Ride to Malvern

Dave, Keith and I, thought we would stretch our legs with a little ride to Malvern. 'Only 60 miles round trip', proclaims Keith. Only indeed....!

We set off From Dave's abode shortly after 9am heading towards Stourbridge. Dave in the lead, with Keith bringing up the rear. We breezed past Stourbridge and were soon on top of the M5. Our route would take us through Bromsgrove and Droitwich, chasing the A38 through Worcester, to Dave's caravan just short of Malvern. It was incredibly tempting to turn right onto the M5 making a more direct route, however, I'm sure the motorway police would be none too impressed (especially that Scottish copper in that lorry from the telly!)



Dave's House



The first few miles were a bit of a grind, shaking off the 'rust' and getting my muscles up to temperature. But after that, automatic pilot clicked on and, and it was down to the odd short steep incline to remind us that we were still on bikes! I say us, I don't think Keith even knew he was on a bike! The guy is a machine! He was like a magnet, no more than two feet behind us at any time! He hadn't broken out in a sweat, I don't even think he was out of breath! Now for those of you who don't know Keith, this guy is in his early 50s, so to be bombing up and down the many hills of Worcestershire at the pace he was going at, was truly astonishing!

Keith never would give up the cycling!

A little over two hours saw us at our destination. The only time we really stopped, was for what seemed like the 100s of traffic lights we kept getting caught at! Dave's caravan is currently in storage (and is for sale if anyone is interested, 5 berth, 6 years old with outside toilet!!) so there was no hot lunch waiting for us. Dave had smuggled some tea bags and little milk cartons amongst his person, and a hot cuppa was soon being enjoyed. This is where the most difficult part of the journey hit us; trying to work out how the self timer on Keith's camera worked. The three of us must have been scratching our heads for 10 minutes trying to work the blooming thing out. We finally got there in the end after a few snaps of the ground and a passing pigeon we had success. Hopefully a couple of photos of us lined up in the drizzle by the caravan will soon be posted!

After an hours rest or so, the dreaded return journey began, and within seconds we were hit with another steep incline. I immediately began thinking that there was no way of me making it back home, my legs were already stinging. Fortunately the summit was soon reached and I had a nice long down hill giving me chance to recover. from there I was back in my stride, and in no time at all we had skipped past Worcester and nearly through Droitwich. It was then that Dave and Keith started to pull away a little. The cycle fitness and the many miles in the saddle that they have over me was beggining to show. I began to get caught at traffic lights that the other two sailed through. But they never left me. Both of them regularly looking over their shoulders checking on my progress.


"I can see your bald patch Old Boy".

On the outbound journey we had a lovely mile and a half of nicely surfaced tarmac. However, it was not until I reached the same stretch coming back that I realised that this flat road actually hid a sneaky incline with the opposite carriageway been ridiculously bumpy. This road never seemed to end and even Dave, a seasoned cyclist found it tough. I was cooked. Dave and Keith waited for me yet again. This time by a sign indicating Stourbridge being 10 miles away, which meant 12 miles to the sanctuary of Dave's house and my car. From nowhere, Keith produced an Apple Nutrigrain, and after resting up for a few minutes, I felt like a new man- well, until the next hill came along anyway! We bimbled on towards Stourbridge, with Keith once again taking the lead. I was doing around 14mph at this point and Keith was still having to wait for us. I still can't comprehend the energy, never mind the patience, he must have. For a 28 year old being carried all that way by two blokes hanging just the either side of their 50s, was a humbling experience. We zipped around the grand prix circuit known as Stourbridge ring road and 10 minutes later I was lying down on Dave's driveway. In all, we covered just over 62 miles. That is still 15 miles short of the daily average on the big event. I am so glad I will be driving the support vehicle. I do not envy any of the riders who are taking on the End2End challenge. But for those of you who are, take this as a warning; you need to train, train and train some more. Don't underestimate the enormity of this event, it will test you to your limit and beyond! Except, of course for Keith, who will most likely stumble out of bed on the first day and reach the John O Groat's finish line before breakfast!!

Posted by John