Dorset Cyclepacking-day one.

Well i am now in my tent and wondering what the overnight weather will bring. We have heard that we could have gales and torrential rain. Today though has been great, nice and sunny although it did start to rain when we arrived at the campsite here at Sixpenny Handley. Nice easy distance today-only 32 miles according to the Garmin which is being recharged as i am posting this entry. Peter, Colin and i did the ride today fitting in a number of stops and we were joined at the campsite by David. Three of us ate down the pub tonight and in the morning we plan to have a cooked breakfast at the 'shed cafe'. The campsite owners do a breakfast so it will save us the effort. The picture today shows our tents pitched at the site-my wild country is the third in the lineup. I will write a report on this upon my return.

Dorset Boundary Cyclepacking.

Tomorrow I am setting off on another jaunt. This time it is a cycle ride over five days keeping as close as possible to the Dorset County Boundary. Two or three other Backpackers Club members will either join me for all or part of the trip.Interestingly each days mileage on this is about half of what I will be doing on my LEJOG in September as is the number of days of this tour ie: five days instead of ten. The plan is to leave home tomorrow morning, camping at sites over four nights and arrive back here on the fifth day.
As normal I will be testing some kit. I will be trying out a Wild Country Duolite Tourer. This is a tent that the blurb tells me is designed with the cycle tourer in mind. Apparently there is 'plenty of space in the porch for storing bikes'. Well we shall see how good it is. Chris Townsend tested the Sololite version in TGO magazine and gave a good report on it. I will also be trying out a Garmin Edge 605 GPS/Mapping/Cycle computer. This should be a tip top item of kit as the 705 version is being used by the Slipstream Team in this years Tour de France. I am really looking forward to trying this out, powered of course by my continued use of the FreeLoader solar panel and hub.
As normal I will make postings to my blog,mobile signal permitting.

The Cotswolds-day six /postscript.

Well I managed to pack up the tent without it raining. Everything was packed into the car and not a drop of rain in sight. We enjoyed the Cotswolds and I even think that Anne quite enjoyed the camping. We had some heavy rain and we had some very strong winds but we also had some very sunny weather during our stay. On the photographic side I got some good material for my 'Dark and Foreboding' project, so all in all the trip could be deemed a success.
Will Anne go on another camping trip? Well, only time will tell but I feel that that I stand a good chance of a repeat trip along similar lines to this one next year.

The Cotswolds- day five.

The wind and some light rain returned last night and it continued until this morning. However I think that I must be making some headway on the Anne front because she said ' it's quite cosy in here' referring to the tent. Today was spent looking at honey coloured stone villages and watching tourists pour out of coaches pointing their cameras at anything. I have to say that the Japanese seen to be the worst for this followed by the Americans. The Purple Traveller takes his photographs in a much more discreet way as was the case when todays picture was captured. This is a view at Hailes Abbey near Winchcombe

The Cotswolds day four.

A day trip to Oxford by train was todays great adventure. What a great place this is for the cyclist. Bikes everywhere- here the bike is king- this is the way all towns will be in the not too distant future. This is a real bike spotters heaven, i must have seen almost every make and type of bike that there is. Now i realise that not everyone is a bike spotter so for you Train spotters out there of which I know a few follow this Blog on a regular basis I have posted a photo of a GWR bench. Nice!

The Cotswolds-days two and three.

I didnt post my Blog yesterday because I was to scared to let go of the tent. The wind was so strong that a lesser tent would have blown away. However my Relum Nissiros tent stood up to the gales rather well earning me points with Anne. This tent has only been used four times in the ten years that I have owned it as was proved by the time it took me to erect it. The first night as well as gales we had torrential rain. Not a drop entered the tent! More points for me. Today another camper came over to ask about the tent remarking what a good solid looking tent it was. All of this does wonders for me as Anne is starting to think that I know what I am doing! Anyway on the photographic side I am getting some really good material lots of stone heads and dark looking doorways. I even think that Anne is starting to enjoy this camping lark!

Cotswolds day one

Well we got here and no rain- well not until this evening. The only comment ANNE made was 'where is the on suite'? Oh dear the rain is coming down quite heavy now i could be in trouble here!