Day 214
Marion
So just over a month waiting out winter, catching up with editing the films, sorting kit and bike jobs, it’s been pretty full on.
And then there’s the really important stuff, spending time with friends and family. One friend, Jackie S, said nothing will change while we are away, and to a certain extent she was right. We’ve stayed with friends and family, and it all feels just as it was. Except of course nothing really stays the same.
Today we have set out on a 3-day, 150 mile mini-tour. We need to regain some fitness, lose some of the weight we’ve regained and bed in Tom’s saddle!
We started by saying our goodbyes to Tom’s parents, Brian and Sue. Both are 82, and clearly by being away touring we are sacrificing our time with them. It’s a hard choice, and though they are fully supportive, it really hit me as we left them, we are not going to be around for several years.
The ride today was interesting. Nice weather, but far too many cars. Most had read the Highway Code and more-or-less gave us enough room. They didn’t slow down though. Then a good 10% just simply drove along as if Tom and I were not there, or did not deserve any consideration. A handful clearly thought today was the day they bagged a cyclist I wonder why is it that a normally perfectly nice person, who if you handed them a hammer and asked them to whack Tom and I with it, would be horrified, but will happily put us, themselves and the car coming towards them in serious danger of being hit by their car. Come on folks, slow down, you will get there more or less as quick and life will be some much better for us all.
Trying to block out the cars we focused on the ride. My new Garmin tells me everything I could possibly want to know about the hills, and I simply love it! We know the % of the hill, maxed out at 13% don’t you know!
We saw signs for a diversion, and even when it said the word ‘bridge’ we were confident we would get through. We couldn’t, there simply was no road to cycle on. Even Tom’s Google search for another way round didn’t work, we ended up in a farm yard.
5 miles later we were back on track. We really didn’t need it today, but at least we had no punctures! We also found a couple of bus shelters with seats just when we needed them, and the sun came out for a bit too.
We were pretty happy when we arrived at the Crown Plaza in Marlow. Very smart place, very friendly receptionist and somewhere to store the bikes. The tab for tonight is being picked up by my old neighbours in Ridge Green. They gave us a voucher before we left. As we relaxed I decided to send my thanks to them. Unfortunately our WhatsApp group was full of sad messages. Marion, our fantastic friend, had died that afternoon as we cycled along. So we raised a glass to a wonderful lady and reflected that some things do change. We will miss you Marion.
