15/09/2024
Day 24 of our Rome 2 Home cycle.
THE LAST DAY - HOMEWARD BOUND....
After a lovely evening, we awoke refreshed and fairly relaxed about the day ahead. We had put in the extra miles over the last 2 days to make sure our last day wasn't a big one.
With no alarm call (at all!) and a lovely breakfast, we left the hotel in Bucklington with about 30 miles to do. We were looking forward to it, and had some little 'stop offs' planned throughout.
For the last time, we (Ange) packed the panniers with the usual precision, a routine that had carried us through this entire journey. Although it might not have appeared it at times, each day had its structure, with just enough room for tweaks as needed.
The day was bright and warm, and we felt a lightness in our load as we set off for the last leg. With the autumn sun shining, it felt like a casual Saturday morning ride. We had to pinch ourselves. Did we really just cycle from Rome? Eleven years after our first ride to Rome, we’d cycled all the way back.
Entrusting the first part of the days route to Trixie (the sat nav), we started to weave our way through housing estates, but it wasn't long before we had a little diversion, you know the ones we mean by now.
We found ourselves on a shared bridleway, only to be faced with a typical British 'kissing gate'. Ironically, being our last day, this is the first 'no go' obstacle Trixie had led us to (the other part of the trail we needed was blocked off due to building works). So after a bit of head scratching, it was a case of take all the bags off the bikes, take one bike through at a time (upright on its back wheel!), and then put the bags back on. Although a little bit of hassle, we were soon on our way on a lovely bridal way/green lane circling around farmland. It seemed fitting that our last cycle should have a bit of 'off road' in it!
As we rejoined the main roads, we soon found ourselves on a regular cycle route of ours, out towards Suttton Cheney and Market Bosworth. Our first planned stop of the day was at the cafe at Sutton Wharf, on the Ashby canal. Stars were aligning today as we had a coffee and.......Victoria sponge👌(although it was a rectangle cake not round, the taste was still as good). We sat by the water, in the sunshine, where we have many times before and it all just felt a little strange. Confusion was definatley setting in!
We 'loitered' here for an hour as we knew we had to time it right for Zamanis (2pm wasn't it? 😉🤣). On leaving the café we said 'au revoir' to Trixie as we were used to the route home. So much so it was now time for Ange to lead the way. We then headed off towards Bosworth Battlefield, Congerstone and Shackerstone on quiet country lanes, hopping over the Ashby canal on a number of bridges. As we were pootling along, Ange suddenly shouted 'SUNFLOWERS!'🌻🌻 In fields both sides of the road for a mile or two there were sunflowers......as far as the eyes could see! Not the tall huge ones we saw in France, but smaller ones, still standing tall and proud looking up to the sun. We couldn't help but feel it was a little reminder of those endless fields of sunflowers in France.
Following the gorgeous countryside lanes the regular bikers passing us in all directions, with the traditional hand gesture or a swift good morning. We couldn’t help think, "Do you have any idea we just cycled from Rome?" Resisting the urge to shout, we carried on.
Our next planned 'stop off' was to see Tom at Pickering's bikes in Measham. This is where we had our bikes from earlier in the year. Tom and his father Dave, have been a great support in getting us on the road for this big trip, right up until the day before we departed. They are experienced cycle tourers themselves so knew exactly what we were looking for and were on hand with tips and advice (especially when we phoned Tom when we had our brake failure issue in the Alps!). So we popped our heads around the door to say hi to Tom. We chatted briefly about the trip, explained that we were still 'on' the trip but nearly home, had a quick photo and then we were off again to our next 'stop off'.
We were well on track not to be late (or early) to Zamanis (2pm just in case you're not sure!), and as we headed towards Donisthorpe, we were met by a 'beep, beep, beep' and a wave. It was Bish (Chris), the very close friend who took us to the airport and surprised us in Annecy (along with Rob and Janet). It was like it was meant to be, a little nod of affection before the official finish at Zamanis in Ashby.
We then picked up some trails that we are more than used to. This was our local stomping ground, Hicks Lodge, and if it felt strange to be at Sutton Wharf earlier, this was next level strangeness! As we joined the trail that loops around the lake, we just looked at each other and shook our heads in disbelief.
Everything was the same, a little more Autumnal since we left, but the same. As we got closer to the cafe, we could see a pair of arms waving at us in the distance. We waved back because, well, why not......but as we got even closer we could see it was our good friends Jodi and Becki. We were elated to see them! It was all by chance aswell because they were working there, and nobody knew this was on our route today. So after some hugs and a quick catch up, we headed to the cafe.
As we strolled into the cafe Grounds Cafés, we were met by shock and joy as the staff weren't expecting our visit. After hugs, hand shakes, a few watery eyes, and sharing the jubilation, we enjoyed our second coffee of the journey.
Another lovely catch up and an obligatory photo at Hicks Lodge, and we were all set for our well timed departure in order to get to Zamanis just after 2pm, the final approach to 'home'. Everything was working like clockwork.
We set off from Hicks Lodge with some cheery waves and shouts of well done, and rolled down the hill towards Ashby.
Ashby was very busy with the Statutes (the towns annual fair), and it all felt very surreal. We carefully weaved our way through the Statutes crowd on Market Street, and were then greeted by waving Union flags outside Zamani’s. The initial hugs, congratulations and tears started. Then the Statutes security team approached. “Wait here,” they said. Soon, a kind woman appeared with a child in her arms. “We’ve been following your journey, and we've had a collection for you,” she said. The child handed over a handful of notes collected by the fairground community. A heartwarming, unexpected moment.
We then headed into Rushtons Yard, home of Zamani’s, and were blown away by the crowd waiting for us. We hadn't really 'peopled' in three weeks so.it was all a little overwhelming, but in a very good way. Everyone was clapping and cheering, it was like a dream. More hugs, handshakes, and tears followed as we soaked it all in. The atmosphere was electric, and Zamani’s hospitality was unbelievabl! Endless pizzas kept coming out for everyone, a feast fit for royalty. This was such a huge gesture from Zamani’s, and meant the world to us and everyone there ❤️ Thank you doesn't even touch the sides!
It was just the perfect end to our Rome 2 Home Cycle Challenge.
Donations continued to flood in throughout the afternoon, in the collecton bucket's and people putting money in our hands.
The most amazing Victoria Sponge cake was gifted to us from our friend Wendy Smith, the perfect end to our cake and sweet treats journey (and it really does have to end! 🤣).
Just when we thought the surprises were over, Ivanhoe Runners gathered us together. Nick, the chairman, announced that the club had donated £1,000 (from the proceeds of an annual league race they organise) to Wishes 4 Kids, our chosen charity, in honor of our Rome 2 Home challenge. We were speechless and completely overwhelmed!
We can't begin to capture the whole afternoon in words, and if we could watch it all evolve from the sidelines in order to see it all happen again, we would.
The reality of what we’ve achieved hasn’t quite sunk in yet. It feels impossible. Today (Sunday) is a strange day. We know something has happened, we're tired and a bit lost, and if it wasn't for this blog we wouldn't believe that it happened. Ordinary people like us don’t do things like this, do they?
If there's one takeaway, it's that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Whether your goal is big or small, give it a go. You never know what you might achieve. And even if you don’t succeed, what matters most is that you tried.
Huge thanks to each and every one of you, and to all the wonderful people we met along the way with their kind words and gestures. The world really is a good place, full of kind people everywhere. So smile at people and offer a helping hand, as that one thing you may think is so small that it seems pointless to do, may make the world of difference to that individual.
Miles 30.5 😀
🏴🚴♀️🇫🇷🚴🇮🇹
