A Failed Plan
Casing the joint by bicycle to try to measure markers for a half marathon around Milton Keynes. That exercise, however, turned into our MK Schooldays: 10km Race cache, which is around the Shenleys mainly, so this purpose was wasted. However, there’s always the opportunity to look for a few while on the way round.
My proposed half marathon route followed the approximate course of the MK summer half marathon starting at Stantonbury. This puts the Grand Union Canal in Woolstone and Campbell Park at around miles 7 through 9. It also means I was scheduled to pass Grand Union Series – Bridge 85 – Woolstone, which proved to be a nice easy little find. It was exactly where it said on the tin. Unlike Grand Union Series – Bridge 84: Barge Inn, which proved to be a nightmare scenario of biblical proportions starring Charlton Heston and Elizabeth Taylor. OK, maybe that’s a bit excessive but it is one of those heart sinking MK caches that is “shoulder high in ivy-covered tree”. I hate ivy-covered trees. Every last one of them. And in this case there were plenty of them to hate. I think that was the problem. I couldn’t tell which tree I should hate the most, as it were. Bum!
Back we go
So I moved on towards Sleeping Logs, which involved a high risk of puncturing the bike tyres but apart from that was an easy find.
Not so, Grand Union Series – Bridge 81b: Campbell Park. This was a previous failure where we had to suspend the search due to a particularly stubborn angling muggle who just refused to go home. Today there were fewer muggles and the location was conveniently my scheduled mile marker #9. However, I had another good old rummage around and got precisely nowhere. No idea. To the extent that I still couldn’t even confirm which side of the bridge it should be.
So I thought that Twisted but not Bitter – Down the Lane should be somewhat easier, and indeed it was. It was very easy, even with the proverbial cow infestation. And the piles of smelly stuff. Mmmmm!
So time for a leisurely ride home, with one final stop off in NewportNobby’s back yard to bag A Little Bit of Nature, and so to home. About 25 km of cycling and four finds, so not bad.
