Although Ride London this year is in Essex and not Surrey Hills, I choose to do just the 60 mile route due to my health (asthma again!). Which meant cycling out of the start at Westminster up through Epping and Ongar and then back to the finish at the Tower Bridge. I took Russ and Dave (the physio) and the bikes by car and we parked up near the Blind Beggar in Whitechapel – since the roads were all shut in Central London for the ride. After cycling as a group of three for a few miles Russ then took off and joined up with Evan and Gareth (who’d started…

Sept 5th 2021 A short trip away for me and Denise, with a stop at Aust on the way to share Freddie’s birthday. Freddie and me and Rich cycle across the Severn bridge to Chepstow and back. Sept 6th 2021 In the morning we set off to a small CL site at Dunmere, close to Bodmin. The nice thing about this CL site is it is limited to just 6 caravans/motorhomes and it’s a stone’s throw from the cycle path known as the Camel Trail. The camel trail runs from Bodmin to Padstow via Wadebridge. I’d cycle most mornings to Wadebridge along the Camel Trail for the ‘bread run’. Sept…

Somewhere else quite close by where we can escape for just a few days. We stayed at a very quiet site in the village of Hollesley, Run Cottage. From there we could catch the community bus into Woodbridge. However, the driver forgot to put the handbrake on with me and Denise inside when he went to pick up another passenger on the way – we careered off trapped in the bus slowly gathering speed- unable to open any door because of security and we fortunately ended up wedged in a hedge at the side of the road just as a truck was coming the opposite way! Nevertheless, we had a…

Another short break in Bertie, these two sites are becoming our ‘go to’ to get Bertie on the road each year. First up at Sandringham, just a 3 hour trip away from home and a nice site in the grounds of the royal estate. The only issue there is no 3g/4g signal at the site so a short bike ride up the road 1/2 mile and we can reach civilisation again. Feeling a lot better than the last time I was here when I was struggling with the asthma, so I take a beautiful quiet roads journey from the site up to Holkham Hall via Houghton Hall (about 20 miles…

We booked a pitch at a CAMC New Forest Centenary site, close to Bransgore and an old airfield at the back. Very nice site, quite new – and smack bang in the New Forest so that we could cycle straight into the forest. Just along from our site and adjoining another huge CACC club site, entrances like this are limiting cars (and ponies!) access. Lots of trails to find, even Denise on her e-bike could manage most of them, only if there was a sandy incline did she have trouble. Occasionally we’d come across a car, more often we’d see ponies like this. I no longer use Strava when I’m…

Russ was scheduled to compete in the Ironman Italy for this week, but as with most things it eventually got cancelled with a few weeks to go. Denise and I had planned to take Bertie over and meet up with my brother and Dixey and form a big support crew to cheer him on (Cervia, Italy). Oh well, maybe another time – instead Russ kept his holiday dates the same and I kept him occupied on a mini cycling tour in the south of the UK with Bertie. Yes, Russ took most of the photos whilst waiting for me – usually at the top of all of the climbs 🙂…

We decided to take Bertie away to somewhere new, not too far away under the circumstances. Denise and I have fond memories of Rye and the surrounding area from our childhood so we take a chance and select a CAMC club site located between Hastings and Rye. I took my hybrid bike and Denise had her e-bike – just as well because it is very hilly. I am still suffering a bit with my asthma so I took it carefully – even so I managed to get up a 25% incline without stopping – just! That was on a solo reccie ride, I daren’t let Denise tackle it, so I…

Continuing the social distancing outings with a return to our favourite site for just a few days, only 1.5 hours away from home! Can’t go to Europe, so we make the most of what we’ve got. This place is perfect for biking around the country lanes and lo! and behold we found a new country pub that we’ll definitely be going back to (The Eel’s Foot Inn, near RSPB Minsmere). We use Bertie’s shower mostly because we have a serviced pitch and so no need to carry water a long distance. I continue the story as usual with pictures …

Our first trip away since Covid-19 lockdown started. Had to cancel a mega tour of France and Spain in June/July 2020 (6 weeks in total) including catching the TdF once again at Ile de Re on the way back. Oh well, at least we are still able to get out and about now in the UK with some restrictions in place. Denise is recovering well from her third hip replacement (work that one out!) and actually cycling faster and further than me right now on her e-bike due to another damn chest infection that leaves me breathless getting up even the slightest hills – doh! We chose Sandringham because it…