Four Go Down The Thames: Day 1, The Adventure Begins

I hadn’t slept well.  It may have been nerves.  It may have been a million and one things going through my head such as have I packed and repacked enough times?  Have I done enough planning, preparation, and training?  Have I got the train times right?  Will I get there on time?  Will I even finish?  Then again, it may well have been the large amount of pasta I’d consumed the night before to ‘carb up’.  The day started off being rudely awoken by a text message from Shum at 4:30am.  Oh the hilarities of such a practical joke!

As it turns out my fears were allayed, as the trains all ran on time and I only need to make one mad dash with bag and bike across and over Reading Station to get the connection to Kemble.

Andy and I had got the early train, arriving an hour before the other two turned up.  This gave us the ideal opportunity to go and see the source of the River Thames, to see where it all begins.  It’s believed to be in the middle of a field just outside Kemble, and only on rare occasions can one actually see the river bubbling out of the ground.  We needn’t have worried though, the previous few weeks of rain had left the field completely sodden, and the river was very visible in the fields where usually it is dry.  We never made it to the source itself, as it was just too wet underfoot.  I’d been told by locals that in 10 years they’d never seen the river like that, so it was great to see it at the beginnings.

Once we met up with the other two it was straight into action and heading off towards our destination.  A few miles down the road just after Ewen, we got lost and missed the first trail path we were due to follow.  We eventually make it to Cricklade and back on the route.  Then just outside Hannington and Highworth, I manage to get lost again and eventually missing out the second trail path too.

A seemingly long afternoon of cycling followed, taking roads all the way to Oxford and passing through some lovely countryside before getting to the A40 to Oxford.  Fortunately, there was a cycle path on the pavement, so we miss out a load of rush hour traffic.  Unfortunately, the A40 seems to stretch on forever, and getting into Oxford just feels like a drag.  Andy and I are behind the other two, and we arrive late evening, tired and worn out, but glad the first day is over.  We then seek out a suitable eating establishment, and enjoy a well known post-ride recovery meal of kebabs and rice!

We holed up in the hotel and got our heads down to rest and prepare for tomorrow’s ride.

Thinking back, it’s hard to decide what the best bits of the first day were.  It all seemed to go by in a blur, concentrating on the road and the route, whilst getting a few glances at the countryside.  I would say seeing the start of the river outside Kemble, and getting to the destination at the end of the day were probably the obvious highlights!

Even the day was quite long I think the knowledge that there was so much to see on the way kept me going.  I knew a lot of the place names off by heart (just not where they were!), so having mentally checked them off as we went past them allowed me to focus on getting to Oxford.