September Cycle 300

Yesterday was the first day of the September Cycle 300 Challenge. I am raising money for Cancer Research.  I managed 47 miles yesterday all on my ownsome.  Stopped mid-way for Coffee and yummy Victoria Sandwich with raspberries at The Fold, Bransford.

Only another 253 miles to go over 29 days .... whoopeee

September Cycle 300

During the month of September I am going to ride 300 miles to raise money for Cancer Research UK. For me this will be an amazing achievement. When I think back to around 3 years ago when I was terrified of riding a bike on the road to the stage I am at now where I have recently been riding over 100 miles a week with friends from WOW (Women on Wheels). If anyone would like to support my challenge by donating to this very worthwhile charity please visit my Giving Page by following the link below:

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/hazels-cycle-300-fundraising-page-10

Life continues

I met a new little friend this week.  I already knew lots about him as he belongs to the lovely lady who taught me how to cycle.  He is called ' Fletch'.  He was on his best behaviour as he joined a few of us for a cycling picnic at Clive's Fruit Farm.

I am still cycling lots and have managed to achieve over 100 miles each week for the past 3 weeks.  During those three weeks I have also been top of the WOW Strava leaderboard until the Sunday and then I get pipped to the post by the same person every time.

Fitted in a weekly cycle with my friend Sue again on Wednesday of this week. It is 3 years since we started the 'Couch to 50k' 10 week course so we celebrated by doing the route in reverse. We had a lovely surprise when we found that the cafe at St Peter's Garden Centre near Worcester had reopened so we were able to have some lunch.  Halloumi sandwiches with peppers and pesto. We did do 35 miles so must have used up the calories.

Also got my hair cut this week and trying to grow my fringe out.

Mini Patchwork

I set some of my friends the challenge of producing several pieces of postcard sized stitched work, either embroidery or patchwork.  Thought it was time I made a start on my own ones. I have been trying to use up lots of scraps of fabric since Lockdown.  These are 1" half square triangles in cream and white shades.

Now started to add layers and machine stitch.  Hand stitch next I think and perhaps one or two small beads.

The baton is still travelling

I was out and about again today in very windy weather to retrieve the baton from a local churchyard. Now people are drifting back to work it often gets stuck at its hiding place for several days.  We seem to have a religious theme at the moment and it has been to several churches.

Lots of inspiration for embroidery projects at Norton

RouteQuest 2020 South

The end of the ride

Over the past two years Women on Wheels (WOW) have organised a Cycling Weekend which has included several levels of ride, a Treasure Hunt and barbecue.  Of course this year was different because we were very restricted as to what we could actually do due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.  Not to be defeated two of our Ride Leaders, Rachel and Sheena, came up with the idea of a type of Treasure Hunt where everyone participating could ride with 1 or 2 other people. 10 locations had to be visited, with a choice of a Northern or Southern route.  The biggest challenge was plotting your own route using either a map or computer plotting system which could be loaded onto a navigation aid such as a Garmin.

I teamed up with one of my Couch to 50k friends. We had the choice of going out Friday, Saturday or Sunday, or a combination of the days, to visit some or all of the locations.  Speed was not important, mileage was and we were encouraged not to use main roads. There was a points scoring system but Sue and I did not take much heed of this. We were not out to win, just have fun.

Having looked at the weather forecast we chose the Southern route which was closest to home. We also decided to do it all as one ride. The route did not seem too long, but I had not calculated properly for the cycle home from the end of our route, with a detour to have more coffee at Clive's on the way home!

Members of 3 other teams

Apart from the fact that in the end we we rode a massive 61 miles, we encountered several other groups of WOW members along the way, which was wonderful as we have not seen each other for months.

Several groups took advantage of a stop at Clive's Fruit Farm near Upton on Severn to fuel up with coffee and bacon sandwiches.  Sue and I really appreciated this as we had ridden out from home, tackled a steep ride to the top of The Wyche Cutting in Malvern, where our route started, then ridden back down it to continue our journey which eventually ended up at Birtsmorton.

One of the Crazy teams of cyclists

Chasing the Baton again but with friends

Three up today and they found the baton, although it had been moved from where I had left it on Monday for them.  Unfortunately prior to this I had a puncture.  First one since I started cycling!!  Sue and I had to try and remember what we had been taught on the Bike Maintenance course way back when we did the Couch to 50K in 2017.  I got a bit stuck putting the new tube into the tyre but a lovely man stopped and told me where I was going wrong.

Liz had problems with her bike too.  Her mudguard was catching the wheel so she really needs to think about taking them off for the summer I think.  My Garmin decided not to work after we had been stopped to fix the puncture and I did not realise until I had ridden 4 miles further on to pick up the baton. Think we must have had gremlins?  Enjoyed an ice cream sat in the sunshine outside a local village shop though. Lovely ride ad lovely company.  Makes a change to riding by myself.