Team Dave

The last day! What a feeling, yet still about 80miles to cover so by no means a twiddle down the road! Still, unlike yesterday the sun is shining & there’s a little chill in the air that seems to be aggravating my left ankle after a slight strain last thing yesterday, it’s almost enough to make me wince and certainly no pedalling out of the saddle. Sparky’s wise choice to get breakfast on the south side of Warrington meant minimal hassle getting through the centre. We had breakfast at a diner where sparky apparently once saw Mark Radcliffe. With the sun shining in and satisfied bellies it was hard to drag ourselves back outside, especially with cartoons playing on the TV, no match to Tom & Jerry mind! Back on the bike and warmed up again, miraculously my ankle felt right as rain again, must have been good coffee! Next check point on the homeward road was Whitchurch. Funny that on the way up, north Shropshire seemed so flat, now it seemed relentlessly hilly, perception is a strange thing!

By this stage Sparky is on familiar roads (not yet for me) and is noticeably picking the pace up, it’s just past dinner by this point and I’m hungry but we’re too close for a lengthy stop. Struggling to keep at dave’s pace I insist we have a brief stop before Shrewsbury. Shrewsbury isn’t so bad with some chances to pause in the traffic and have a breather. At Bayston Hill we’re met by friends, Kaine, Jim and Al, this really makes it feel like home is just around the corner and a real mental high to see them. After some brief chit chat we’re rolling along again just grand, with a bit of jostling round Jim seems to be adamant on leading us. Once again we encounter some brainless motorists who leave us less than a foot gap when overtaking, twats! It really makes me angry how people can be so reckless and irresponsible with other peoples lives on the roads just because they’re in a metal box! Anyway, there’s lots commotion with phone calls, talk of a detour through Church Stretton and a slow pace set by the others, me and Dave are on a mission now and sprint up the climb out of Church Stretton on the road to Much Wenlock, leaving the others behind, so we wait then carry on. On the back roads now to Westhope, we steady up some and have a chat whilst riding with the others, except Kaine has dashed off almost out of sight! A few corners later he’s sat in the ditch claiming to have cramp, but sitting in a suspiciously un cramp like way, never the less we stop a little. At this point there’s one last climb between us and the finish. In true excitement me and dave are powering up it side by side pushing each other to see what we’re made of, we don’t have to worry about saving some for tomorrow no more! Cruising down through the village we see a crowd and a finish tape! But both us Dave’s have other plans, we both wanted to climb the short gravel drive first up to Dave’s house where we set off from (in true cyclocross sunday style), as we disappear short of the crowd we can hear them shout “no, come back!” much to our amusement we turn around and ride through the finish tape to an overwhelming crowd of friends and family! We’ve done it! The relief is indescribable. There’s plenty of posing for photos, hugs, handshakes and maybe a high five or two! As we slowly work our way into the village hall where they’ve a spread of lots of food (we’ve missed dinner remember), I can start to feel myself go faint! So I get down on the floor with legs on a chair and a circle of people looking down on me telling me I’m as white as a sheet! Perhaps it was the combination of no dinner and the overwhelming emotion at the finish, but a glass of cola and lots of lasagne, taters and cake put the colour back in my cheeks! Thank you to everyone who showed out for us and Sue Lewis and her mum Mo for organising such a fantastic welcome party! Pricer