Plan pay kibbitz hurry spend HTML ride phone maps worry excite visas buy faf uphill lists kibbitz tickets downhill to-do puncture kibbitz pack goodbye

Departed from Cape Town on board an SAA flight. All fine with the exception of the food - nothing kosher for us all the way to London. Profuse apologies all round - no doubt nothing will be done to make us feel that they truely are sorry.

Arrived at Heathrow at 6:15. Bikes came in one peice. Assembled them in the parking lot at Heathrow. Purchased a map and set off for John's house (14 miles away in Crouch End). Amnon navigated superbly and pedalled at the same time. Rode through some main streets and dodgy areas. Saw a man fall off his bike and get up and carrry on riding recklessly. Illana was desperate for a toilet and found one at a garage workshop - only to discover there was no handle on the door. Lucky for her she had a walkie talkie and could call Amnon for help. Only problem was there was no door handle on the outside either. Amnon used a screwdriver to free her to the amusement of all the mechanics. Only one day and the walkie talkie and the bicycle leatherman have paid for themselves. Arrived 40kms later at John's house (well done Amnon!!). Walked around the area. Went to Alexander Palace and Muswell Hill. Dinner Illana and Amnon style (scrambled eggs) with Lisa and John.

Our plan for today was to go into the city to do a number of chores (6 miles) and decided to visit the shopping district of Crouch End as a first stop. We went into a bike shop to ask for a quiet route into the city and were directed to a disused railway line to Finsbury Park. Illana was in front and was happily cycling along our first off-road route in the wrong direction, until Amnon asked a passer-by where we were going to end up if we continued the way we were going. He said Highgate ?we turned around.

19km’s later we made into the centre of town, chained our bikes to a railing and set off. Spent a good deal of time in travel section of bookshops looking for maps ?and found a few. Also tried to find camping shops to buy gas canisters and a compass (we thought this would help avoid the abovementioned problem). We stumbled on a quintet of outstanding musicians in Covent Garden who had amassed quite an audience enjoying the most popular of popular classics. The double bass player was a real performer, waltzing around with his double bass and encouraging audience participation.

By about 5:30 we decided to set home just in time for a real London spring storm. Lucky we had raincoats. We set off with our taillights flashing (Amnon was very excited that we got to use them), only to get a puncture in Amnon’s front wheel about 2 minutes later. We found cover in a tube station (no pun intended) and Amnon replaced the tube. We then set off with our taillights flashing once again, only to get another puncture about 1 km later ?again to Amnon’s front tyre. We tried to replace the tube with Illana’s spare which turned out to be for a racer. We were left with no choice but to repair the puncture. At this stage Illana was starting to get a little annoyed with Amnon for getting so many punctures (these things don’t just happen by chance) and for suggesting that we leave 2 newly purchased tubes in Cape Town (well done Am). Anyway, we fixed the puncture and set off again. A couple of wrong turns later we were back on page 40 of the map (Crouch End territory) and then the heavens really opened up ?thunder and all. We found our way back to John and Lisa literally swimming in our shoes, after riding a total of 26 kms (plus a few for when the odometers stopped working in the heavy rain).

John got takeaways from an authentic kosher Chinese restaurant for supper, which we devoured hungrily ?even Amnon, who has become far more culinarily adventurous ?he had a plate of pasta for lunch the day before and asked for seconds.

Before we went to sleep we wheeled the bikes in from outside where they had been drip drying, only to find a third puncture ?this time in Amnon’s back tyre. We’ll leave that repair for tomorrow. 3 nil to Amnon.

A fairly uneventful day. We started out relatively late, and went as far as Golders Green and Brent Cross to get last minute items in preparation for our Oxford excursion (which included some inner tubes after yesterday’s experience). After a quick breakfast-style supper, we took the tube to Tottenham Court Road and had drinks with Lance (Burbidge) - nice to catch up. After travelling by bike for the past couple of days, the tube is a really miserable (and expensive) experience. Not to be repeated if we can help it. Daily distance : 23km.

Left John and Lisa with objective of cycling to Reading - a mid-way point between London and Oxford. Weather looked bad, but no worse than the day before. We prepared better than we had the previous time we were caught in the rain by winding glad wrap around Illana's shoes (Amnon opted for sandals as his shoes had not yet dried (see day 2 above). Little did we know that today would turn out to be one of the coldest, windiest, rainiest days in May. We did about 10kms after which hypothermia began to set in, the glad wrap threatened to get caught in the chain and Illana started moaning. In desperation we stopped in at a shop to buy gloves - nothing waterproof, so the shop attendant wrapped bright yellow store bags around Illana's hands and secured them with brown tape to the amusement of all other atendants and passers-by (Amnon was also amused, listening in to the conversation on the walkie talkie while standing across the road gaurding the bikes).

After some time weighing up the options we decided to hop on a train somewhere because things were getting worse (6 degrees, plus wind, plus rain, plus moaning, plus wind chill). Amnon was set on cycling so we decided to get a train to Staines - the starting point of the scenic bike ride we had planned to go on. We got to Staines, wheeled our bikes out of the station, stood in the rain for 2 minutes and decided to abandon that plan. Went back into the station and bought tickets for the train to Reading.

After missing one train because we could not open the gaurd coach door to load our bikes, we finally got on the train. Getting off the train took some dexterity and we almost missed our stop. In the end we found that if one reads instructions, one can be enourmously helped. Lucky for us there were instructions. We got off the train in Reading, found a B&B (for the princely sum of ?5 - which gets us a room in someone's house with 2 beds and a TV) and dried our shoes and clothes on the heater. Once these had dried sufficiently, we took a walk into town to buy supper (hope our hosts won't mind if we cook it up in the room).

Friday brought a dramatic improvement in the weather, dry shoes and an altogether better disposition. We left Reading after making breakfast in the kitchen of the B&B in our own pots (took some negotiation). As we left the B&B we dicovered puncture 4 of the journey, this time in Illana's bike (still 3-1 to Am). Fixed that puncture and set off looking for the start of the bicyle trail. Thanks to Amnon's orienteering skills we were finally riding through the beautiful, rolling hills of the English countryside, dotted with a few remaining sheep that had managed to avoid being sacrificed to the god of foot and mouth. Very lovely single lane roads on which we were the only vehicles, although some of the hills were quite steep. We navigated using a special cycling map which follows cycle paths, foot paths and quiete country roads.

As we got to the smelliest section of the ride (freshly spread manure or lactose intolerant cows), Amnon got yet another puncture (once again, Am widens his lead; 4 to 1). By this time we were getting really proficient and managed to fix the puncture in 14 minutes and 23 seconds.

We arrived at a small town called Wallingford; "in the Vale of the White Horse, was once one of the most influential towns in England at the junction of two medieval trading posts." We cooked up some pasta in the garden of the Wallingford castle, rested our legs and after Amnon began to pester about needing to set off to complete another 40km's we got back on the trail to Oxford.

We passed Didcot (had to negitiate a fallen tree), Sutton Courtenay (didn't notice it actually), Abington (thought to be the oldest inhabited town in England) and finally rode past Bagley Wood Road - where Dave and Glenda live. Lucky one of us noticed. Got to Dave and Glenda at about 4:30, bathed and ate shabbat supper a little tired, but really happy to be so well looked after.

Daily total; 65 kms

Woke up late, went back to sleep, ate, went for a walk with Mike, ate, went back to sleep, ate, played the piano. Feel much better.

Daily total; 0

A relitively lazy day. We went into Oxford to buy the next round of maps cycling stuff (namely puncture prevention tire liners). Hopefully we won't need our recently acquired puncture repairing skills again soon.

Daily total; 12kms

We woke up on Monday to a fairly beautiful spring day - the equivalent of a mild JHB winter's day. We left Glenda and Dave at 9:15 and cycled 20kms to Didcot (via Abingdon). Didcot not the most beautiful city. We caught a train to Swindon, managed to get our bikes into the guard coach and joined our cycle route there. On route we stopped to ask a man who was trimming his hedge in Ogbourne St Geogre where the nearest supermarket was. Given that there was no such thing, he invited us in for tea. We chatted to him and his wife for a while, filled up our water bottles and set off on our way. We stopped soon after for lunch in a nettle field and continued on to Marlborough. Amnon fell in the mud on route - accident number 1. No harm done aside from mud all over.

Marlborough is named after Merlin, magician of King Arthur, who is buried there. Very nice little town with a Waitrose, but no internet cafe. We found a campsite called Postern Hill in the middle of Savernake Forest - where King Henry VIII hunted wild deer. The forest is privately owned and has been in the wardenship of one family since the Norman conquest of 1066. A very successful fist night camping - we managed well, although it was a little cold.

Daily total; 55km

We left the campsite at about 9:30 and cycled towards Divizes, yet another old town. The journey started with a scenic 5km ride through Savernake forest. We passed Wooton Rivers and other unmemorable places, all quaint with lovely thatched roofed houses. Rode through magnificent fields. Illana got her second puncture, this time on the back wheel. A bit of a mission to fix, but we managed (score, 4 to 2 to Amnon).

We ate lunch outside a pub in Wilcot and continued for another easy 25kms to Divizes. The town is also lovely, but what distinguishes it are the locks on the Kennet and Avon canal that flows alongside the town. We found a campsite a few (7) kilometres out of town, set up the tent and cycled back into town to do some shopping and find an internet link.

Went back to the campsite and had another scrumptious meal prepared by the chef.

Daily total: 65kms

We woke up at 6 for an early start, but somehow only managed to get on the road at 8:45 - not sure which one of us is the bigger pfaffer. Amnon is certainly the biggest kibbetzer.We cycled allong the canal for about 30kms until we reached Bath, passing Bradford-on-Avon en route (we have started practising French). We passed really interesting aquaducts that confused us because they run perpendicular to the original route and require going under bridges and so on. The canal is a popular route for barges - which must be even slower than London in the traffic. Looks like the most infuriating way to travel. Illana would get an ulcer for sure.

We found a lovely campsite about 5kms from Bath and pitched our tent next to a brook (not good to have the sound of running water nearby when the toilet is so far away). We made lunch and went into Bath to explore. The route took us through a nettle field - we must remember not to wear sandals next time. On the way we overtook a unicyclist - quite an acheivement to cycle through a city on one wheel (of course he didn't have paniers - now that would be something). The advantage of a unicycle is that you halve the chance of getting a puncture. We are looking into it as an alternative.

We wondered around Bath, saw the Abbey, the Baths (from the outside), went shopping for more bread and pasta, bought maps.

Daily total: 50kms

This morning we lay in a bit. Got going after a leisurely breakfast and set off for a round trip with no paniers. We went through the nettle field back into Bath and made our way back to Bradford-on-Avon where we stopped at a bicycle shop. Amnon challenged the assistant to find something that he could sell us - and he did. New break pads. Amnon's cautiousness (a result of his actuarial training no doubt) has resulted in some significant wear and tear. These will be replaced after pasta and bread tonight.

We then followed a cycle path to a Great Chatfield mannor - which has lovely gardens where we had lunch. We then continued to Corsham Court which turned out to be a little further than we anticipated because we got lost (Illana was leading). This house made the Great Chatfield mannor look like the mews round the back. Quite astounding, with magnificent gardens, peacocks, swimming pools (we think) and lovely spring flowers. Our total distance on arrival at Corsham was 51kms and the prospect of the return journey was not pleasant to ponder. We managed to find a more direct route home and within 30kms we were back in Bath. Just in time for Illana to get a little ratty and hungry and really resent having to go to an internet cafe to type this verkakde update. Moan, moan, moan. And we still have to cycle through the nettle field to get to the campsite.

We rode home in the dark and Amnon was thrilled to bits to have good cause to use both the front and back lights. They worked well until we hit a bump - Amnon's front light fell off and Illana's stopped working. Anyway, we managed to get back to the campsite - exhausted.

Daily total: 88kms

We woke up to the sound of barking ducks - nothing like the country. Packed up and set off on our way to Bristol. The first challenge was getting through that nettle field, this time fully loaded with paniers and all.

We followed a very uneventful (one could even say boring) disused railway track to Bristol - a mere 20kms away, but it felt longer.

We arrived in Bristol before lunch and spent a good deal of time trying to find a place to stay. The B&Bs are really a bum board and are not worth the ?0 they feel nothing about charging. Especially if we are going to make our own breakfast. Very few rooms are en suite (there's some French again) and one is never quite sure that the linen is clean. We are starting to prefer our tent. So after scouting out a few places, we made our way to a campsite about 2kms out of town. Campsite is a bit of a strong word - the place is more like a mid-sized parking lot on a busy road with toilets and showers. At least there are no ducks. As far as wildlife goes, our neighbours brought allong their pet baby tortoise - tied to a tent peg with orange rope. A true sight to behold. We are thinging of getting one - they are very low maintenance and we thing we could strap it to a scateboard and drag it behind us.

As we were walking around the campsite Illana noticed a caravan with shabbat candles burning in the window. She went up to the owners and asked if they were Jewish. Surprise, surprise, they are and they are quite frum. Amazing what you find in these caravan parks.

Bristol has a rich history. Our first impressions are that there is little character (compared to Bath, say), and a strong feel of the industrial nature of the place. They have tried to revive the waterfront area. Compared to Cape Town it is a feeble attempt.

Daily total: 35kms

Woke up late, ate some hard boiled eggs we had cooked up the day before (an anecdote re the hard boiled eggs; Illana poured the water out of her water bottle into the pot to boil it up and noticed something odd at the bottom of the pot. On further inspection it turned out to be a slug - to think that she had been drinking out of the bottle the whole day!), went back to sleep and woke up for lunch (something out of a tin and some bread). We went for a walk and found a free museum (industrial museum) which we found quite interesting, given the cost - displays on early carriages that were made in Bristol, engines, bicycles, motorbikes, printing presses, the slave trade and ships. Very nice.

We went back to the campsite and relaxed until shabbat ended at 10:30. Bristol is starting to grow on us.

Daily total: 0kms

We tried to get an early start by getting the shopping out the way. Rode out to the supermarket which was still closed. Went back to the campsite where Amnon tried his hand at replacing the break pads on his bike. Seems to be working so far. Illana went back to the supermarket (Asda) and found it to be about half the price of other supermarkets. We'll see about the quality over the next few days.

We rode out to Bishopstone where the rabbi lives to plot a route for the walk home after supper - we will spend first night Shavuot at a communal dinner at his home. He has also invited us for lunch on first and second days. We managed to get there in 7kms but optimised the route on the way back down to 5kms - totally manageable (good weather permitting). We forgot to mention that we have not seen the sun since Thursday and all informed opinion is that the situation will remain unchanged all through the week. It will be 'fresher' towards the end of the week. We wonder what that means.

(Written post yontif) The evening at the Rabbi was really great. Very many children who all appear to be the same size (Brocha, Friede, Sholly, Levi, Mendy, Ziesie plus guest's kids Ben, Vered, Asher and one more - Josh can you help us out if you read this). We started at 9:00pm with a discussion before supper, started eating at about 10:45, and before we knew it is was 12:30. We met some really nice people, all of whom made an effort to welcome us and make us feel at home. We left the rabbi at about 1:15 and walked home feeling totally safe despite the late hour - a very nice feeling indeed. We got into bed at 2:45. No way were we going to make it to shul as promised by 10:30 (shul in Bristol starts at the respectable time of 9:45).

Daily total: 13kms

As we anticipated, we got up late and walked to shul through a really nice part of town. The Bristol shul is over 100 years old and looks in many ways like the one in Hermanus. It also struggles to get a minyan. The community has about 100 members - pretty small, but we think that excludes the rabbi's children. Once again, everyone we met was really friendly and everyone we spoke to has only good things to say about the community and the city itself. Bristol has an outstanding medical community and we were led to beleive that there are many South African doctors living in Bristol. It appears that our first impressions were totally wrong. What do you know?

After shul we walked back to the rabbi for lunch. His wife, Yael is a superb cook and there was a real spread laid out - all the traditional foods for Shavuot; cheese cake, chees blintzes, fancy cheeses and the piece de resistance (more french) - the lokshen kugel, just the right kind of food for carbo loading for the rest of the journey. (Another aside, Yael was friendly with someone called Channi Lokshen, who married a guy called Dovid Kugel). The funny thing was that this wasn't actually lunch, but rather the brocha. This we discovered at about 4:00 after Illana had had several helpings of lokshen kugel. We both decided that lunch could wait for the next day.

We went for a walk to the Bristol suspension bridge (built in about 1860) which is really worth seeing. The funny thing is that we rode under it when we arrived in Bristol and were looking for a place to stay. At that stage Illana was too tired and hungry to look at anything (especially if it required her to stop and look up), and Amnon was not going to make anything worse by pointing out its splendours. The Clifton Downs and the gorge which are near the bridge are also worth seeing.

Daily total: 0kms

We woke up at a respectable time and got to shul in time for Amnon to help make a minyan. Attendance was far lower than the previous day. It appears that yizkor is less of a crowd puller in the UK than it is at home.

Shul finished at about 1:00 and the walk to the Rabbi (just over 3kms) took longer than the service, because we had to stop at the park for all the children to play. The park was full because this week is mid term break in the UK and it was fairly sunny (we still had our warmest clothes on). All in all there must have been about 50 kids in the park, playing away until the ice cream truck came by. There was a noticeable rush of children in the direction of the familliar tune (not the same one we used to have).

On the way home Amnon was the official shoulderer and had at least one little boy on his shoulders and another begging to be on his shoulders for the entire walk. The locals were wise enough to put the kids down prior to the big hills on the way home (of which there were several). Poor Amnon.

We got to the rabbi at about 3:00 and only started eating at about 3:30 or 4:00. Lunch was a sight to behold and even better to eat. We benched at about 6:30 - our latest ever. During the meal we sang a number of Mendy's (4 years old) top all time hits, including Mr Fix, who never works on shabbos, not even for a tip (or something. Sung to the tune of Tzur Misheloh, even though it wasn't shabbos).

We were invited for tea to another congregant, John. We arranged to be at him at 4:30 or 5:00. Lucky for us he is fully aware of the time keeping habits of the rabbi of Bishop rd and so was not put out at all that we were a little late. He also had experienced the cooking of the rabbi's wife first hand and so was not insulted that we didn't eat anything. All in all we had a wonderful time in Bristol. We ate exceptionally well, and met so many great people. So much so that our opinion of Bristol has changed by a full 180 degrees. If anyone there needs an actuary let us know.

Daily total: 0kms

Despite having jointly resolved to wake up early and set off at a respectable hour, this was not to be. Amnon is the resident alarm clock (and Illana acts as the spinning instructor, yelling 'pedal, pedal' whenever she is behind Amnon), and he just didn't wake up until about 9:30. We still had to pack up, which despite our best efforts always takes ages, and eat breakfast. In the end, we left Bristol at 11:50, knowing full well how far we had to travel.

The lokshen kugel really worked exceptionally well, and Illana had one of her best days, despite the very hilly terrain. Amnon on the other hand, was not at his best. He was convinced that there was something wrong with his bike (likely one). After stopping ostensibly because something was 'not right' a number of times, his chain finally snapped half way up the steepest and longest hill we have ridden to date. Illana suspects it was sabotage. In any event we stopped at the entrance to a farm to make the necessary repairs and then continued on our way.

Because Illana was leading we landed up off the map and had to go on a normal road. We stopped at the Chew Valley Lake for lunch and continued on our way. This time, Amnon directed us in the wrong direction, which was established when the road that was supposed to take us all the way into Wells, stopped abruptly in a place called Chew Magna. Amnon's initial response was to blame Illana. We got to Wells at about 6:30 and found a campsite in a little town called Wookey Hole which looks like it sounds.

After setting up the tent, we cycled back into Wells, looked at the cathedral, and took in the sights of the town while trying to find an internet cafe. There was only one which was closed, so we made our way back to the campsite, cooked our usual and went to sleep.

Daily total: 76kms

At 6:00 this morning, Amnon decided it was up time and pestered Illana until she got up at about 6:15, never her best time of the day. We packed everything up, loaded the bikes and set off for Bridgewater. Once again, Illana led us off the map, and we landed up following the A38 into Bridgewater. We will reserve comment on this town, given our overly judgemental initial thoughts about Bristol.

The ride itself was far easier and shorter than yesterday's, but less scenic, or perhaps less interesting because we feel we have seen it before - fields, cows (laying low), pubs (horse and the hound, pig and whistle, foot and mouth), little villages, and everyone saying something like 'nice weather today, isn't it?' because the sun is out.

We found a campsite in what must be the windiest part of South West England, 7kms out of Bridgewater. Whether our tent will withstand the wind tonight (or even be standing when we get back) remains to be seen. Watch this space.

Bridgewater doesn't have an internet cafe, but it does have free internet access at a number of community centres, one of which plays host to us now. Very good idea indeed.

Daily total: 60kms

(Thanks dad and boet) dad and boet

Flags and Maps courtesy of ITA used with permission.