19th June

I am disappointed that other train booking apps haven’t incorporated being able to book your bicycle onto a train like Trainline does. I printed off all the tickets required (there is this wheeze now where they split the tourney to reduce the price so I ended up with a sheaf of tickets) and set off from Shireoaks, to Sheffield, to Birmingham New Street, walked to Moor Street and ended up in Warwick. I met Nicky Shaw en route who I first met on the Dales Divide in 2022. Unassuming and delightful company she is a phenomenon on the bike.

The set up for the start was in a great location – the pavilion for a tennis and cricket club. I got my tracker, cap (designed by Nicky!) and set off the locate my hotel. I asked if I could keep my bike in my room and they said yes as someone else had already done so. I think, in retrospect, the locked shed down the garden would have been fine as the staircase up to the second floor was narrow and steep and awkward.

I then went off to search for Niel, Nadine and others who were camping on the race course. Niel’s van is a super neat conversion and basecamp looked very comfortable.

We all met up for dinner a Giggling Squid restaurant and I had the good fortune to sit next to Ian To. He and his partner Ingerbord are behind Via. He completely understood why I had to withdraw this year (he has two smashing daughters) and I listened into the chat around the table feeling a bit daunted by the comparative watts people were talking about. An alcohol free evening ended with a stroll back to the hotel through the streets of Warwick.

20th June

The start was at the most civilised time of 10am. This meant I could thoroughly enjoy the hotel breakfast. A highlight was the eggs Florentine: two poached eggs on toasted muffin with spinach and hollandaise sauce. The sauce was delicious and the waitress told me when I complimented it that it was ‘homemade’.

I got my photograph taken with and without my bike. The gang all gathered including the two Simon’s, Alex and Annie Dixey – a junior doctor from Salisbury.

Then I was lined up in the 50-60 cap number group. We were set off in waves so ours left at 10.10am. the road meandered out of Warwick and there were roadworks to hold us up and let some of the speedy ones pass us. Niel overtook me early on and I was interested to see how he ‘spun’ up the hills.

I settled into a rhythm and ignored the steady stream of people overtaking me. The route headed South to start with through the Cotswolds with the ubiquitous stop for coffee and a snack at a petrol station.

The weather remained perfect the whole day. I heard later some found it too hot but maybe that was the pace they were setting? It was undulating and tougher than I expected from looking at the profile beforehand but I was making pretty steady progress. I began to believe I could make Devizes which would be about 250km for the first day. I knew there was a Travelodge there.

Having just crested a punchy, steep climb and getting my breath back (while listening to a flow murmur!) I heard “Gotcha” as Nadine crested the climb. She was ever so pleased!

We both planned to eat in Marlborough and as I swept into the town round a corner I found her sitting outside a pizzeria. The pizza I ordered ended up being tea, dinner and breakfast.

It was actually the Solstice today and as I headed further south I crested a hill to be met by Ingerbord, Ian’s partner, who was on her bike (another great rider!). She told me the Solstice celebrants were out in force at Avebury which I made just after the sun had set to find crowds milling round the stones and partying.

I made the Travelodge in Devizes just as another cyclist was booking in. I was hugely satisfied with the day’s riding and that I had a shower, some cold pizza and a bed to look forward to before an early start tomorrow.