Friday 31 August 2012

Details for Bike to Bestival bag drop-off points


Howdy all… 
The time is very nearly upon us! Hope you’re all feeling fit and raring to go!
As you probably already know, as well as the van waiting for your kit at Lambeth Palace, there’s going to be one van waiting near Waterloo Station and one van waiting near Charing Cross.
Information on how to find us at either station is below – but please remember, if you’re going to drop your bags off here, you must have done it by 10am at the very, very latest. The vans will be there from approximately 9am. After 10am, the vans will be leaving! So get there early!
Waterloo
With your back to the main turnstiles leading to the platforms, turn right and head right to the end of the station concourse. Take the small exit here, under a set of stairs with the ‘Cabin’ café on the concourse above you. Turn right out of the exit, and follow the road until you see a big blue P sign on your left. The van will be here. If it isn’t, there may have been problems with parking. Phone Mike Futcher (number is in your info pack).
The parking bay is shown on this map, number 1:

To get to Lambeth Palace, go back into the station and head to the opposite end of the concourse. Take the exit down some stairs and turn left on to the main road. Follow this road straight over a one-way system until you see us gathered on your left outside Lambeth Palace.
Charing Cross
Head out of the main exit into the front courtyard, turn right, and take the first turning on your right (Villiers Street). Look for a turning on your left, John Adam Street (with a Café Rouge on the corner). The van will be parked down this street, or one of the side roads connected to it. Look out for a member of the B2B support team (with a B2B sign!) who will point you in the right direction.
John Adam Street is here:

To get to Lambeth Palace, return to Villiers Street and turn left down to Embankment station. Go through Emankment station, and hit Victoria Embankment along the river. Turn right. At Westminster Bridge, turn left and cross the river. Once across the river, you’ll immediately hit a one-way system/roundabout. Follow this all the way around to the right and take the road along the river until you see us gathered on your left outside Lambeth Palace.

That’s it my friends! Please, please do take the time to suss out where you’re going – and we’ll see you merry lot on Tuesday!

Monday 27 August 2012

Bike to Bestival route, day two: Mellow Farm to Southampton


Righty-ho, then, here it is… the route directions for the second day of Bike to Bestival. The eagle-eyed amongst you may notice that our route to the campsite on the Isle of Wight isn’t included here – but it really isn’t very far from the ferry port, so I’ll probably just point you in the right direction on the day.
An important note here: whereas on day one, we won’t be coming across anything you could reasonably call a hill until the very last part of the ride, on the second day we hit the rolling hills of Hampshire. It’s a shorter ride (it took me about four hours, including frequent stops to check on directions/make notes etc), but you may find it, at times, a little tiring on the legs…
But keep your peckers up, your legs pumping and your eyes on each other – happy in the knowledge that one mother of a party awaits just over the Solent..!

Bike to Bestival route, day two: Mellow Farm to Southampton
(Google maps route here: http://goo.gl/maps/sSAvi )
Section 1: Mellow Farm to East Tisted
1.     Turn right out of Mellow Farm. Follow the road to a T-Junction. Turn right. Follow the road to another T-Junction. Turn right again.

2.     Follow this road for about two miles, passing Headley Park on your left, until you reach the junction with the A325. Turn left and follow the road into Bordon.

3.     Carry straight on through Bordon, through several sets of traffic lights. Pass a Tesco, then come to a roundabout. Go straight over.
  1. At the next roundabout, turn right down Firgrove Road, signposted Blackmoor/Selborne. Then, very soon, turn left down Drift Road.
  2. Follow this road for approximately four miles, through Blackmoor (ignoring signs to Selborne) until you hit a T-Junction with the B3006. Turn right towards Selborne.
  3. Just after coming in to Selborne, take the (very sharp!) turning on the left, signposted Newton Valance. Follow this road all the way to East Tisted.

Section 2: East Tisted to Botley
  1. In East Tisted, you’ll hit a T-Junction with the A32. Turn left. B2B HOTSPOT! Well, not really a HOTSPOT, more of a NOTE. We’ll be following the A32 for approximately 10 miles. It can be a little dispiriting – long stretches with slight climbs on a road where cars can whizz past a bit. So keep safe – and keep your peckers up; once we’re in Botley, we’re edging very close to the finish line.
  2. Stay on the A32 through West Meon and Warnford and then Corhampton. At the roundabout in Corhampton, turn right, taking the B3035 all the way to Bishop’s Waltham.
  3. Follow the B3035 through Bishop’s Waltham until you reach a roundabout. Turn left, following the brown signs to Bishop’s Waltham Palace. Soon after, there’s another roundabout. Turn right on to the B3035, signposted Botley.

Section 3: Botley to Southampton, Red Funnel Terminus (yippee!)
  1. After a few miles, the B3035 meets the A334. Turn right, signposted Botley.
  2. Follow the A334 through Botley, until you reach a roundabout. Take the second exit on to the B3036. After approximately a mile, after some traffic lights, turn left on to St John’s Road (the B3033).
  3. Follow the B3033 over the M27 and then straight across the A27. This next bit (Botley Road) is not much more than a cycle track. But keep going until the junction (with traffic lights) with the A3024. Again, go straight over.
  4. The B3033 will then hit a mini-roundabout. Turn right on to Portsmouth Road.
  5. This road will lead you (after a mile or two) to the Toll Bridge. Bear left at the toll booths into the cycle lane and cross the bridge.
  6. At the end of the bridge is a roundabout. Go straight over. The road then veers to the left. Follow signs to the Waterfront/West Quay. Then, you’ll start to notice signs to the ferry and the Isle of Wight. Follow these, until you reach the harbour, and the Red Funnel terminus on your left.

Ride practice and fancy dress planning

Yesterday I went out for my first ride in a couple of weeks. After the last social I discovered I'd hurt my foot and needed to rest my feet for a while. yesterday was the first chance I'd had to get out on the bike.



Whilst resting I'd changed the bar tape and saddle as these were worn out, so it was also a test ride. I managed 40km in 2hrs which I was quite pleased with as the route is a little bit hilly (nothing major just up and down)

Whilst I was out Sophie had been hard at work on the fancy dress planning, and by the time I got back had made fairly solid progress. Can you guess what she's making?



Hope your riding and fancy dress costumes are coming along nicely and I hope to see you all on Tuesday!!

Saturday 25 August 2012

Bike to Bestival signs

So today was a B2B admin day. Sophie and I have been tying up the loose ends on the organisational front whilst Warren has been out testing the second part of the route again (The instructions should be very thorough by the end of it)

I thought you might like to see the signs we've made. Basically in the route instructions there are a couple of points where we've written " A member of the B2B support team will be present here to point you in the right direction." 

What we mean by this is that they'll be holding a sign. Sophie's Dad kindly put them together for us and we spent part of this afternoon applying the identifying marks (or as I like to call them words) 



Well this is what to look out for... Just follow the pointy bit


 
Regards

Dominic
 

Friday 24 August 2012

10 days and counting... and some last minute "Social" news




Just a quick note to let you all know we will have one last social before we set off.
This will be next Tuesday 28th August from 7pm at The Royal George pub on Charing Cross Road. If you've not been before its tucked behind the CrossRail site, next to the Mother Teresa exhibition..... follow the nuns!

https://www.facebook.com/events/253668021402175/

Hope to see some of you there for a beer and a chinwag, and we can have a run through the songs before performing them at the Bestival opening in the Big Top!!!

YES WE ARE OPENING....... CRIPES!!!!
Check out the Bestival update here http://2012.bestival.net/news/bike-to-bestival-1

Have a fab long weekend, we assume you're all studiously learning the songs and doing those last long miles to practice, yeah!!!?

10 days and counting!!!!

Our exclusive B2B VELECO cycling gear

Our friends at VELECO - ethical cyclewear have kindly produced bespoke organic cotton cycling caps and t-shirts, exclusively for all Bike to Bestival riders.

VELECO is the world's first Fair Trade and eco-friendly cyclewear company. Designed for urban riders, the range includes jackets made from recycled plastic, organic hoodies, t-shirts, musette bags with shorts and trousers currently being developed.


VELECO launches in mid September and Johnathan Lewis, one of the founders is joining us on the ride.

You'll receive your cap, t-shirt and a £10 voucher off your first VELECO purchase before we set off in London

In the meantime youcan like them now on Facebook and invite your cycle buddies to like them to by following this link

And you can follow them on Twitter here

Here's a sneak peak of our caps!


Thanks to VELECO for their support

Thursday 23 August 2012

B2B route, day one (part two) Old Woking to Mellow farm


Blimey, under two weeks to go..! Hope you’re all starting to feel match-fit…

So, then, here’s the second part of the route for the first day... And here’s me imploring everyone to put a little bit of time aside to take a proper look at it in the next week or so. Although we have grabbed a few people by the ear to lead smaller groups out, it’s really important that everyone has a sense of where we’re going!

As you can see, it’s pretty detailed (the second day’s ride, which I’ll post next week, will be nowhere near as fussy) but I think it does cover all bases.

Once you start to follow the route on a map, it’ll make a lot more sense. So grab a copy of these directions, get Google maps up on your computer, and have a good old butchers… For those of you who are so inclined (you geeks), the Landranger OS maps I’ve been using that cover the route are Nos 176 and 186.

A general breakdown of the whole trip (not just the route) to come next week – but for now, please do set aside a bit of time for this beauty: (Note from Dom: This route will be in the biketobestival pack with the songs, equipmnt list and contact details coming your way next week and the Google Maps route is here: http://goo.gl/maps/YqeTG )



Section 6: Old Woking to Aldershot

  1. Once in Old Woking, you’ll come to a mini-roundabout. Go straight over. After approximately half a mile, you’ll reach another roundabout. Go straight over, following the B380 (signposted Guildford).
  2. Keep on the B380, over two roundabouts, following signs to Pirbeck and Aldershot. Eventually, you’ll hit a T-Junction. Turn left, and then almost immediately right at a roundabout, doubling back on yourself. Very soon, take a turning on your left signposted Aldershot (A324). A member of the B2B support team will be present here to point you in the right direction!
  3. At the T-Junction with the A324, turn left. Keep on this road until you hit the Junction (with traffic lights) with the A323. Turn right, following signs to Camberley/Farnham.
  4. Keep following the A323, signposted Ash and Aldershot. Cross a railway line with Ash Station on your right. After approximately one mile, reach a roundabout. Go straight over (A323 Aldershot). Very soon, you’ll reach a big roundabout. Go straight over (still A323 Aldershot).
  5. Follow the dual carriageway for approximately a quarter of a mile. Then bear left on to the B3208, signposted Badshot Lea and Crematorium.

Section 7: Aldershot to Farnham (a short section, but a tricky one!)

  1. Follow this road through Badshot Lea, and then straight on, following signs to Farnham.
  2. After approximately two miles, you’ll reach a large roundabout with a supermarket just off it. Go straight over, following signs to central Farnham.
  3. B2B HOTSPOT! You’ll almost immediately hit two roundabouts, feeding on to one another. The second of these is Flipping Massive and very busy. So take a huge amount of care.
  4. At the first roundabout, take the first left and head into the right-hand lane. Once on to the second roundabout, head into the right-hand lane and stay there, following the roundabout all the way around until the exit to central Farnham.
  5. B2B HOTSPOT! You’ll now hit the Farnham one-way system. The best way to give yourself a sense of direction is to imagine, as you approach it after the previous roundabout, that if you could, you’d cut a straight line through the town centre as the crow flies.
  6. The one-way system veers off to the left and then back on itself to the right, and then left through the beginnings of the high street. You’ll reach a set of traffic lights, with Barclays Bank in front of you and Sound and Vision shop on your right. Turn left and head into the right-hand lane.
  7. The road then veers to the right. A member of the B2B support team will be present here to point you in the right direction! Follow it, staying in the right-hand lane. This will take you back up to the high street, where you turn left, following a sign to A325 Petersfield.
Section 8: Farnham to Mellow Farm (yippee!)
  1. The A325 takes us almost all the way there. Follow it out of Farnham.
  2. Very soon, there are three roundabouts in fairly quick succession. At the first, bear right. At the second (junction with the A31) go straight over. At the third (mini) roundabout, turn right, passing the Bengal Lounge on your left.
  3. Follow the A325 through Alice Holt Forest. Pass Birdland on your right. Go through Bucks Horn Oak. Pass the Halfway House pub on your left, ignoring signs to Dockenfield/Frensham. Go straight on.
  4. After approximately a mile and a half, look out for a bus-stop layby on your left. Immediately afterwards, turn left, following signs to Dockenfield and Frensham.
  5. After less than a mile, turn right on to Old Lane. Then take your first turning right. Follow this winding road until you reach Mellow Farm on your right.