Well, that year came round quickly! There I was, minding my own business, when the annual call to arms came round for Ride and Stride. Friends and relations dived for cover, but my niece’s boyfriend Jon couldn’t come up with an excuse quickly enough, and so agreed to join me.
We had a slightly comic start, setting off to Shalfleet Church only to find that I had left my phone behind, so we had to go back and get it, thus throwing our carefully planned route into confusion. However, that apart, it went reasonably smoothly as we headed for Calbourne, then down to Brighstone (who didn’t seem to have remembered there was a Ride and Stride going on!), Shorwell and then over to Chale.
At Chale we took a much needed lunch stop in the Wight Rat (sic) and from there we headed vertically up the hill and over the top to Niton, where we were greeted with open arms by the delightful churchwarden and her friend who were doing some ‘gardening’ in the churchyard. We then went on to Whitwell and then swerved off our chosen route (time was ticking on) and headed for Godshill. I had never been in to the church there – assuming you don’t count the model village version! – and it was interesting to read the notices on the wall explaining the particular brand of churchmanship on offer up on the hill. The following caught my notice in particular: “We are Church of England (Anglican) and therefore we are Catholic… When the Church of England sadly separated itself from the Church under the authority of the Bishop of Rome to become the Church of England under King Henry VIII, it remained Catholic, as is amply witnessed by the Creeds and 39 Articles in the Book of Common Prayer.” Hmm – an interesting point of view!
From Godshill we headed to Gatcombe (another new one for me) and then Carisbrooke and home.
In total we rode 35 miles, and the weather was glorious. I highly recommend this event, and hope that many more will take part next year. Meanwhile, I have had some very generous support on the fundraising page, and it would be lovely if we could hit that target. The page is here.
Here’s to next year! And many thanks for your support.