Departure Day!!!! July 1st 2008

All packed & ready for the off - am very excited - woke up at 5.15 am this morning and couldn't go back to sleep so ended up taking the dogs for a walk at 6 am and doing my last minute blog!!

I think I am mentally & physically ready if not - bad luck!!

Apparently it will rain tomorrow in Kent so that will be a shame but you never know the sun does shine on the righteous!!!!

Great news I have raised an awesome £5,000 to split between the MS Trust & MS Society not bad Eh! Talk about amazing! Everyone has been so generous so thankyou to everyone who has sponsored and supported me along the way -
THANK YOU!
Keep posted I will update you when I am back on my adventures!!!

Devon Delight Audax 29th June

Well I made it down to Dawlish to meet up with Pete & Jean in their van to help stamp the cards for the Devon Delight Audax by the skin of my teeth!! Just as I arrived Pippa & Jeremy were leaving! But they were the early birds doing the 200km ride!

We had a major rush about 10.00 then the riders came in drifts!

Great fun seeing everyone - thankyou for the cake & coffee Pete & Jean and see you when I'm back!

New Career!!!

I think I forgot to mention that I now have a job - very exciting I am working for Sustrans the Sustainable transport company who have started a Travelsmart Project in Exeter to encourage people (like me) out of their cars and onto bikes, buses, trains or walking! I work as a packer (packing up the information for residents such as cycling, walking maps, bus timetables etc) and then deliver them on my bike with a trailer attached! This was incredibly hard at first as we were doing an unmentionably horrible hilly area called Farm Hill and Gloucester Road in Exwick but now it isn't so bad as it has flattened out somewhat!!!

We have a great team run by Andy who is younger than me - he must be the first boss I have had who is younger than me it really makes me feel old - but then I am nearly 40 and I have more hair than he does!!! Talking about hair I think Peter & Alan ought to grow theirs as they haven't got the pony tails that Ryan & I have!!! Its a fun place to work as we even have food parcels sent down from head office in Bristol - keep them coming Francine & Lizzie - Please!!!

Well done boys!!

Need I say anything!!

Well done Mike & Phil for completing your ride and still being able to lift your bikes up!! I may try but I think I will fall over if I do that next weekend.

Johnnie & I met up with Mike, Phil and their families at the Double Locks on Wed and I quizzed them to death about the ride - and I think I will be fine after the stories they told but I won't bore you with all that as I will bore you with my own stories soon enough!!!! Only 3 days to go!!!

Phil the one on the left is already planning to ride to Cuba next year - is he mad or what!! I sadly declined as I think my family would kill me!!!

Maybe Lands End to John a Groats boys!!!

Devon Delight (or should I say Undelightful)

Determined to get another 100K Audax in before my big ride I offered to help Graham out by stamping a few cards on the Devon Delight Audax which will be this Sunday 29th June if he would let me ride it earlier - so guess who got the short straw to tag along - yes Pippa again poor girl!!!

We set off from Kenton as the ride went through Starcross and onto Powderham on a lovely sunny day - we arrived at Thorverton Village hall for our coffee (but of course it was all locked up but very smart!!) so we decided to go on to Pete & Jean's for a brew but they weren't in either!!

It was then beginning to rain lightly to start then it got wetter & wetter by the time we got back into Exeter we decided to go to Bernaville Nurseries for a hot cup of coffee and maybe some soup! While we were steaming dry in the nurseries we called Johnnie who very kindly brought a heavier duty rain coat and off we set again up Cowick Street and off out of Exeter up a steep hill to Longdown (more like longup!!) then down the Teign valley where we met another group of Cyclists!! John, Kirby, Geoff & Penny on their Sunday ride!! So we had a group photo and a natter and went off to Newton Abbot to a lovely 5 star complex as you can see for the next control stop!!

We then rode out from Newton Abbot around the back of Kingsteignton and got lost

at Gappah!! I had just got the map out to look out (yes it is amazing I can map read occoasionally I might not know my grid references but I can look at a map sometimes!!) and guess what the rain came down again - heavily!! So a very kind man in a white van took pity on us and gave us directions to Gappah again - this time we went the right way and made it to Ashcombe! Admitedly as soon as Pippa said this hill looks steep do you think we should get off and walk down!! I was already off my bike and tenatively walking down the slippery ski slope down into Ashcombe!! Pippa thought this was a good idea when we turned the corner and it got even steeper decending to the church!! We made it into Dawlish - I was on a roll now as it was home turf and I knew exactly where I was for once!! (makes a nice change!) We arrived home very wet and tired and in need of a hot cup of tea and a bucket to tip my shoes into which were just like swimming pools as you can see from the colour of my mud tanned legs!!

8 hours and 70 miles later not bad but very wet indeed!! Lets hope its not that wet on the way to Paris!!

BANANA MOMENT!!!

Not the prettiest picture in the world but Josie Dew will be proud of the amount of bananas I have consumed on my rides (for those of you who don't know who Josie Dew is go to your library and get out her book on travelling the world on a bike her stories are quiet incredible!!)
This was one very wet ride - I needed that banana to get me up the next hill as my feet were like swimming pools and I was pretty fed up!!



Why is Pippa so much more photogenic than me!!

100 miles - yahoo!!!!

On Saturday 7th June Pippa & I set off from Topsham on my longest ride yet to break the 100 mile barrier just for the hell of it!! We went via Broadclyst to Killerton up to Tiverton then onto Exmoor where we stopped in the lovely village of Winsford for a photo shoot by the Ford!

We then went on up to Comers Cross - see photo of signpost below - taking the photo and having a bannana stop at this junction cost us our lunch! When we got to Simonsbath to Boveys cafe where we had planned to have lunch we cycled past a coach with a few pensioners on the road - I have never seen pensioners move so fast just as we were setting our bikes up

against the wall about 50 of them

zoomed past and into the empty cafe! When we eventually got to the counter it was so sorry but we are not serving lunch due to the coach load of unexpected pensioners - their bus had broken down! Not our day - so no soup just cake and coffee then up the hill onto Exmoor!

We climbed out of Simonsbath up to the highest point of the ride apparently (1500 asl) so that was a good climb would have been even better with some lunch inside us!!

We then had the most amazing downhill all the way to South Molton - absolutley terrifyingly wonderful I reached my fastest speed yet of 34 mph (believe me that is good - talk to the guys at the bike shop as to how many brake blocks I have been through as I am such a wimp!!)

Gorgeous views and fabulous weather we then had a forced stop for some sheep!

We then wound our way back to just short of Crediton to a place called Eggesfield where we were hoping to get some food but no they had stopped serving food so it was a cup of earl grey and a packet of crisps!! Not quite the pint of lager! After a comfort stop we then continued onto Exeter and then Topsham - as you can see from my Spedometer we did an amazing 104 miles in 9 3/4 hours was I chuffed with that or what! Not only that but our average mph was 13.87 so not bad at all - well done trainer!!

Pippa and I cheering when we arrived back in Topsham - Yes 104 miles what a cracking day the sun shone and the company was great it whizzed by - roll on France or as Pippa said now you've done that you will easily do a 200k ride when you get back!

Sunday 1st June - only 4 weeks to go!!!!!!

Last Thursday 29th May I had my last fundraising coffee morning with the CTC. We raised £127 which was fantastic and most of the cakes went which saved me from eating them up - although the boys were upset that most of the brownies went!!

We had a pretty horrible downpour on Friday which resulted in most of the roads around Kenton being flooded including the school which apparently was thigh deep in water and not good news for the parents as the school has closed and we don't know whether it will be open for the rest of the term! Totally ruins my training schedule for the next 4 weeks!!

The flooding resulted in a very interesting ride on Sunday as it started in Exminster onto Powderham for coffee then Dawlish for lunch - poor Kirby who was leading got a lot of grumbles as we had to tromp our way through mud, water and more mud!!!

I have to admit that I haven't seen as many landslides as the ones we saw and some of the roads were pretty impassable - We all got wet feet going through this river apart from Jenny who was sensibly wearing sandals!!

Last night (Tuesday) I went out for a ride with Mike & Phil who are also doing the London to Paris ride but route 2 which is defiently easier than my route as they start in Croydon and only have to cycle to Newhaven on the first day - what a doddle! They are off next week so we had a very leisurely ride round the lanes of East Devon about 20 miles ( they were only supposed to do 5 according to the schedule!!!) But we did have a lovely slice of chocolate cake at Mike's house at the end!! Thank you Sally!

I feel really small in the middle of these two!! At least I don't have to keep up with them as they are pretty fit now - well done guys you have done some awesome mileage - lets hope the kids go back to school soon and I can get some more miles under my belt in the next 4 weeks!!

Good luck Mike & Phil and have a glass of wine in Paris for me when you get there!!