NO FERRY AND A DECISION MADE.....

OH DEAR!  IT HAS TO BE THE LONG WAY ROUND.

 Just a short post today because I am just about to set off on the short cyclepacking trip that was called off a couple of weeks ago due to the bad weather........On my return I will be sure to post some photographs and a report of the trip..

My cycling week started off with a longer ride than I had expected. On arrival at the ferry just after 1000hrs on Monday morning this is what I was greeted with..Yep it was shut...No ferry. The choice was to cycle back home....or cycle round (an extra 25 miles on my ride) or....swim across with my bike! This last option was very quickly discounted....I mean- I wouldn't want to get my bike wet...! Go back home- well thats a 'wimpy' way out - I mean if one of my neighbours saw me return early they would use it as an opportunity to call me a 'quitter' or something like that.
Only one option left then. I cycled all the way round turning my 30 mile short training spin into a 55 mile slightly longer training spin. It did make a good start to the week though because the weather has been a little on the damp side since then.

VIEW OF THE FERRY AND THE FAR SHORE.

It also gave me a good chance to take a picture of the ferry without any cars on it and also give you all a chance to see across to the far shore - the Studland side of the entrance to Poole Harbour. The ferry staff were up to something with a little 'dumper' type truck- moving things around on the ferry and it was this work that had caused the closure for the morning.

REVISED PLAN

 In my last post I told you that I hoped to have some news for you regarding the Rock2UK ride in September.
 Dave finally confirmed that he was unable to drive the support vehicle for us, due to his employers refusing to allow him to take the required time off. I had intended to ride my Tifosi Training/Audax bike on the  trip and JD was planning on riding his Specialized Secteur Comp. All our gear would be carried in the support  vehicle and we would be able to do the ride at some speed.
 Problem ...what do we do now..? Logistics nightmare.
We spent some time looking at various options including trying to get another driver....but that would be a difficult one. Dave is good at driving support...he has done it on two previous trips and knows what to do and what is expected...he would be a hard act for anyone else to follow. More thought.....and then  that Eureka moment!  We will get the ferry to Santander as planned and proceed to Gibraltar from the top of Spain to the bottom as planned....but......we will do it on the bikes!! Once we get to Gibraltar we will then head north to the French border.....cycle the length of France...then a short ferry trip from Cherbourg and back to Poole

Simple...job done!!

The quicker you say it the easier it seems. We will obviously have to carry all our kit on the bikes in panniers. This means that we will have to do the ride on the Revolution Tourers....The ride will be completed  slightly slower and unsupported. The total distance we will be riding now will be something in excess of 2000miles......Lovely..!! The more I think about it the more excited I am about it... Not bad considering I thought the cancer might kill me less than 18 months ago - mind you I haven't done it yet. Doing this might kill me instead..!!! So now it is UK2ROCK2UK. Now I must go and load the bike for a much shorter touring ride.

ORIGINAL PLAN - ONE DIRECTION ONLY