Friday, 24 July 2009
Wednesday, 22 July 2009
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
Sunday, 19 July 2009
Super Heroes!
Day Four – Afternoon saw another two more donations in Marlow lock…Thank You!
Pushed through to the Bourne End and stopped for a break at the Bounty. This was going to be our last stop on Day Four but with over 15 miles to go we agreed again that we would push on.
The Last Leg
The river surprised us at how beautiful it could still be this far down particularly the stretch below Clevedon!
Through Maidenhead we received our fist heckling from the river bank but as this was only Maidenhead, “Row, Row, Row your boat gently down the stream” was the best insult these boys could muster.
At the Oakley Club between Bray and Windsor we stopped to rescue a little boys tennis ball. We’d like to think that he thought of us as two pink suited Super heroes but he’s probably since heard his parents describing us as “those two poofs in a boat”. Never the less, they gave us £10 for PD!
Simon continued to complain about his sore bottom to every one that was prepared to listen, mainly the uninterested Lock Keepers.
Tony enthused about the amazing properties of Vaseline.
The Last Bend
So just before Ham bridge outside of Old Windsor we turned a bend and to our great joy, it truly was music to our ears, we heard a whoop and wail and great cheering from our lovely family’s and friend Richard. WE HAD DONE IT!
Pushed through to the Bourne End and stopped for a break at the Bounty. This was going to be our last stop on Day Four but with over 15 miles to go we agreed again that we would push on.
The Last Leg
The river surprised us at how beautiful it could still be this far down particularly the stretch below Clevedon!
Through Maidenhead we received our fist heckling from the river bank but as this was only Maidenhead, “Row, Row, Row your boat gently down the stream” was the best insult these boys could muster.
At the Oakley Club between Bray and Windsor we stopped to rescue a little boys tennis ball. We’d like to think that he thought of us as two pink suited Super heroes but he’s probably since heard his parents describing us as “those two poofs in a boat”. Never the less, they gave us £10 for PD!
Simon continued to complain about his sore bottom to every one that was prepared to listen, mainly the uninterested Lock Keepers.
Tony enthused about the amazing properties of Vaseline.
The Last Bend
So just before Ham bridge outside of Old Windsor we turned a bend and to our great joy, it truly was music to our ears, we heard a whoop and wail and great cheering from our lovely family’s and friend Richard. WE HAD DONE IT!
The Naturist
Day Four - Morning started well with a clear blue sky.
With the perfect latte from Richards new coffee machine and dry clothes, not to mention anything else that had got wet on the previous day, carefully oven dried by Kirsten, we said goodbye and jumped in the roadie mobile for our short drive back to Shiplake College boat house.
Today we had decided to attempt the remaining 32 miles in one day.
We set off at 8:00am with the wind in our favour. With all our aches and pains soon forgotten we were in no time at all in Henley where we were greeted by friends and family, in particular Simon’s mum who has suffered from Parkinson’s for the past 35 years…an amazing women.
After a quick bacon & egg sandwich we were back on the river. Like a scene from Chariots of Fire our two athletes powered down the Henley Regatta course in what seemed like a course record time. This would only be true if the Royal Regatta had decided to include a slalom race reminiscent of It’s a Knockout the wrong way down the course. At the end of this moment of self gratification Tony and Simon were ready to take on the final challenge.
Hambleden Lock got our first donation of the day. £2 from the lock keeper brilliantly caught in one hand by Simon….can’t catch a ball for toffee but when hard cash is at stake…!
Somewhere between Hambleden and Hurley we clocked an old pale skinned gentleman on sitting on the river bank in a Rubenesque stylie in just a pair of Speedo’s. Just as we began to turn the next bend he whipped off said speedo’s…..despite expecting something odd our loss of concentration resulted in us colliding with a fallen tree. Was he a lone naturist or just the local magistrate?
Hurley lock saw us getting further donations from other lock goer’s and despite long delay’s getting through we were in Marlow by 12:15pm where we were greeted by Julia & husband and later by family and friends. Before leaving we had a photo shoot with Sir Steve Redgrave who had no objection to wearing one of our PD T-shirts. He didn’t have much to say for a Sir!
With the perfect latte from Richards new coffee machine and dry clothes, not to mention anything else that had got wet on the previous day, carefully oven dried by Kirsten, we said goodbye and jumped in the roadie mobile for our short drive back to Shiplake College boat house.
Today we had decided to attempt the remaining 32 miles in one day.
We set off at 8:00am with the wind in our favour. With all our aches and pains soon forgotten we were in no time at all in Henley where we were greeted by friends and family, in particular Simon’s mum who has suffered from Parkinson’s for the past 35 years…an amazing women.
After a quick bacon & egg sandwich we were back on the river. Like a scene from Chariots of Fire our two athletes powered down the Henley Regatta course in what seemed like a course record time. This would only be true if the Royal Regatta had decided to include a slalom race reminiscent of It’s a Knockout the wrong way down the course. At the end of this moment of self gratification Tony and Simon were ready to take on the final challenge.
Hambleden Lock got our first donation of the day. £2 from the lock keeper brilliantly caught in one hand by Simon….can’t catch a ball for toffee but when hard cash is at stake…!
Somewhere between Hambleden and Hurley we clocked an old pale skinned gentleman on sitting on the river bank in a Rubenesque stylie in just a pair of Speedo’s. Just as we began to turn the next bend he whipped off said speedo’s…..despite expecting something odd our loss of concentration resulted in us colliding with a fallen tree. Was he a lone naturist or just the local magistrate?
Hurley lock saw us getting further donations from other lock goer’s and despite long delay’s getting through we were in Marlow by 12:15pm where we were greeted by Julia & husband and later by family and friends. Before leaving we had a photo shoot with Sir Steve Redgrave who had no objection to wearing one of our PD T-shirts. He didn’t have much to say for a Sir!
Friday, 17 July 2009
Wet wet Wet
Bad 90's band and our theme for the day. The day started well with a hearty breakfast at the Shillingford Bridge hotel for local people. Our roadie Russ (smallest roadie vehicle ever) picked up our extensive backup kit and we hit the river at 8am. Photoshoot as we left- blue steel was activated. Please see photos.
Set a good pace after Benson lock although at one point we thought we had capsized as there was so much rain coming down. Every single thing was wet and Tony had to bail the boat out for 15 minutes when the storm had passed. Tony found his mobile phone under a foot of water in the boat- those cheap iphones don't seem to work after total submersion- rubbish!
On our way through Wallingford we half expected Douglas/ Delabie to be waving from the bridge- never mind but thanks for the generous donation.
We arrived in Pangbourne after the second storm of the day and were greeted by James and Alex who kindly bought us lunch at the Swan. Apologies to the landlord there- those buttock imprints on your leather sofas were us, caused by our wet behinds.
Oxfam in Pangbourne do a great line on dry clothing- £4.50 was spent. Not a great look but it saved our life.
The boys powered all the way to Caversham and were greeted by a huge crowd... of geese, and a tramp. Big up to the geese and tramp. Teacakes and sweet tea was provided by Fee in the local greasy spoon.
By this stage the 25 miles seemed like 250 miles and we stopped for a well earned rest under Sonning Bridge.
Shiplake College provided a vast welcome party of Russ and Stephan. We were ushered into a classroom where we got undressed and ..... The Plowden Arms attempted a warm welcome but unfortunately they were unused to people that were not related to them. Roadie Russ dropped us at Kirsten and Richard's fab house in Wargrave where they were treated to a first class Chinese and good company. The drier was used.
Thursday, 16 July 2009
Distance update
42 miles so far. Going for 25 miles and 7 (non swimming) locks tomorrow. Leaving Shillingford at 7:30, lunch in Pangbourne and then onto Shiplake college by early evening. Come along tomorrow night, we are bound to be in a nearby hostelry but ring either Tony or Simon after 7:30.
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