Footie on two wheels

[ambersalamander]

Like Frankie says, I am a cyclist but I'm not on drugs, honest ;D

This season, I am finally getting around to doing something I've been saying for ages that I will do. I have gone out and actually bought myself a decent bike (about half an hour ago, in fact - this is a bit of a last-minute job) and I am going to cycle to all of Sutton's away league matches this season Yes, even in rubbish weather, and even Lowestoft Town

Lucky Tinpotters - this gives you TWO tinpot trails to follow this season. Not only will you have Daza's FA Cup trail to enjoy, but you will also be updated on my progress after every away match. I'm not doing cup games, because I can't plan for them (e.g. if we get an FA Trophy replay somewhere up north, I'd have to leave to get there before the replay was even confirmed!), but 21 League games by bike is quite enough for one season, I think.

The furthest is Lowestoft, 130 miles from my humble abode. The closest is Kingstonian, which is 3.2 miles, but as it's midweek, it is actually a 15.3 mile trek from work

I shall let you all know how it goes, starting from this Saturday's trip to Concord Rangers. New season, new ground, new ridiculous method of transport ;D

[skif]

Outrageous behaviour.

Good luck with the wheelin' and to Sutton for the season. Here's to an away win and good weather for Lowestoft!

[ambersalamander]

An away win every time? That would be awesome!

[bh]

What a wonderful idea.

But, I must say I will be very concerned about you on a lot of these trips. Specially in the middle of winter, I can see you in the pouring snow, stuck on the side of the road with a puncture! Or clipped by some loony motorist and lying at the side of the road in darkest Essex.

As long as you have contingency plans to get over these kind of problems, my worries will be lessoned, but I shall still be very worried. I would worry about doing some of these journeys on my bike and that has an engine!

[DazaB_WCFC]

If you can pull this off, you should be knighted.

[ambersalamander]

Dearest Bob, there is no need to worry about me, I am perfectly capable of looking after myself/keeping warm/fixing punctures/replacing knackered inner tubes etc. although as my friend you are quite right to check that's the case! Seriously, just pretend I'm a bloke and you'll be fine. I remember a male football fan doing the same thing a while back and nobody worried about him not being able to fix his own bike! Thank you for being sweet ;D I've done a lot of long distance trips in all sorts of weather (I remember once it was so cold my water bottle froze solid, but that was in the middle of the night and this time I'll be able to pop into a pub/cafe/etc for defrosting if that happens!!

Ha ha, thanks Daza I am suddenly very excited about tomorrow. This is the great thing about this mission of mine: it makes trips to Canvey Island exciting.

[Sultan of Cannock- SRFC]

I wonder if bh is similarly "chronologically gifted" as me. We naturally expect a big, bad, hairy-a***d bloke to be able to look after himself, but a defenceless girl all alone out there!

The way i, certainly, was conditioned growing up in the 60's it's amazing to me what these modern young women can do. ;D

Mind you, when i think about the Lowestoft trip, i'm glad that my hair is already grey before you make it.......

[amberaleman]

Best of British for your inaugural run to Concord Rangers tomorrow, Sal!

The weather forecast is for heavy showers, so it should be a good rehearsal for the months ahead.

[ambersalamander]

Damn, it didn't rain ;D Well, it drizzled a bit. Thanks, AA!

I had a few "teething troubles" with my new bike and the bag lent to me by Monsieur Le Tour*. And the maps I was using were sh*te (because I hadn't yet had time to get myself proper maps, I had to use Google Maps, which are practically useless). But I got there in the end. At half-time

However, I was reliably informed that the first half was exactly as rubbish as the second and you may as well have watched the second half twice as the entire game. So I didn't miss anything and it was 0-0.

I did approximately 50 miles today (should have been 47.6 but I took a few wrong turs due to rubbish maps). The worst bit was getting lost in Grays, when I discovered that they'd built a Morrisons on top of the road my map said I needed to go down. The best bit was getting to the Dartford crossing, thinking "how do I do this" and being shown how to ring Crossing Control and get them to strap my bike onto a massive 4x4 and give me a lift through the tunnel - all for free. Very nice man too

At one point I stopped and rang Monsieur to have a good rant about Google Maps and crappy road surfaces and people building supermarkets on top of my route. I must have sounded quite upset, because about 2 minutes after I'd arrived at the ground, he rang me to say I'd left my keys in my bike lock which I have never done before, and I said "Oh my g...oh ha ha, you nearly had me there. How would you know if I had?" (He is a proper wind-up merchant) and it turned out that he'd driven all the way to Canvey Island so I wouldn't have to get the train home or cycle in the dark What a sweetie.

I was really touched by the sheer number of Sutton fans who congratulated me on arrival - that was awesome and I didn't deserve it at all for arriving at half time!

*boyfriend of Tour de France fame

[robotsmfc]

Aug 21, 2010 18:31:04 GMT ambersalamander said:

The worst bit was getting lost in Grays, when I discovered that they'd built a Morrisons on top of the road my map said I needed to go down.

That happened to me in Vienna, except it was a secondary school rather than a supermarket. That and the fact that my navigation technique was based on chaos theory rather than maps or other boring conventional methods.

It sounds like you're in for quite an adventure this season. I wish you all the best

[bh]

Ok Sal, the Sultan is absolutely correct, men of a certain age........

I forgot you are 4ft nothing piece of pocket dinamite, and are a tough little cookie.

I think it's a great thing you are attempting, and am also sure that you have the determination and spirit to do it!

I shall be using my own two wheels on Monday, as long as the weather is kind, and if you want I'll give you a race!!

I shall still worry at the thought of you riding in the freezing cold on some of our local roads, with some of the other nutcases on the road!

[ambersalamander]

I appreciate that A race would be fun, but we will be coming from totally different directions! ;D

[ambersalamander]

Two down, nineteen to go

Next up: Hastings next Tuesday...