DOWNSLINK CYCLE EXPEDITION CAMP ……
Report by Scout George K….
The Scout’s biking expedition began in a car park in Guildford and the start was very organised with groups being set by age/size so that no group was held back by somebody struggling more than the rest. As it started, we went off straight away with John and Jo cycling with us and we had a short road cycle before we started cycling down the canal.
Once we had finished cycling down the canal we crossed a road and found what looked like an old building. It was a small hut raised by mushroom looking concrete blocks and John explained to us that it was an old grain store and the mushroom looking block were to stop mice from jumping in and eating the grain. It’s a good idea but there was a tree they could climb to get in right next to the store so they were basically completely useless!
After this we started cycling and John taught us that if you cycled at the front you had to constantly check behind you and make sure you could see the whole group. Never leave a man behind! After this we were allowed to go ahead instead of just following the leaders. We cycled for a while and then hit a junction where we got slightly lost and had to walk down a very thorny path with lots of stinging nettles and barbed wire close to our side. It was terrifying and my legs got really hurt! But luckily my bike took most of the impact!
After we finished making it down that path John taught us the attack position so that we could cycle down a hill without going too fast and crashing. If we didn’t know this we would either drift down the hill or do a frontflip! After another bit of cycling with short breaks for water and snacks, we finally got to the lunch site long before the other groups. The other groups were so slow!
We all ate lunch while waiting for the other groups to turn up but Luke left his lunch in his dads car so had to wait for his dad to arrive. Unlucky mistake! After lunch we started going down a very long straight path and a few of the fast cyclers and me started racing and seeing how fast we could go, I hit a top speed of approximately 30mph! We were all extremely fast
With my other friends, because we were cycling so fast we made it to the end very fast, but just before the end it was a very long road cycle with constant slight incline which really hurt our whole groups legs. This was the worst part of the cycle and you could really feel the burn!
When we finally got to the campsite we were so early that we were given free time! An absolute shocker! So we went to the park in the middle of the campsite and played some manhunt while we waited for the other groups. When the other groups arrived we started getting out everyone’s stuff and getting the tents pitched, but just at this point my dad arrived and sadly I had to leave.
The whole expedition was loads of fun and I learnt a lot and would happily go again and stay overnight as well.
