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Getting to the start
All went smoothly. The same easy start as for the C2C, cycling downhill from home to Lymington Town railway station.
Change trains at Brockenhurst, climbing over the footbridge with bikes and panniers and then settle down to wait for the train – this time the Cross-Country service. Arrived at the B&B and met up with the others. Next morning a full B&B English breakfast set us up ready to travel on from Oxford to Coventry by train, which went smoothly with all bikes accommodated without fuss. These were the days of proper guards vans with lots of luggage and bike space. Click on any photo to enlarge and scroll through
Day 1 : From Coventry
 5 miles from Coventry and all happy
Once in Coventry we were soon through town and sorted out beside the canal basin equipped to start. Pat was excused baggage because Bob had brought a trailer with adequate space to carry everything (and some more) that they would require. Keith supplemented his essential bike maintenance tools by also bringing along a guitar in order to provide en-route entertainment.
The weather was dull, but dry. The towpath varied from a hard surface to rather soft grass, but was eminently rideable. Navigation was as simple as it gets – just keep the water to your right (or left, depending on the particular section you were on) and don’t fall in. The rural scenery was attractive and there was the added interest of some regular boating traffic, including a pair of traditional 70ft working narrow boats coming up through one lock. But……and after a while the humour of this ‘but’ receded. It was a regular puncture-fest. Nearly all of the hedges beside the towpath were hawthorn. Nearly all of the hedges beside the towpath had been recently cut. There were thorns everywhere, often hidden in the grass. Obviously this was a tour for the summer not the autumn. John had previously cycled many puncture-free summer miles of canal towpaths while lock-wheeling on narrow boat expeditions, but today all of us were taking turns to puncture often, rapidly using up spare inner tubes and getting everyone patching. We persisted but progress was slow. Eventually, Keith was the first to crack. He dismounted from his flat-tyred bicycle and threw it into the canal. Well, actually he didn’t, but it was a near thing. While holding said bike over the water and threatening to let go he was skilfully talked down by those of us trained in advanced negotiating skills. As an antidote to puncture frustration Keith decided to explore the acoustic properties of an arched canal overbridge with an impromptu session on his guitar. The Boat Inn beside the canal at Rugby provided an excellent lunch stop to revive our spirits and an opportunity to meet up with some of Pat's relatives who lived nearby. We continued, but because of our slow progress in some stretches we abandoned the canal towpath for nearby lanes so as to speed along without punctures and arrive at our evening B&B in the dusk. Needless to say, despite this being a flat tour the final stretch to reach our B&B involved a significant hill climb. Showers and dinner restored group morale. Click on any photo to enlarge and scroll through
Day 2 : To Oxford (Lambourn)
 Arrival in Oxford
A good breakfast, followed by a group photo and we were once more ready to go. We did not abandon the Oxford canal totally, but continued with a mixture of cycling on the towpath or nearby lanes managed to keep the puncture count down and speed of progress sufficiently steady.
Bob's bike had developed a mechanical problem, so a detour into Halfords Banbury store provided an opportunity to buy essential equipment and a new stock of inner tubes. After which sticking to the canal we made good progress into Oxford to reach our destination. Our arrival was recorded with a group photograph taken beside the finger post proclaiming ‘Coventry 83 miles’. Pat, Bob, Su and Keith departed by car and John and Sheila set off for Lambourn on the first stage of our journey home. Click on any photo to enlarge and scroll through
Day 3 : To Lyndhurst
 Coming down from the Ridgway
Continuing on gave us some challenging hilly climbing on a mixture of lanes and bridlepaths, which was far more strenuous than the ‘flat route’ cycling that had been the initial concept of this trip.
The Marlborough Downs and Berkshire Downs were scaled. On one bridlepath the mud clogged the space between mudguards and wheel rims until the wheels no longer rotated and we had to scrape it clear. On another the track became so narrow that the long grass on each side wound itself around cranks and chainring again bringing the bikes to a halt. Once we were south of Vernham Dean and around Andover the cycling became easier again, taking us down the Test Valley, through Wellow and into the New Forest at Brook. The run in on the A337 from Cadnam to Lyndhurst was particularly unpleasant with busy traffic and Sheila finally decided she was ‘done-in’ and defeated by the heavyweight Pink Peril. We stopped in Lyndhurst where Keith lived and cadged a lift for the final 9 miles to Lymington. Click on any photo to enlarge and scroll through
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