John is away for a long weekend in Wales, so not here for our normal Sunday ride. Gill said on Friday that she was also free Sunday, so fancied a ride. Great. I invited Andrea to join us, since she didn't manage to join us on Friday's ride.
Then Gill changed her plans to drive to Scotland today (as you do😂), so Andrea and I set off this morning to park at Odiham canal. I had sent her the GPX file, which she as happy with. A few climbs of course being Hampshire, but since Andrea is fitter than me, shouldn't be a problem. We both now have the same Oro bikes too, with good gearing to help us up the steeper hills.
It was a gorgeous morning as we set out from Odiham.
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| Brief stop off route, for a nature break. |
Then we peddled to pass the Fox and Goose at Greywell, turning off on Upton Grey Road, that lovely quiet lane with views both sides.
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| Upton Grey Road views to our left... |
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| ... and views to our right. |
We dropped into Upton Grey, to turn right at the pond, and begin our gradual rise to Weston Patrick, before it gets a bit steeper towards the Herriad village sign.
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| I stopped as the climb to Herriad levelled out. Andrea a bit behind, and I did think she was struggling a bit. |
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| Almost at Herriad, we stopped for a few minutes for Andrea whose heart was racing a bit. She wasn't out of breath at all. |
Recovered, we continued, dropping down now to cross the A339, into Bagmore Lane, passing through the Hamlet. (Bagmore Lane changes name to Berrydown Lane a little further on). But we turned right into Bell Lane, dropping down, then an uphill towards Ellisfield. As I climbed up, I could see Andrea in my mirror, but the gap soon widened, and I had a feeling she was struggling once more. I stopped at the top of the climb, and photographed this farmer spraying the field. As she passed, she said she would just keep going.
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| Bell Lane near Ellisfield. Farmer spraying |
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| The sunlight was catching the spray as he turned. |
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| I set off the catch up with Andrea, passing this Virginia Creeper |
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| Then this lovely red foliage at The Bell House gate. |
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| Just around the corner Andrea has stopped opposite this little cottage. |
She was clearly concerned, so I suggested a sit down, and she didn't argue. The grass was a bit damp this morning, so we both sat for 5 mins or so on our lightweight jackets, packed in our saddlebags. Checking her heart rate, she recovered, and we continued to drop into Ellisfield, where I mentioned the house with the hole in the garden wall.
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| Hole in the wall of the bridge in Ellisfield.... |
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| ...The view of the pond through the hole in the wall. |
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| Ellisfield church. Andrea continued slowly, reaching the first bend on the right. |
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| I caught her up at the top of the climb, at this junction, where we would turn left. But not yet. Frustratingly for Andrea, every climb was triggering her heart into palpitations. Such a shame, since she is fit. We rested a few minutes again. |
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| Then the lovely long downhill passing some homes still called Ellisfield, I think. |
I told Andrea to watch out for a RED toy airplane as we passed the old woods on our right. Then I spotted it.... it's yellow! 😂 Maybe they repainted it. At the end of the long downhill, we come to a dogleg XRoads, now Berrydown Lane. We cross straight over, an unnamed Road, heading to an area called Moundsmere, to begin our next climb. Not a difficult one, but today, it was too much for poor Andrea.
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| Bracken turning as we start our next climb to Moundsmere |
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| Andrea starting to weave across the road. Not a good sign. Then we walked together for a bit, but unfortunately, her heart still racing. Time to sit down. |
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| Game over. Time to call for assistance. |
Our planned coffee stop was at The Yard, Preston Candover, but still 4-5 miles away. Soon downhill, then flat. If we could reach the cafe, I could leave Andrea there, and continue returning with the van. But Andrea was not confident she would make it. What to do?
She has medication, so that was the first thing, and she improved. But I was reluctant to leave her to go back to Odiham to get the van. We were in the middle of nowhere. (John away, and Ian not able to drive atm.) I decided to call our friend Jeanette, who has always said "If you need a lift just ask."
I rang, but as it connected, I remembered she had friends coming for lunch, so hung up. I decided to call my friend Monica, who lives nr Odiham (had lunch with her only yesterday!). She was at home, and no plans, so I asked if she could rescue Andrea, to get her and her bike to Odiham to my van? "Of course I can" she said. "Where are you?"
On a road with no name!!! But I talked her through where we were and she kind of understood (ish). She said she and Barry would bring two cars, so that we could both get a lift back to Odiham. What a star. 😇
A whatsapp message in the meantime from Jeanette. "Did you mean to call me". I called her back to explain, and she was ready to come, but I said no. However, what I did need to know was how to send my location to Monica via Whatsapp. Thank you Jeanette! Now I know. Jeanette also suggested that Monica send me her "live location" via Whatsapp, so that I could watch her progress. What a great idea.
Chatting again to Monica, now knowing where we were, she said it's only 9 miles..... see you soon.
So we waited, and waited, and then with Andrea feeling much better, I decided to drop back down the hill to the Xroads, just incase Monica had trouble finding us exactly. Her live tracking hadnt worked for some reason. Maybe no signal, or did she actually use the LIVE tracking, or just location of her home, which I could see. Forgot to ask her.
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| Waiting at the xroad, a small plane towing a glider out of Lasham airfield. Look at that blue sky! |
As I waiting at the XRoads, Hampshire cycle club, in small groups, came racing down to the junction. I waved them over shouting "all clear", so at least I was being useful. 😉 Next, a man in a yellow jersey (brave man) appeared, and I also waved him across. But he stopped to peer at his GPX device. He said he was trying out a new route.
Where are you heading? Weston Patrick, he replied. Then go right here, and continue over the main road, to climb up to Herriad, I advised him. That sounds right he said. John will be amazed that I was able to give someone directions in Hampshire😂😂😂!
But still no sign of Barry and Monica... that 9 miles is taking a while. 😅 I decided to ring Monica, who answered immediately. They were now at Upton Grey. Getting the technology linked to their cars had taken longer than the journey. 😅😅 At least I knew I had a phone signal still, and called Andrea a couple of times too.
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| The rescue team. We both took our front wheels off, and the bikes fitted in Monica'a car. Then I got a lift with Barry. |
What a palaver. Thank you SOO much to my good friends who saved the day. Incidentally, Monica suffers from the same condition, and I once had to rescue her too on a bike ride as we climbed out of Bentley. She was on my e-bike, and still suffered. No explaining why these things happen.
So, Andrea (and Gill) have still not been to The Yard for coffee! And today, I didn't get there either.😌
But we did enjoy the 12 miles we did in glorious sunshine, and the countryside too.