World Tour

July 16 - Sunday Andover to Chalfont St. Giles We left at about the same time as the day before and enjoyed the country roads. I was dreading one part that had been listed on the maps with an arrow - the symbol for a steep hill but it didn't say how steep. Would it be another fifteen percent grade. For some reason I started dreading the hill. We had gone up many big hills so far that morning. We stopped at Kingsclere for some staples: digestive cookies, ryvita crackers, bananas, but no Nutella for Jon. They did have a jar of Cadbury Milk Chocolate spread which looked enticing but it wasn't Nutella so I didn't buy it. Onward, before long I saw it - the dreaded hill I had been unnecessarily stressing over - it was a 10% grade and was short so that was good. For some reason I was really doubtful that I could do it and was worried that I would fall over on the bike while still clipped into the pedals because I couldn't make the push to the top but I didn't want to unclip because my pedalling would be more efficient if I stayed clipped in and then there was my asthma that might decide this was the time to kick in and what if I fell over into the road when a car was going by...yep, definitely freaking out. "Let's gear it down early and take it nice and slow. Let's do it, babe." And we did. And we continued on. Reading was a pain in the ass. It was a big city with a bunch of signs to reads through quickly to decide which way to go. At one point I was taking us in a complete circle in the round about because I got ahead of myself reading the signs for the highway we needed to take and didn't realize it was the same road we had come in on. Not knowing my east from my west certainly didn't help as the signs had clearly indicated which was which. Oh Jon, the poor guy. I feel so bad for him at times just like this. Because I'm the slowest I set the pace for us by being in front and when we get to a town Jon takes the lead but for some reason that didn't happen this time. It was getting hot, the hills kept coming, so did the wind, I was tired not just my muscles but I really wanted to take a nap. About an hour and a half from our destination we stopped at a gas station for water and I told Jon how I was feeling. Maybe I just need real food and not just snacks. We ate some sandwiches and continued on. We were riding parallel with a walking and horseriding path and I pulled over to use the "public bathroom" in the woods just beyond the path which was deserted. I was so sleepy/tired. Jon suggested a nap and laid out the fly from the tent. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep. I slept for about half an hour and felt better for it. Back on the road. There seemed to be so much traffic. We tried to keep to the side of the road and would end up going over gutters and the bumpy edges of the road which made for a rather miserable ride combined with heat and fatigue. At one point Jon had found a short cut - great. We rounded a corner and I came to a halt. Ahead of us was a great big looonnng hill. I didn't want to do it. I simply did not want to go up that hill. "By the time we get up to the top of the hill will this shortcut really be any shorter?" - S "We're going up the hill." - J "I do not want to go up that hill." - S "Sherry, we're going up the hill. Just take your time. We'll just get off our bikes and walk if we have to." - J There was a family walking up the hill and we were barely pedalling faster than they were walking. Again, I felt the uncertainty that I wouldn't be able to do it. Slowly but surely we made our way up and over the hill. I wasn't tired but I just didn't feel good. I couldn't put my finger on it, I just didn't feel right. We got to Beaconsfield about half hour's worth of biking to go and I hit the wall. It was so hot, I felt like shit and we still weren't there yet. "I have not enjoyed this ride at all. We haven't seen much country side and when we are in the country the hedges are so tall you can't see anything. There is a lot of traffic. This has not been enjoyable. I wish we had taken an extra day to get here rather than rush." "There's not much we can do about it now." "120 miles in two days. I'm never going to do the STP - why would anyone willing do that to themselves?" - S "The STP is 200 miles in two days and is a lot flatter. We've been going over a lot of hills the past couple of days." - J I had hit the wall. I was sooo over bicycling. I'd had enough, I was in tears, sticky with sweat and sunblock and still needed to bike farther. Jon stood by while I collected myself - it took a little while. We got off the busy road and onto a quieter country road and were in Chalfont St. Giles within minutes. We stopped by the lot where Jon's house used to be but they've since tore down the old and were building a new house, and the field across the street is now a golf course - how times have changed. We took the route Jon took as a child to Rory's house and met his sister and mom as we pulled up to the back door. More handshakes and greetings all around. Just like Rory they were extremely warm and welcoming. They made us feel right at home. I'm slowly learning to be a good guest and realize that it can be insulting to not be accepting of generosity and hospitality. The best part of the day is still the shower. We ate and talked and talked and talked. It was wonderful. We talked about current events, the media, all sorts of things. We talked about our plans for the rest of our stay in Europe. Somehow we got around to our broken tent pole and both ladies were immediately offering ideas of ways we could either replace the tent pole or where we might get a new tent. They were really helpful and understood our dilemma of buying a completely new tent versus trying to replace the pole. Well, we made it a realtively early night and I fell asleep before Jon even got into bed.