Annwyl readers!
Our last post to you was from an internet café we found in Worms, Germany. That was a week ago, and I’m very sorry for the delay of this next post, although it was deliberate!
When we got to Worms, we had less than 200 miles left to get to 1500 miles (our aim) and we knew that we would cover at least that far cycling from Amsterdam to the ferry, then from the ferry to Walsingham. And so, eager to get to the end of our journey as soon as possible, we decided to take a train from Worms to Amsterdam. It knocked 300 miles off the total journey, but this certainly wasn’t cheating; as mentioned, we were still determined to complete the 1500 miles we promised Youth 2000 we would cycle!
We took a train on the Thursday morning from Worms to Amsterdam, and reached the capital of the Netherlands by evening time. Finding a campsite was easy, thanks to the advice of a Dutch lady we met on the train from Germany. We set the tent up in record time, set out our rollmats and sleeping bags and quickly locked the trailers together, before changing into normal clothes, jumping back on our bikes and heading back into central Amsterdam.
We had finally reached a country which screens English language films in the cinema! Our friend Miriam had given us money to treat ourselves while we were away, and we’d saved it until this, our last night on the continent. The whole trip we had looked forward to watching the new Harry Potter once we reached the Netherlands, and the film certainly did not leave us disappointed! – thank you Miriam!
The next day we got off to a respectable start, and had completed the 62.22 miles by around 4pm. Once at the ferry terminal, we bought tickets to Harwich, and relaxed while we waited to board the ferry.
Sadly – while we really weren’t trying to go for luxury – they would only sell us tickets including a cabin. What a pity..(!) It was so nice! What anyone else may consider a fairly low-class bunk room with a basic shower-room attached, we thought of as luxury. We had a fantastic night’s sleep after our dinner, and when it landed in England at 6.30am we were set for a good early start.
Off we cycled, our first day back in the UK, and of course the weather was gloomy, overcast, incredibly foggy early on, cold – ah, it was nice to feel at home! We managed to cycle 50 miles before lunch, when Phil stopped outside a pub and announced he was buying us both lunch to celebrate my name day – the feast of St. Dominic. – I didn’t complain!
After a great cooked lunch, we headed on. We had miscalculated the number of miles to get from Harwich up the east coast to Yarmouth. We had expected to cycle 60 miles to get there, and we’d already cycled 50 and had at least the same to go again! We would have just carried on cycling, but we’d decided a schedule of how to get to both Mass that evening (Saturday) and Walsingham on time the next day. So, another train journey was necessary. (PLEASE don’t think us lazy! – remember, we had cycled 50 miles and already been on the road for seven hours that day.) We arrived in Norwich, and had two hours to cycle 20 miles to Mass. We made it in record time, and it was so lovely to attend Mass celebrated in a language we both understand.
Our first night in England, our tenth country proved most comfortable. On cycling to the campsite, Phil’s bad luck was proved yet again when – how can I write this nicely? – a passing bird aimed and fired particularly well at his head. Needless to say he rushed for the shower block! I shall spare you the photo we took of the occasion..
Finally, our last day of the whole trip came along! Sunday 9th August 2009. 09/08/09. We left the campsite at 7am – a record time for us for taking the tent down – and were less than half a mile down the road when Phil found it was necessary to unpack and repack his whole trailer and pannier set up to get the bicycle to balance properly. Off we set again – this time more like 7.30am – and got about thirty miles into our trip when Phil decided to throw himself off his bike. Not the most clever of things to do on a busy main road, but it was unavoidable. On hitting the ditch at the side of the road, Phil’s bike skidded to the ground, released the trailer, yanked the handlebars around so hard that the front brake ripped itself apart, and ejected Phil over the top. Phil, bleeding, stood up and eventually decided he was fit to carry on. (Without wanting to seem heartless, neither of us were going to let a ‘minor’ incident like this delay us from getting home!)
We carried on cycling and, on glancing back to check that Phil was still behind me, realised that he wasn’t anywhere to be seen in the half mile I could see behind me. I’d got to the top of a hill, and decided that I’d wait a few minutes to see if Phil caught up before going back down the hill to check on him. Eventually he appeared, and eventually caught up with me, complaining of something rubbing on his bike. On examining the trailer, he discovered that the ditch he’d hit two miles ago had left its mark on the trailer – his fifth puncture of the trip. We had neither the spares for this 27″ wheel nor the time to fix it, so I ventured into the local town to see what could be done.
On asking a local for directions within the town, I explained our situation and he offered Phil his shed to store the trailer in, until Phil can collect it in two weeks when we return for the festival.
Brilliant. Sorted. What a great guy to have met! Again, prayers being answered before our eyes. Phil dropped it off and we pedalled on, the only thing slowing us down now being our tiredness. (My trailer would go a lot faster than Phil’s, so I was glad to be rid of his cargo.) On we pressed and eventually arrived in Walsingham, where we had a quick pray in the Slipper Chapel, ate our lunch, met a nice couple who were very interested in chatting to us about our trip and a prayer festival called New Dawn that they had attended, and gave us some snacks to keep us going on the journey home – yum.
That was the end of the trip, officially! But to get home, we still had to get to the train station in Kings Lynn before the last train at 6.30pm. It was 1.30pm and so we had five hours to do 25 miles. Should be easy, but we were so tired. In fact, we made great time and made it back to London in daylight, and cycled the 7 miles from King’s Cross to SW London.
I led Phil to Balham to stay with Fr. Stephen Langridge overnight, before heading on to stay with my sister locally.
After a lovely evening with our hosts, we met again for a final 9.30am Mass before getting trains home. We made it, and surprised our families – we were two weeks early and didn’t give our families any warning. We were both SO pleased to be home at last, and of course our families were (and still are!) pleased to have us back.
We made it – total mileage: 1568.6mi. It really feels such an accomplishment to have completed such a great mileage in aid of such a deserving charity. I’m very impressed with how well we both did, as neither of us are athletes at all – (sorry Phil!). It goes to show that if you trust in God and with all the prayers of those supporting us, anything is possible.
That’s my part of the blog done – the diary version. Phil should be writing soon as well.
All of your support during the trip is hugely appreciated, and really helped us get through the particularly tough times. Your sponsorship is also very gratefully received and makes our cycle worth the effort. Thank you so much for all that you’ve given.
If you still wish to donate, it’s not too late! There’s still a link over there on the right – please do be as generous as you can, it’s going to a fantastic cause. (To read about Youth 2000, please click the link to the website.)
Finally, from me – thank you so much. Diolch yn fawr iawn. I do look forward to seeing you in Walsingham.
God bless and best wishes, Dom
PS – More photos coming soon!