Friday, 6 June 2014
West to Aslockton
'One day before we start to head in the direction of home in Norfolk. Just a short ride to the small village of Aslockton 13 miles to the west of Grantham. There were chores to be carried out in town after a most pleasant breakfast at Red House. Not carrying many clothes does require a discipline in getting things washed and clean. I located a laundrette but found that the soap powder machine was out of order. I went out in search of a general stores. Got the washing on the go and then down to find the post office to send a package to my son Thomas in Leeds. Even here they are getting rid of people and putting in machines. Very infuriating I must say. What about the jobs? We used our free morning to catch up on contact with base. When I retuned from my domestic duties RD was in the process of justifying his spending on the telephone with his finance office. He was struggling; receipts, receipts? I was not there when he covered the justification for the increased spending on lighting eqiupment at Maplin. It has done the job though! Time came to pick up the bikes from the hotel and head out. Richard managed to drop a clanger when he asked the manager of the guest house to thank her mother. It was not her mother, it was her sister. Slight mix up on my part on our exit from Grantham. Road options out of the town are limited and we were forced to use the A52 for four miles. Not a pleasant or safe experience. Took a right turn to Bottesford, a quiter and more peaceful ride through to Aslockton. Bumped into a group of cyclists who ensured that we were going in the right direction. One rider escorted us all the way to the church hall in the centre of the village and agreed to attend the evening show. Having talked up the performance the pressure was on to deliver. Not a problem for the artiste. We were welcomed by David, our host who was shortly joined by his wife Sue on her bike carrying a cake! What a welcome to the Thomas Cranmer centre named after a famous son of the village. Cranmer was the reformation Archbishop of Canterbury under Henry VIII eventually excecuted by the fiercely loyal catholic Queen "Bloody" Mary. Down to business and setting up for the evening in this modern village church hall. Set up was, as usual, swift and efficient like a well oiled machine. Sue and David took us to their home for supper and a wash and brush up. A lovely dinner. This was the third visit to the village for our solo guitarist. The evening was sold out and this lifted the spirits of our man from Shoreham. Would there be enough room to get them all in. More chairs were required. What a problem to deal with! Fitting everybody in meant a slightly delayed start. This all helped to build the atmosphere. Mr. D rose to the challenge and the expectation. This was reflected in the cd sales in the interval. We even sold a T shirt or two or was it four? One member of the audience was attending on the recommendation of somebody who had seen the show in Minety. That seemed an age ago. The second set of the evening was brought to an end with Django Reinhardt's version of Honeysuckle Rose. This was not enough for the enthusiastic audience who demanded more. The artiste came back to the stage to deliver his popular working of Tubular Bells. A fine ending to a perfect evening. Pack up, clean up. We left our bikes in the church under the care of the good Lord for the night. We might be needing some help tomorrow who knows? The forecast was not good and we had a long ride into Norfolk heading for Fakenham. David and Sue drove us to their home. Delightful snack, cheese and biscuits sitting outside on a summer evening. Bed and sleep. Many thanks to all.
The Grandchildren Elsie. Ruby June (Birthday Girl) Jude.
Sent the little ones some Lego figures. I have missed not seeing them for such a while. 
Fergus on Wheels
Richard holding Fergus. Annie and Gill both longstanding followers of our esteemed guitarist.
Thursday, 5 June 2014
Harlaxton
Di and Paul not only provided a great breakfast, including crumpets but Di spoilt us even more by making us a pack up lunch for the ride south west to Harlaxton, a small village located three miles to the West of Grantham. Weather looked set fair. No rain and not too hot. It is in fact a rare day when everything goes right; bikes, weather, load, terrain and human performance but when it does nothing can be better than getting out on the bike and heading into the countryside. 09.30 was the time set for brakes off. My charge had slipped into a new pair of riding shorts which caught Di's eye! It must have been the rippling thighs. My legs have developed a new shape but will never be on show! They only ripple undercover. Cycling Music's answer to Chris Frome was a little downcast this morning after weighing himself only to discover he had lost no weight on the ride. He convinced himself that the conversion of fat to muscle was responsible for lack of weight loss. Dodgy scales, I am sure. I made supportive noises. My bike required a little attention to stop the chain from slipping off and the panniers needed to be reattached. We still need to locate a weigh-bridge, not to confirm the scales this morning but to discover the total load being carried. An interesting statistic. The artiste really is pulling the lions share and copes without complaint, mostly. It is some days, if not weeks, since I have witnessed a sweary meltdown. No blue air! After a short consultation with Paul I managed to plan a route which would keep us off all the main trunk roads. Just five minutes late when we peddled off from Hemingsby. For the first hour our speed and progress matched the ride out of Lincoln however a headwind was getting up and was to be a challenge later in the ride. We don't complain though we just get our head down. To date we have made every appointment and gig despite the various challenges thrown at us. Long may it last. Famous last .......... We passed through Woodhall Spa and on to Martin and then south to Ruskington along to Cranwell and then further south to Grantham. We actually caught sight of our first sign for Kings Lynn in Norfolk. We were not heading home just yet. The wind picked up to 20 knots plus and made the going tougher. In addition the landscape had developed from the flat to more rolling hills. It is an area of strong RAF presence both old and current. RAF Woodhall Spa was once the home to the 617 Squadron, the Dambusters. We passed RAF College Cranwell and finally Barkston Heath. The latter brought back memories for me. It was the site of the launch of my Long Jump balloon flight in October 1992 along with my good friend and fellow hot air balloon pilot, John Rigden. The Long Jump annual competition for balloons takes place each year. The challenge is to fly as far as you can in one flight. John and I took off from RAF Barkston Heath attempted to fly back to our home base in Norfolk. After four hours we had flown 60 miles and and were forced to land at Ashill near Watton as fuel was low. Had we had one extra tank of gas we may well have reached Eccles. Enough of that history, back to the cycle tour. We extended the ride a little by heading south of Grantham hopefully bypassing any hills. We arrived at St. Mary's and St.Peter's Church at 15.30. The ride is also noteworthy as we broke through the 1000 mile mark. John was there to meet and greet and also provided a delightful light afternoon tea. Richard was happy and grazed peacefully building energy for the set up and the show itself. The open chancel and nave made for an ideal performance area. The stage was set in good time leaving Richard plenty of time to prepare for the show. Many old friends turned up all wanting to touch base with our star turn. Gill and Annie arrived with their pet toy dog Fergus On Wheels! There was a photo opportunity here! You can find Fergus on Facebook and discover more about his various adventures across the country. Fergus brought Richard and I a piece of cake which we enjoyed after the show. A generous and tasty thought! Fergus was allowed to share the stage with the artiste on condition that there was no barking! A rare privilege. The performance was well attended and the Cycling Music cd nearly sold out on the merchandising table. A most welcome problem. The tour T shirts are now on sale but are sadly not going like hot cakes. They are available for sale at the gigs and on Richard's Website. The artiste was pleased with the show and pack up was efficient. We had a short ride into Grantham and the Red House Guest House. Luckily it was downhill and an easy three mile night ride on the bikes. We called into a twenty four hour Asda to pick up supplies. We arrived at our lodgings a little after 23.00 with no pub visit and therefore no beer. I had at last succeeded. Mileage on the trip had risen to 1028 We discovered we had left a rucksack, not mine, behind at the venue. Very kindly this was delivered to the Red House and arrived shortly after us. It saved us the trouble of returning, uphill, to the church in the morning. A successful day on many fronts.
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