A couple of weeks ago I did a little tour on my Brompton. There was an event at Farnham Maltings in Surrey, called “Thread – A Festival of Textiles” which I wanted to go to. I do like to have a purpose in a bike tour, whether it's just a day trip or a few days away; it gives me a starting point for planning a trip, rather than just vaguely thinking - “Where shall I go?”.
Before I begin, I bought the Brompton G line pedals a few months ago, and am really pleased with them. I like the feel of them underfoot, and the removable one is easy to remove.
So on we go.... I cycled from home to Didcot station, about 14 miles, leaving home at 7.15 am, and got the train to Bramley, just north of Basingstoke, changing at Reading. I then cycled another 13 miles or so to where I was staying, at Newland's Farm Bed and Breakfast, south of Odiham. The weather started off fairly warm, then wet, and then quite hot. I didn't eat before I went – I have found that eating later works well for me. At some points along the way I ate what I had brought with me – some cheese, a boiled egg, and a clementine. My plan was to find a cafe en route and buy a meal, preferably a cooked breakfast, which always keeps me going for ages. Husband had put the route from Bramley station to my B and B onto my Garmin, but I had a back up of my usual OS maps, and a cue sheet. I put this in a plastic mobile phone holder, bought from Home Bargains for £1.45, which I rigged up over the handlebars.
I arrived at Bramley about 11.30. There was a cafe right by the station, but I didn't fancy it somehow, and anyway I really wanted to get on a bit further. By then it was raining – I donned my waterproof jacket, and sometimes I cycled, sometimes I sheltered. I couldn't see the route on the Garmin very well (mine is quite small) - the rain didn't help - and so I used my cue sheet. There was no rush. I took NCN Route 23 out of Bramley as far as Old Basing. There I was delighted to come upon what looked like a very nice cafe – The Street Bakeshop – and went in and ordered, only to be told, as I produced my £20 note, that they did not take cash. I refuse to patronize any establishment that won't take cash – I could have used a card but I think it's very important that we have the choice. A kind lady offered to pay for me with her phone, but I declined, as a principle was at stake. Instead I asked a man trimming a hedge if there was a shop nearby, and he directed me to the local Co-op – not quite what I was hoping for but at least I was able to buy food. I ate scotch eggs and a yogurt on a bench outside the shop.
I rested here -
 |
| At Up Nately, near Odiham |
A few miles further on, at Odiham, I began to feel a bit funny – or, to be precise, my heart was racing, and at times I felt slightly lightheaded. I have had this before, the first time probably decades ago. I do sometimes get lightheaded when standing up too quickly. I have since discovered that this has the grand name of orthostatic hypotension - when your blood pressure drops after standing up. It usually only happens after I have been crouching down for a few minutes, e.g. to look at something on a bottom shelf in a shop. Then the cure is to stand still and put my head down. More recently the racing heart has occurred when I've been out for long bike rides, and I have tried to work out why. I do not believe the cause is anything serious, just something connected with my activity at the time, the temperature, and with what I have eaten and drunk. Usually after a rest it has gone away, but even after resting in the very green and pleasant Odiham cemetary, or just walking, I didn't feel much better. I was fearing that I would have to call off this trip.
However, I only had about 2 miles to go to my accommodation – bed and breakfast at a farmhouse - and so after refilling my water bottle at the bar of a cricket club, I took the last bit of the journey very slowly and arrived safely, albeit later than intended, at about 5.45. Quite a long day, as I'd been up at 5. I thought that after a good night's rest, and a good breakfast the following morning, I'd feel a lot better.
What went through my mind was that maybe I should still be taking magnesium, which I have taken on and off for a year or two, mainly for night cramps, but I know it can be of benefit to the heart as well. I am not a big fan of supplements but as most people are deficient in this mineral I reasoned that it would be a good idea to take it anyway. I also thought that I should have brought some sea salt with me to take whenever I drank water – something else that I do when I'm at home, or at least whenever I remember. I began to think about electrolytes, and how athletes are not supposed to drink just plain water, and considered that this might be at the route of the problem.. The day had turned out quite hot, and I had sweated. I also had not eaten very much, partly because I simply hadn't felt very hungry. I resolved that the next day I would buy either magnesium (though I wouldn't be able to buy my preferred make, as I get it online from Clive de Carle) and/or some sea salt.
In bed at 8.15.
MILES: 28
I didn't sleep well, but I never do the first night in a strange bed, and I was also disturbed by helicopters from RAF Odiham, doing night training until about 10 pm, seen through my open bedroom window. Husband would have loved them! I'd seen these odd yellow things all across two fields on the farm the day before and wondered what they were for. Now I know that they are lights to guide the helicopters in -
 |
| My bedroom - with some history of the farm buildings in the photo on the wall |
I was definitely feeling better than the previous day, but still not quite right. Nevertheless I enjoyed the ride into Farnham – about 10 miles, slightly more than it should have been but then I went a bit wrong (despite my cue sheet) which is usual for me! I enjoyed the festival; it's not often that I get to see such a lovely array of everything connected with sewing. There were some very talented people there, and some lovely fabric, but I knew I hadn't got room to carry much extra home so just treated myself to some linen thread.
It was busy and hot though, and after a couple of hours I'd had enough. I went into the town, knowing I must not leave without food for the ride home, sufficient water, and magnesium or salt. I went to the first likely shop I came to, which was Sainsbury's, and bought some BLT sandwiches, a clementine, and, as they didn't have any magnesium, some Maldon's sea salt – the one I normally buy as it happens. Then I went to a lovely quiet garden and sat on a bench, carefully cut open the bag of salt (good job I had scissors in my first aid kit) and sucked on several pinches, and drank water. I did wonder what others in the park might have though of me sitting there carefully pouring out white stuff into my hand and consuming it...
From where I sat I could see the tops of two churches, where I hoped there might be a tap to get water. As it happened one of them had a cafe, where they let me fill my bottle. Then off I went. I pushed up the hill out of Farnham, but after that I got up all the hills. I stopped soon and wolfed down my sandwiches and clementine, and then carried on. I felt a million times better!! I have since read up on all this and understand that taking in salt can indeed have a very quick positive effect. I have watched, in particular, videos by Dr David Brownstein, on the importance of salt in our diet – e.g. this one - but good salt, full of minerals, not table salt. He recommends, as do many others, Celtic sea salt, or Redmond's salt (only available in the US I think), as both are indeed full of minerals. I'm not sure about the Maldon's sea salt I've been buying, and intend to email them to ask what minerals are in it. I have, however, bought some Celtic sea salt, which I know is full of essential minerals, and am now using that when I drink water.
I decided to treat myself to an ice cream in the village of Crondall, where I had a nice chat to another cyclist who was doing the same thing. Interestingly, he had worked for BMW as a salesman, but had been diagnosed with some form of epilepsy, so was no longer allowed to drive. He now did gardening jobs, and travelled to them by bike (10 mile radius from home) and loved it!
On the way back I tucked myself away into some long grass and obeyed a call of nature. More on this subject later! I was pretty tired when I got back and after a shower was in bed at 7.15!
MILES: 20
No helicopters that night, but I woke in the night, and for some reason felt the inside of my right knee, and felt what seemed like a small scab. I couldn't think of any reason for a scab there, but then I thought -
“Uh oh.... could it be a tick?”
I've had a few in recent years, so wasn't quite as horrified and panic stricken as I was when I discovered the first one in 2021. Guess where I probably picked it up... having that nature wee! Beware of long grass!! I couldn't see to remove it, so just left it as a job for Husband when I got home. I discovered I'd also got one in the same fleshy spot on the side of the other knee. What I want to know is – why are there so many ticks now? There are all sorts of rumours, but I'm not sure if they are true. However I do know that prior to 2021 I had never head of anyone getting ticks - I had only ever seen one on the sheepdog we used to have.
The third day was basically a slow and gentle ride back to Bramley station, taking a different route, via some lovely quiet lanes, and the village of Sherfield on Lodden, where there was a big fete.
I asked a couple if there was a cafe, and they directed me to one. We chatted quite a bit, and the husband was very interested in my Brompton. Bromptons are a bit like babies and dogs – they get you into conversation with complete strangers!
Getting on and off the trains was easy again. A couple with their small daughter stood in front of me at one point, speaking a language I didn't recognise at all, and after a while the husband asked me -
“Are you travelling alone? Don't you get lonely?”
“No – I love it!”
And it's true. As Josie Dew, my cycling hero has said in one of her books, when you cycle alone you can stop where you want, and when you want, and look at whatever you want. And I meet plenty of people to chat to, so I don't get lonely.
Husband is always telling me what the weather forecast is, and today he had warned me it would be windy. So far it had indeed been quite windy, but it wasn't unpleasant. Once back at Didcot, I decided to go back a different way to the way I'd come, which in hindsight wasn't a good idea... There are a couple of places in my neck of the woods where there are several villages all quite close together, and despite having lived here for more then 40 years, I can still get lost in either of them! I did this in the villages of East and West Hendred, near Wantage, and so my estimated time of arrival home got later and later as I tried to find my way out. In the end I found my way, on a footpath, where a kindly gent lifted my bike over a stile and a kissing gate. Actually, I know now that I could probably do this myself, as with the bag taken off the front of the bike, it's not that heavy.
Husband had also warned of rain, and it did start to drizzle. He had offered to come and pick me up at any point if I felt I couldn't make it home, and being pretty tired by then, and feeling the rain start, I hoped I wouldn't have to make a call of shame. However, I just kept encouraging myself that it wasn't far to go, and I made it home, all under my own steam, by 7 pm.
Husband removed the two ticks – oh, and another on the back of my thigh. And another on a buttock!!! And the moral of that story is – don't have a wee in long grass!! Not ladies, anyway.... As I said, I couldn't see to remove any of these ticks myself, but I have read that if you don't have a tick remover with you, then a good idea is to cut a slit, or very narrow V shape into a credit card, slide it under the tick, and remove it that way.
MILES: 31
All in all, a good trip. I've gained confidence on the Brompton, and learnt a valuable lesson about the correct way to hydrate.