The Famous Five ventured out into the New Forest again the other day. It will come as no surprise to some, especially those who know us, that out of four cars, containing five cartographers, two cars managed to turn up at the wrong car park. Of course we'd probably all used G**gle Maps to find our way.
Soon rectified by a couple of mobile phone calls we were re-united and raring to go.
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| Oooo Harder! John and I goof around changing the tube. |
A couple of miles into the ride and disaster struck. I got a flat due to a massive piece of flint through the front tyre. Of course I was carrying a spare and it was quickly changed with speed and precision normally reserved for a Formula 1 pit crew, but with considerably more heckling from the onlookers.
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| I Pray, John does all the work, Paul B calls for roadside assistance and Paul T provides verbal support. |
Back on the road we made good progress towards our lunchtime target except for one of John's famous "shortcuts" which resulted an a fair bit of ditch vaulting, and probably took longer than if we'd just cycled round the track.
We soon enjoyed an excellent repast at The Royal Oak at Bank which is one of my favourite New Forest Pubs. I can state that the chips are excellent and there really is no need for anyone to order extra bread with their soup. Is there Peter?
We'd seen signs that the road was closed near Brockenhurst which is usually caused by flooding under the railway bridge so of course we had to go and investigate.
Imagine our disappointment to discover it was all clear, and judging by the number of cars who passed through while we were trying to get a photo, the locals have a healthy disregard for H&S and road signs in general.
