Sherwood Forest, England

Hi everyone, this is Duncan Holley from Lyndon in England with my report of our little Bike le Monde effort with my daughter Jennifer here in England yesterday Sunday 20th April.

To get the bad bit out of the way first - the weather was horrible with rain, cold, wind and grey dull skies all day. However once we got used to it, it was not so bad.

My daughter lives just north of me near Nottingham and we choose as a theme for our ride to explore off-road in Sherwood Forest home of an English mythical figure - Robin Hood who was active in this area in and around the year 1190AD. He is quite well known in English speaking countries and because of Hollywood films may be known to you also.

We started our 5 hour ride near to where it is alleged Robin Hood used to hide from the Sheriff of Nottingham - the Major Oak tree. It is around 800 to 1000 years of age and being very old now has support struts to hold up its branches. Sherwood Forest today is the remains of a vast forest area that has been steadily felled since before Roman times. Today it is still a large forest now a National Nature Reserve with many miles of tracks through the forest and over heath land going in every direction.

Jennifer had done some detail route planning that included a visit to the northern end of the Sherwood Forest area to a vast once private estate known as Clumber Park now with the National Trust of England but once the ancestral home of one of England's many aristocratic families. Our bike ride was 95% over forest tracks and heath land, splashing through flooded rutted tracks, sliding through muddy sections, avoiding tyre shredding Hawthorn bushes, absorbing endless bottom numbing bumps over tree roots, which all in all improved our bike handling skills.

In spite of the weather it turned out to be a great day and to finish the Robin Hood theme off at the end of the day we went to Nottingham Castle which sits on a small rocky outcrop the base of which houses the oldest pub in England - The Trip to Jerusalem. It was one of a number of departure points in England for the Crusades in the Holy Land. We settled in for a well deserved pint of beer before finally heading for home and a hot bath. Look forward to reading your story and seeing your pictures. Best wishes to all - Duncan Holley