Distance covered: 13.4 miles / 22 km
….yet another AONB Area of Natural Beauty
Distance ~ 22km
An important observation; Acorners are being very disciplined with reporting times this season and they rightly deserve a round of applause 👏 for that…😄
Amersham High Street….
The assembly of Ten(10) Acorns @ 7.30am was made up of @ The Darren @ Perlus @ Asala @ The Surrey crew (Nick-KA, Kray, Randy & Ato), @ Nick of Berkshire, our guest hiker Gene…and myself (Amass)…
Missing Acorns ; @ The Chairman @ Kofi @ The Genie man @ Meto of Berkshire…you were all missed very much..
Come to think of it, we don’t really have a dedicated acorn who gives the starters orders….before we started off, I observed something rather unusual about Leg 3 …three acorns(Nick-KA, Ato & myself) brandishing professional hiking sticks…even the acorn who normally forages for a stick in the bushes 😄was one of the three …yeah he knows himself …🏃🏿♂️
Pre-Trail Checks …
Then came the phone battery and app testing/checking time….@ Phones fully charged check? yes …some even had power banks to boot.
@ Runkeeper check? yes ….@ Komoot (the most important tool) check?….errrm not exactly…some acorns didn’t listen to @ The Chairman! In effect, they were going to have to rely on others for navigation….it was too late to cry over spilt milk…Trails don’t take prisoners…so..#we-move
Stretching exercises(Pre-Hike).
Some acorns are still refusing to do this…they know themselves…🏃🏿♂️
Start…
Then the group was off to the starters orders (🤔…I don’t recall who actually started us off)…after about two(2) minutes in, the human train was ordered to a halt by @ Asala…Why? we had collectively (except @ Asala…of course) forgotten to take the customary pre-Leg group picture…click click click….then the train restarted and we were on our way ….Leg 3 #We-Move..
~1km …
As usual, we started off as one big peloton…energy levels were high…with small talk/chit chat across various topics…we were on flats but he(ermm) was still brandishing his new stick ….😄
~2km…
After about approximately ~2km , I started looking around for the first trail attraction……Shardeloes (Sir William Drake’s 18th century residence) and the Shardeloes Lake ( the man-made Lake created by Humphrey Repton for Sir William Drake after damming the River Misbourne). Suddenly to our left (on the hill) appeared the stately building and right on cue…to our right(in the valley) …flowed the beautiful Lake….click click ….I took pictures of the stately home whilst @ Asala took pictures of the Lake…then an acorn asked what the pictures were about….Shardeloes …I retorted….and what is that? he asked again….😄….some acorns never pay attention..it’s all on the leg description (website)…I retorted again! Acorns need to read up on leg descriptions(trail attractions in particular) prior to hikes…🏃🏿♂️
Komooting…
One thing was becoming very clear …acorns are beginning to master the use of @ Komoot…
Clogging up the kms…
With Shardeloes now far behind us, and with acorns gradually beginning to turn up their individual turbos, the peloton started to creak at the seams..eventually split into three groups…Peloton 1 (Perlus, Nick-A, Ato, Randy, Kray & myself )….Peloton 2 (Nick-KA & Asala)…..Peleton 3 (Darren & Gene)..
This three(3) peloton format remained unchanged as we clogged up the kilometres which included some very muddy trail sections(oh yes…this is where @ Ato and myself flexed with our new sticks🏃🏿♂️). As we approached our next trail attraction….Penn Wood(the largest single ancient woodland in the Chilterns)…🤔…I kept wondering whether will we come across the ghost 👻 of the laughing 18th century farm labourer on a phantom horse as reputed..? 🏃🏿♂️🏃🏿♂️
Legs-go time…
Inside Penn Wood is where it started….the intermittent jogging(up inclines) with @ “super fit” Kray and myself at the shout of …..”Let’s go”…we were eventually told off by @ Ato and @ Nick A (Note: The Big man remained silent 🏃🏿♂️) for trying to force them into the “let’s go” challenge…we were told in no uncertain terms to mind our own business 🤣..I really enjoyed it I must say….the look Nick A gave us ? Priceless 🤣
More kilometres……..
As we existed Penn Wood(with no sighting of the ghost 👻 ) and approached the hamlets of knotty green, Forty Green and Winchmore Hill, you could feel the strong sense of anticipation….alas..we were approaching the final trail attraction….The Royal Standard of English Pub( reputedly the oldest Freehouse in England)…the famous landmark zoomed into view as we crested the Forty Green hill….click click as tired but smiling acorns of Peloton (1) took group pictures….we radioed back to Peloton (2) & (3) about the discovery and that is when we were informed that Peleton (3) was having some challenges. However, we were reassured each time we (@ Kray to be precise) checked on Peleton (3) by lead man @ Darren that everything was under control and that there was nothing to worry about…we also later heard about some picture taking issues with Peleton (2)..@ Asala @ Nick-KA🏃🏿♂️..
#we-move…
Energy top-up….
There was this huge refuelling period as we approached Winchmore Hill, as energy-sapped acorns feasted on fruits ,energy bars and liquids…soon after, Peleton (1) changed slightly as @ Randy dropped.. ostensibly to take a pee/phone call..He was furious with us 😡 and told us off 🤣…🏃🏿♂️
Countryside Beauty….
….Beautiful Winchmore Hill & Coleshill(there were whispers that The Big man Yaaawwww has a property there)…You just have to see these villages for yourself…super beautiful and posh! We had to slow down to take in the beautiful properties! …..but soon, as per acorn style, we were off again…pushing ourselves….#mentally#physically
End game…
After a gruelling 3 hours 47 minutes….Amersham high street swung into view…with Peloton 1, Randy, Peloton 2 and Peloton 3 finishing in that order.
Stretching Exercises (Post-Hike)….
Some acorns are still not doing this..they know themselves 🏃🏿♂️
The Swan….
we all then cooled off @ The Swan Pub before heading for our respective homes….A very good workout for our cardiovascular and pulmonary health! 👍
#Healthy-Living
#Team-Acorn-Sports
#We-move…..Bring on Leg 4