Sue4Don

The first stage in England was again not easy:
From the youth hostel at the top of the Telscome cliffs I had to go along a dirt road between the cows and carefully push my bike through enormous puddles whillst gently treading round them. Otherswise I would have had to go all the way back to Newhaven. I reached the road to be met by – guess what? – a head on wind! If anyone had told me yesterday, that it could be stronger than the Normandy ones, I woudn’t have beleived them. But it was so strong that it nearly blew me off my bike twice and I as was right next to a busy road, I was quite scared and ended up pushing even downhill. I had almost decided to catch a train from Brighton to Worthing but then, although the wind was still as strong, it was better because the route was at sea-level and no longer on the cliffs. It was still very slow going and, with various involuntary detours due to bad signposting, I didn’t get to Elmsworth until after 8 p.m. By this time it was starting to get dark and I rigged up my lights with elastic bands and put on my warning vest over the rucksack. The last stage from just before Chichester was fairly well signposted but it was alongside an A-road – sometimes on the pavement, sometimes a narrow cycle lane and sometmes completely on the road – not very nice! The original intention had been to reach Hayling Island, but neither I nor Anna (who will be accompanying me tomorrow) could find a vacant room there – quite as well as it would have been too far! Unfortunately this makes the last stage longer, so I hope we won’t keep everyone waiting TOO long!

Tour stats: 95,51 Km., 204 hm.,7:55:23 bike-time

One of the things which has made the biggest impression on me this trip has been meeting all kinds of extremely friendly and helpful people – well let’s say 95% of them.
Apart from the friends I stayed with who I obviously already knew, the first were my warmshower host Oliver and his charming wife Polyana. They made me so welcome and even accompanied me for a short distance to ensure that I found my way.
The next was Pascal in the bicycle shop in Obernai who didn’t want to take any money, then the waiter at Raon L’Etape who carried my bike, complete with luggage, into the hotel. He just parked it inside the restaurant! That very same evening I met the lovely couple from Belgium, Luc and Ingrid, who were so interested in my venture and left a comment on my blog. It would also not surprise me if they donated.
In a small town, when I found a shop to buy food for my picnic lunch, a Swiss man, who was cycling from Zürich to Holland, was just coming out and we stopped chatting for a while.
Then there was the American guy who I met in the middle of nowhere – he was cycling from England to Italy. We were riding in opposite directions and both stopped, surprised to see another long-distance cyclist and stood chatting for about 15 minutes by the side of the road.
I won’t forget he gentleman at the hotel in Villers-Cotteret who spoke such perfect English and German, or the young lady at the hotel in St. Omer who was also exremely helpful and spoke good English. She told me she was going to Eastbourne for a year to study English for her masters!
My second warmshowers host, Frances, whose hospitality was amazing, and her artist friends, especially Linda who did a little Oriental dance for me and gave me a donation. Pollly who came to England (home in her case) on the ferry with me, was also trying to be helpfull, but unfortunately not quite succeeding, however she has aslo promised to donate online.
I met three male English cyclists, who were on their way home after cycling from Guildford (I think), also for charity, in a cafe in Dieppe and one of them paid for my coffee and they also asked for my just-giving address to donate.
Then the very best and most impressive encounter up to now: I met Lucy and Kevin, a young couple from Newbury, as we got on the ferry (there were 8 cyclists altogether).
We sat together for most of the journey and got chatting. They also asked for my details to donate, then when it started to rain they offered to take me to the youth hostel where I was planning to stay, which is 8 Kms. from Newhaven. (they had left their small car at the ferry port, while they went to France on their bikes). This was really fantastic, as it was up a dark lane and I would have had to sort something out with my rear light, which was hidden by my luggage. However it meant Lucy waiting in Newhaven with their two bikes, while Kevin brought me here! – isn’t that just wonderful?
There were many, many people in France who were helpful, whenever I asked for directions specially the family between Beauvais and St. Omer, who were ALL trying to help and the father actually came out of the garden to see my map closer and make sure I really understood! People in France were generally very friendly and although I did my best to speak French and was quite pleased with the result, they nearly all spoke English to me.
90% of the Friench cyclists greeted me even if it was only raising a hand or a nod and a smile. I willl update this blog at the end of the trip!

Yesterday really was an easy day. I stayed at Fran’s all morning and did some washing. I also caught up on my blog, uploading photos with the use of her laptop. Then I succeeded in finding a bed for last night- allbeit at a youth hostel 8 Kms. from Newhaven and unsuccessfully tried to find some accommodation for tomorrow. After a lunch with Fran and a couple of her friends she insisted on helping me push the bike up to the top of her garden to save me going up the steep hill, then it was uphill just a little and the rest downhill. I was at the ferry in plenty of time to buy my ticket, look around the town and go for a coffee before reporting back an hour before departure. (Tour stats include this, of course)
I cheated a bit by accepting a lift up to the hostel in the dark and rain, which I am sure you will understand (see “Encounters”).

Trip stats: 30,03 Kms., 214 hm., 2:08:14 bike-time

As I have mentioned before, my husband and son most generously bought me a Nokia N97 mini especially for this trip. In addition to being a mobile phone it is really a wonderful liitle computer, camera, torch, spirit level etc. etc. I can email, surf and blog with it and if the WLAN is strong enough or if I am willing to pay enough I can upload photos direktly fron the camera. I have a special holder on the bike where I put it when it is not raining so I can stop and take a photo easily whenever I want. There are lots of applications including the sportstracker, which I have not used much on this trip as it uses up too much battery, but there is supposed to be a dynamo on the market, which keeps it charged up.
Then there is the built in sat-nav. This is where the love-hate part comes in. It uses OVI maps, which are made for cars and pedestrians. You can tell it you do or don’t want to use motorways, tunnels, ferries, toll-roads, non-surfaced roads etc. – you can imagine what I have chosen. I have only used it for short periods where I have really needed help like finding my accomodation or finding my way out of towns. A couple of times this has been a great help and I have loved it. On one occasion it took me the wrong way around the one-way system and another couple of times it insisted on taking me on busy dual-carriageways. That’s where I could happily throw it on the dual-carriageway and watch one of those horrible big lorries drive over it. But on the whole I do love my Nokia N97 mini and OVI will hopefully soon improve their maps for cyclists and other drivers who prefer quieter roads. Thanks again, Peter and Andre!

That’s what I’ve been saying every day for a week now, but it never does. You probably think I’m running out of energy, but it’s definitely not just that. Despite the fact that I have nearly reached the sea it has never been really flat for very long, as you will have noticed, if you’ve been following the tour stats – 7700 hm. – that’s 25000 feet of elevation and I’ve alreay done the 1200 Kilometers (750 miles) which was the actual route distance for the whole trip! I have checked that the distance showed on my cycle computer is correct. It had occurred to me that it may need recalibrating with the new tires and luggage, but it was spot on.
Yesterday I fought with extremely strong head on winds, which made going uphill almost impossible and I couldn’t get up much downhill speed either. Fot those of you who have cycled around Neusiedlersee the wind there is NOTHING compared to yesterday. For the 1st time (or maybe it was the 2nd) I briefly thought of giving up, but how do you give up – do you just thumb a lift from a lorry, or do you lie down at the side of the road and wait for an ambulance (or the police)? Also to use my Dad’s words I am not a “giver upper” but a “tough nut”.
After all that, this beautiful Scie Valley was a reward for everything and I arrived to be greeted warmly by my second warmshowers host, Frances Doherty, offered a hot relaxing bath and a glass of Kir! The evening proved to be most enjoyable with a further 5 female English artists who are staying with Fran (they have a joint exhibition at a local chateau), excellent if rather unusal food and a good laugh before I once again collapsed into bed. Fran doesn’t have wireless and the mobile network is also very weak but I am hoping to use her PC this morning to upload some photos before you start wondering whether I’m sittiing on a train making all this up. I’m only 16 (according to Fran) or 18 (according to the internet) Kilometers away from Dieppe and the ferry is at 6 p.m., so I have plenty of time.

Tour stats for yesterday: 104,24 Km., 675 hm., 7:34:54 bike-time.

Thank you all so much for your words of comfort, sympathy, support, admiration etc. It is so wonderful to know you’re all following me. It gives me a lot and makes me even more determined to succeed.
Please forgive me for not replying to you all individually, but much as I’d like to, after cycling and blogging I don’t seem to have any time or energy left.
It is proving more difficult than I expected, but yes, I am enjoying it – very much. To do this JUST for the good cause would make me superhuman, which I am not. I am seeing a lot, learning a lot, and experiencing a sense of achievement every single day.
No, I don’t think I have lost any more weight (I managed to lose a stone before I started). I am enjoying my food too much. Even though I have very little for lunch, I have about double what I normally eat for breakfast and at least 2 courses at night with some vin rouge.

Yesterday was a long haul – it was very pleasant in the morning, then there was a heavy shower and although I had bought the obligatory cheese, I decided to go into a nice Auberge for a bite of lunch. On the menu I saw what I thought was warm horsemeat salad and decided to be brave and try it. When it came, it was cheese (apparently goat’s cheese, as I have found out in the meantime) with about 5 lettuce leaves – obviously just a starter, which explains why the waitress was so surprised that that was all I wanted!
After that I could just not find a turning – when I finally realised it would definitely not come it was too far to go back, so I recalculated my route and went into a town – allbeit a small one – which was a horrendous experiemce. You should normally feel quite safe going around a roudabout, as there is a green cyclists lane all round, but an idiot in a car actually cut in front of me and scared the living daylights out of me. It’s a wonder I stayed on my bike! When I finally found my way out of the town, I was very disappointed to find that the white road, which seemed to follow a river valley according to the map, was actually quite a busy road and I hardly saw the river at all. When I reached Beauvais I had already done 100 Kilometers, but I couldn’t face another town, so I phoned and checked that there was a room avalable at this lovely hotel Moulin Forge at St. Omer-en-Chaussee. It was a pleasant run on tranquil roads and the hotel is just as nice if not nicer than it looked on the internet, but it was a big disappointment that the restaurant was officially closed. However the young receptionist was cooking what she called snacks and it turned out to be a nice meal.
Sorry again no photos – I was too tired to blog last night and now I’m running out of time. Hopefully I’ll have more time tomorrow as I am not going to stress myself by attempting to get the ferry today as I have still not had my second day off.. I plan to stay with an English lady 16 Kilometers short of Dieppe and won’t need to leave there until lunchtime.
Trip stats 122,48 Kms., 420 hm., 8:20:27 bike time