the 'home2home' ride

nottingham to newport, according to google map, is 141m ...if you don't get lost.

monday morning, don't snooze, don't think, just get up. coffee, muesli, gingerbread man. check out the window, still no rain. no excuse not to go. out the door and pedaling by 06:00.

moved by the romanticized pain and suffering of le tour i fancied a big ol' road ride. as usual the idea was great but my planning was poor. road bike not in a fit a state for the distance, so slicks fitted to the lean, mean, commuting machine. route plotting consisted of getting walking directions from google map. 24 pages of instructions to be exact. i was ready for a long day in the saddle....

still in nottingham, and first turning missed. brain still asleep. on to castle donnington and i find myself riding down a slip road to the m1. wake up time. back on route and heading to (adrian) mole country. flat green fields and bright yellow corn, the tarmac winds its way through sleepy villages. 4x4's and jag's being driven too fast, country pubs and flies in my eyes.

a couple of jelly babies and by 11 o'clock i'm just south of of birmingham. the sun is shining and all is well. a pause for marmite sandwiches (freshly made this time) and i'm rolling on the first bit of duel carriage way towards evesham. typically, i manage to cycle 7m in the wrong direction. that makes 14m of superfluous, death defying dual carriageway. oh well, keep on pedaling.

when i finally reach evesham i stop for a pint of coke. and a pint of water. oh, and a bag of cheese and onion crisps....oh, and can i have a bag of peanuts as well please. the bar keep comments that i've put my good work to waste with all those calories.

sat outside someone asks me for directions, ha, i nearly choke on a dry roast peanut. a local bar fly asks where i'm heading. i realsie that newport sounds ridiculous, so plump for chepstow. "what! today, on that? it's about 140m!" i hope he's wrong, it should only be about 70m from here.

rollin', rollin', rollin'. some more missed turns and cursings of google map directions. a realisation that a more comprehensive map, or a map, would be really useful. in a village somewhere near cheltnam i break. mind fuzzing around the edges, nothing makes sense anymore and i've been up and down the same stretch of road for the last 30 minutes.

i phone home. jane manages to work out where i am, despite me not being able to remember how many times i've crossed to motorway or give her any road names. printed directions are now scrapped. jane gets me moving and soon i'm on the roads i know. i spot my first sign for newport. only 43m.

the genius of this route 'planning' is all the climbing is in the last 30m. brilliant. but climbs mean descents and i'm going as fast as i dare. the severn estuary is on my left and it's a stunning evening for fast corners on skinny(ish) tyres.

more coke, another sandwich, another fly in the eye. the sun's setting as i finally cross the boarder into wales. this really does feel like the home straight now, only 10m to go. dark, car-less lanes lead me to the final turn. i've never been so pleased to see my parents house.

just over 16hours in the saddle, approximately 158m ridden, numerous wrong turns, slight sunburn, not a single puncture and a smile from ear to ear. first tick off the list. tidy.