What a year ... 2017 Part II

Off the bike we have had a fortunate and enjoyable, if sometimes hectic, year too.

Early February saw us back in Meribel for a week sliding around on bits of laminated plastic. We are nowhere near as bad as I make out, so let's just come out and call it skiing. There is no proof of course, because each year we return with a few pictures on a ski lift or standing in a line half-way down the 'golf'. 

The 2017 version of half-way down the golf - me, Molly, Sara, Elly and Lucy. Brother Paul behind the camera. On the way for coffee probably.

.
No sooner have we serviced the skis, we are then flat-out making final arrangement for a wedding - OURS ! Molly had finally given in ...

.
We decided to have a quiet wedding and avoid the big-ceremony thing on the basis that we had both been there before. Different things become important as you get older. We arranged to get married at the Mansion House in Tunbridge Wells on June 11th at 11:00.   

We had decided that Logan, our eldest Grandson aged five, could perform the Best Man duties - all we had to work out was how we could make sure he didn't lose the rings. We need not have worried as, unknown to us, he had a plan. The rings went into his right pocket in a draw string bag but when he was asked for them, he pulled out two Haribo rings from his left pocket. The straight-face was held right up to the point when the picture was taken and everyone fell about laughing. Great timing and delivery young man ... :-) 

.
We then traveled to Horsted Place for (more) photographs, drinks and lunch. The guys at Horsted couldn't have done any more for us either and we had a fabulous afternoon. 

Garry, Ellena, Grant, Jemma, Molly, Kailah, me, Logan, Chris, Max, Toni, Alexis, Simon, Sharon and Leonie getting jaw-ache on the lawn. 

Molly had decided that it would be a good idea to get married on my birthday so I shouldn't forget the anniversary in the future. It's a sound plan, but it meant that, along with the wedding celebration I had a bucket-load of presents to open too. June was turning out to be mostly about me. 

It was  an unforgettable day and we have some treasured memories. 

To compensate for the quiet wedding we thought we would have a loud celebration. We had arranged to have the party in a wood on the side of a hill but had to wait until after the first cut of silage to get access ! This had happened by the end of week three in June for nine out of the last ten years, so we decided to go for the longest weekend, June 24th, and hope for the best. 

Molly and I spent a few days at the site. Preparing the camping areas, getting the signs in and sorting out the recycling arrangemtnts and portaloos ! Then we were in the wood - firstly, with the brush cutter clearing the last year's growth and then wheel-barrowing and spreading a ton and half of bark chippings.  At the end of day three we were knackered but the blank canvas was ready. The view from the disco shack ...
.

In went the tent, the mobile bar, a million lights, straw bales for seating and the dance floor. Sharon, Laura, Molly and Leonie putting final touches to the decorations with Simon, Brendan and Will sorting the drinking facilities in the background.

I collected the generator and had a dry-run with the lights and music system and we are almost ready.

Catering was provided by spit-roasting a pig and a hoggit, slowly cooked over two fire pits dug into the adjacent field. 

We were so close to having a smooth run-in but the weather reminded us that we were in the lap of the gods with this event and the wind got up right at the last moment. One tent went down the field and the other tipped over into the wood and, when we pulled it back, it toppled over onto the van. It looked like we had one extra job to do on the day of the celebration ... once we had located enough ground anchors to tie the tents down. 

.
Despite last-minute jobs, another great day followed in our charmed life and we had a fabulous time with lots of great friends, but were too busy to take many photographs. 

Molly, Jemma, Matt, Louise and I finally turned off the music, stopped the generator and returned to our tents at 03:00. 

The clear-up was completed and as the dust settled on the wedding I am off to enjoy another birthday present. The very kind guys at work had clubbed together for a Falconry experience and for a few extra quid I took Molly along as observer and photographer.

.
A great day with Golden Eagles, African burrowing owl, Kestrel, Peregrine, Gyrfalcon, Harris Hawk (above), Barn Owl and the most amazing marmalade Tawny owl - a natural colour variation that is quite rare.  

.
My time was coming to a close, thankfully for everyone else, and the 60th birthday celebrations abated by the middle of July. They lasted a full month. I am so grateful to everyone for their kind thoughts and presents and, especially to Molly, for being there to film most of it :-)

September brought another milestone as Molly celebrated her xx th birthday. I surprised her with a keeper day at Howletts in the big cat section and duly dropped her off with a packed lunch first-thing. I had the morning to myself to wander round the zoo and bumped into Molly inside the Wolves enclosure cleaning the windows with the animals standing in the trees watching her ! We then met for lunch and I accompanied her to feed the animals armed with the camera.

It was brilliant getting so close to these magnificent animals and Molly was like a kid in a sweet shop. Snow Leopard's are a particular favourite. 

Molly was up close and personal with the Lions, Leopard, Clouded Leopard, the Pallas cats and the elusive Fishing Cat - seen for the first time despite many trips to this particular wildlife park. 


The grand finale was perhaps the most magnificent of the big cats ...

.
A big male Siberian tiger, ever so gently, nibbling raw antelope from Molly's tweezers ! 
.
Actually I lied - my birthday treats didn't finish in July I had one more to enjoy. Having failed to get tickets for the 2017 Steely Dan tour I was running out of time to see my favourite band. Imagine my joy when one of my presents - opened at the wedding lunch - were tickets to see them with the Doobies in support. Molly didn't mind giving this a miss and I took Jemma. Wow, simply wow - there are insufficient superlatives for the founders of modern music. I'll move on because most of you do not understand. 
.
We got round to a honeymoon (of sorts) in later November. We visited Cape Verde for an eleven day, feet-up, all inclusive type of holiday. We went to yoga first-thing most days before over indulging on everything - sun, sea, sand, gin, food and reading. We took the diving gear but after seeing the dive boat anchor in the same spot for three days on the trot we decided to give it a miss. We had a good break, but it wasn't really a honeymoon. Perhaps we'll do that next year ...

What a year ... 2017

Well, so much has happened (on and off the bike) in 2017 that we haven't had time to update the blog ! There are a few drafts about to be published in quick succession.

On the bike first of all ...

The Haywards Heath Howler came first. A local sportive starting at Ardingly that was too convenient to miss. Early season events are generally a bit shorter and so the girls booked into the 40 and the chaps did the 85. It sounded like I was the only one who had been putting a few miles in over the winter because there was a lot of puffing going on 'behind' me throughout most of the event. It is a tricky little ride with no massive climbs but lots of ups and downs and a nasty finish - making it really hard to get into any sort of rhythm. This set a marker for the remainder of the year as we had a few things going on and we would need to up our game a bit.

Training continued after this with a mix of group-rides with Molly and the coffee drinkers of Group 2, as well as the longer, more serious Group 5 rides. Molly increases the mileage as she has booked into the New Forest 60 miler in late summer.  

Leonie, Molly, Laura and Sharon in club training mode ...
.

..
London to Brighton was next and Laura has gone from horse rider to bike goddess in super-quick time after bagging a £250 bargain off a local sales site in preparation for her first sponsored ride (in fact, her first real ride). We fit in some extra training rides, including a nice 'easy' test 50-miler and I am sure we are good to go by the start of June. 
.

.
The weekend of the ride I have a slight issue because we attend a friend's 60th birthday in Berkshire the night before the ride and don't get home until about 01:00. I have already decided that it would be good training for me to ride up to Coulsdon to intercept Laura and Bec and then ride down to Brighton with them, so it is a shade less than four hours sleep before I set off on the first 40 miles to meet the girls. I am a few minutes late getting to the RV but the girls are even later, trying to negotiate the route with several thousand others. We get-together by just after 08:00 and are swept south by the unstoppable tide of other riders. A couple of hours later, Laura's family greet us en-route with some extra flapjacks and, further on, husband Ian and the kids are waiting in Ditchling with the support banners. 

Laura and Bec being greeted by Harry, Arthur and Alf. 
.

.
Luckily, the road has been closed to traffic up Ditchling Beacon especially for the event. We weave in and out of pushers, peddlers, sprinters and moaners and grind our way up to the top of the South Downs. Bec spins quietly past the the thirty-something pushing a £5000 bike on her old commuting-bike complete with slightly rusty chain and rack on the back ! A classic moment. With the major climb out of the way it is an easy and victorious bimble into Brighton. The organizers try to hang a medal round my neck at the finish line - but I hand it back and told the girl that I wasn't on the ride officially and had only joined Laura and Bec just up the road.  

A great ride in perfect weather. Molly picks us up afterwards and off for a BBQ to celebrate. A fantastic effort from Laura and Bec raising loads of cash for charity. 

I don't quite know how it happened but June arrives and I appear to be 60 all of a sudden. I was caught out at the start of the month by last-minute instructions to be 'ready for pick-up, Saturday 08:00, bring bike'. Simon (right, below) picks me up and we had a birthday breakfast (fry-up)at the Wheatsheaf, followed by two laps of Bedgebury in the sunshine, then beer on the way back. Then a shower ... and more beer ! The celebration had started.
.

.
Me, Martin, Richard, Johnny and Simon enjoying mid-ride latte and cake. Picture courtesy of a random.

A lot of my mates ride but we have different tastes, so i thought we would have a weekend away with bit of something for everyone. Day 1 we are at Bike Park Wales for an uplift day. 

Paul, Duncan, Dick, Adrian, Andrew, Brian, Jon, Chris, Simon, Richard and me. The other Andrew had yet to arrive ...
.

.
I am a bit of a tight-arse / bore when it comes to this sort of thing and would rather save £30 and ride up all day but I have to say it's amazing how much fun it is and it did allow us to save the legs for days 2 and 3.
.

.
After finishing off in Merthyr Tydfil, we all leave for two days wild riding in my favourite place - Rhayader.  I can bang on about this place at length, but I just love it. Off the beaten track, quiet, rough, wild, tough. We stay with Paul at the Horseshoe and enjoy some excellent food just round the corner at Lamb and Flag. A few of the gravity-lovers will pull a sickie on day 3, so I decide that day 2 should include three of the four signature climbs in the area. We follow the NCR up the old railway, then spin up the tough bridleway to Talwyn Woods, lose most of the height almost immediately in order to drag ourselves up Puke Hill and then later in the afternoon, finish ourselves off with the grassy grind that is Bonk Hill. The rewards is a blast down the golf links and some beer. A classic route that I will never tire of riding round.

The 'other' Andrew, Simon, Duncan, Chris, Brian, Jon, me and Richard about to enjoy the descent at the end of a great day.
.

.
As predicated, day 3 was a less-well attended and the hard-core set off up the golf links for the tough but rewarding climb to the mountain road, through the ford and then across to the equally tough (but short) climb onto Rhydoldog. A remote area, less well trodden by the visitors to the area and, as usual, we saw no-one. A great descent, followed by a detour via the oak wood to finish. We even had time to clean the bikes before we drove home. 

The Wealden cycle contingent after the last climb of the weekend. Photo taken by (the other) Andrew - the only other rider to make it.
.

.
September saw our return to the New Forest Sportive and the girls had decided to increase the distance again and opted for the 60 miler. Simon and I decided to ride with them and we had a great day out.  
.

.
It was a good training session too because I decided to ride the single-speed mountain bike ! I managed to get up all the hills, although there was only one steep one that was thankfully short. I can sustain 16 mph for several hours, but struggled with the odd bursts of 20+ mph. Thanks for waiting Molly.

Hard on the heels of the New Forest, we are off to northern France for a weekend in the delightful Tournehem sur la Hem. A splendid relaxed weekend with good friends. 

Me, Simon, Sue, Mark, Leonie, Richard, Sharon and Molly waiting for the arrival of lunch  in the old walled-city of Boulogne sue Mer. 
.

.
We re-visited a couple of tough climbs that the girls had struggled on during the last visit (admittedly it was really hot last time) and they cracked them all no problem this time round. About 125 miles over three days and the last 'event' of the year. 

Well, almost. We had one more milestone left although I didn't know it was coming. I got a Whatsapp from Molly at work with the gurning faces of her and Sharon at some random roadside on Ashdown Forest. It wasn't until later that I learned that they had been for a quick spin and ridden (all the way) up 'the wall' aka Kidds Hill. 
.

.
This is a toughie and included in the top 100 road climbs in the UK and, I reckon, on a par with Ditchling Beacon. Just a mile long from the bridge at the bottom to the very top, but is it pretty relentless. Picture above is the top third. Respect.

There is just one date in the diary, so far, for next year and it is the 60 mile 'Ride-the-Night' event in aid of Breast Cancer. Leonie, Molly and Sharon are enrolled; Richard,Simon and I will provide support. This event is in late Spring, so at this stage we are just thinking about training ...