Monday, July 27, 2009

The Blackberry Crumble Tumble

The video I posted earlier today was shot on Saturday when TDB and I went for a ten mile cycle into Hackney/Walthamstow marshes and back. Lovely day. Nice bike ride. Tested the new helmet cam. All was well.

I'd forgotten how good that patch is for blackberry picking. I reckon we must have passed 20 or more people out there scavenging in the brambles. I picked some last year and they were ace - any fruit you pick yourself in the wild will always taste better than the stuff you pay for, it's the rules. So on Sunday, we decided to return... only this time we brought tupperware.

The camera was still mounted on the helmet and I decided it was more trouble than it was worth to unstrap it so I plugged it in and filmed once more. Here's the video:



I've used the music I used on my first cycling video from a few weeks back when I was trying out the not-quite-up-to-snuff GoPro Hero camera. It's by Misty's Big Adventure who I've mentioned in this parish before now. They're ace.

Anyway... as you can see I took a bit of a fall on the way back. It felt horribly dramatic at the time - I was pretty sure I was going to land on my chin but managed to get my hands out in time to break my fall. My gloves got pretty torn up... which makes me very glad I was wearing them. I was wearing a helmet too although I'm pleased to say it wasn't necessary.

I cycled home slowly, not really able to fully grip the handlebars as the heels of both palms were starting to swell up. Once home I had a cup of hot, sweet tea and put my hands on ice but was aware that I couldn't get the full range of movement out of either thumb. The pain - and the swelling - reminded me of the time I fractured a bone in my toe a few years ago and I was getting worried that I'd done something similar in one, or both, hands.

So I took a trip to my local A&E. I've got nothing but good things to say about the Royal London. They were ace. Polite, caring, charming and quick. If you're going to visit your local A&E I can recommend early Sunday evening. If you can hurt yourself before the drunks come out to play you really shouldn't be waiting long so, y'know, try and do it then. Or not at all obviously. Yeah... not at all is probably best.

Anyway... no bones were broken. Painkillers were administered and the swelling is going down. My biggest worry was that I'd have done something that would make cycling in September impossible. What would happen to the tour then? Tickets have been sold... I'd have to show up. But if the bike-ride that's become a bike-ride-tour was to become just-a-tour before it had even started I think I'd pretty glum about it.

There was nobody else involved. Just a wet iron plate under a bridge that made my wheel slide away from under me.

Still, the blackberry and apple crumble was divine. Normally I'd have it with custard or ice cream. But ibuprofen seemed to be just as good.

13 comments:

Laura said...

any chance of a google map link to the blackberries please? I got some in walthamstow on saturday but it was only a small bush. <3 blackberries.

Dave Gorman said...

My normal route takes me on to the back of Hackney Marshes just off Homerton Rd - near the junction with the Eastway. If you follow that path round, you have all the football pitched to your left and the River Lea on your right. Shortly after you emerge from the woods there's a footbridge on your right that crosses the river. (It's the 2nd bridge you come across)
Take that and you enter a world of blackberries. There are loads of them all along the path for a good long while.

Unknown said...

That looks like a real nice area for a bike ride. Tumbles are common occurrences - hope you remember to pack a small first aid kit on your upcoming tour!

Love the way you you filmed the picking as well:)

Oh and my favourite is rhubarb crumble by the way...

Anonymous said...

Having read the "where are the berries" question this evening (being a dedicated follower of Gorman fashion) and having used my phone's GPS to navigate myself and my colleagues from our hotel to and from my favourite restaurant in Kyiv tonight (via some pretty amazing sights I quietly sneaked in), I was wondering in addition to the 100s of local guides you've enlisted, have you thought about some tracking device that can tell us how you're getting on during the bike part of the tour? I imagine sitting in the theatre at Wycombe, 3G in full flow, browsing your blog on Safari, telling my wife "he's nearly here honey"...

Unknown said...

Glad that you are OK.

Just to let you know that I have added a syndicated feed to Livejournal here:

http://syndicated.livejournal.com/gormanblog/

Hope that is OK...

Judith said...

Blackberry crumble sounds like a wonderful cure for all ills :-) Very glad you didn't land on your chin though. My daughter came off a bike last year, landed on her chin and slashed it through to the bone. Glad to hear you are ok.

Laura said...

Thank you dave!

SMARTBuddy said...

Brilliant! Really enjoed this one (not the fall, obviously Awch!) but watched it all the way through - ive found myself skipping bits of the others

martin said...

I was out for a wander with my girlfriend near the Filter Beds, at the top end of the marshes last weekend - some passers-by tried some berries, and I guessed from the man's face that they weren't quite ripe yet. Perhaps we should go and have another go...

Bryony said...

Great bike trip (sorry about the fall) and even better soundtrack! I love Misty's. They do the best gigs ever!

faceless said...

Was it just gravity that caused you to fall?

Alex said...

Dave,
I think you will need a separate website for all the wild fruit you eat on the tour. I'm sure your hands will be okay. If not you could take taxis til they get better. And ask them stop when you see a blackberry bush.
I had some Kentish Blueberries yesterday. They were delicious, especially after a bike ride. I bought from CoOp though.

Dave Gorman said...

@Katherine: I don't really know what that means... but I'm sure it's okay.

@faceless: No. It was a wet steel floor as I emerged from under the bridge. My wheels just lost all grip and went from under me.