July 2021 - Tour number 2 - Keeping it local (Day 1)

It’s a beautiful day. 

It’s been a beautiful (if not a tad hot) week. And I’m stood on Cobden bridge watching the world go by. The cars behind are only slightly spoiling  the ambience of the location. 

A kayak glides under the bridge followed by a group of Paddle boarders. Above, a light aircraft slows as it heads to Eastleigh airport. A chap on a cargo bike skilfully manoeuvres himself and his double base up the slope at the end of the path. (It was only when he passed that I realised it was electric assist.) 

I am watching the horizon for two laden cyclists following the waterway on route 2. If I was less lazy, I would cycle to meet them. But my bike is heavy and that slope is hard at the best of times. I will instead wait here. Playing official photographer, while watching the world glide by. 

The unmistakable forms of Jo and Babs soon came into view, and our journeys merge. We followed NCN2 all the way into town, the boardwork looking particularly pretty with the tide high. We soon reached our first destination. Paid for our tickets and excitedly waited to board Jenny Blue who would be taking us across to Hythe. 

The bikes were expertly lifted aboard by the crew who made this look completely effortless. And we spent the next 15 mins letting the boat take the strain. 

By the time we had disembarked then walked the iconic pier into Hythe, we all agreed that we deserved a cuppa. The girls had already covered over 20 miles from Winchester and I, well I hadn’t gone quite that far. So a coffee stop was found. 


Once back on our bikes we continued following the handy NCN signs and shared use paths to Applemore and once negotiated our first, of many, cattle grids, we were in the New Forest. 

Riding through the infamous Ipley cross, we talked about the plans for a new junction and remembered those who didn’t get to ride away from it in past cycles. 

Onward into Beaulieu, where we stopped for lunch. 

The Bakehouse tea rooms has changed hands, but I was pleased to find that the overall feel has been retained as has the quality of the food. It remains one of my favourite coffee stops. 

Some locals felt the same and joined us for lunch. 

Time to leave so after another trip to the loo and a  smothering of suntan lotion, we made our way out of the town, heading this time for Brockenhurst. 

The sun beat down as we turned into the open moorland of the ‘forest’ punctuated by small clumps of trees which were often inhabited by the locals. The nicest thing about travelling by bike is the ease at which you can drop everything and join in with what’s going on around you. 

Next stop Rhinefeld arboretum and the long slow climb to Bolderwood. 

Having rewarded ourselves with a sneaky ice cream, we consulted the maps to see how far away camp was. 

Just 10 miles later, we reached our stop for the night - Ocknell Camping in the Forest site. 

We found some fairly flat land away from other campers and set up camp. 

A sign at the toilets filled both Babs and I with dread and all thoughts of wild wee’s during the night were dashed. 

Dinner was a leisurely affair and was punctuated by locals who obviously use this as a thoroughfair. Let’s hope they remember where the tents are. 

We sat, till dark, planning future adventures, then after a final stroll to the loos, and a refill of water bottles, we batten down the hatches for the night ahead. 



And so now I find myself in a field of Adders watching the lightning flashes and counting the gaps till the thunder with nothing more than a piece of material between me and my fears. How far I have come in the last 20 years! 

Night all. 

Edit - It’s just after 4. Jo is currently bailing out her tent - a peg pulled out in the wind/rain allowing the end to partially collapse. Babs now has a large water feature to the left of hers. And me?  I’m not looking.  

May 2017 - Riding for Phelan

I’d like you to meet Phelan. I mean I really wish you could. When I was asked for advice about a small charity ride around the Isle of Wight, to raise money for a little chap who had been suffering with cancer. I really didn’t know how much the experience would affect me, but I’m so glad I offered to help. 

It wasn’t till the day of the ride that I met Phelan. He was a lovely little lad with a cheeky grin and a huge heart.  I’d already met his Dad who had learned to ride to join the challenge that these work colleagues had set themselves - riding round the Isle of Wight, raising money for some extra treatment. On that day, I met him his lovely family and a group of very determined cyclists. 

I had offered to ride with the back group - inexperienced riders who needed to really pace themselves if we were going to make it all the way. One of those was Phelans dad - George - a most determined chap, who despite all his family was going through was determined to learn to ride his bike and then ride as much of the island as he could. We had been out for a couple of test rides before hand, but nothing quite prepared us for what was waiting for us across the water 

It was an early start but there was a definite buzz in the air as we waited to board. 

The journey from Southampton to Cowes takes about an hour and during that time, we received numerous questions, encouraging comments and donations - there and then, no questions asked just a set of very generous people, all with their own reasons for heading to the Island, taking time out of their day and money out of their pocket to help a little lad with sparkling eyes to live a little longer. 

Fighting with emotion and excitement, we returned to our bikes ready to gather for the group photograph. 

We knew we were the slow group. It isn’t bother us. We were given a head start and it really didn’t take us too long to get to our first stop  - Ryde. We were also overtaken by all the other groups by the time we got there. We didn’t mind though - our challenge was not to be the fastest, but just to have the determination and resilience to get round. 

I was purposefully keeping the pace slow and the spirits high to help us reach our goal. 

As the hours and the miles passed, we got progressively more tired. We had  a huge boost at the lunch meet point in Ventnor. Where many of the others had waited to cheer us in before continuing on their slightly faster journey. We were especially happy Knowing we had conquered one of the major hills already. 

We were making good time and I was pleased that we had only lost a couple of the riders to the support vehicle. 

We finished lunch and headed back out. But by the time we reached Military road (undulating is not a strong enough term for the hills here) our party had reduced down to three. 

Two of Steve’s work colleagues and me. We were flagging in the heat and the girls exhausted riding their mountain bikes. Their fat tyres were no advantage on this trip. 

There was surprisingly little traffic on the roads that day. But I spotted ahead a very slow  moving vehicle with its hazards going. I wondered what was going on. We soon caught up this party which consisted of the van, and three men, two walking with buckets. The third, an ex marine named Swasie was pushing himself with his one leg in his standard issue wheelchair from Firestation to firestation raising huge amounts of money as he went. 

We exchanged details, stories, hugs and tears. Then with our spirits and enthusiasm renewed continued on our own fund raising mission. 

We made it to the Needles. Paused for some refreshment and then enveloped within the rest of the peloton we rode back to Cowes. 

With a huge cheer on the chain ferry we realised that our journey was now complete. We had looped the IOW. 

I was so so touched when Phelan presented me with my medal for completing the ride around the island - all of which was to help him with medicine to keep him alive


 

Sadly, Phelan passed away within the year of completing that challenge, so the following year we rode again. This time to raise money for the place that had cared for him and his family in that sad sad time. And so the Blue Ninja Challenge was born. Blue was Phelans favourite colour. And Ninja the name he was called at home. 

We have been to Naomi house a couple of times now and every time I am amazed by the buzz of the place. Everyone who works there is just so positive and their aim is always to make the most of every day for the children because every day is precious. 

I’ve now done a number of  challenging rides, but not one even begins to match the challenge that many of the people spending time at Naomi house face every day. 

They don’t ask for a lot, but money doesn’t go far at all. £20 will help pay for a nurse of an hour, £10 would buy craft stuff for a child to work with. 

We have ridden every year since then. We will be riding for them again soon so please do consider helping this great cause. Any amount would be gratefully received. 

If you wish to find out more about this amazing place please take a wander through their website and take a look at a video or two. https://www.naomihouse.org.uk/about-us

30th June 2018 - Cycling UK's '100 Women in Cycling 2018' - A proud day!

I don't know how often you check all your inboxes. I do check mine regularly - probably too regularly. But, it is often a cursory glance to check Ive not been asked to do something urgent for work. So though I would probably have seen this arrive, I did not take in its contacts till quite late in the evening.

Dear Sharon, 

We are delighted to tell you that you have been nominated for our 100 women in cycling list 2018!

I had to read it a couple of times to actually take in what it meant. I had been invited to an event up in Manchester to recognise the achievement of 100 women cyclists for their work in advancing womens cycling. 

It didn't tell me who had nominated me or why exactly I had been nominated. Instead they asked permission to use a photo of me and invited me to attend the event. 

So how do I get to Manchester early on a Saturday during term time? I needed to go chat to my boss. 

They were 100% happy for me to go, and allowed me to take time owing to travel on the Firday. I contacted Breeze HQ and was invited for a tour of the offices and the velodrome and hopefully to meet the other couple of Breeze Champs who had also been nominated.

We left home early Friday morning and made it to Manchester in really good time - so we grabbed a spot of lunch in the company of a couple of GB cycle coaches before heading round for the tour. 

The velodrome was stunning - the unique indoor pump track next door was mind blowing and the guys at Breeze HQ were amazing. 

We reached our room for the night, parked up and walked up the main road into Manchester centre. Not knowing the area, we hadn't realised that we had chosen the perfect location, right next door to the most amazing dedicated cycle lane in the city. 

We found food, checked out the location of the event the next day then walked the 15 min walk back to the hotel. 

Saturday arrived, and I still didn't quite know what to expect. I rode to the venue, took my bike inside and nervously looked out for anyone else in Breeze red. 

A group of us started chatting, sharing ideas and information - which I have to say continued for much of the day (between the timetabled events of course) We sat through some really interesting talks, then one by one were called up to receive a beautiful rosette. By this point I had been chatting to Joy and Aggie for much of the day - we couldn't resist a quick selfie on the podium. Both ladies had amazing stories to tell, I was completely in awe with imposter syndrome in full swing! 

 

Lunch was served, the final talk given and we were then taken off on a cycle tour of the city, showing us the best of its rich history of the suffragette movement. 

I learned so much that day and felt proud to represent Breeze and the efforts we have all gone to to make cycling more accessible to women. 

The weekend perfectly coincided with Manchesters Lets ride City event on the Sunday where I again was able to represent Breeze and British cycling as I cycled round its city route taking to everyone who would listen about Breeze. A perfect weekend. 

June 2020 - TLC during lockdown 4

The return of the rear mech. 

I mentioned in a previous post that I was a bit gutted that the bike shop had fitted my rear mech as I was really hoping to give it a go myself. 

Well as it happens, they happened to have fitted the wrong one. They had used a mech designed for 8 gears rather than the 9 that mine has. This doesn’t sound too important, unless you a. Have an idea what that part does and b. Know that the reason you started changing bits was because the gears just kept jumping. 

So which bit is it and what does it do? 

The rear mech is basically a couple of cogs held on a moving hanger that he held in place by a big spring and a wire attached to the gear shift changers. As you loosen the wire, the spring moves the gogs away from the wheel. The wire is released by a specific amount each time you click the gears. So with everything lined up perfectly, the cogs allow the chain that’s running over them move onto the different sized cogs of the cassette attached to the back wheel. 

Lining them up to allow the chain to move perfectly between the cogs is called indexing. 

The mech I was given was working better than the one that had been removed, but I didn’t want to hit any issues that might be caused by a possible incompatable system (and possibly more of a driver - I wanted everything to match) I decided to change the mech. 

This was actually fairly easy (and again explained much better than I ever could in a Park tool video.) While I was at it, I replaced the hanger too. 

This is a small piece of softer metal that attaches between the frame and the rear mech. It is designed to be the weak link in the system - if the mech gets hit, the cheap hanger will bend and can be replaced rather than a costly repair or replace of the frame. 

Once I had everything back together I had to index the gears - this involved tightening or loosening the cable to get the cogs in just the right place to change gear. It was a lot like tuning a guitar. Not tight enough, it wouldn’t make the next cog, too tight and it would jump two. But after a while of fiddling, we hit a Goldilocks position. 

Finally it was out for a test ride. 

To my relief, it worked. But that’s a bit of an understatement really. It not only worked. It honestly feels like a new bike. I will leave you with a quote from the comments on one of the Parktool videos, which I wish I had written myself as I can echo with its sentiment ‘I would perform open heart surgery if Calvin had done a video and talked me through it.’ 

So apart from the bike feeling so much better to ride - what have I gained from this experience. A few more tools in my toolbox - both the physical one and the skills bag we all possess. But most importantly I have so much more confidence that I can sort a mechanical issue with my bike. I know there will be times I will need to hand it over to the experts, but the basic stuff is much easier than I thought. Now I just need to keep practicing!