Up to Downe!

Hello blog watchers.

Sometimes I think I must be down right crazy. All of my 47 years on this planet and I choose now to do something which I should have been doing for 47 years! If there are any young us reading this, take heed, do something to keep fit now now, and don't ever stop. Its a lot lot harder, if not fool hardy when you get past 40 odd!

My adventures today are on my bike. I love being on my bike. Each time I go out I am more confident, still no faster, but I'm sure I will be getting there sometime. I decided to go to a lovely village called Downe, and have a bit of lunch at this lovely pub and say hi to the landlord and lady there.

When I set off it was lovely sunshine, there had been a tiny bit of rain earlier. So while the sun was out I thought it a great time to start out on my first ride to Downe Village. Soon as I get to Starts Hill though the 'heavy' mist started. I am hoping that like yesterday it will just pass on by, and not get any worse.

Hoping, and hoping, riding up Starts Hill, still hoping the heavy mist will go away. And today's silly ditty that is going through my head to help me focus on getting up the hill is........ wait for it.......... There's A Worm At The Bottom Of the Garden!! Yup, a silly nursery song, who would name their worm wiggly woo, eh, who would have a worm to call wiggly woo! But yet there was that song, #and his name is wiggly woo# I wanted my mantra in my head, because I knew I would need it if this rain didn't stop.

All the way to the top of the hill. Made it. Because of the rain I was seriously thinking about just going to Farnborough Village, but then my mantra popped into my head, "I am not a quitter" So I ride on pass the pub and on into the village.

The turnings that I needed to take seem to be a lot nearer that I thought, and I thought that this ride wasn't going to be as bad as I thought, but as I rode into the first right hand turn there was a road block. Cars just stopped in the middle of the road, picking up people from the church who have just attended a funeral there. There must have been about 30 or 40 cars parked along the road, and some had already tried to drive off, but were just sitting waiting. I had to get off my bike and weave in and around the cars, and at one point even had to lift my bike up so to didn't damage the mans wing mirrors. After that it was down hill. This is just a great ride.

But that was soon to change, because when I started to head for the golf course, this road was all up hill. One long, huge, long, steep in parts, long hill! Now my mantra really kicked in, "I am not a quitter, I am not a quitter" On and on, the road just seemed to stretch up into the heaves itself and tear open the clouds. So not only do I have this hill to contend with but the rain has started to come down heavier, I can hear it has it hits my cycle helmet!

I don't like cycling in the rain, I have decided. My hands were getting cold, and I had stupid jeans on (vanity prevented me from putting on my jog pants as I was going to the pub that I usually go to on Friday nights with the old boy) these were getting soaked and not moving with me, I was feeling miserable and yet this road seemed to go on and on forever.

Arrggghh!!! I couldn't quite make it up one particular steep bit and walked for about 2 minutes and then back on to the bike. On wards and up wards, always upwards, and the rain coming down. I was thinking that I am probably nearer to the village then I am to Shire lane now, so no point in turning and going home. I was really thinking that! Then I had to get off one more time to push the bike up for yet another minute or so.

I was so pleased to start to see civilisation! a park, some houses, road markings! I knew then that the pub was just a few minutes more. I must look an absolute site but I don't care. I have deserved my drink and my sandwich today, just for keeping on in the rain!

It was lovely to be back the dry, and had a lovely warm welcome from the land lord! I ordered my lunch and drink and the sat down and text the old boy that I had done it! I had made it, in the rain.

Obviously the ride home has just great, I didn't peddle for at least a mile and a half, just free wheeled all the way down. There were a few up hills on the way back, the one by the church of course, which I just could manage to get up, and then the beginning of Starts Hill, just the first bit, I had to walk up, but after that, non stop all the way home. 12.25 miles, in 2 and a half hours, including a stop for lunch. Not bad, for an oldie!

Mind you the landlord told me that if I had taken a different route to get there then there wouldn't have been so much hills to climb!!