England 2009 - Part III

England Part III
Thursday, May 21. 2009
Wilcot to Devizes

I take Mark up to the bridge overlooking the canal and tell him my concerns. He tell me he can do it, but I’m still concerned. We walk down the slope to the path and I tell Mark “Always get off the bike on the side away from the canal, never step into the tall grass as there may be on ground there, just canal. We begin the ride which even in the dry weather wares on the nerves. I’m fearful that Mark will lose control and end up in the thing. I fearful I’m so busy worrying about Mark I’ll not pay attention and end up in the thing. The path is narrow and at time catches the back tire giving you the feeling that the bike will tip over. There are bridges that we must go underneath which are, maybe, 2 or 3 foot in width. I tell Mark that we dismount at bridges and walk. I’m always fearful of getting vertigo and having the bike pull me into the canal.

We meet several people who are boating on the canal, stop and chat them move on. I can tell this is far beyond Marks comfort level, as it is beyond mine. After a while he wants to know if there is a road we can switch to. I tell him that I do not know of a road that will get us to where we want to go. “The canal widens not far from here.” I point down the canal and we ride on, something that does not thrill Mark at all. We stop at bridge that carries the canal over a major highway. We laugh at the sight and wonder at the engineering since the canal was here first. This relieves some of the tension, but it is a hard ride to Devizes.

Upon reaching the town I manage to find the coffee shop I stopped in last year. We park our bikes outside a bed and breakfast pub. I can tell as Mark looks hungrily at the building what is going on in his head. I tell Mark that we have some options at this point. We can continue on looking for the campground I could not find last year, or divert to Westbury where the train is a return to Salisbury. If we chose the campground in the morning we can ride to trowbridge and take the train back to Salisbury. Both the campground options require more canal riding, however at this point the canal is much wider with a paved path to ride. Mark opts for finding the campground, then heading to trowbridge in the morning returning to Salisbury by midday. We head over to the Information center, get directions to the campground and head down the canal.

At one point we have to switch sides and I have forgotten how to find the riding path. We pass another Bed and Breakfast which Marks wants to know if we should check out the prices. I point to the canal he nods his head, the way back on found we ride. This part of the canal has something like 30 locks in a row and Mark becomes interested in watching how one of the boats maneuvers through. This is a good thing as it takes both our minds off the having to ride the canal further. We arrive at the campground, set up, have dinner, both being worn by the day’s ride we wobble back to the camp grounds to crash.

Friday, May 22, 2009
Devizes to Salisbury

In the morning we reload the bike’s cook a little breakfast and then spend half the day canal riding to the town of Trowbridge. This time the canal is wide and the path mostly black top or cinder making it an easy ride. We reach the town, ask directions to the rail station, and with the help of a passerby we find it. I’m always amazed at how helpful the people in England are. The passerby is a lady heading to town to do some shopping. She say’s “I’m headed that way follow me.” We have to go up about five steps, which is not easy with fully loaded bikes, and she help pull up each of our bikes. We have just met an angle.

We are back in Salisbury and will stay here for the next three days. Tonight is the beginning of the Salisbury Festival each day filled with music, plays, and dancing, where’s Lisa, just great fun. Mark wanted to come back to Salisbury to see a fantasy story telling deal tomorrow. We have dinner, write a bit then head to the market square to watch the opening event. It is some kind of high wire act with music has best we can make out. Arriving at eight we find out it does not start until nine. Mark wants to know if it will be safe to ride back to the campground in the dark. I assure him it will be fine and have done it several times during past festivals. I’m not sure he is comfortable with that, but he stays.

While we are waiting for the performers I spy some of the town official, know by the larger gold necklace they ware. I turn around and am looking a something else and Mark taps me on the shoulder so I can take a picture of him and what turns out to be the mayor and Vise-Mayor. We both get our pictures taken with them and chat for awhile about Salisbury. The Mayor tells us she was born and raised in Salisbury, the Vise-Mayor born in the next town over and lived here all his life also. We talk about government for a bit and then the show starts.

This is a group of French street artists that combine drumming, dancing, and circus skills to put on their shows. They march throughout the square getting up close and personal with the audience. Dress in 1800’s military costumes then drum their way through the crowd from time to time performing a synchronized drumming and dance routine. Children follow then happily dancing to the beat of the drums. Finally the climb on an apparatus them become a human mobile pulled into the air by a crane. High above them was a trapeze flyer going through his routine as the drum away. It was quite a show which brought smiles to every ones faces. Prior to the drumming show we watched as street juggler worked magic with a long line of children. On each child he was able to produce wide eyes and gleeful smiles on each and every child by getting each to spin a ball on their small finger. I was amaze to watch these children wait patiently in line for a chance to have a ball spun on their fingers. I could not think of one youngster I knew of who would find this something to wait for.