Tour of Buckinghamshire: Report from Jonathan Davies

Assembled for the start (by Verity W)

On the morning of day 1, we assembled in the OU car-park for a motivational briefing from our esteemed team leaders. To kick the event off, several brave souls put their necks on the line in a time trial - 3 laps of the OU ring-road - won by Matt Derbyshire.

Ring-Road race start (by Verity W)

Inspired by the time-trial heroics, we set off for Hartwell House near Aylesbury some 31 miles away and the equivalent of a full Tour de France stage for some of us rookies. Immediately following the first hill climb of the day into Oving, won by Richard Golding, we stopped for lunch and were served with the musettes, whose scrumptious contents included sausage rolls and an array of cakes and sweets to keep us all going. The musettes themselves are perfect souvenirs, as the picture below attests.


Wearing the musettes (by Matt D-J)

After a second points climb up Waddesdon Hill, won by Matt (Howells?) the peleton arrived, more or less together, at the magnificent Hartwell House. Here, we met Gary's parents, Glyn and Janette, who hosted a wonderful evening and shared with us their stories and reflections about his life. After dinner, we all sat down in the drawing room for 'sweetmeats', the odd glass of brandy and the showing of 'A Sunday in Hell', the story of the 1976 Paris-Roubaix spring classic. This is regarded as possibly the best cycling film ever made and the sight of Eddy Merckx et al slogging over endless miles of brutal cobblestones certainly put our modestly heroic efforts into their proper context.


Hartwell House (by Heather S)

On day 2, after a leisurely morning and a stonking breakfast, the peleton set off from Hartwell House on the return journey - about 38 miles. We had little time to settle into a rhythm before facing a gruelling ascent into the mighty Chilterns - they might as well have been the Alps as far as some of us novices were concerned. The peleton rapidly disintegrated, but no matter. Blood, sweat and tears got us all up there one way or another. It was a long haul to lunch after the climbs and before we could eat, there was the points sprint into Mentmore to navigate, won by Gary Elliott. By this point we had lost Emma, Nina and Matt DJ on their bikes and Julia W , Suzie and Jackie in the broom wagon, who ended up taking bit of a detour and arrived at lunch almost an hour later than the rest of us. We lunched at the Stag, a gastro-pub in Mentmore co-owned by F1 driver Mark Webber. The highlight of the menu is the 'Mark Webber Pizza', created by the great man himself apparently. Multi-talented or what?



Lunch Day 2: two cycling guests joined us (by Clive B)

Lunch set us up nicely for the final leg back to the charming little village of Simpson, Julia's home, where we were treated to a champagne reception and an awards ceremony. Glyn made a short speech and Julia handed out three very superior crystal trophies, to Richard Golding for his performance in the mountains, to Matt Howells and Matt Derbyshire for the sprints and to Emma for 'heroic effort'. Emma had been suffering badly from dizziness throughout the 2 days and put in a typically steely performance to reach the finishing line.


Arrival at Simpson (by Jonathan D)

Thus ended the Tour de Buckingham: conceived by the late, great, Gary Nelmes, executed in glorious style by Julia Brennan and many others. I think Gary would be proud of us; we will honour his name in many other ways during the months and years ahead.

Jonathan Davies