Dgym
I am not as fit as Hel (yet), and although we managed a long trek yesterday I was in a bad way today. Most of the 20 miles to Dorchester were quite miserable, far too hily for sore legs, but there is a really nice bit towards the end with a series of considerately diminishing hills. A bit of pedaling down one was enough to make me roll over the crest of the next.
Needless to say I was very grateful for the warm reception and a hot meal at Hel's grandparent's.
Hel
Thanks to my parents and grandparents, who between them managed to fill us up with much-needed roast dinners today. We were reluctant to get going today, still being pretty tired from Saturday's 80 miles. The road to Dorchester was a little hillier than it looked on the map, and we both really struggled in places - but fortunately it was only about 20 miles and made a pleasant enough afternoon ride. My bike was feeling a lot less sluggish after ditching the extra weight, and I'm just about coping without the Wensleydale.
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Saturday 8th April: Ow
Dgym
We went through some lovely places today, especially Kimbridge which had some nice watery bits including two rivers. The roads were straighter, longer and all in all less tricky so we actually got somewhere today, all 80 miles to Sturminster. Salisbury was a little unpleasant, we had to go right into the the center to cross the river there. Coming out involved a large hill, a narrowish road and plenty of traffic, but once we got off that one things soon picked up again. I got the first puncture of the holiday, not a big problem as I carry spare inner tubes for road side fixes and a repair kit to use when more convenient. After that we went into Shaftsbury, which is on a famously (featured in a Hovis advert) big hill. Thankfully our route was a steady shallow climb and we were still in good shape at the top. Comming down was hard work on the brakes for the first bit, but then the road opens up and it is a lot of fun, weeeeeeeeee.
It was great to arrive in Stur, a hot bath and a good dinner soon sorted us out, and we were ready to fall asleep early again.
Hel
We left the B&B at about 8:30am and reached Sturminster at about 7:15pm, absolutely exhausted after 80 miles of pedalling.
I definitely underestimated how much the extra weight would slow me down, but have now managed to lose about 4lb in the new magic "lose loads of weight by ditching all the stuff you don't need out of your panniers" diet. Items removed included a pot of porridge oats, a lump of Wensleydale (we had to empty the fridge before we left, and I hate throwing stuff away), an inflatable pillow and Nicholas Crane's classic "Cycling around Europe". Which does contain lots of vital info like the best way to carry a baguette on a bicycle (well, there is none, just get them to cut it in half) - but ultimately not useful enough.
The tent turned out to be pretty light and compact, a little short for dgym but it'll do - and he was happy enough to add it to his headrest arrangement.
We went through some lovely places today, especially Kimbridge which had some nice watery bits including two rivers. The roads were straighter, longer and all in all less tricky so we actually got somewhere today, all 80 miles to Sturminster. Salisbury was a little unpleasant, we had to go right into the the center to cross the river there. Coming out involved a large hill, a narrowish road and plenty of traffic, but once we got off that one things soon picked up again. I got the first puncture of the holiday, not a big problem as I carry spare inner tubes for road side fixes and a repair kit to use when more convenient. After that we went into Shaftsbury, which is on a famously (featured in a Hovis advert) big hill. Thankfully our route was a steady shallow climb and we were still in good shape at the top. Comming down was hard work on the brakes for the first bit, but then the road opens up and it is a lot of fun, weeeeeeeeee.
It was great to arrive in Stur, a hot bath and a good dinner soon sorted us out, and we were ready to fall asleep early again.
Hel
We left the B&B at about 8:30am and reached Sturminster at about 7:15pm, absolutely exhausted after 80 miles of pedalling.
I definitely underestimated how much the extra weight would slow me down, but have now managed to lose about 4lb in the new magic "lose loads of weight by ditching all the stuff you don't need out of your panniers" diet. Items removed included a pot of porridge oats, a lump of Wensleydale (we had to empty the fridge before we left, and I hate throwing stuff away), an inflatable pillow and Nicholas Crane's classic "Cycling around Europe". Which does contain lots of vital info like the best way to carry a baguette on a bicycle (well, there is none, just get them to cut it in half) - but ultimately not useful enough.
The tent turned out to be pretty light and compact, a little short for dgym but it'll do - and he was happy enough to add it to his headrest arrangement.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
L'Internet would be nice
We are alive and well in Bayeux, but we have yet to find a decent
internet connection since we arrived in France. The post office has a
terminal, but we could really do with a direct connection from our
laptops.
The keyboard here is very odd and so is the browser, making this the
hardest post to send yet.
Hopefully we will be able to post what we have written of our travels
sometime soon - maybe the Netherlands have the internet.
dgym + hel
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Friday - Not a great start, but good enough
Friday 7th April 2007
(yes, we're a couple of days behind on posting - we've been tired, and haven't had much internet access!)
dgym
Last night we finally found and gathered everything that we wanted to take. I normally leave packing to the last minute, but this time there was a slight problem of having to sort out the flat afterwards - something we didn't finish until this afternoon. When trying to do 115 miles in a day its probably best to get an early start, so instead we decided to break the journey into two days.
We have managed to pack quite reasonably, and with a little experience we should learn what else we can do without, but for now our bikes are something heavy. It's definitely not a moderate something, nor even a polite something, so just think of a very naughty verb and they are that something heavy. It is hard to compare the bike and trike, but it may just be that hel's bike is now the heavier one, which is very good for me, as for the first time ever I can keep up with her. Infact I might be just a little faster, which is a very nice change.
Today has been great. The trike has been fantastic - my leg muscles are sore but that is all - we have kept well fed and well watered, and have had a lovely ride despite the weather. We have also found a nice (if pricey) B&B for the night, and there is a good looking restaurant over the road. The slight downside is that we are only 30 miles away from where we started. And it took 6 hours. We only spent 3 hours actually cycling and I am very pleased with that - 10mph average on the first day with laden bikes is quite respectable. The other 3 hours were spent having lunch, snacks, locking and unlocking the bikes at a pub that wasn't serving food, rummaging through panniers finding waterproofs.... As we get more organised hopefully we will spend more time actually pedaling and actually get somewhere. We will see about that tommorow.
Hel
Well, we didn't set off early and we didn't quite make it the 100-and-something miles. In fact, we were still packing up and tidying the flat until late morning, and didn't get away until noon. What with that, and having to stop for lunch, and to pick up a box spanner for dgym's wheels, and various navigational stops to get us through the tiny lanes south of Farnham, we managed a puny total of 30 miles today before the rain and impending sunset/rush hour got the better of us, a B&B showed up and we stopped just south of Alton.
My bike weighs a ton. It's extremely difficult to handle while stopped, and I have to make sure I fully unclip my feet when I stop, otherwise the bike's in danger of keeling over and taking me with it! Of course dgym doesn't have that problem. It was a little weird riding it at first as I'm not used to front panniers, which affect the handling. But the bike's taken it really well, and it's always surprising how easy it is to ride with all that weight. My legs are taking to it pretty well, I just end up going a bit slower than usual. I do still have to somehow add a tent to my load - if you could see my panniers now, you'd be wondering "How on earth will she do that?" The answer lies in the First Law of Panniers, which is that they'll always take exactly as much as you try to put in them. Really.
It seems like we're still awfully close to where we started, and I was hoping we'd get a bit further, but never mind! The most important thing is that we've had a really fun ride today - we've had rainy spells and sunny spells, hills and flats and it's all been great. We could have ridden down the A31 in half the time it took us on the quiet route, but it wouldn't be the same. We've seen daffodils, bunnies, sheep, lambs, horses and llamas. It's lovely to finally be on our way, even if we haven't left the country yet.
Tomorrow morning we'll set off bright and early (and this time we really will, we've ordered 7:30 breakfast) - there's no flat to tidy or route to finish planning, just a nice (hopefully empty) road ahead, still plenty of munchy stuff to eat, dry socks and hopefully slightly better weather.
(yes, we're a couple of days behind on posting - we've been tired, and haven't had much internet access!)
dgym
Last night we finally found and gathered everything that we wanted to take. I normally leave packing to the last minute, but this time there was a slight problem of having to sort out the flat afterwards - something we didn't finish until this afternoon. When trying to do 115 miles in a day its probably best to get an early start, so instead we decided to break the journey into two days.
We have managed to pack quite reasonably, and with a little experience we should learn what else we can do without, but for now our bikes are something heavy. It's definitely not a moderate something, nor even a polite something, so just think of a very naughty verb and they are that something heavy. It is hard to compare the bike and trike, but it may just be that hel's bike is now the heavier one, which is very good for me, as for the first time ever I can keep up with her. Infact I might be just a little faster, which is a very nice change.
Today has been great. The trike has been fantastic - my leg muscles are sore but that is all - we have kept well fed and well watered, and have had a lovely ride despite the weather. We have also found a nice (if pricey) B&B for the night, and there is a good looking restaurant over the road. The slight downside is that we are only 30 miles away from where we started. And it took 6 hours. We only spent 3 hours actually cycling and I am very pleased with that - 10mph average on the first day with laden bikes is quite respectable. The other 3 hours were spent having lunch, snacks, locking and unlocking the bikes at a pub that wasn't serving food, rummaging through panniers finding waterproofs.... As we get more organised hopefully we will spend more time actually pedaling and actually get somewhere. We will see about that tommorow.
Hel
Well, we didn't set off early and we didn't quite make it the 100-and-something miles. In fact, we were still packing up and tidying the flat until late morning, and didn't get away until noon. What with that, and having to stop for lunch, and to pick up a box spanner for dgym's wheels, and various navigational stops to get us through the tiny lanes south of Farnham, we managed a puny total of 30 miles today before the rain and impending sunset/rush hour got the better of us, a B&B showed up and we stopped just south of Alton.
My bike weighs a ton. It's extremely difficult to handle while stopped, and I have to make sure I fully unclip my feet when I stop, otherwise the bike's in danger of keeling over and taking me with it! Of course dgym doesn't have that problem. It was a little weird riding it at first as I'm not used to front panniers, which affect the handling. But the bike's taken it really well, and it's always surprising how easy it is to ride with all that weight. My legs are taking to it pretty well, I just end up going a bit slower than usual. I do still have to somehow add a tent to my load - if you could see my panniers now, you'd be wondering "How on earth will she do that?" The answer lies in the First Law of Panniers, which is that they'll always take exactly as much as you try to put in them. Really.
It seems like we're still awfully close to where we started, and I was hoping we'd get a bit further, but never mind! The most important thing is that we've had a really fun ride today - we've had rainy spells and sunny spells, hills and flats and it's all been great. We could have ridden down the A31 in half the time it took us on the quiet route, but it wouldn't be the same. We've seen daffodils, bunnies, sheep, lambs, horses and llamas. It's lovely to finally be on our way, even if we haven't left the country yet.
Tomorrow morning we'll set off bright and early (and this time we really will, we've ordered 7:30 breakfast) - there's no flat to tidy or route to finish planning, just a nice (hopefully empty) road ahead, still plenty of munchy stuff to eat, dry socks and hopefully slightly better weather.
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Nearly Ready
It's all happening around here at the moment - the list of tasks has seemed endless, but it finally feels like we're getting somewhere.
We have bought two Rab S12 sleeping bags, and two self-inflating mattresses. My dad has kindly offered to lend us a two-man tent, which we'll be picking up at the weekend. We have travel insurance, ferry tickets and a hotel booking for our first night away.
The packing has begun. Sleeping bags and tents are going to take up most of the pannier space so everything else must be kept to a minimum. All those little hotel shampoos and soaps are coming in handy!
The plan for the next few days is as follows:
Friday: In an ambitious start to the trip, tomorrow morning, we will set out nice and early towards my parents' house, which is about 110 miles away in Dorset. (Normally we'll be doing about 50 miles a day, but this will be a nice way for Dgym to get his trike legs). We expect to arrive sweaty, grimy and exhausted about ten hours later, and will be taking Saturday off (when I say "off" I mean practising putting up the tent, and repacking my panniers to accommodate it)
Saturday night: We will be testing out the camping kit, hopefully not freezing to death in the process.
Sunday: A nice easy 30-mile ride to Dorchester to see my grandparents, and stay the night there.
Monday: We will ride to Poole to catch the evening ferry over to Cherbourg. Since we've got most of the day to travel 30-ish miles, we'll take the scenic route via picturesque Purbeck and catch the Sandbanks ferry, hopefully trying out some chilli icecream along the way.
Tuesday: Since the ferry arrives at 9:30pm we decided to book a hotel nice and close to the ferry port. I am currently quite pleased with myself as I emailed the hotel in French to let them know of our late arrival, and they responded as if they actually understood! Just as well, as wild gesturing is a little difficult over email.
We're all stocked up on snacky cakes for tomorrow, and stuffed ourselves full of pasta tonight. I picked up a pack of metallic streamers from Sainsbury's, which Dgym is now cutting up and attaching to his little flag. It will beautiful, and photographs will be posted. After a bit more packing tonight, and a dose of porridge tomorrow morning, we'll be ready to leave.
Dessert special
On a mostly quite irrelevant aside, we went to Wagamama last night and tried some of their new desserts (after having main meals, of course!) - the mango/curry combo was OK but a little special, but the chilli pavlova was delicious. Chilli goes well with sweet things, which is why we're looking forward to trying the Purbeck ice cream.
We have bought two Rab S12 sleeping bags, and two self-inflating mattresses. My dad has kindly offered to lend us a two-man tent, which we'll be picking up at the weekend. We have travel insurance, ferry tickets and a hotel booking for our first night away.
The packing has begun. Sleeping bags and tents are going to take up most of the pannier space so everything else must be kept to a minimum. All those little hotel shampoos and soaps are coming in handy!
The plan for the next few days is as follows:
Friday: In an ambitious start to the trip, tomorrow morning, we will set out nice and early towards my parents' house, which is about 110 miles away in Dorset. (Normally we'll be doing about 50 miles a day, but this will be a nice way for Dgym to get his trike legs). We expect to arrive sweaty, grimy and exhausted about ten hours later, and will be taking Saturday off (when I say "off" I mean practising putting up the tent, and repacking my panniers to accommodate it)
Saturday night: We will be testing out the camping kit, hopefully not freezing to death in the process.
Sunday: A nice easy 30-mile ride to Dorchester to see my grandparents, and stay the night there.
Monday: We will ride to Poole to catch the evening ferry over to Cherbourg. Since we've got most of the day to travel 30-ish miles, we'll take the scenic route via picturesque Purbeck and catch the Sandbanks ferry, hopefully trying out some chilli icecream along the way.
Tuesday: Since the ferry arrives at 9:30pm we decided to book a hotel nice and close to the ferry port. I am currently quite pleased with myself as I emailed the hotel in French to let them know of our late arrival, and they responded as if they actually understood! Just as well, as wild gesturing is a little difficult over email.
We're all stocked up on snacky cakes for tomorrow, and stuffed ourselves full of pasta tonight. I picked up a pack of metallic streamers from Sainsbury's, which Dgym is now cutting up and attaching to his little flag. It will beautiful, and photographs will be posted. After a bit more packing tonight, and a dose of porridge tomorrow morning, we'll be ready to leave.
Dessert special
On a mostly quite irrelevant aside, we went to Wagamama last night and tried some of their new desserts (after having main meals, of course!) - the mango/curry combo was OK but a little special, but the chilli pavlova was delicious. Chilli goes well with sweet things, which is why we're looking forward to trying the Purbeck ice cream.
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