Whether Mr Google knew that I had planned a Breeze ride to Cookham Dean last Wednesday, I can never prove. But it seemed like rather a coincidence that an advert popped up on Facebook, for something called a "Gravity Grand Prix", which would take place in Cookham Dean just a few days later.
Often these adverts are really annoying, but on this occasion I decided to look into what was going on. Turned out this is the 18th year of an annual event, which has raised over £250,000 for charity. As well as the homemade contraptions racing downhill, there were food stalls and loos. Sounds like a good excuse for a Sunday bike ride!
I had originally asked a few friends if they would like to go, but loads of lucky people are still on holiday. I decided to offer a Breeze ride instead. Breeze leaders Jill and Julie both joined me, and a lady called Vanessa, on her first Breeze ride.
Route link screenshot at end.
To keep the ride shortish, we met in Waltham St Lawrence. Julie and Vanessa live not far away, so had ridden. Jill had been dropped off with her ebike. I drove too since I had a few things to do this morning, and we were not starting till 11.30, so would be late back, assuming we spend an hour or so there. Vanessa was on a mountain bike, and had done some kind of sportive thing yesterday running and cycling, so no danger of her not keeping up then.😉😂
We started out by riding to Hare Hatch, across the A4, and to Crazies Hill, where we had a quick drink stop. It was a muggy kind of day, too hot for a jacket, even if we did have a bit of very light drizzle occasionally on the way there.
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| Crazies Hill, and now its all downhill as far as Pudding Hill. Julie, Vanessa, Jill. |
Passing Sip and Spoke, we soon turned left into Pudding Hill Lane, Vanessa ahead on her very suitable mountain bike. A bit of gradual climbing through the woods, with a few stick patches but generally still dry. Lovely downhill next on Honey Lane towards Burchetts Green.
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| Pinkneys Green. Darkish clouds, but no real rain so far. |
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| Julie had pulled over for Jill to catch up. Those who are looking more closely may spot that she has a flat tyre.... we had not yet realised! |
As I led off, with Julie, I noticed that the other two were not following, so turned back. Aggghhhh. Puncture in her back tyre. She had by this time produced a spray can that Ferdi had recommended, but Jill had never tried. Initially it was just spraying foam everywhere, but once we had properly tightened the valve it worked a treat. The tyre inflated in seconds, and crucially stayed up.
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| The magic foam of Muc Off Emergency Puncture Repair. |
Off we go again, with Jill infront so that we could keep an eye on her tyre. It was fine. A gradual climb on Winter Hill Road, and we followed the signs on Big Frith Lane to Cookham Dean. A few cars following the car park signs too, but not busy.
The action was due to start at 1pm, and as we locked our bikes up, the first racer was announced. Perfect timing. Vanessa was meeting her family, so we said goodbye to her, and she was getting a lift back with them. Nice to meet you, and hope you will join another weekend Breeze ride sometime in future.
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| I think this was the head teacher from the school. She was hilarious with a blood curdling SCREAM as she shot passed. |
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| We walked down the edge of the course, on the look out for lunch. |
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| We all opted for a mix of chicken and seafood Paella. Very tasty. |
A few minutes Jill started to choke! She stood up and after a few coughs managed to dislodge a bit of food from her throat. Phew. I dashed over to the Paella stand and asked for some water urgently. They dont sell water, but the owner gave me her own bottle of water.
After we had eaten most of our lunch (too much), we walked down to the finish line but difficult to see there, but a few photos anyway.
With 5 more drivers to come down, on this first leg of the race, we made our way back uphill, where we found a better view.... apart from two red shirts that photo bombed. 😉
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| Here come Nuns on the run. |
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| Some of the nuns look a bit suspect to me! 😂 |
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| We were about to start heading back, when we heard that the tractors were on the way back up, so hung on a bit longer. |
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| One of the Nuns, is female then! |
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| The head teacher in the Red & White car was still screaming on the way up. 😂 She will have a sore throat tonight. |
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| Julie continued towards Hurley whilst Jill was putting her jacket on. |
Back up Rose Hill, then down past Sip and Spoke, this time continuing to cross the A4. As we moved into the center filter lane to take the right turn, I checked my mirror and Jill was on the ground! I dont know what happened, but thankfully the traffic in both directions stopped. I helped Jill up and she was ok, but a bit of a bloody mouth. She has worried about her teeth.
