St Omer to Canterbury

Rule number one when camping is, test your kit before you go away. I happened to ignore that rule one fine weekend last June when, at 11:00 at night, in the dark, in France, I opened the packaging of my new tent for the first time – I didn’t even know what colour it was. But it wasn’t a problem; Sam Webb and Brian Yeomans were there to help. And that offer of help and kindness were the overriding themes of a most enjoyable weekend.

The Big Wheel of Kent on 21^st June had spokes riding in to Canterbury from all over Kent and one from St. Omer in France. Gary McGowan, who organised the European leg suggested a camping trip. There were six of us, riding a tandem, a bike with a trailer and three bikes with panniers. Everybody we met was friendly and interested in what we were doing. Here is a list of some of the ordinary things that just happened that weekend:

Advising the couple at Dover railway station about getting their bikes on the train
Staff at the port cheerily waving us through on the cycle route to the ticket office
Talking freely to other people waiting to get onto the ferry
The man at Calais who went off to find out what platform we needed
The platform guard at Calais who radioed the train to hold it on the platform
The two platform guards who carried our heavy kit to the train
The train conductor who made a special point of advising us when the train approached St. Omer
The restaurateur who regretted that she was closed for food but gave us directions to where we could get something to eat
The couple that recommended us to eat at the restaurant in St. Omer they were going to. It’s called La Vielle Marche.

All the above happened just on Thursday. At the top of Castle Hill on Saturday we met two ex-firemen from Manchester who had cycled from Milan and the Tour of Italy.

Group cycling is a wonderful way to travel. We were lucky enough to camp and cycle in France before going from Dover to Canterbury by cycle route 1, one of the finest ways of seeing East Kent at its best. France was delightful, especially as our route to Calais was along the canals. We had some good meals although it’s tough being a vegetarian or a vegan over there. As the reaction to us was invariably one of delight and/or interest it felt that everyone was on our side.

The Pas de Calais saw a lot of enemy action during the 1939-45 war and we visited the ruins of the Blokhaus at Eperleque. It was under construction by forced labour for the preparation and launch of V2 rockets when it was bombed and put out of action. For me, the tragedy was still tangible and it seemed to affect everyone, for we were quiet for a while afterwards.

The highlight though, on Saturday afternoon, was turning into the garden of the House of Agnes in Canterbury to find hundreds of other cyclists, the band playing and friends waiting to greet us.

Thanks to the organisers, the participants and my "buddies" for illustrating the better side of human nature. A thank you as well to the "world" –there are more good people out there than bad. All they need is a chance to show how they can help.

Michael Nee