Cycling England: Swanage to Salisbury

Post-sepsis bicycle tour update: cycling in England, Swanage to Salisbury. 56 miles. So much for going to Devizes today!

All was going well until I reached Blandford Forum, or rather just past it. The signs weren’t good, and I do mean signs! They said that the road was closed at Melbury Abbas, seven miles down the road!

I know I moaned about the lack of signs the other day, so did I pay any attention, no, not at all! I just continued merrily down the road! As I cycled along, every junction I passed had a sign telling me that the road ahead was closed, but still I continued on!

I passed sign after sign and took no notice! Then a police car with its lights flashing went past, followed by an ambulance, a fire engine, another police car, another fire engine and two more ambulances! Now I was starting to get a little worried; not only was the road supposed to be closed, but potentially, there was also a nasty accident!

Further Up The Road

About two miles from Melbury Abbas, where the road was supposed to be shut, a police car came flying back up the road towards me and stopped in the middle of the road!

“I suppose you’re closing the road?” I asked

“Yes”, said the policeman, “but you should be fine to continue on!”

Things were looking up, surely the accident apart, he wouldn’t have told me to continue if the road was actually closed, would he?

Surely enough, a mile up the road, I came across the accident, which, judging by all the emergency services that were there and the air ambulance, it was something pretty serious!

I got off my bike and made my way through the waiting traffic, and made my way to the emergency vehicles. There, I spoke to the fire chief, who said there was no way I was going to get through! But if I walked around one of the fire engines, there was a turning on the right, which I could take, which was a much prettier route for me! Prettier! That meant hills, long steep hills!

A Change Of Direction

It was shortly after this detour, well, shortly in miles, not short in time! That I’d had enough of the steep hills with 15% gradients! And changed direction!

I now headed for Salisbury and decided to stop there tonight. Where I’m going to head tomorrow, I don’t know. I might head home as I’ve got to be home for the doctors on Monday anyway!

Despite not being able to do as many miles as I used to, I’m still enjoying being on the road! And if my legs come back, they do; if not, that’s fine also! As I’ve always said, it doesn’t matter how many miles you do, as long as you’re enjoying it!

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Sepsis Recovery Rides Information:

My first rides after recovering from severe sepsis shock, which saw me placed in an induced coma and six weeks in the ICU department of my local hospital. But now I’m on the road to recovery and back out cycling.

• • Previously: The rides from the beginning
  • The route: View my journey
  • Videos: Check out my YouTube videos
  • Tour page: Ride overview

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If you’re enjoying the ride and want to fuel my next mile, you can always support me by buying me a beer. Or subscribe to my blog and follow me as I travel around on my bike. As a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with regular photo updates that I generally publish each month.

If you want to find out if I’m away touring at the moment and check my location, visit the Where’s Garry page. And for an insight into the gear and logistics that keep me on the road, see my Life at 10mph Guide.