Captain's Log

Note from Captain Turdseye

This year there were 5 times the number of participants versus last year and I can honestly say the trip was 5 times more enjoyable! The preparation was challenging and was not without its issues but it was most definitely all worthwhile. As last year, the send off from Catherine Wayte Primary School was fantastic and many of the riders were in disbelief of the children’s encouragement and support. I, as many others, have made many new friends and it is really rewarding to know that I have bought so many people together, not just for the 4 days to Paris but also throughout the training and following the trip.

My personal goal fror the trip was to complete some good training rides in support of my Ironman dream and I am happy to be returning from France with some fantastic rides completed, all of which were in brilliant company and with lots of memories. From speaking to all of the group I know many others surpassed their goals and expectations and will continue to enjoy and improve their cycling and fitness.


Big thanks have to go to everyone that was involved in the trip because it was everyone that made it so great. However need to single out a few:


• David and Giles in support who kept us all going
• Matt who made the special journey on his motorbike to give additional support and take some great pictures. Next time he knows he will be required full time.
• Dean for taking up the reigns and leading the sight seeing team
• Rich and Toots from Certeco for sponsoring the trip and helping us with great looking team kit.
Hope to see you on the next trip.


Mark

Quotes of the Trip

"Nothing will puncture these tyres, they're tubeless" Nathan

"Is that all you've got?" Gareth to Nathan up a massive climb

"Never Leave your Wingman" Paul Mason/Anna Buckingham

Up a huge climb...
Nathan "I've got no gears left,"
Gareth "I've got loads, do you want to borrow a couple"?

"How do you know if you're a pirate? cos you aaaarrrrggg!"

Gareth (several times to each person)
"Is your face hurting?"
"no"
"well its fcking killing me!"

Michael to Paul whilst bringing up the rear
"I reckon we could still win this...."

David on radio: "How did you get in front of us?"
Giles: "We just followed the route"

Tim to Giles
"Tell mark it's going to be a lonely ride to Paris if he doesnt slow down"

"It's a Marathon not a sprint"

Comments & Best Bits from the Crew

Anon:
"It was Great, both in organisation and value for money :) whoever co-ordinated this is a genius!"

Dean Fouracre

Dean encouraging Kee's up the steep hill out of les Andelys "Don't look ahead..you'll only get depressed !"...approaching the first bend "I think I can see the top"....coming out of the first bend "ummm...maybe just round the next bend then"....5th bend "ok, I lied...but we're almost there"


Kees to Dean up the steep hill out of les Andelys ...1st bend "not sure I can make it..my legs are seizing up"...2nd & 3rd bend "my legs are seizing up"...4th..."legs...seiz...ing......u....p"....5th bend - gasping for air like a fish out of water..unable to speak...


Fortunately Kee's legs didn't sieze up and he conquered all the hills on the last two days...quite an accomplishment compared to the flat lands of his native Norfolk."


Gareth Preece:
"Best thing for me was having a couple of spare gears when going up the second climb on day 4 and offering them to Nathan as he was out of gears and blowing out of his arse. Oh and day 3 spent with "Team C*ck" was the best of the 4

the one on the Sunday morning when a Frenchy pulled up on his little put put motor bike outside the hotel and said “you come, you come” and Tim just looked him in the eye and said “in your mouth”. What he mean’t was in the bar that he worked at the night before. Jees I laughed."


Anna Buckingham:
"I had a terrific time, and have made some great friends, and laughed (particularly hard on Day 3)and ridden til my muscles hurt. I wouldn't change a thing about it. Thanks to everyone who made the trip what it was"

Paul Gregory:
"Day 3 in "Team C*ck" was my favourite too... especially Nathan puncturing his puncture proof tyres :-) Oh and me leading the 20mph train too...!

This was linked to my "I'm not drinkig tonight, just a couple of beers with dinner" and then proceding to blow my wheels off, get super drunk, miss breakfast and need TWO lunches to re-fuel"

Paul Mason
"Memorable moments for me:
- Gareth eating his ham and eggs at the port in Caen wearing his helmet - I don't think he took it off when he ate!
- Gareth smoking out side the pub in Caen and him and Nathan looking like shit the next morning with huge hangovers
- Shaun putting an ice cube up his bum *
- Paul G trying to order a bottle of Vin Rouge in the Chinese restaurant, slurring to the woman who couldnt speak English (even I couldn't understand Paul!)
- Kees falling off about 15 miles into the 2nd day, forgetting his feet were clipped into the pedals,causing much hilarity amongst us all and with the car full of French locals who were pissing themselves.
- Me and Wingman riding for our lives on Thursday afternoon, not letting the elite group escape us! Although it was raining, we were going to quick to get wet!
- Captain cadence impressions by Mark Q, Mark N and Tim - very funny!
- Michael falling off along the Champs-Élysées into me. He unclipped from his pedal and then put his foot back on the pedal which clipped back in and then fell off into me. Nathan tried to pull him off (oo-er!) and Michael ended up on the floor on his back with the bike on top of him!
-  4 days of constant farting by all riders (women included) - keep away from the energy bars and drinks!

Cycling into Paris tested a number of riders skills, none more so than Michael who indicated a parked car on his right by putting his right arm behind his back. Unfortunately, all this did was to make him wobble and he very nearly fell off. I told Michael it was better for him to keep two hands on his handle bars at all times and worry about not hitting the car rather than letting the rest of us know about it."



Tim Hallett
"Captain Cadence and his dancing on those pedals on the flats and pushing a big gear on the hills

Ian and Nathan catching us lot on the way back to Caen, Paul M & Anna catching up as well – great work, although we did stop for a piss..


Kees and the comment “His foot is stuck – its meant to be its fucking a clipless pedal....” and falling over every day to include the run in to Paris"

Gary Major
"Its got to be quizzy’s exploding tyres as I remember The first after the big decent on day three after getting to about 43 mph and the second when the bike was leaning on the fence at the hotel after doing further decent’s and loads more miles "

Day 4 - Gay Paris!

The Final day was a weary start after 3 days in the saddle - for most of us this was the most we'd done on consecutive days, our kit was in need of washing but the end was in sight, the Eiffel tour, England's first World cup match (for those that gave a shit) and a big night out to celebrate!

Once again the rear group set off early - really early! I was glad of the lie in and I'm sure the others felt the same.

After about 25 miles was an immense hill, Captain Turdseye was skulking at the back for this time... we wondered if he had a hangover, what it turned out was he was saving his energy for the hills ahead. He wasn't daft! Big George had plans, once more, anyone who was with him when the train pulled out of the station up and over the hill would be on board, the rest would create a third group.

The hill was upon us, quite quickly the group spread out, it was an impressive climb, of steep bits, long steady bits and switch backs which went on for over a mile. It was brilliant though. I'd already decided to see if I could get on the train, so I pushed hard and got to the top not too far behind the last of the guys. Gary, Gareth and Nathan all helped me to catch up with the runaway train.

When we reached the Plateau the train was off, it was by far the best piece of road of the entire trip, it went on for about 15-20 miles just flat and fast and the pelaton was flying along between 25 and 30 mph the whole way  generally nearer 30. It was the most awesome riding, again the perfect conditions helped make it even better.

I had to work really hard to keep with the group as Big George just kept on pushing faster and faster. I got dropped out the back door eventually and Nathan stuck with me, the trouble with the train was once you derailed, you were pretty much off for the duration, to gain on it at 28mph you have to work damn hard to get close!

We caught up when they came to a junction asking for directions to a shop as we were all now out of drink and a bit peckish, so we pulled into a supermarket to find the now front group getting some lunch. As we refuelled the remainder of our group pulled into the supermarket.

It was decided to get back into two groups to begin with and see where the pace took the group. Paul was dragged off mid mouthful of lunch and pretty much immediately into another big climb. Once more the hammer went down, i tried pretty hard to stick with it again, but was pretty knackered from the mornings effort. I could hear something behind me making this climb ... it sounded like a pervy phone call on my right shoulder, I glanced back to see Toots trying not to throw up over his handlebars. Nathan was a little way ahead also trying to catch the train.

Toots and I worked hard for a few miles taking it in turns to go in front and pull each other along, we crossed a junction and caught Nathan, and i suggested we wait and regroup - "nah, I'm gonna catch em!" he said :) he tried hard, but eventually gave up, they were a good half mile in the distance by now and impossible to catch. Flying down the other side Giles was positioned on the floor taking action shots.

We came to another Junction and found my wingman, Paul M - he'd dropped off the back and not managed to get back on so decided to wait for us. Paul G and Michael (still on board!) was there right behind us and we all stopped and waited for Captain Cadence and Giles to catch up.

There was about 20 miles to the meeting point 10 miles outside Paris so we worked as a group, joked about, and enjoyed the ride. It wasn't the ride I was expecting, we still seemed to be in the country, how were we so close to a capital city with so little traffic?

Giles pulled us over to give us a route that we'd have to take on our own as it was a no through road for vehicles - simple!

It took us approximately 20metres of being unsupported before we got totally lost! we ended up in a gravel car park, then a hospital. then after being told to keep Le Seine to our left, there seemed to be two rivers!!

After about half an hour wheeling aimlessly around, we stumbled across Dean's group,who had also got lost. So we all stuck together and finally found our way out on to  the correct route, then got back into our groups and went the final few miles to find where the train had pulled up.

We all stopped for a while as everyone congregated, and Mark organised us into an appropriate order to ride the final 10 miles to the Eiffel Tower.

The ride into Paris, was slow and busy, cars weren't too happy letting 20 bikes out in front and kept trying to drive through us, there were so many traffic lights it was irritating. But we looked cool, in our kit, luckily it hadn't been raining as the cobbles on Le Champs Elysee's or we'd have looked a spectacle of a totally different sort! Riding along with the Arc De Triomphe ahead of us was just awesome, with the Eiffel Tower now in sight, every bead of sweat and lactic acid build up and saddle sore was worth it.

We stopped at the Eiffel Tower which was emotional for some we'd done something pretty huge, that we'd been training for for months. Some barely having ridden a bike before signing up for this. We all hugged and took pics and called our loved ones, then our minds turned to beer :)

That evening, we celebrated by watching football, drinking lots, eating lots (3 dinners in some cases) then we went to what looked like a bingo hall from the outside and inside was a cross between a meat market on one floor and a gay bar on the other. Still they had some wicked tunes so we through some shapes into the early morning.... some into breakfast time!

Total Mileage: 101
Ascent: 1900m**
Alcohol consumed: Buckets
Hours slept: Very few.

Day 3 Caen - Cleon

Day 3 was from what i gather from most people the best day (it certainly was for me)

It was the day  which spawned  "Big George and the Train,", "Team cock" and "the day of 2 lunches"

On Friday we woke up largely to pretty incredible hangovers, some people had been sensible and not re hydrated with booze to such an extent. Gareth, Nathan and Paul G (when he finally emerged) were by far in the worst state, Paul not even having time for breakfast (school boy error!)  The mission for the rest of us  had been to soak up as much leftover booze over breakfast as possible to endure the long days riding ahead.

The rear group left early so they could take there time and take in the sights a little more, whilst the rest of us got a bit longer to clear our heads.

The torrential rain from the previous night had completely gone, leaving beautiful clear skies and perfect riding conditions. However, the first hours riding was hard work, fuelled by the previous nights stupidity, we'd been warned that there would be hills today, which didn't actually turn out to be too bad, there were hills don't get me wrong but they were long drags not helped by hangovers.

The roads were even better than the previous day, I'd never ridden on such amazing smooth roads. The mornings ride was the most exhilarating I'd ever experienced before, we were bombing across country, picturesque views either side - not that we got to see tit for too long as our wheels barely touched the polished tarmac.

We rounded a corner into a steep hill leading across and along the seafront, going up the hill, we passed a group of old ladies, who were cheering us up the hill like being on the tour! it was brilliant, as I was last up i got the biggest cheer, even bigger as I was the only "Dame" if I'm honest, the guys were well out of sight! The drivers were much friendlier round this route, tooting their horns and waving. It's funny, because in England you'd assume they were tooting aggressively, but here it was so refreshing.

We wove down through the cliffs towards the sea, everyone was in their element, this was what riding is about.

Heading towards our meeting point, was for me, one of the most beautiful parts of the journey, to the left, was the sea, to the right was beautiful seafront cottages with cliffs in the background, locals milling about, and as we pulled up, we opened out into the Marina with a few old fashioned merry-go-round and a river just beside the restaurant we stopped at.

Our hangovers, now forgotten - except Paul - who ordered 2 lunches (he missed breakfast y'see) we had news from  Giles that the other group had got lost, made an early stop and would be stopping again later and not meeting us for lunch.

The weather, still perfect, a mornings awesome riding behind us and we were all in great spirits. The afternoon would see us ride a further 45 miles into Cleon.

We started off as one group, but soon became split as the testosterone started to build, going up a big climb, the big guys made a break for it, Captain turdseye put the hammer down, anyone that could stay with him could do that anyone else would fall back and create a subgroup.

As the hammer went down and the front group set off, me and Nathan tried to stick with them but he just couldn't keep up, so i held back for him cos he was struggling! (obviously this is a slight deviation from the truth)  I stopped for a slash whilst Nathan made jokes about bushes, in this time Paul and Gareth caught up shortly followed by Captain Cadence. So the five of us regrouped and found that Giles was supporting us, which was great as he knew the route and I for one can't read a map for shizzle, and there was no way he'd take us on a really dodgy route!!

The afternoon, went from funny to hilarious, I had such a blast, I don't think I've laughed so much in ages, my face hurt more than my legs. During the afternoon, we formed "Team Cock" no idea why, it was just one of those things, maybe because I called a lot of people a cock that weekend, maybe just because we're a bunch of cocks!? Nathan became "King Cock" for the following reason....

Earlier that day, Nathan had been telling us about these amazing tubeless tyres he'd put on his bike - to be fair they looked quite cool with their go faster stripe down the middle. "Nothing will puncture these" he said, with the utmost confidence. Who were we to disbelieve this, we had some shoddy clincher tyres - pah.

Riding along, taking the piss out of each other, which was the order of the afternoon
"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! noooo waaaaaaaaaaay"

We looked round to see Nathan staring in horror at his deflated tyre. Of course, we found this hysterical, of course, Nathan felt pretty stupid! While we rolled about laughing, Giles pulled up and Nathan thought about what to do... there weren't any spare tubeless tyres on the truck, so he'd have to borrow a spare tyre and inner tube. He sulked like a child while he had to put on this unmatching tyre, we took photos and laughed. He didn't want us to tell anyone after going on about how great these things were! Of course not! That would be mean ;-)

After we'd stopped laughing at him, Gareth offered to help him "do you want a hand? Tough, cos I don't like you"

Eventually we got away again, only a few miles down the road to have Gareth snap a spoke (this is a nasty habit he has!) So Giles pulls over again. Now not sure what to do, not really thinking it's safe riding along with a broken spoke, we clock Kev's unused bike on the truck so whip the wheel out of that and stick that onto Gareth's bike and once more we were away. Only thing was, the wheel was one of those annoying free hub ones which whenever you stop pedalling it makes an annoying ticky clicky nose, so I asked Gareth if he could kindly keep pedalling at all times!

The afternoon went on, with Japes and frolicking, Giles, with his excellent navigating, decided he'd take us off course and do some off roading! He led us down these stony, potholed windy roads, it was just like riding the ridgeway! To be fair the sat nav did take him down some farm tracks (which we didn't follow)

We finally pulled up to the hotel we were staying at to find the front group sat around, having been there for an hour.

Their day sounded fun too, Captain Turdseye had acquired another nickname "Big George" the group had become known as "The Train" Mark Q had had an afternoon of exploding tyres from the speed they'd been travelling at. Gary now know as Jan. They were all in equally high spirits and the morale in the group was great.

The other group still hadn't been seen all day and shortly after they appeared round the corner, Jim'll had been having problems with Navigating, the group had become lost, but it was not all bad as the group  had had "2 lunches" which was seemingly a high point of the day. I expect Michael and Toots had come off a couple of times ;-)

What was great was Jo, who'd been wanting to sell her bike as soon as she returned to England was now in love with it. She'd done a complete 180 since the morning and was in a great mood and raring to go the following morning.

Once washed and stretched, we headed out for dinner, everyone was starting to show their tiredness but all excited about the final push to Paris the next morning, Captain T gave us the itinerary for the following morning, it was to be a mega early start in order to get to the Eiffel tower at around 3 after cycling 90 miles, so we got a fairly early night (partly because there weren't any pubs round there).

Total Mileage: 84 Miles (92 for team cock)
Total Ascent: 1900m (alegedly but i dont believe Mark)
Max Speed: 45mph (achieved but some of the train)

Day 2 - Normandy Beaches

Day 2 originally had been planned as an option of 65 miles or 132 miles in along the coast of Normandy and various other towns - the shorter one for those who might want to sun themselves on the beach.

When we surfaced after an average of about 2 hours sleep throughout the group, the day didn't look like it would promise much sun. The cabins alarms sounded around 5am local time - alarm was not the word, some strange eerie music wafting out of the bedside table was more accurate. Confused at lack of sleep, the pitch dark, the strange surroundings, we didn't know what this rude interruption to our short sleep was.

When we realised what it was, it was time to get up and packed and squeeze ourselves out of the tiny space we'd been crammed into. I asked Quiz to carry one of my bags for me, which he said he would. We made our way to the vehicles and drove off the ferry to the car park about half a mile away, which was conveniently next to a cafe.

I checked with Quiz my bag was in the truck - "what bag?" - the one that was still on the deck of the Ferry! So i ran to back to the boat and luckily someone was just carrying it off and i got told off  in a sexy French accent (I'm a sucker for one of those) "Next time, we'll destroy eet"

Once fed with eggs and ham and lots of bread we got on board and headed out of Caen. The views were beautiful across the sea, for the first 15 - 20 miles we got to experience the awesome roads that France boasts. Few pot holes, smooth tarmac and a brilliant tail wind. We flew along enjoying the luxury of these conditions. Soon the wind turned into our faces, and the wind  was howling off the sea, cutting across our paths, spraying sea salt onto our expensive bikes!

We made several mandatory wee stops for the guys - they just don't have the bladder control of us ladies! All too soon we were at the beach we'd planned on stopping for lunch, all on a high from the exhilarating riding, and the impressive sweep down to the seafront. A few of us were going to take a lunchtime swim - but this idea didn't last!

Not far behind us was the second group and then turned up Matt  - Captain Turdseyes boss, he'd travelled over on his motorbike to support us until the following afternoon. He was dressed up like a fluro Stig. We all ate, drank and as we were about to leave, the heavens opened. Several people bailed out and got in the vehicles for the afternoon, the rest of us braved the rain, wind and elements and rode off for the afternoons ride back. Over lunch some had discussed going further, and getting back as fast as possible, leaving the remaining group to get back at a more sensible pace. But this was before the change in weather. So we set off in our 2 groups.

The afternoon was horrendous, the wind and rain was in our faces or crossing us constantly. The ride was split up and  myself, Paul G and a couple of others just behind  found  ourselves dropped from the faster group. After about an hour we  had located Paul Mason just ahead. I picked up to catch up with him and the others dropped back.

For the next half hour - an hour, Paul and I worked hard to keep each other going, bantering and encouraging each other. He threatened to "do me" on the hills, but i tried hard to fend him off. We were having a great time and suddenly we saw the faster group just ahead as well as the support car. We had two choices - stop and get some refreshments, or kick on and catch up. So me and my wingman took the latter, and worked really hard to catch them.

They were totally taken by surprise at our appearance, (partly because we looked so battered i imagine!) we hopped into the pelaton and now battered from catching up, we had to work even harder to stick with the group.

Throughout the afternoon, Matt took snaps of people at various points, and rode up front like a proper Tour support - we looked the Biz!!

The front group waited just outside Caen for the second group to catch up and ride to the hotel together. The group approached and came to a halt and along slid Kees on the floor - he once more had forgotten to unclip his feet and used his knees as a brake!

He wasn't the only faller though, Ian also came off, but managed quite an acrobatic display as his wheel got stuck in a crack and he flipped over the handlebars, rolled backwards and up on to his feet!

Despite the shabby weather everyone had a fantastic day, we checked in to the hotel, and then had a bit of a session (we also had a lot to drink!) ;) The evening was a total wash out with torrential rain like I've not seen for some time, so we went to the pub down the road for a few, then found a Chinese restaurant to eat at. Captain had gone in there to see if they could fit us in and they spoke neither English nor the disjointed French that Mark was attempting. So the communication resorted in Mark drawing stick man pictures to explain what he was trying to say!

I wish he'd saved the picture as it sounds like it belonged on the wall with the nursery schools finger paintings!!

We went for dinner and continued drinking, some more than others, and as the night grew on and the more drunk people got the more we seemed to forget we had a long ride the following morning!

It was this evening that Gary was nicknamed "Dad" - he is and has always been considerate (particularly towards me being a weak girlie) helping the weaker or tired riders up hills, pulling and pushing them, letting us draft off his back wheel, sheltering us from the wind.

There was also an incident involving Captain Cadence (not to be confused with Captain Turdseye), his bottom, Gary and an Ice cube. I'll let them elaborate if they so desire!!

Most of us went to bed - only because the pub stopped serving and it transpired the next morning that Captain T had got into the lift and found Quiz avec bottle of vin rouge, which escalated in them going to a pub. Dirty stop outs!

Stats

Mileage - 75
Ascent - 900m
Fallers - 2 - 3 (Michael fell off a few times too and it's believed it was one fall each day)
Cumulative Alcohol Consumed - several hundred units

Day 1 Swindon - Portsmouth

Day 1 of the trip was to go from Swindon to Portsmouth to catch the overnight Ferry to Caen. The maps we’d been sent showed the trip was “70 ish” miles – perfectly reasonable distance start to ease us into the trip we all felt.

So, after everyone had recovered enough from the climb, we organized ourselves into two slightly different paced groups, but regroup at various points along the way to Portsmouth or the back group sweep up any stragglers from the front group. The weather, despite the previous day and forecast was great, a gentle breeze, mostly bright and with only one 15 minute shower – which admittedly made the roads a bit slippery in places and the route pretty much pancake flat after the hill out of Swindon.

The plan was to stop half way in “Anna’s Valley” (that’s not a metaphor) near Andover at Wyevale Garden Center where Captain Turdseye had warned them of our impending visit – that we’d be very hungry and wanting cake and tea. They were very accommodating of 20 bikes and riders in bum hugging Lycra and fed and watered us and gave us a generous discount off our bill – amazing what you can wangle if you ask nicely!

Whilst we were queuing for coffee a slightly ruffled and limping Kees walked in – he’d had a mishap at a roundabout involving a stupid driver (apparently he bailed to save damaging his shiny bike - ahem ) and come off on the wet road; not the best start for his trip, and despite a hefty bruised leg (and ego no doubt!) he soldiered on.

After we’d got back on, refueled and ready to go, we took a look at the map… if this stop was half way to Portsmouth, and we’d gone 45 miles how can the total trip be 75 miles? It doesn’t take Carol Vorderman to do that Maths! Captain Turdseye’s trundle wheel needed calibrating and checking for accuracy we thinks!

About a mile after we got going, there was a bit of a kerfuffle… the ride got split, 2 punctures happened, one group carried on along the route (then got a puncture), one group stayed to fix the punctures, one group went completely the wrong way and Giles the support driver of the pick up truck somehow locked his keys in the car – with the Engine running!!? How the hell he managed that is anyone’s guess.

So group one, carried on towards Portsmouth using Deans map and Ian’s trusty Garmin, group two went in search of group 3 via Edinburgh and Giles waited for 90 minutes for a spare key to be delivered to him!

It soon became apparent that we weren’t going to get to Portsmouth in time for our dinner reservations, so we rang to cancel, the roads between Winchester and Portsmouth were heavy going, big rolling hills, rough potholed roads and finally after riding through the Ghetto of Portsmouth (not a great place to get a puncture I’d imagine!) we finally saw the sea and made our way to where the support vehicles were parked.

There was no sign of group 2 or 3 so we began getting the van ready to take our bikes, all hungry, smelly and thirsty (mostly for a pint) and the sweeper group appeared with a slightly irked Captain Turdseye.

Looking at my computer I could see that we’d actually covered 92 miles – not 75. We were all given a bit of a ticking off for letting the group split up from the Captain, with so many of us we had to keep an eye on each other.

Whilst waiting for the Ferry (aka the Party boat) we got ourselves a well earned pint and burger (or Two Pizzas in the case of Kev ;) ) – amazing how amazing that first pint off a 90 mile ride tastes!

Mark had kindly arranged cabins for the crossing so we didn’t have to sleep on the floor of the bar on the ferry, so we had four people to a cabin…. When you say cabin, it was more of a cupboard… Me, Jo, Mark Q and Paul M walked to our cabin, opened the door and saw one small bed and a small sofa…. This can’t be right!? Then one of the others clocked the pull handles in the ceiling gave them a tug and out popped two more beds! It was like James bond! The sofa also spun round into a bed.

It wasn’t the Ritz, but it was a bed for the night and a shower to wash our sweaty pits. Some of us went to the bar for a few more jars and managed at best a couple of hours sleep. Although, Tim said his room had a hot tub, butler service and large flat screen TV – impressive what you can get inside those little boxes!

Stats from Day 1
Distance Travelled – 92 miles
Ascent – 1500m
Approx cumulative Calories burnt – 72,000
Punctures – 3
Offs – 1

Bon Voyage - The Send Off

The Final Team Line Up
Due to a few minor changes the team has changed slightly:
Mark Nelson (Captain Turdseye)  - Team Captain
Dean
Mark Querzani (Quiz)
Tim
Charlie (Sicknote)
Kees
Kevin
Shaun (Captain Cadence)
Anna  (Bumpits/Bumtits)
Richard M
Paul G
Nathan
Gareth
Jo
Michael
Toots
Tony
Paul M
Gary (Dad)
Ian
David (Jiim'll) - Support driver of Van
Giles - Support Driver of Truck


The day began at Chez Turdseye with everyone loading their bags into the van and registering with Gareth. It felt a little like being at school having to hand over our passports to be checked. Lucky we did though as Richard soon found out! Gareth opened Richard’s passport to check the dates were valid, the date was fine, however if it was Richard’s wife who was coming to Paris it would be fine - he'd only picked hers up by mistake! Further to this problem was the fact that he not only didn’t have his passport, but he lived over in the flat lands of East Anglia, so a courier was arranged to transport the passport to meet us in Portsmouth.

Once the van was all loaded up, riders were fuelled up, final mechanical checks had been done, we all set off to Catherine Wayte Primary School where our send off was going to be and the local rag had arranged to come down to do an article and take our mugshots and our nearest and dearest were there to wave us off. I'd turned up wearing a stripey top, beret and a string of onions - i frickin stank! (it became a good excuse to blame the onions later in the day)

The headteacher of the school had organised all the children to line the playground and each of the riders to be introduced, and ride through whilst they cheered. Mark gave us a run down of what we were to do - one at a time, ride through the playground, follow  on through towards swindon, keeping a blue shirted cyclist in view and regrouping a little further on.

So we had our picture taken and were had warned us not to fall off  - we managed to all stay on board! (for now) but it was dead cute weaving through all the cheering children so a massive thanks to all of them, and the teachers at the school.

All of us together in our kit looked brilliant, the colours are great and we looked like a proper cycling club - I'm sure there were many times we didn't look like a cycling "club" throughout the trip though!

During the morning briefing Mark had told us that we would be regrouping in Wanborough, taking a quick stop check and then set off on the route. He also warned in his scare mongering fashion that pretty much immediately we would hit a "bit of a climb" which would probably have people off on their feet and walking up it! Nothing like a nice hill to start a 4 day cycling trip hey!?

So after 20 cyclists coughing their way up "a bit of a climb" was now the start of Day 1 and we were off!

T Minus 1

Final night in our own beds before departure. The weather has been unsettled today to say the least, one minute torential rain, the next beautiful sunshine. So we're all praying for the latter for the next few days at least!

This evening I bumped into Gareth in Asda whilst I was shopping for wet wipes (which he told Turdseye were for my front bottom), vaseline (for chaffe prevention!) and Jelly Babies - for their amazing energy.He caught me laughing like a loon to myself having stumbled across these

-->  call me juvenile but i found it hysterical.

Paul popped round earlier to collect mine and Marks bikes to store at his folks, i was meant to be going out but ended up getting held up so have not long been back, still got my packing to do and everything to sort for tomorrow. Will sort it out in the morning now, as I'm pooped.

Emails have been going back and forth throughout the team during today and everyone's getting super excited now.

We're due to leave Swindon at 11.30 tomorrow morning so we get to Portsmouth in good time for dinner reservations, and to catch the ferry (and no doubt enjoy a few beers)

Some Pics

Not so big G (having lost 6 stone since Sept!) on his new Willy!

Gary Paul and Gareth

Gary, Nathan & Paul

Garth in his shiny new kit - which matches his shiny new bike and slinky new physique! ;)

Sponsored by worlds biggest Teacakes, courtesy of the fishermans

Final countdown

Bon Soir!!

With 2 days to go before the big send off the kits all arrived (looks pretty natty!) bikes are having their final services, ferries are booked, chamois cream has been purchased and  sponsorship is still coming in - great work everyone!

The weather forecast isnt looking too great so looks like i'll be leaving my bikini at home after all but we're nails so this isn't going to stop us!

I'm looking forward to meeting the guys from London and seeing the guys who've been elusive from our fun days out during recent weeks. Also looking forward to a few beers on Saturday when/if we finally arrive in Paris.

Will hopefully be posting daily updates on the voyage so please pop in and check out our progress :)

Also thanks to the guys at Big Adventure Store and Performance Cycles for their great support in fixing our broken bits over the last couple of months at a moments notice so we don't miss out on the big rides.

See latest update for fundraising, there's still some more figures to come in so this number is expected to be raised. But still got some to go to reach our target, so if you've not already donated, please dig deep and think of our poor sore bums and wind/rain swept hair (and my mascara running down my face) this week!

S2P meets Ironman via Wales

Today was to be the first outing of as many of the S2P group as we could muster, but in the final hours we were down to Me, Captain Turdseye, Paul M, Gareth, Gary, Mark Q - the new addition, Nathan and Tim.

Due to bad organisation and the drop outs nothing was properly arranged, until heard on the grapevine there was an 85 mile ride to the Severn Bridge and back being organised by a few of the guys doing the Ironman in Switzerland - as me, Mark and Turdseye are all doing it, we were keen to do this so we arranged for the two groups to combine and make a big ride of it.

Last night at swimming, I overheard that it was in fact going to be 110 miles not the 85 previously teased so let Turdseye know so he could relay the info to the others (i'm almost certain he didn't!!)

I've been having bike issues because Richard Bransons henchmen manhandle "Willy" on my flight home this week so I was back on Scott, however Friday whilst riding my pedal came off because being a girl i had crossed hte thread so had to cycle 5 miles home with just one leg!  Turdseye gave me his Specialised to try out but even though he's a shortass it looked too big for me, and I didn't want to risk it on a long ride so Mark managed to sort out my pedals and i decided to ride Scott - not ideal but better than not riding at all, even if he does hurt my legs.

The plan was to meet at 7am at the lake, most of us had the sense to drive out, except Turdseye and the other S2P guys, Nathan had come the furthest and already done 15 miles before we'd even left! SO 15 of us set off into the brilliant sunshine, the S2P guys had on their new cycling kit - all but me  cos i'm too fat for it at the moment! (plus i wanted to optimise tanning with a vest)

We started off pretty up together, then after about 10 miles, i dropped off the back, Tom waited for me for a bit to catch up, but i kept lagging behind. During this time, my spare inner tube kept spewing out of the bottle i'd stuffed it in so Mark took it for me, the tube however was stopping the tools inside from rattling, so all that could be heard of me was an annoying rattle. over pot holes they flew out so Turdseye took one an di put the other in my bike bag. there was still rattling though!

Despite being helped along by Andy for much of it the first 40 miles i felt like shit, I wanted to throw scott into the bushes, i felt like i was holding everyone up, like i shouldn't be there and totally useless. They were all really great and waited for me to catch up, ut this made me feel worse because i felt i was ruining their ride.

Mark fucked up the GPS and went the wrong way, but luckily Andy was waiting back with me and also had Garmin so we went the right way and got to rest while they found us again. When we reached the Severn bridge it was an impressive sight, i foolishly believed Andy when he asked if i had money for the toll!!

When we got across the bridge, we stopped to get some water  and snacks, Tim, Paul and Nathan headed home - i think they were sick of Miss Slowcoach holding them back.

The rest of the day was looong and very hot. The hills were equally looooong! But banter was high, there were a few mishaps.. Gary went ass over tit up a big hill - luckily both bike and rider are in one piece!

Mark got knocked off by me.... no idea what he was doing! and Peter fell over at nothing too exposing his ass to us!

I seemed to pick up strength in the last 3rd of the ride, maybe the combination of managing to keep with the pack to draft and having eaten a substantial amount!

All the guys doing the S2P (and Ironman) showed massive strength as riders and i'm really worried now i'm going to either not keep up or piss them off being so slow.

All in all a great day another century ride in the bag (125 for the guys who cycled to the lake!!) and a bit of a tan too! :) Thanks to Andy for letting us gatecrash and a personal thanks for everyone supporting me in my time of shitness - hopefully i'll get my act together by the 9th!

Fundraising....

Mark suggested a group target of £10,000 for the fundraising element of the trip with two charities receiving the sponsorship raise.

First is Prospect Hospice is a local charity which cares for terminally ill patients. I personally have witnessed their amazing work first hand and am proud to be helping raise money and awareness for the charity.

Details of the Prospect Hospice can be found at http://www.prospect-hospice.net/

The second charity which will be receiving sponsorshop is MAG (Mine Advisory Group) which is an organisation which deal in clearing warzones of remnants of conflict.

Can be found at http://www.maginternational.net/

Several of us have set up justgiving pages which are doing pretty well so far - here area a few links

www.justgiving.com/Anna-Buckingham

www.justgiving.com/certeco-swindon2paris2

www.justgiving.com/certeco-swindon2paris

http://www.justgiving.com/Dean-Fouracre

The total  raised so far is £2,219.03 - we still have a way to go, so all sponsorship will be greatly appreciated.

Captain Turds'eye's Bike Maintenance Masterclass

Today I was half thinking of joining the Sunday ride out with Paul etc but I needed to run this morning so did that and planned to ride out with Mark this avo, when he text me to tell me what he had planned


"3-4 hours, alternating 20 mins hard(ish) 20 mins easy" and not to be put off by his tri bars... how this had gone from the original 3 hour easy ride I have no idea!! So I thought I'd stick my tri bars on too as I need to get used to them for a couple of events coming up.

Was a bit cooler than yesterday (thankfully as I caught the sun a tad yesterday) so I set off on the 8 mile ride to Marks (not M & S) and immediately into strong headwinds, I had a little go on the bars, but the wind made me all jittery and scaredy so left it til I got to Marks (not M & S) arrived and straight away started complaining about the wind, boo hooo! what a girl. I had told mark earlier that I was a bit whacked and not to expect my best, but had already suspected that I was going to come home hating him today.

I told Mark I didnt want any hills as my knee was still a bit tight and he assured me flatty flatness.So we headed out towards Ashton Keynes with the wind behind us now, just as well as I'd ridden hard into it all the way there. When we got near Ashton Mark said we were going to pick it up for 20 mins and get down on the tri bars, at first I was a bit of a chicken, but it soon became much more comfortable and dare I say "easier" in that postition even though now we were going back into the wind, when we reached Cirencester the 20 mins was up and time for 20 mins "easy" - phew! We turned towards Stow straight into a really strong wind, which lasted for about 15 miles!! What was meant to be "easy" was most definitely not!

I was cursing the wind, and Mark and the rough pieces of road, and my bone shaker of a bike but we ploughed on like the tough guys that we are! We found ourselves on the Fosseway and Mark said "coast down here" (a 14% gradient hill) so was looking forward to give my legs a break. The wind totally stole this hill from us and instead of the adreneline ride down it, had to pretty much pedal down! Reaching the bottom, we stopped and Mark said "hmmm... I didnt realise that hill was there" looking ahead of us.... we were sandwiched in a valley with an equally steep and long hill that we had just come down!

"I fucking hate you Mark"

So up we went, into the wind, lots more swear words, grimacing, growling. Then we continued along this road into yet more wind, it would have been a great piece of road given how straight it was, had it not been for the relentless gale in our faces but I now hate this piece of road. I was geting really cross with it and now heading ot towards Cheltenham, finally we turned off in the hope of getting back towards Cirencester. I had no idea where we were and had assumed Mark did, til he got out his GPS to find out how to get back!

Finally we were out of the headwind after cycling 30 miles into it, surely this would mean the whole way back is to be tailwinds!!? hurrah!

Carrying on, we stumbled across a gorgeous little village with babbling brooks, but what we also found were nasty steep hills that sprung from nowhere! I hit one in the wrong gear and had to make a timely dismount nd walked a few metres to the top. Down a hill, through a village, round a corner and "smack" another even bigger hill, I managed to drop my gear quick enough to keep going, but it was fricking steep, I heard a grind of gears up ahead from Mark, and a big "Cerlunk!"

"Wooops!"

I thought it was his chain, but when I got to him and looked down, it seemed that the whole rear derailier had dropped into the rear wheel. (that'll teach him for buying a cheap bike and dont get me started on those pikey wheels!)

On first look it seemed like it was pretty much game over for the ride, so Mark rang his wife to come and collect him. He then had a fiddle (as boys do) and started to assess the damage, I found a piece of metal on he floor which turned out to be the bracket that holds the rear mechanism in place, which had sheered right off - I had warned him to stay off the chips. A couple of spokes had been mangled and a few chips of paint had come off he frame - by now Mark was a snivelling wreck. "not the paintwork!" he sobbed.

After finally getting him to stop crying, we walked up round the corned out of the blind corner we'd stopped on and out came the trusty multitool, I told him a can opener wouldn't do a great deal in this situation so he got out the chain puller apart thingamy so he could get all the broken bits off... this is when he had the brain wave of shortening the chain, and making it into a fixed wheel! (Of course - why the hell not??)

Obvioulsy with my vast bike maintenance I helped in every way I could "don't take the pin right out of the chain or it'll be a bugg...." too late.

"told you so..."

"lets pull that gear cable right out, it's fucked anyway"

"hang, on, I want a picture of that...."

"I'm glad I wrapped up warm today"

"you've fucked your cleats walking up that hill"

"water ain't gonna get that oil off your hands - dickhead"

"oh look your new seats, all oily"

It went on like that for about half an hour (Paris is going to be a long way!)

When he'd finally finished making a meal of it, he'd put the chain back together - minus about a foot of it, taken the derailier off totally, whinged about his broken bits. his shiny carbon competition bike, was now a fixie!!

We walked most of the way up the hill (which went on for aaaages!) and finally we got back on, and made the way to the to of the hill, which was probably still a good half mile, with Mark stuck in a carefully selected gear - not well suited to hill climbing!

When we'd finally made it up, we found ourselves on the best bit of road of the day, flat, tail wind and straight! Perfect for getting our heads down - well it would be, if Captain Turdseye's legs werent spinning round at 200 rpm!

After about 5 miles we met Marks wife Michelle who had kindly come to collect us and save us from a further 30 miles getting home like that... as comedic as it was to watch - I wanted to get back before dark and had had enough of his company by now.

I'm glad i didnt' ask for a hilly ride today or god knows where we'd have gone! in hindsight i shouldve gone out with the others!!

Fair play though for him "fixing" it up and carrying on, but we all know what a stubborn sod he is so it's hardly surprising!!

Good friday Fifty/Easter Sunday Funday..... and a few of Team S2P MIA

(written 4th April via Swindon to Paris Facebook group)

Well Paul had planned a nice 50 mile route for a group of us for Good Friday, but for various reasons it didnt go ahead....


1) Paul, Nathan and Gareth crashing last week, hence Paul has had a bad back and buckled wheel, and Gareth has various injuries and a pretty impressive bruise he's showing around, and last I heard he'd gotten himself a warning from the Police for indecent exposure (this is only hearsay, so I'd like to state that off the record)

2) I had a crash the previous week too (2 in fact) when I say crash, my friend pushed me off and have a hip flexor issue... also I piled a few too many miles into my knee I suspect and it's been complaining ever since.

3) the weather was shocking!  (not that we're fair weather cyclists you understand)

It later transpired Dean and Gary had got out and "Manned the F*** Up".

So Paul changed the ride to be today, I'd been out yesterday and didnt want to do any more than 50 today.

When Paul and I met, the sky looked ominous, so I pulled on my rain jacket - which matched my super cool funky "new" cycling shoes - I say "new" loosely, because they're possibly dated from 1982, and they're damned sexy! By the time we'd ridden the 8 or so miles to where we were meeting Gary and possibly Nathan, the sun had come out, and the jacket was coming back off.

Nathan apparently had better things to do - like have a lie in eating easter eggs lke most normal folk on Easter Sunday. Not us - we're dedicated to the cause!

Paul had just had his new gears installed on the Mad One and was making clickety clack noises so took a moment to fiddle with his nobs before we set off again. I was whining a bit about my knee and not wanting to do any hills, and Paul wasnt that up for hills either with his back, so we set off on a flat route out through Cricklade towards Lechlade and Faringdon. Wisely avoiding the spot where Paul last week came a pearla.

Despite the route being flat, it was hard work, every direction we were heading the wind seemed to be in our faces, at about 30 miles, I totally bonked, I'd left it too long before jizzing it up with some gels, we had a look for a coffee shop, but being easter sunday, most folk had better things to be doing than opening up shop (like lie in bed eating easter eggs)! So we stopped on the roadside for a bit for a refuel - and for Paul to fiddle with his nobs once more (he just couldnt leave them alone)! He was also concerned about the angle of the dangle on his hoods and Gary had the genius idea of rather than moving the hoods, rotating the handlebars!! (obviously I'd thought of that, but didnt want to steal his thunder)

After Paul was satisfied with his position we headed off in the direction of home (which was stilll a good 25 miles away) into hideous headwinds.... that made me yell at it and made my face go all sad and troutish. We spotted a sign saying "Tea rooms, open" and whipped in before you could say "one lump or two" and found a really lovely coffee shop with great cake and not so great coffee (as Paul put it - coffee flavoured water) - still, I'd go back. After refuelling once more we had to go back into the wind, the only saving grace was that it was lovely and sunny or I would have definitely cried.... Paul and Gary were perfect gents though and protected me from the wind as best they could.

Paul's gears were still making clickety clack noises for the journey home, so once more, we pulled over so he could have a fiddle. The clickety clack seemed to stop, but it then became "screek, squeak" and I pointed out it was like the little kid on the tricycle from The Shining, all it needed was Paul to say "Red Rum... Red Rum..." not as Gary suggested his head to spin round and vomit (that was The Exorcist)

The last 5 miles I bonked the whole way back (not in a good way either) Gary carried on up broad town and beyond, Paul went to collect a life sized man shaped punchbag (don't ask) and I slumped down the hill and fell through my front door into the bath.

In other news.....

I have just been on the mn4fitness website and had a look at the list of participants... so far the turn out has been slack... apart from the few I've ridden with so far, i've not met all the members, I met Tim briefly in TBAS this week, where he promptly embarrassed me (cheers Tim) and there's a few on the list who've been suspiciously quiet... where are you all?!!

Paul's Cencherry (March 27th)

Paul, a bit put out by our previous week's century ride planned to pop his century cherry a week after.

He'd planned a lovely route from Wootton Bassett to Purton/ Blunsdon/Hannington/ Kempsford/ Fairford/ Cirencester/ Malmesbury... "and more"

Thankfully I was away taking part in the "Cheshire Twat Sportive" but Paul, Gareth and Nathan set about on their epic journey around Wiltshire, Gloucestershire and beyond. They got as far as 25 miles before disaster struck... in the form of a 3 Man pile up.

Here's Pauls account of the ordeal....

"So....25 miles in and my first proper crash. We nearly missed missed a left turn whilst riding very close and Nathan slammed on the anchors. I (just) managed to stop but Gareth didn't and went into the back of me. He's at A&E getting his wrist checked out (and he really, really, smacked his head too). I pushed on for 3...0 miles but now my back is siezing up so have sacked if off and will not be back on the road for a few days. Nathan is still out there somewhere.........!

BIG thanks to Lucy for being our rescue driver.

Hope Gareth is OK.

I need a cuppa t."

Mark Take's another "Snap Hill Virginity" and Anna's Birthday ride

(Written March 20th 2010 via Swindon2Paris Facebook group)

Yesterday marked several momentus milestones for me;
1) turning 21 (again)
2) more cake than one girl could wish for
3) the most swear words said in a day
4) the most hills climbed (ever in history!)
5) my first (almost) century ride.

I met Gary, Mark and Gareth at "8am" - for a change I was there first and  we pondered the route we were going to take given we were meeting Nathan at 9, so tossed up between going up Salthrop or Broad town hill to start. Neither of them gentle starts to the ride. Broad town won, well we conquered it - so i think we won.

Then we got a nice decent into wroughton, I even let go of the brakes a couple of times! ;) got to the bottom after seeing Gareth and Gary disappear down the hill like bobsleighers - Gareth topping 43mph - nutter. Mark was somewhere behind making the first of many many wee stops (it's his age)!
We then went on to meet Nathan who timed it just right that we almost reached the top of croft hill before he whizzed down the other side! Shortly after Nathan's arrival, Gary had to leave us due to back problems, which he'd been concerned fromt he beginning and got worse going up Broad town.

Then up another feisty hill - Brimble hill, on through chisledon and out towards "Snap" this was Gareth's first time up it, Mark had taken Nathan and I separately up it a few weeks ago....we could see another cyclist in the distance about to start the ascent, and Mark and I had a silly idea to try and catch him - as if! I tried to get a head start so raced off a bit - you'd think being the lightest i'd have a weight advantage and get up the hills first!? You'd be wrong. It starts gradual and before you know it you're in your lowest gear spinning your legs through treacle with a wall of tarmac in front of you. The guys had all past me by now, Gareth just a few yards ahead, Mark way off up the hill, zig zagging across the road like a drunk! I couldnt see a fucking thing as my glasses had steamed up from my gasping of air so they came off - I preferred the foggy specsc and not seeing!!

Finally we all reached the top with Hi-5's and whoops followed by slumping over the handlebars! "Again?" I said.... :D The reward for the climb was a cool descent back down into Aldbourne?? I think... out towards Wanborough? I don't recall too much of the journey as it was blurred by hills and sweat and tears!

I'd requested that my favourite piece of road be included (as it was my birthday n'all!) and Mark didnt disappoint. The piece of road is just awesome, its a clear stretch of road through a beautiful valley into Lambourne that if the wind is just right you can just fly through at 25 mph for miles and miles. Today wasn't as fast as the wind wasnt quite right but it always makes me smile going through there.

After this there were more hills, a massive one into Ashbury that my chain flew off at the opportune moment! Mark showing off coming back down it to do an extra lap! Tsk.

When we reached the Newbury turning, Nathan parted company with us as he had to be back for 1 (I think this was buillshit personally, he knew something we didn't)  so he went off and we carried on towards Newbury, where Mark made a special effort to find every single hill he could!

Just when we were discussing how long we'd need to stop for in order to get home before 3 there was this hissing noise of air coming from Gareth's bike - cue the siliest comment of the day "What's that??" umm, just a guess, but think it might be a puncture?? :P

So after watching Mark and G set about fixing the tyre (I obviously offered to help, but they didn't want showing up by a girl) and make helpful comments and laugh at how inappropriate it all looked with mark and Gareth bother bent over a wheel pumping air into it in, obviously the innuendo's were flying!

Got G's bike back together and about to set off and more problems, his rear wheel has some how buckled, so after a bit of hodge podge, removing the rear brake we decide to carry on. What i liked best was the rain that started while we were waiting around!

After what felt like anohter 40 miles of hill we finally got to Mark's parents in law where there was a lovely fresh from the oven birthday cake waiting plus another that "Jim'll made" :) so we drank tea, ate cake and filled our boots for half an hour or so.

We got back on the bikes and started back.. the first couple of minutes back in the saddle hurt! I dont remember much of the return journey, it was raining lightly the whole way which wasnt too unpleasant to be fair, but when we got back to Swindon and Mark said "I feel as strong now as I did when we started" I could have stuck a banana in his spokes!

What better way to spend my birthday - cake, cycling, great company and I didnt even notice the rain for the last couple of hours!! Fair play to Gareth for doing the last 50 miles with only a front brake and a buckled back wheel!

Cheers dooods!! We 'king Rock!!! :)

Team S2P

Swindon 2 Paris Team Members:

Mark Nelson (aka Captain Turds'eye)
Anna Buckingham
Dean Fouracre
Gareth Preece
Jo Warburton
Kevin Braidford
Nathan Maysey
Paul Gregory
Paul Mason
Philip Tootell
Richard Mossman
Charlie Fosbrooke
Gary Major
Shaun Camden
Tim Hallett
Ian Preece
Kees Van Daalen
Michael Fosbrooke
Tony Godden
David Hoare (Support) - aka "Jim'll"
Giles Bennet (Support)
Lee Paines (Massage)
Fishermans Ashton Keynes* (Teacakes)

Swindon 2 Paris - Event Overview

The Swindon to Paris trip has been developed by Mark Nelson who did a similar trip in 2009 with a handful of others. This year he opened it up to anyone who wanted to get involved, the result was 19 cyclists, 2 support drivers and a Sports therapist.

The trip is planned for 2010 from Wedneday 9th until Sunday 13th June, riding 350 miles over 4 days, taking in beautiful scenery, rolling hills and hopefully glorious summer weather!