In Marlborough: working around the rain

August 25, 2022

I give myself a mental head slap when we see that it’s raining this morning. So foolish yesterday to claim that we’re being protected by a force field warding off the rain everywhere we go. So arrogant! We’ve tempted fate, riled the weather gods, and are being reminded of who’s in charge around here. We’ll probably get rained on non-stop from here to Nice now.

The rain’s due to pass by ten, but it does complicate our planning for the day. We’d been thinking of biking back out to Avebury and hiking the stones and hedges but this isn’t looking like the best day for it. We have two other issues to consider when we toss around ideas for the day.

One is the questionable state of my health. I was really tired at the end of yesterday’s ride and crashed last night, feeling exhausted and possibly unwell and falling asleep almost as soon as we returned from dinner. We were both anxious about what this might mean, but this morning I feel pretty much normal after ten or eleven hours of sleep. My theory is that I got behind on sleep and then dehydrated on a fairly hot day. Thinking back on it, I’m not sure I had anything to drink at all during our ride other than at our lunch stop. Dumb.

The other thing is Rachael’s ankle. I could hardly believe it watching her walk down the stairs this morning and see her slip a third time on the lowest stair. She caught herself, but she felt this one in her ankle. She walked around and tested it out a bit and seems OK, but she’s not sure. So we’re not sure what the right plan is for the day either - what’s easier on a questionable ankle - a hike, or a bike ride, or neither?

While we’re sorting this all out the rain slips further into the day, now not expected to stop until 11:30. That decides it for us - she’s taking a walk that she can turn back from if her ankle is an issue, and I’m biking a loop to the south - either 40 miles, or a shortened version that I can switch over to if time or weather become an issue.

It’s nearly noon by the time I’m on the bike, trying my best to get out of downtown Marlborough safely. It’s only a few blocks long, but it’s a challenge. Marlborough has the worst inner city traffic congestion of any place we’ve stayed in England. It’s a shame, and detracts from our appreciation of the place.

High Street, Marlborough. It’s a couplet of one way streets, with an aisle of parking slots up the middle. Traffic bottlenecks badly at both ends where the couplets converge. No stoplights, few crosswalks. It would be such an improved place if they could kick the highway out of town and pedestrianize the heart of it.

It takes a few miles for me to realize that I’ve mapped myself a loop that backtracks the back end of yesterday’s loop. For the first ten miles I follow the same course, in reverse. It gives me a chance to stop and admire a few of the many beautiful thatched roof houses we zipped passed yesterday in our rush to get home, but otherwise there are no surprises - other than the 17% climb we didn’t really notice so much going the other way.

In Mindenhall. I took photographs of the two thatched roofs right across the street too, but this is the best. I like the looks of these long, linear structures.

I like this look too, with the roof mirroring the steep wall of the valley rising behind it.

I’m sure moss is an unhealthy sign on a thatched roof, but it’s photogenic.

Unsuitable for 75 year old men on muscle bikes too. Who planned this route, anyway?

Finally I break off from yesterday’s route to see something new, but with today’s conditions it’s all just a bit flat. On a sunny or partly cloudy day I imagine some of the views would be gorgeous, but today I’m just putting the miles in, stopping here and there for a house or church while I impatiently wait for the sky to open up like it’s predicted to do by early afternoon.

Pretty, but I’ll bet this would be radiant with some sun on it.

Flint, brick and wicker. I’m glad to see this wall again - I was sorry I hadn’t stopped for it yesterday.

Have you ever seen a red brick tomb before? It’s a first for me.

In Hungerford, I think. Flint and red brick are both primary building materials here.

One of the prettiest stretches of the ride. It continues like this with columns of trees lining both sides for over a mile.

The sun doesn’t break through after all. Instead it grows darker and then starts lightly showering. For the next five miles or so I bike through a light mist, my Garmin wet enough that I can’t easily scroll through its screens to navigate. That decides it for me - I switch to the shorter option for the day’s ride, cutting about eight miles out of the loop. It’s a disappointment, because the lost miles look like the most scenic too - I’m just getting to the base of some significant hills with the prospect of spectacular views if the weather were better. No views today unfortunately, but then again I don’t have to climb up the steep 400’ pitch just coming up either.

Eventually the showers taper off and stop, so I feel safe in getting the camera out for a few last shots.

The ride ends slowly, with a three mile traverse of Saversnake Forest. I’ve been looking forward to this after reading a review of how peaceful it is biking through its beech forest. The review didn’t mention though how rocky and washboarded the road through it is though, which detracts from its charm a bit. I’ve had enough after about a half mile, and the next two and a half pass quite slowly.

In Saversnake Forest. I knew it was unpaved, but I was hoping for something better than this rocky surface.

Beautiful and peaceful, biking through three miles of beech forest. Very slow going though - I average maybe 5 mph at best.

I get back to the Green Dragon at four. Rachael’s still on her walk and she’s got the only key to our room, so I force myself to sit in the bar and have an amber until she shows up. When she does she’s happy to report that her ankle did fine, she had a good walk of 10.5 miles, and when she shows me her photos from the day I’m jealous to see that she got a bit of sun. It looks like I should have gone north rather than south today.

Rachael walked an out and back on the Wessex Ridgeway, a long distance path from Marlborough to Lyme Regis on the coast. If you continue about six miles from Marlborough you’d come to Avebury.

Not exactly bright, but she saw a lot more sun than I did today.

She turned back when she came to a section of the path with a warning to beware of the bull. Smart!

Finally the sun breaks out in earnest at the end of the day, and the sky completely clears. It looks like Rachael’s kiwis might ripen after all.

Heart

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Ride stats today: 32 miles, 2,300’; for the tour: 2,161 miles, 128,600’

Today's ride: 32 miles (51 km)
Total: 2,160 miles (3,476 km)

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Suzanne GibsonGlad you two got in the good ride and walk in spite of the deterrents! I am reassured that you are both fine.
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