn't want to ride all that way on these knobbly tyres - and I had little idea of the route, other than going via the Greenwich foot tunnel. I had ridden the tyres to Bromley on Saturday, and although they gave a nice smooth ride, they are dead slow. I had no choice though. So up and up to Greenwich. On the north side of the Thames, a sign-posted cycle route to Mile End presented itself.
I got to Mile End in about 30 minutes, it was 10:30 now, and I had hoped to get on a train at Mile End, but I realised that wasn't going to happen, as Mile End is a deep station. So I rode on to Stratford, past Bow, where my cousin lives (at least I now know how to cycle there now).
At Stratford, they let me in, and I got on the platform, just as the Epping train was leaving. And that was that. The next train was 11 minutes later and I got to Theydon at about 11:15. But the ride was actually starting a fair way up the road, up a hill, so I actually got there about 11:25, by which time they all had gone.
So, I thought I'd best see what I could do. I cycled on from the car park down a track. I saw some other bikers and they weren't on the track, they were in the woodland. I thought I should look for a map and found one, next to a "No Mountain Biking" sign. It seemed I was heading north, while, if I went south I could go down the park to rejoin the tube for home at Loughton. Across the road was another map.
I was at a place called
The Ditches (according to the photo above, but I
thought I was on Jack's Hill). Anyway the map seemed
to point either to another main track, or to a little
track straight into the forest. I was passed by more
bikers, who took the little track. I followed, and
well, I was able to follow for about 1 minute before
they disappeared into the distance. I tried to follow
their tracks, but those evaporated soon too. I must
have taken a wrong turn somewhere, I was going lower
and lower and came upon a little dip. It looked a bit
boggy, but there were tyre tracks so on I went, in
1st gear, braking, braking and whoops!
I fell. I managed to get a foot down, but it went
into the mud above my ankle. This unbalanced me and I
fell over, still on the bike. The smell was mud,
decomposing plants and manure. Great. I got up and
tried to get out. I was lost, and I didn't even know
where I wanted to go! I had a compass, so I tried to
head south-east, not easy when all the tracks are
twisty. I heard voices and saw tents. I was passing a
campsite in a field, a nice place to camp with a view
of a hill, but not really helpful in finding the way
out and that path was a dead end (indicated by tree
trunk across the track).
Back I went and this time up a step escarpment and I
couldn't pedal anymore! So I walked up and eventually
found another cycle track and that took me to a main
track, which was paved with lots of little rocks.
Down down down and all of a sudden, in a little road
and people's front gardens and a main road. It was
now about 12:20pm. I gave Russ a call to ask if he
could use Streetmap to help find the way, but
the signal was too bad, so I just cycled on and
lo! I was back in Theydon Bois.
I got the tube back to Stratford and cycled as far as
a about 1-km south of Mile End before noticing my
rear tyre going down. Yes another puncture. That
makes, what, three for the week? Now what? Well I had
to walk with the bike all the way back to Stratford
to get a train to Liverpool Street (I was able to
listen to music on the SLVR though to pass the time),
and then walk through the city to London Bridge
(getting slightly lost on the way) for a train to
Hither Green. I got back home at 16:00. 4 hours to
get home. Shoes, socks and the rest all in the
washing machine.
Urgh, what a day.
Mountain Biking
...and you better believe it. Those knobbly tyres (four pounds and 5 english pence each from our French friends) are destined for the mud of BNP'ed Epping Forest on Sunday. Weather forecast says rain, which is a shame, but I'm still going. If you think I'm mad to take a small wheeled bike on such an adventure, you're wrong! The APB is derived from the Moulton ATB (all-terrain bike), proclaimed at the time as the world's first dual suspension mountain bike. So it's back to roots, and the APB isn't the only one.