The Kennet Valley Run Feb 2011

A few minutes into the ride and urban_biker proved to be right: "The sun will come out" he said at the start. After that, it didn't matter any more that we had a few showers.

At the halfway point, we sat in the Old Stable tea rooms, the sun shining through ... I was keen to get out on the bike again and enjoy the countryside, and the tailwind!

Old Stable Tea Rooms

Wiltshire scenery is great and I always like the area around Welford, with the round towered church St Gregory's (Round Towered Churches). Some of these roads we ride in reverse direction on the Willy Warmer. It is a lovely, lovely area.

Like last year, there were many punctures, and a repeat of a frame breaking. The roads are still quite flinty (that's right), scoggy (Manotea's word, as we now know, doesn't exist), floody (no such word?), holy (not the right word either?) .... I will take off the winter tyres for the next ride though, the Dean, at the end of March.

I made good time, just over 12 hours for an over distance 200. I very much enjoyed the ride, which I had been looking forward to enormously. The Dean seems such long way off. Maybe I should register for the FNRttC to Southend after all... The original plan was to ride it with friends Mandy and Rob, but when Mandy came off her bike a broke a bone near her knee, I mentally crossed the ride off my list.

I promised myself to take pictures and not worry about time limits. Normally I quite like the look of old, derelict, abandoned buildings. There were a few, where my initial instinct was to stop, but a split second later I had images of crumbled buildings in Christchurch NZ in front of me and so rolled on.

Thank you to the organisers for the event and for the great reception at head quarters. Was able to speak dove Dutch with Marijke.

A few more thoughts:

• Meeting Mel at the start! He said he is changing his approach.
• Thanks to LycraMan for guiding me to Bratton after my GPS problems
• Thanks to Tom/Deniece for lending routesheet at Bratton
• No thanks to myself for ending up without GPS and routesheet
• Faccombe 5 gathering is always good
• Howard's tweet
• Thinking Bratton is not so far from Weston super Mare
• Thinking home to Weston super Mare is do-able, get there for lunch ... hmmm
• The Old Thatched Cottage looks like a restaurant option in Weston
• Did I not need to fill a few gaps between June and July?

The pictures are on the slideshow till the next ride or here: Clicky

27 Feb - The Kennet Valley Run 200 - Sunday Update

Last week LEE wrote on the forum: "I'm on the PBP2011 treadmill as of 07:30 on Saturday (along with the rest of the Faccombe 5)". I wasn't sure if he was referring to the Faccombe 5 being on the Kennet Valley Run on Saturday; or the Faccombe 5 being on the PBP2011 treadmill. Anyway, he would have been right on both counts. I have been given the official go ahead by all affected parties, and came out with my 'I'm doing PBP' statement for the first time.

This is great! A whole 18 months of planning, anticipation, excitement, fear, ambition, milestones, doubts and reading PBP threads.

And we're off, the Kennet Valley Run ... done. Its an excellent route with great scenery. Shame about the rain in the first leg, but I don't expect any less any more! Pompey Phil and I were laughing, it was such a strong downpour. We stopped in a bus shelter for a while, as I wanted to put my cap back on to keep the rain off my glasses. Had something to eat also because I was fading a bit.

And when the sun came out, it was brilliant. The sound of sky larks was wonderful. With that and the snowdrops and crocuses, you get the feeling spring is here. Saw a couple of kites on the way back also. Maybe this is their new extended boundary?

There were many punctures and mechanicals again. RichForrest had the worst of it when his recumbent tried to transform into a foldable: Clicky. There were many blessing is disguise for him, it could have been so much worse in timing and location.

Hummers also had a rear tyre blow out which set him back, but nothing so bad that he wouldn't catch up with me again at the Tutti Pole. I think he restrained himself when ordering from the waitress, but there was still plenty of non-verbal innuendo going on!

Last year, I had a dozy patch after the half way mark. Doing the ride for a second time, I can understand why. Its certainly hilly on the way into Bratton. The nice tailwind helped us out of the hills on the way back this time.

I took the obligatory church picture which was St Marys at Great Bedwyn. And here is obligatory follow up history: "The present church of St Mary's was started in 1092 and took about 200 years to build. Beneath the church are the massive remains of a Saxon church begun in 905. The south transept houses the 14th Century tombs of Sir Adam de Stokke and his son, Sir John. In the chancel is a memorial to Edward Seymour, father of King Henry VIII's wife Jane, and later Lord Protector to the young Edward VI. The bells are one of the heaviest "rings" in Wiltshire - the tenor bell weighs over a tonne."

Wiltshire white horse, but which one?

Other photos are on the slideshow till the next ride or here: Clicky

27 Feb - The Kennet Valley Run 200

I've entered this popular audax: the Kennet Valley Run, a repeat of last year's February ride. The route goes from Grazeley (south of Reading), running south of Newbury, out to Bratton and back, running north of Newbury.

I am not going to look at the weather forecast at all this week!