(More Pics of the Tour de Tutu)
(How to Donate)
Last weekend I completed the Tour de Tutu: 350km from White City to Dalston via Oxford and Cambridge.
I was getting a bit behind on the mileage for the Tour de Yanda and I spotted that the annual Oxford to Cambridge charity ride was approaching so it seemed a sensible way to force myself to clock up some extra km.
For those who may be unfamiliar with the geography of middle England, the distance from Oxford to Cambridge is roughly the length of 665,000 hedgehogs laid end to end.
But then, how to get to the start? And how to get home to the finish? Well, the sensible solution seemed to be to cycle so that's what I did.
On Friday I left work and cycled 43km to Maidenhead where I'd booked into what sounded like a lovely B&B, the Sheephouse Manor B&B. The owners weren't home when I arrived. I was greeted by the babysitter, a teenage boy. He showed me to my room which was supposed to have an ensuite.
"Thanks," I said, "But where's the bathroom?"
"I dunno," he replied. "I guess there isn't one?"
"Well, is there a shower or something I could use?"
He looked a bit uncomfortable. "Well, I mean, the rest of the house is private..."
"Don't you think it's a bit odd that there isn't a bathroom?" I asked. "Is it all right if I have a look around?"
He just shrugged, then turned around and left.
After a fruitless search during which I encountered several locked doors and several others all marked "Private" I left my special separate B&B entrance, walked around to the front of the house and knocked on the door (which was also marked "Private"). There was no bell.
The boy wonder answered the door. "Hi."
"Hi there," I said. "Look, I can't find a bathroom up there."
"Well, I guess there isn't one," he said.
"I suppose it's conceivable that they wouldn't provide me with a shower -- but a toilet? Surely they don't want me to piss all over the garden gnomes?"
"Oh yeah. I guess you're right. I'll give them a call."
And so it turned out there was a bathroom with all the usual amenities. It was behind one of the doors marked "Private". From that point on the evening was far more pleasant.
The next morning I cycled 67km to Oxford via Marlow and Watlington. The distance should really be about 15km less than this but I took a couple of wrong turns along the way. Still, it was a gorgeous route and a gorgeous day with a very big, not so gorgeous, hill in the middle.
Vicki met me in Oxford and we stayed at the very swish Hawkwell House Hotel. Our room was in the Elm House and had a bathroom which was much easier to find than the one at Sheephouse Manor, floor to ceiling windows, beautiful furnishings, and paperthin walls.
Sunday was the day of the official Oxford to Cambridge ride. The first half hour or so it poured rain but the rest of the day was sunny, yet fairly cool with no wind -- perfect conditions really. Despite riding on my own, I teamed up a couple of times with some other faster riders in mini-peletons and managed to finish the 85 mile course (133km by my odometer) in 5 hours, 13 minutes, 49 seconds. I got to Cambridge much earlier than I expected -- at 1:30. I had arranged to stay at my friend Matthew’s Mother’s house and had told them I would be arriving around 6pm. I lay on the grass a bit, ate some fruit, had a massage, and then popped around to Matt’s Mom’s.
Serendipitously, I arrived just as they were eating lunch. Matthew’s sister had invited six of her friends over and they plied me with food and wine and apple crumble and coffee. I LOVE being plied with food by strangers! I felt like a king. I think showing up in the tutu helped.
After lunch, Matthew’s mother, Rosie, took me to visit Matthew. He had crashed his motorcycle into an oncoming van while in France and was now in hospital with a broken femur and wrist. Despite (or because of) his near-death experience, he seemed extremely chipper. I am reluctant to recommend smashing one’s mototorcycle into another vehicle as a way to brighten one’s outlook on life, but it seems to be working for Matthew.
The next day I cycled 98km home to Dalston. Sweet Mother of Evil Thor and his minions! There was an evil headwind all the way down! About 10km into the ride I used up my remaining stores of glycogen and it was a horrific struggle to make it home. It took me six hours of cycling time.
All in all, it was a good experience and so far I’ve raised about £100 each for the British Heart Foundation and Children in Need. The Tour de Yanda has raised a little over £500 so far for the British Red Cross. I also had some folks make local donations in Canada. Godo, Shantu, and Asmus donated $65 CAD to the Livia Stoyke Foundation and Pidge and Eric donated some random amount of money (I can’t remember how much) to the Canadian Red Cross.
The Tour de Yanda continues, though. It is still no means certain that I will finish it by my deadline of November 3rd. Any encouragement you can spare will help enormously. For “encouragement” read “money”.
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