Ju planned an 84 mile ride for today. I knew this, as he’d sent me the GPX of the route so I could download it to my Garmin 705. The others didn’t know this… Sometimes it’s better that way.
Ju got to Wayne’s just as I unpacked my bike from my car, so into Wayne’s we went. There wasn’t any movement in the house, but that isn’t unusual when we get there for a training run at 08:00. About 5 minutes later Alan and Jeremy rocked up. There was still no movement from Wayne so I sent him a text. Alan and Jeremy fitted their wheels to their bikes and got ready to go. There was still no movement from Wayne's house so Jeremy rang the doorbell… A lot… Sorry Jo.
Wayne appeared at the door and into the kitchen we went. Wayne looked rough. He felt even rougher. He offered us a coffee; it was delaying tactics I’m sure… It worked, I can’t complain, I wanted a coffee too, but that was because I knew what was coming.
We were due to start at 08:00 sharp, so at 08:45 off we went... The idea is to leave at 08:00 every day on the trip so I guess I better get used to 08:45 starts!!!
Wayne was so rough I thought that he’d never make it.
From Middle Barton, off we headed to Bicester and on towards Thame. We were heading towards Brill Hill but had planned to circumvent it. It was here that I had a puncture and whilst replacing the tube a guy, touring on a bike, came past us fully loaded with a bar bag and front & rear panniers and a rack. It looked REALLY heavy. Hilariously, Alan, Wayne and Jezzer commented that my bike would soon look like his!
With the inner tube changed, we were ready to set off again. Jezzer suggested we go straight up and over Brill… Wayne strongly suggested we didn’t and just pedalled off… NOT in the direction of Brill... Brill WAS going to be bypassed!
From Thame we headed to Stadhampton and thoughts turned to food, we agreed that it would be best to push on to Abingdon where we would reach the 45 mile mark and “break the back” of the ride.
Here’s a photo of us heading towards Brill, see, I’m not ALWAYS at the back!
Ju got to Wayne’s just as I unpacked my bike from my car, so into Wayne’s we went. There wasn’t any movement in the house, but that isn’t unusual when we get there for a training run at 08:00. About 5 minutes later Alan and Jeremy rocked up. There was still no movement from Wayne so I sent him a text. Alan and Jeremy fitted their wheels to their bikes and got ready to go. There was still no movement from Wayne's house so Jeremy rang the doorbell… A lot… Sorry Jo.
Wayne appeared at the door and into the kitchen we went. Wayne looked rough. He felt even rougher. He offered us a coffee; it was delaying tactics I’m sure… It worked, I can’t complain, I wanted a coffee too, but that was because I knew what was coming.
We were due to start at 08:00 sharp, so at 08:45 off we went... The idea is to leave at 08:00 every day on the trip so I guess I better get used to 08:45 starts!!!
Wayne was so rough I thought that he’d never make it.
From Middle Barton, off we headed to Bicester and on towards Thame. We were heading towards Brill Hill but had planned to circumvent it. It was here that I had a puncture and whilst replacing the tube a guy, touring on a bike, came past us fully loaded with a bar bag and front & rear panniers and a rack. It looked REALLY heavy. Hilariously, Alan, Wayne and Jezzer commented that my bike would soon look like his!
With the inner tube changed, we were ready to set off again. Jezzer suggested we go straight up and over Brill… Wayne strongly suggested we didn’t and just pedalled off… NOT in the direction of Brill... Brill WAS going to be bypassed!
From Thame we headed to Stadhampton and thoughts turned to food, we agreed that it would be best to push on to Abingdon where we would reach the 45 mile mark and “break the back” of the ride.
Here’s a photo of us heading towards Brill, see, I’m not ALWAYS at the back!
In Abingdon, we looked for somewhere to stop and found a pub that was doing food so we sat in the garden. Alan and Jezzer ordered nachos. Wayne ordered a burger and Ju and I ordered sandwiches.
Wayne’s meal turned up as a veggie burger… He was not happy. Alan and Jezzer’s nachos looked like a child portion and the extra £1’s worth of chorizo that they had paid for turned out to be just 5 small slices hiding under the cheese… They were not happy… And boy did we hear about it.
On the bright side, the honey-roast ham sandwich with piccalilli was lovely.
After our lunch break, we set off towards Witney, then Charlbury. Ju turned off at Enstone and the four of us headed back to Middle Barton… Here’s our route (Click here). It turned out to be 78.8 miles not 84… Mainly because Jezzer tends to be at the front with no clue regarding the actual planned route!!! He decided that as Ju had mentioned we were heading for Abingdon, he’d just follow the road signs. We had planned on going the back roads but never mind.
To be honest, when Jezzer goes off in the wrong direction (you'd be amazed how often it happens), we normally let him carry on whilst we go the right way!!! He soon realises and turns around. Well, when I say “soon” I think the record was about a mile and a half up the road when he decided to look over his shoulder and realised we wern't there.
On the JOGLE he could end up cycling 1,000 miles instead of the 965 planned!
With the trip now less than three weeks away, I’m gathering all the money together and counting it up… We now have less that £800 left to collect to hit our £10,000 target. If you are thinking of donating, it would be great if you could do it now... We'd love to reach our target before we leave!!!
Come back soon to www.5blokes-end2end.weebly.com and please donate as much as you can at www.justgiving.com/5blokes-end2end
All the best,
Nathan
Wayne’s meal turned up as a veggie burger… He was not happy. Alan and Jezzer’s nachos looked like a child portion and the extra £1’s worth of chorizo that they had paid for turned out to be just 5 small slices hiding under the cheese… They were not happy… And boy did we hear about it.
On the bright side, the honey-roast ham sandwich with piccalilli was lovely.
After our lunch break, we set off towards Witney, then Charlbury. Ju turned off at Enstone and the four of us headed back to Middle Barton… Here’s our route (Click here). It turned out to be 78.8 miles not 84… Mainly because Jezzer tends to be at the front with no clue regarding the actual planned route!!! He decided that as Ju had mentioned we were heading for Abingdon, he’d just follow the road signs. We had planned on going the back roads but never mind.
To be honest, when Jezzer goes off in the wrong direction (you'd be amazed how often it happens), we normally let him carry on whilst we go the right way!!! He soon realises and turns around. Well, when I say “soon” I think the record was about a mile and a half up the road when he decided to look over his shoulder and realised we wern't there.
On the JOGLE he could end up cycling 1,000 miles instead of the 965 planned!
With the trip now less than three weeks away, I’m gathering all the money together and counting it up… We now have less that £800 left to collect to hit our £10,000 target. If you are thinking of donating, it would be great if you could do it now... We'd love to reach our target before we leave!!!
Come back soon to www.5blokes-end2end.weebly.com and please donate as much as you can at www.justgiving.com/5blokes-end2end
All the best,
Nathan