deepest darkest somerset

So today, I had a WHOLE day to myself, and decided to tackle route 24 again. 9am saw me loading thing to the car (on new bike rack very kindly lent and fixed by neighbour Geoff), and setting off towards Great Elm.



And yes, I took my camera with me. This is the start of the cycle route. Well that's a bit of a fib. Its the start of the off road bit - on the disused railway.




The joy, I thought, about this route compared to previously tried routes, was that being on a disused railway it would be flat. Well. no. Not exactly. Fair to say it was considerably flatter than the route TO Great Elm, but the first 200 yards or so was very definitely up, and when you haven't cycled (or done any other form of exercise for that matter) for a fortnight, this is NOT a good warm up option.

Anyway, I made it. And I took pictures WHILE cycling.....see? I really do actually cycle sometimes....




So, the path from Great Elm to Radstock was largely tarmac, with trees or open fields for scenery, largely flat, and lined with beautiful wild flowers. Just in case we were in any doubt that it was indeed an old railway line they left a couple of reminders:




Once I got to Radstock I felt fine, so decided to carry on. The signs said that Shoscombe was 1.5 miles, and Wellow 4.5 miles. i decided to aim for Shoscombe and see what happened. The route immediately leaving Radstock was far from the pretty idle I had approached it from. Track ran alongside big industrial warehouses, separated by aggressive metal fencing, and lined on the other side by walls adorned with graffiti. About a mile in I spotted a sign which said "CAUTION STEEP GRADIENT 1.5 MILES AHEAD". Bracing myself, I thought I would approach before making the decision. Well, when I got there, it was nothing! so I free wheeled down and was glad to find myself once again in open country. The track led onto roads after a way, and the hill into Shoscombe village is pretty hefty, but I am proud o say I managed it without walking! and seeing as I felt fine, I just carried on into Wellow.

Yes really. Wellow! By road this is 12.5 miles from my front door, and by bike on the cycle path it was something similar. I explored a little, particularly down to see the DEEP FORD that was sign posted...


Clearly a ford no more thanks to a great huge slab of concrete. This seemed almost barbaric to me, in an area of such beauty. Surely if the ford was proving too tricky for today's electrically managed motors, there had to be a more attractive and environmentally friendly way of bridge building?

Anyway, after a scout around and deciding that if the pub was going to open at all today, it clearly wouldn't be for another hour and there was not enough to keep me occupied for that long, I took this picture (evidence!) and set off back towards Radstock.




Ah, maybe I should explain the Pig. Well, actually THIS will explain it far better than I ever could. I particularly liked this one though, as he was covered in mini self-portraits. Obviously a pig with high self esteem. Something similar was done with cows a couple of years ago I believe.

Anyway, about a mile and half outside Wellow, just when I was congratulating Thing on behaving himself so well (despite kicking off Jacks seat when I loaded him on the car - but I didn't really mind this as it made the whole getting on and off scenario so much easier...), when he had a strop. Chain jam. Full on proper proper jammed. again. I pulled, tugged, turned Thing on a number of varying angles and pulled and tugged again using hands and feet but resisting at using teeth. Shouted swore (yes Mum I do sorry!) started to cry and then told myself not to be so stupid. Then sulked a little. Hmph. Bloody Thing (see!) After walking for about 50 yards I got fed up and tried again. No luck. Then I decided to see I if could force the chain out of its hiding place by getting on and riding. Riding with a jammed chain is interesting; you have to pedal frantically backwards and forwards as far as possible each time (not very far) and keeping balance is tricky to say the least. So I started walking again. Then accosted a very friendly a nice man (but slightly daft obviously as was not wearing a helmet) who abandoned his ride for 10 minutes to try and prize chain out with a screw driver. After he started looking decidedly flustered I thanked him and assured him I would be fine to walk into Radstock and then get a cab to the car, then go pick up bike etc. Let me tell you I was in a STROP. Blinking Thing. I started wondering how on earth I was supposed to train and decided that I would HAVE to buy a new bike. Then I wheeled thing backwards about a centimetre. Just as a by product of scratching my neck or something equally bizarre. And out popped the chain. Just like that.

By this point I was not only exhausted and sore in places I really didn't want to be sore, I was also starving hungry and covered in oil. Black hands. Totally. That's what happens when you grab a bike chain with both hands and pull while standing on another part of it. On the way in to Radstock I had seen a sign for a pub, so decided to go off the path for a bit and grab a bite to eat there.


So I did. And how exciting, Kilmersdon is the home to the REAL LIVE Jack and Jill hill! Check out THIS for information and THIS for photos...

The pub served me very well, and I headed wearily off to complete the last 4 miles or so back to the car. Needless to say it was the hardest four miles of the day having sat down for half an hour.

Phew. I recon it was about 35 km in total, which is just over 20 miles. This is double any of my previous trips, but not even half of what I will need to do each day in Cuba. Blinking heck. Better keep practicing.

nearly!

At the end of last week I received a letter. It scared the hell out of me.

"FOUR WEEKS UNTIL FUNDRAISING DEADLINE"

...is what it said. Well flip.

Actually we aren't doing too badly. A quick glance at our Just Giving page will show you that we are only £1789.83 away from our joint £12000 target. Now I know that sounds a lot, but I believe Caz has some ferreted away in her sock drawer or something, so it's actually less than that.....but there is still a bit more to get none the less.

SO, please help! Get a sponsor from from one of us and take it into work, or go knock on your neighbours doors and smile sweetly at them!

Its a race to the finish!....

Uncharted territory.

I did it! I spent the whole day at work procrastinating and more dithering and talking myself into and out of cycling tonight. It was rainy, I was tired, I have other things to do (like grocery shopping - hardly fun!) but I need to train. Like really NEED to train!

So I got home from work, and practically walked in the front door and out the back (just taking long enough in between to admire my front room which my wonderful parents have finished decorating for me today, and to ring and thank them while devouring far to much clotted cream shortbread.) I know I know, clotted cream shortbread is not the usual pre-workout low GI index slow release energy source food for top athletes. But I'd recommend it! And anyway. I'm not a top athlete. (no, really!)

Once on the bike I remembered I had completely forgotten how the heck to work my little bike computer that tells me clever things like how far I've gone and average speed. Hey ho. Thank goodness for maths and mapmyrun.com! I also donned my camelbak (courtesy of Graeme) for the first time. This is an ex-military camelbak in proper khaki camouflage. Oh yes. I'm practically a pro with that on. Except when I actually tried to drink from it WHILE cycling. And nearly choked and fell off the bike. whoops. It takes practice you know! And I pride myself on my multi-tasking abilities, but cycling and swallowing was definitely a new challenge! (I conquered it by the end tho!)

So, the above map shows my route. Now the reason this was uncharted, is because I had a vague notion of trying to find the colliery way cycle route to Radstock, but wasn't entirely sure of the route. Whereas my previous long route I had run, so I knew every hill every turn, every pot hole. This I had driven part of. About a year ago.

So I headed off towards Great Elm, wondering what things would hold. Going out of Frome on that road is exhausting. Its a long slow drag all the way from my door. When I FINALLY reached the top of the hill my first thought was "Thank Heavens" and my second was "if I go down that I have to come up again" swiftly followed by my third "maybe I'll just turn around and go home - then its all down and no more up". However, I bravely pedaled on....well actually I wimped out completely in that the gradient of the hill (downwards) was so steep I braked all the way down! It was a long lovely down. And at least I kept going forwards. I had by this point decided that I would attempt to do a loop, rather than face a hill that had scared me going down - going up. Sometimes for-warned is fore-scared, and I decided I'd rather tackle hills that I didn't know just how steep and long they were rather than tackle one which I knew had scared the bejeezers out of me on the way down, and I would almost certainly fail to get up! Better the devil you don't know.

The next little bit was lovely, until you cross the river and have to go through Great Elm Village. Now that, ladies and gentlemen. Is a hill. A HILL. A STEEP LONG BIG HUGE SCARY HILL.

I walked.

Well sorry, but I figured getting home in one piece was quite important. And I doubted I would do that if I attempted to cycle anymore once I had lost the ability to keep breathing. Caz has the right idea you know. She lives within feet of the south coast. That means mile upon beautiful mile of FLAT road / promenade / cycle path just begging to be trained on. FLAT. Humph. I'm not jealous at all. (really).

So anyway, by the time I was going through Great Elm village (its really beautiful - if you haven't ever been I recommend a stroll through) I was on the lookout for cycle path signs. I finally spotted some for Route 24 at the very top of the hill - pointing away from Frome much to my frustration! My great mistake, I was realising at this point, was that I hadn't bought a map. I had slipped my mobile and credit card and door key into my pocket. But no map. eeek. Still, I do have a fairly good sense of direction so I just bravely plodded on. It was at this point that I truly knew I was in the depths of the Somerset countryside. Or should I say 'Zummerrzet Countrrey Soide'? I got stuck behind cows. Dozens and dozens of them. All being herded along by a lovely farmer who I swear was 80 years old if he was a day, sometimes using his stick to walk with and sometimes whacking a stubborn cow on the rump and saying "Com on myy byeuteee, tharts the wayyyy". Or something like that. What a great excuse to slow down again! Once the cows had sidetracked into their destined field, I pedaled off, on this now unknown lane - never been there before in my life, feeling like I was in the middle of nowhere. It was hard to believe that I was only half an hour from my suburban front door. Beautiful, stunning scenery. Honestly people, you have to get out of your cars, get on your bikes, or get your walking boots out and start really exploring where you live. I could have lived in Frome for years and not found this if I just got in my car all the time. Go in search of your local treasures. I wish I could find a way of securing my camera to my bike so I could snap pictures to share with you - maybe I will yet, but stopping to take pictures every so often isn't very practical (although a great excuse to have a breather....hmmm!) All of a sudden here it was. The track passed under a bridge, a disused railway bridge, and the cycle path started at the end of it, and ran up to join the railway! I cycled up it 100 yards or so, and found a map! Hurrah for sustrans. What wonderful people! I saw that I was 1 mile due South of Buckland Dinham, and so decided to head on up to there (abandoning the cycle path this time) and then back into Frome on the Vallis road.

Thanks to that map and my wonderful sense of direction I was only slightly flustered when I got to an unsigned junction I hadn't bargained for, and followed my gut by turning right - east - towards Frome. I will have to admit to the being more than slightly swayed as well by the fact that although I was 85% sure this WAS east and therefore the way to Frome, I was 100% sure it was DOWN (west being up!) so headed off. As I came into Buckland Dinham I had the best treat of the evening. The swallows. Loads of them, all swooping a gliding, coming REALLY close to me and seeming completely unperturbed by me and thing. It felt something like I imagine it must feel to swim alongside dolphins. I am sure they were keeping me company for a bit. Stunning.

So there you have it. 7.5 miles or so, not my longest, but my hilliest by far. If you have a look at the map click on the bit where is says 'show elevation', and you'll see. I hope you're impressed. I am!

P.S. There seems to be some trouble embedding the map - so here's a button so you can go look at it on the MMR page...

Dithering.

So this afternoon, I have that rare commodity that is time to myself.

I have had a friend Lena staying since Thursday, and the boys all week, and today has seen the boys being whisked off to the Dorset coast at 9.30, and Lena leaving at 2. As I knew I would have the afternoon to myself (this is something of a shell shock after being with lovely people for a while) I planned to cycle. A real, proper, training sort of ride. What I had forgotten to bargain for was this spectacular English summer we are having.

I am such a fair weather sort of cyclist.

And so, right now it is 3pm, I am sitting in my cycling gear, ready for the off. But it is pouring. Three times in the last hour I have looked out the window, seen that the rain had died down a little from torrential downpour to drizzle, stood up. started moving to get things ready to go - and by the time I got to the back door in the kitchen we were back at downpour status. And three times I have returned to the computer. I have played all my moves in scrabulous, updated my face book status, sent a message trying to organise my social life, downloaded FireFox, looked up the sustrans website to get a grip of where the off-road cycle path actually starts in great elm. And now I am writing this.

The thought of going out for a cycle ride really appeals - in the sun! The thought of going somewhere that I really don't quite know how to get to, and spending two hours soaking wet fighting the wind and aching in the process; does not.

I clearly have a choice, I can either stop in and work today, (I have lots to do!), or I can go despite the rain and in hope of sunshine. The trouble is I can't even decide whether to try and cycle to the start of the cycle path at Great Elm or to drive there!

So I have, instead, spent the last hour dithering and continue to do so.I have now put a jacket potato in the oven as I am in need of sustenance, and will work until that is devoured and then re-assess the situation.

I still have tomorrow evening - so maybe I will go then.....