We did it!
June 11th, 2011
We did it! 150 miles, 6 days, 1 milk float, 20 cyclists, 2 tandems (1 broken), 1 puncture, 2 fallers, hills, rain, sunshine, more hills, the seaside, campsites, kids, Bob the dog, a helicopter, camp mum, food, booze, surprise floaters and lots and lots of fun. Here are some of the bits we would like to share…
Day 1 – Sunday 29th May, Beckington to Shaftesbury
A bruised sky, chilling wind and the threat of rain were soon pushed to one side at the starting line as Elaine and Debs from Mes Amis arrived with a delicious ‘Floater’s breakfast’ of croissants, fresh coffee and homemade fruit smoothies. Our bellies full, tyres pumped, milk float charged and support vehicles packed we gathered for photos and then lurched away. The smiling faces of Beckington residents soon turned to laughter as the float left the cyclists trailing, Pilot Mr Paul Huxley piling on the amps over the hills to our first stop in Frome.
Frome Sainsbury’s was an amazing stop for the floatilla. Lovely lunches courtesy of Mes Amis again, were munched with our supporters from local branches of the MND Association. While Sarah Madel rocked the mic and encouraged the shoppers to donate, which they did with generosity and we left with heavy collection buckets and a spring in our step (is that physically possible?). Thank you people of Frome for £700 in just under two hours! We then headed out into the unknown…
A knackered tandem
…being a succession of leg sapping hills through Maiden Bradley and on to a quick breather at Stourhead. Thankfully, Martha had already ditched her ever so chic 3 geared basket bike and transferred to something more appropriate. It was at this point that we had our first mechanical problem as Will and Helen’s tandem snapped a pedal crank. Matt manfully found a temporary solution involving spanner and gaffer tape, but eventually the tandem was forced to retire amid shouts of ‘bring me liquid metal!’.
An afternoon of floating through Wiltshire and on into Dorset saw us arrive tired but jubilant at Blackmore Vale campsite. The floaters all remarked at how brilliantly the milk float had performed while Hux and Al breathed a sigh of relief that the float seemed to drink thirstily from the national grid without any problems. Day 1 complete, we said farewell to the Beckington boys – James, Russell, Mike and Giles, made camp, lit BBQ’s and hit the lager.
Day 1 camp
Day 2 Monday 30th May, Shaftesbury to Bere Regis
Bad weather forecast
The forecasters said heavy rain and for once they were absolutely right. We broke camp in the rain and headed out to face the most challenging terrain of the whole trip. With Will Banks piloting the float we meandered our way up and down country lanes until we crossed the A350 and climbed the ‘Dorset Alps’ or as it is more commonly known – Fontmell Hill. The floatilla struggled up the steep ascent and by the time we had reached the top all the cyclists were soaked and exhausted and the float was emitting a noxious burning smell. We had all made it….or had we? We had lost Alex – and this was not a metaphor, we had really lost Alex.
After looking for Alex for seconds we pressed on into Blandford which was like a ghost town. We ate, tried to dry off, collected donations at Morrison’s and floated on towards Bere Regis. The weather started to brighten up and we arrived at Rowland’s Wait campsite buoyed in the knowledge that good times and good weather lay ahead.
Rolands Wait aka Camp Lovely
Sunshine!
Rowland’s Wait is a great campsite. Fantastic showers and disabled facilities meant that everyone had the opportunity to get clean and try and dry out. Several of the floaters spent a couple of hours watching all our footwear go round and round in a tumble drier. We pitched our tents and thanks to Jude ‘camp mum’ Hill and Matt Drake, had yet another feast and booze up. Clear skies meant a cold night but the stars were incredible.
Day 3 Tuesday 31st June, The coast and back
Last hill before the coast!
Blue skies and the thought of an ice cream on the beach soon helped us all get over what had been a tough day 2 and a cold night with little sleep for many. We also didn’t have to pack away our camp which was starting to resemble a mini festival , as we would be returning to the same campsite in the evening.
Bob the dog gets a lift on the float
Float driver no.3, Mr Jez Thomas took the wheel and we set off for Lulworth Cove. The countryside had been stunning since we had set off on Sunday, but now with blue skies and sunshine England looked even better and before long we were hurtling down narrow lanes towards the sea. We parked up outside Lulworth Heritage Centre, hooked up the milk float to an electrical supply and prepared to collect buckets full of cash from the thousands of tourists walking past on the way to the beach. However, having spent most of their money in the car park and hidden the rest under deck chairs, cool boxes and wind breaks the people of Lulworth proved to be a ‘tough crowd’. We were only rescued when Lucy Huxley took over collection responsibilities and effectively mugged passers-by of their spare change.
Mugging punters at Lulworth
The whole trip was beginning to develop a predictable and reassuring pattern; Alistair rallies troops on megaphone, we set off, stop to bunch up after hills, collect money, pitch tents, BBQ and beer, milk float completes ‘bulk charge’ etc. That was until the helicopter arrived! This wasn’t on the itinerary – Caite’s brother turned up in his Helicopter and picked up Geraint who proceeded to film the floatilla as we climbed out of Lulworth and away from the coast, and then headed north across the Purbeck ridge. It was totally bizarre and great fun – especially for Geraint who got amazing views of the Jurassic coast. We made it back to Rowland’s Wait in good spirits and to cheers from others staying at the camp site. We were already half way through float week and things were great!!
Lulworth Cove from a helicopter
Day 4 Wednesday 1st June, Bere Regis to Verwood
Happy floaters
After staying for two nights at the campsite it took us hours to pack up all the gear but eventually we headed out with strict instructions from Captain Float to be careful and ready for the nasty A31. With milk float to the front, single file cyclists and support vehicles to the rear we safely negotiated a tricky 7 mile journey up the A31. The traffic was heavy and slow and this allowed us to experience both supportive and unsupportive motorists and their associated hand gestures. We stopped to let the tailback pass at one point, I didn’t get my stop watch out but I reckon it took at least 8 minutes for all the cars to get past – oh how we laughed. We planned to stop and have lunch at a pub but couldn’t find one so tried the village shop in Witchampton – they had cheese apparently.
Megacamp
Our floatilla was growing in size even though Polly, Doug, Tracey and Lucy F had left us. Gail and Bogart had joined the throng and we then met the wandering minstrel Nick Turner on the road. Jim J, Paul, Louise, Roland and Miriam swelled our numbers to near Glastonbury festival like proportions at our next campsite, Hillside near Verwood. It was absolutely lovely to have old friends from the states and Switzerland travel so far to be with us.
After a quick interview with local radio station Forest FM we hooked up the float and set up camp in the warm late afternoon sunshine. The evening was a blast as wine, marsh mallows, guitars and a banjo were shared among the party. All good things must come to an end and we all hit the sack after a fellow camper asked us to be quiet as we were keeping her kids awake – sorry, but it’s all for charity.
4 guitars and a banjo
Day 5 Thursday 2nd June, Verwood to Shaftesbury
Breaking camp on day 5
With thick heads and aching bodies we trundled out of Hillside and headed for Sixpenny Handley and Cranborne Chase. The countryside lived up to its billing as an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ and the floatilla were treated to an incredibly beautiful route through picturesque villages and valleys, and over open grasslands with ancient dykes and Roman roads. We quenched our thirsts, filled our tummies and emptied our wallets at the King John in Tollard Royal. Here we were met and surprised by representatives from Freshford who had already proved to be a supportive and generous bunch – cheers John, Steph, Peter, Sheila, Graham and Judy.
Roadside flowers
After lowering the tone of this uber posh neck of the woods with our scruffy float and suspect body odour we climbed away and on to a high ridge before descending the legendary ‘zig zag hill’ and arriving in Shaftesbury. Zig zag hill is one of those roads I assumed only existed in the Alps or boring Top Gear car reviews. A series of extremely tight hairpins and steep descents were great fun for all, especially Matt Drake, who finally got pay back for lugging his downhill beast bike across country for several days. Mind you I think Louise and Niki’s giggles were ones of relief more than enjoyment when they eventually landed their tandem safely at the bottom of the hill.
King John, Tollard Royal
We arrived at Blackmore Vale campsite again – the same site as day 1, only to find it deserted. We promptly saw this as an opportunity to grab the best pitches, spread out and claim the whole place as our own. Then two strange things happened… first, we stuffed our faces on the best fish and chips ever (something totally unexpected in Shaftesbury) and second, two sneaky and adorable friends from Maine turned up and surprised everyone. Jim and Heather’s arrival was a truly amazing surprise – so we all got pissed to celebrate. And so to bed.
Float and cyclists
Day 6 Friday 3rd June, Shaftesbury to Beckington
Captain float gets us all going one more time
Last day, and a tiring one if we were going to get back to Beckington in time to set up the evening’s ‘Floaters Party’. In the interest of simplicity and also to avoid some nasty roads we retraced the same route as Day 1. We stopped for a gut busting cream tea in Stourhead where we were told by the National Trust that we couldn’t collect donations (miserable so and so’s) before heading on to Frome and the final run into Beckington.
Along the way we were joined by Nick T’s parents, who met us with beaming faces and bicycles at a bus stop in Maiden Bradley. Now I’m not blaming anyone, but at this point on our trip a few things went wrong… Alex got a puncture (the only one for 20+ cyclists over 6 days!), Heather lost her chain then slammed into a roundabout, and then Joe – not wanting to miss out, lost his chain as well and slammed into the tarmac at the top of Bath Hill, Frome.
Arriving back in Beckington
After dusting ourselves down and employing the use of a support vehicle with military like precision and efficiency we sweated over the last few hills and into Beckington and the end of our adventure. On arrival in Beckington we were met by well wishers and supporters at the Woolpack Inn and Mes Amis before finally disembarking at the official finish, Beckington Memorial Hall. Preparations for the party were well under way but work stopped so all floaters could hug, swap stories and pose for a few photos.
Al & family at the finish
Well that’s it……..well, not quite but I’ll let someone else write about the ‘Floaters Party’. Float to the coast was the most amazing thing I have ever taken part in, and this I firmly believe is because the most amazing group of people took part in it with me.
Anyone want to borrow a milk float? (Bob the dog not included).
Alistair Banks, June 2011.
