The planned 7am breakfast then start unfortunately turned into us rolling out at about 8pm, the ride out of York was at a good pace as poor Sue had to work nights tonight & was being picked up from Bridligton at tea time, the conversations we mainly of who was going to be left behind due to fatigue & how much our backsides hurt & that we would not leave it as long being "out of the saddle" before the next challenge. We started on mainly "A" roads, this resulted in a lot of map checking *cough* & getting lost. Eventually we made our way back to the route only to find it took us onto what can only be described as a farmers field!
Again I had drawn the short straw when it came to choosing the right bike!!! As the rest of the team ploughed through the field on their bikes I was left behind weaving my bike around rocks & pot holes praying not to get my 1st puncture. Well the praying must have worked, not 1 puncture! The field was a pure shock, none had noticed this apparently on the map or while researching the ride "apparently", on the plus side my riding style to cycle over this field eased the pain caused on my backside, but it was not long before we hit tarmac on the way to Pocklington causing me to have to park my rear back on the seat.
Pocklington was our breakfast stop before our last climb of the challenge, fully refuelled Spud & Ian edged their bets on the best route out of Pocklington.
Todays Bonus? 50% chance of getting lost maybe??? A short ride soon lead to The Wolds!!! Looking out over the hills here never seems to stop amazing me, I have rode this route a few times although normally in the opposite direction. We have seen some great views over the last couple of days but here seemed special, weather it was the fact they were familiar to me or the knowing that we never had far left I dont know, but I put my head up & enjoyed the steady down hill ride into the valley.
Our route was right through the centre of these hills |
At the bottom of the valley I noticed a couple of bikes abandoned at the side of the road, as I slowed down there were faint sounds of moaning & groaning, slowing further I noticed a body on the other side of the hedge, then I noticed another! "GO ON MY SON" I shouted, bless their little cotton socks, I don't think they expected to see us riding past. Well that lifted our spirits to say the least as we started to climb, the climb was no were near as hard as the climbs that we had done over the last few days but knowing it was all flat at the top made it even more of a challenge. We were tired & soar, the lack of training had certainly taken its toll, I can safely say reaching the top was a relief as the gradient on the last 100 meters just sapped all the energy I had left, using the excuse of waiting for the others I pulled up at the top to rest.
AT LAST!!!! THE FLATS!!!
It was a strange feeling knowing we were closer to home than we were the finish line at Bridlington, but this was it, we could now have some fun! We were on my bikes territory now! With my backside in bits I had to stand up while riding for a bit, luckily for me the flats pumped a bit a adrenaline through me & gave the perfect excuse to put my camera in my bag, put my head down, backside up in the air & go hell for leather on this straight level road.Now, now guys, there is no need to be like that |
A couple of miles down the road we stopped for dinner & although the bar manager had to send his wife to the shop for sandwich fillings we successfully managed to get ourselves a sandwich without needing a mortgage or upsetting any of the locals in the process.
We compared our butt cheek pain levels then set on out on the final leg, all plain sailing!!! We thought!!!
DIVERSION!!!! But were soooo close to Brid!!! This diversion took us up some hills, yes hills we were not expecting. Dont get me wrong, the "what goes up must come down" saying was true to its word this time, but when a fun down hill section (ON A STRAIGHT ROAD) causes your 1 & ONLY puncture when you have just cycled over rocks, boulders & through farmers fields.... *deep breath* I'm just saying that one may get slightly annoyed knowing that we were so close to the finish.
Changing a flat on what can only be described as the farmers A1 that has no paths, (dam I have not seen as many tractors in one place in such a short space of time!) was not, lets say "Ideal".
Rolling hills followed more rolling hills, none of which could compare with their predecessors, but you have to take notice when you have just cycled (YES I CYCLED) up a hill to find this at the top:
A couple more names were etched to the cross, a couple of photos were taken to lighten the spirits & we were back on our way. Then we saw it! No not the sea, not yet:
BRIDLINGTON! The end was near. I went into a bit of a lull at this point as the fun was nearly over, I played the last few days back in my head as we rolled through the streets to the sea front. We had to stop at another diversion sight that sent us off the road & through a housing estate that had no roads. As we got off our bikes we attempted to push them over a busy main road. There was a chorus of "GO... NO NOT NOW," "AFTER THE RED ONE.... NO WAIT" This went on for a bit until Spud & Ian made it first across, Myself, Shanni & Sue made the next gap but only to the centre of the road. As myself & Sue decided to stop, Shanni continued to push her bike across. lol, I know you should not laugh, but seeing the guys face as Shanni just walked out on him, then seeing her "am I bothered face" look straight back at him, followed by Sue Shouting at the bloke as we walked across the road. The poor bloke!
A couple of uneventful miles brought us through the arch & on to the sea front. A brisk weave through holiday makers thinking they own the front parade lead us to the finish post, which happened to look very similar to one we had seen 177 miles ago. Yes I said 177 miles not the 170 it should have been, I blame the diversion at the end my Bridlington council not our self made scenic route we "chose" to take just to see more hills we could walk up! WE HAD MADE IT!!! Well I say we! Me, Shanni & Sue had made it, Where were Ian & Spud? I hear you ask, well I asked the exact same thing. Apparently they had stopped in the housing estate to "Check the map".
We waited...
And waited...
5 mins later they rolled up.
JUST IN TIME FOR OUR GROUP FINISHING SHOT...
BEFORE ...
Guess who came rolling in behind us with their "We'll ride at this pace all day" tail between their legs?
Bless Their little cotton socks, you should have seen their faces when they saw that we had beaten them to the finish. Talking to one of their Dads, he told us that they had even sett off on the same day from Morecambe. QUALITY!!!!! Eating humble pie we rode our lap of honour down the sea front straight to the pub!
But not before phoning The Wife!!!
A Pint turned into 2/4 *cough* 5? Does that sound about right? As we drunk on the front watching the sea roll in, we never once thought about how bad we smelt or even about how the hell 4 of us were going to get home on the train with bikes (Sue had to shoot off as she needed to get to work). Until we realised the last train was about to leave in 5 mins... That was the fun part, attempting to get our bikes to the station in 5mins after the equivalent of about 8 pints due to lack of food in our system. Arriving at the station with seconds to spare was a bonus until we say 3 other bikes also at the platform. Knowing that a carriage has only 2 bike holders we edged our bets & "squeezed" onto the train. All was well, the train set off, the ticket conductor accepted our request for tickets (even though in my drunkenness I dropped my £20 worth of change on the floor). All was well until a (lets say) "Ten bob Millionaire" made it her mission to get us kicked off the train as a safety hazard. A tirade of abuse came our way, which was returned with comments like:
"this is a working class train love, for working class people"
"your not in 1st class now love, welcome to cattle class"
The poor woman must have walked up & down the train at least 8 times to the toilet on the 2hr train ride, doing her best to push into our bikes every time. I wish I would have seen her face when not only 1 but 2 conductors told her to stop moaning as we were doing nothing wrong or even when after being asked by a child:
"My Mum thinks you lot are those famous people that are travelling around the world, ARE YOU? Cos she daren't ask."
Shannie replied with:
"No love, we are just friends that are trying to catch a train home after cycling from Morcambe to Bridlington for charity"
LOVE IT!!!!!!! She was very quiet after that.
So even right to the last breath of the last day, it was an eventful challenge, one that I was no where near prepared for. To be honest, Im so glad I wasn't. Hookway to Hookway was a personal challenge. I needed to complete it in the fastest time, I rode solo & I rode hard, I trained as best I could. This was FUN! Fun as in being a laugh, yes it was hard at times, I was kicked off my bike by hills last year I would have breezed, but I would not have changed it for the world. There were so many points where we stopped to make fun out of each other, give moral support & take make more fun out of the inflicted. WE HAD SUCH A LAUGH! While at the same time Spud & Shanni raised a shed load of cash for Yorkshire Cancer Research & Spuds sons football team.
A great ride with some great people! A ride that has given me the push to ride more, a ride more frequent.
Now time to plan a couple of my own challenges... Watch this space & THANK YOU for taking the time to read my little bog. :o)
Ill Leave you with the best advice I have ever received about cycling, the advice comes from Spud, well Spuds bike to be honest:
Martin