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Prologue - The Middle West Of England
Build Up Date - The Weeks Leading Up To 11 July 2024
By Ren Withnell
The plan is to see father dearest. In the past this meant yet another arduous 280 mile day to "daan saaf", a couple of days with pops and his wife, then 280 more bum-numbing miles riding home. We can do it, we have done it before several times, and because of this we know it's definitely do-able but the ride is no fun at all.
This is pretty much how Ren sees England...
It's much more fun to stop halfway on both legs of the trip. Travelodge will do us a great deal if we stop in Alcester on a Sunday evening, so we book that for coming home. They're not so clever during the week though so Sharon finds us a nice hotel at a sensible price in the tiny chocolate box village of Ashbury, west of Swindon, for the downward leg on Thursday evening.
About as cunning and devious a plan as Baldrick ever came up with.
Sorted. Well done us. Aren't we clever. Oh the best laid plans of mice and men.
Dad's wife Sue has gotten the Big C. It ain't disastrous and hopefully with a good round of chemotherapy it can be controlled - even better - eliminated. Thing is about 2 weeks before we're due to depart Sue gets the news they're starting the chemo sharp style - the week before we're due to visit.
Dad's stressed and Sue sure as hell ain't going to want to be entertaining scruffy Northerners while battling nausea, tiredness, disorientation and brain fog. This, well this treatment and her recovery are far more important than our trip, even a callous heartless curmudgeon like myself can accept that. Poop.
We could cancel. There must have been something in our heads because both bookings were made with the possibility of cancellation and a full refund. We have a think. I mean it is sad we can't visit the old folks daan saaf but why waste the chance of a good holiday?
It takes a while but eventually a new plan is formed. We'll keep the booking in Ashbury and find something somewhere else for a couple of nights and cancel the Travelodge in Alcester. We (mostly Sharon) spends an age online until she stumbles upon a small self contained suite near Hereford. The hamlet of Sollers Hope sounds like a made up name from Midsomer Murders but even Google Maps suggests it does actually exist. Yup, we'll have a bit of that instead.
So - ahem - Thursday down to Ashbury, Friday Ashbury to Sollers Hope, Saturday in Sollers Hope with a rideout to Hereford or something like that, then Sunday back home. That's the plan.
There is a fine line between genius and insanity...
The bikes are in good order having not long since returned from our recent Scottish expedition. There's no silly mileages to fret about which is nice. I need something to stress about. Aha! There's no shops nearby either place so we're going to have to be organised for food. Dagnammit, even that's easy because I don't have to carry the camping equipment I have tons of space. What am I going to worry about now huh?
I suppose I could worry about the weather? I could worry about Dad and Sue? I can't do anything about either of these issues so I guess I'll just have to wait and see. I think a nice long weekend away is just the ticket.
Share your own cunning and devious plans... click here.
Prologue - The Middle West Of England
In a completely unnecessary level of exposition Ren explains the lead up to a short break. There's genius maps to help in case you're bored.
Reader's Comments
ROD¹ said :-
Hereford is a very nice area. Lots of scenic spots along the river Wye. I rode through the area on a day trip earlier this year, around the time of your trip.
I look forward to reading this trip.
08/10/2024 12:05:38 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
Oh ROD, I can see your disappointment coming from miles away...
10/10/2024 07:56:01 UTC
Ian Soady¹ said :-
Shame about your dad's wife - let's hope there's a good outcome.
Re the River Wye - yes the valley and its surroundings are lovely. Sadly the Wye itself is dying largely due to the effluent from the local chicken "farms" - apparently in the counties of Shropshire, Herefordshire and Powys there are 500 farms with a total of 1,420 intensive poultry units/sheds, containing over 44 million birds. But that's progress for you.
11/10/2024 10:10:59 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
"Progress" comes in many forms, from oceans filled with plastics to life saving cancer treatments. One can only hope we steer towards the right kinds of "progress".
14/10/2024 08:06:23 UTC
ROD¹ said :-
Ren, I hope the river Wye was looking better when you made your visit than it looks in Ian's photos.
14/10/2024 18:37:19 UTC
Ren - The Ed¹ said :-
In preparation for you forthcoming disappointment ROD we didn't specifically visit The Wye so I dunno.
15/10/2024 07:13:09 UTC
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Travel StoriesThe Middle West Of England