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!

A Cotswolds Trip.

Tomorrow morning I am heading to the Cotswolds for a six day camping trip. Nothing unusual in me going on a camping trip. What is unusual about this trip is the fact that the 'long suffering Anne' is coming with me. Yes she has said that she will be staying in a tent with me. The last time we went camping together was about five years ago. On that trip it rained when we put the tent up and also when we took the tent down. After that trip Anne said 'never again' !!
Well I have managed to talk her into trying it once more. I have promised her first class weather and a first class camping and caravan club site to pitch on. Earlier today I saw the weather forecast for this weekend and it seems that I could have a PROBLEM. The forecast for the next few days does not look good. We will be staying in the biggest tent that I own. By my standards camping in a tent this size is almost NOT camping. It feels almost like luxury-almost five star comfort. Anne does not see it like that. She sees cold and damp mornings- insects- draughts-noisy campers etc etc........I will keep you posted as to how we get on. If we get on!
The trip does have a purpose- I am hoping to get some photographs for a project I am working on with the working title of 'Dark Foreboding'. Actually that's the feeling I have about this trip at the moment!!

Cycling-Saddles

Well I have finally done it. After a lot of thought I have invested in a Brooks Saddle for my folding hybrid cycle. When I bought the bike it came with a unisex velo saddle.After the first few miles it became obvious that my saddle and I were going to have to part company. At any distance greater than a trip to the local shops the sit bones on my posterior ached like crazy. That saddle had to go, so off I went to the local cycle shop for something more comfortable. The saddle I purchased was a sports style which was narrower than the original saddle supplied and this seemed to do the trick- well I thought it did. It was certainly kinder to my sit bones (men need a narrower saddle than the girls) and on journeys up to about 50 miles it was fine. Where I found a problem though was on journeys exceeding this mileage. The problem seemed to be caused by the 'squidgy' material most modern saddles are made with. It looks comfortable but on longer distances the 'squidgy' material flattens out and stops giving your bottom full support.
Now don't misunderstand me, most of my journeys are under 50 miles and it is only now and again when touring that I might exceed this distance. However with my LEJOG coming up in September with a proposed daily distance of 100 miles I needed to do something now in order to address the problem. Years ago I had a Brooks saddle on a bike that I used for touring from one Youth Hostel to another. I was about 14 years old at the time but I always remember that my old saddle was so comfortable. Now a Brooks saddle doesn't 'look' comfortable. The model I have chosen is a Brooks Team Professional and it sports huge copper rivets that look as if they alone could do you serious and permanent damage. The saddle also needs breaking in (a bit like leather walking boots do.). But I must say that even though my new saddle is not broken in yet and won't be for many miles and in spite of it being rock hard it is surprisingly comfortable. I am also led to believe that the level of comfort improves over time and mileage. So it is a bit like pedaling towards a 'posterior comfort holy grail'. The further you pedal the better it becomes.
Brooks have a really interesting website with lots of information on the history of the company and products, well worth a look on http://www.brooksengland.com/
Brooks list my saddle at a retail price of £86.59 but I managed to obtain one from http://www.sjscycles.com/ for £65.00. Apparently Brooks saddles are in short supply at the moment (wiggle are quoting mid September delivery) so if you want a specific model you might have to search around a bit. I will keep you all posted as to the ongoing comfort or otherwise of my new purchase and no doubt some reference to saddles will be made during our LEJOG in Sepember.

Cycling- jumping red lights.

Those of you that read my report back on the 26th May headed Cycling by Train will have seen my comments concerning the fact that so many cyclists these days seem to feel that they are above the law. I commented on those cyclists that jump red lights and ride on the pavement and generally ignore the rules of the road and the safety of other road users.
Well now you can sign up to an online petition declaring that you will 'Stop at Red'.
If you are interested in this go to http://www.stopatred.org/

FreeLoader and Supercharger - Test Report.

Since returning from the Dorset Round I have been asked by a number of people how I got on testing the FreeLoader.
I first started using the FreeLoader when I did my Backpack along the Pilgrims Way back in April of this year. On that trip I was using the basic FreeLoader which consists of a central hub (battery unit) and two small solar panels that clip into the sides of the main unit. I found that the basic unit needed to have constant bright sunshine in order to deliver enough power to keep my mobile phone fully charged on a day by day basis. Now on that trip I only had two days of bright sunshine, the rest of the time the weather was dry but cloudy. The unit in these conditions was failing to top up my mobile phone to a point where I felt comfortable to use it without any concerns regarding power. Now I was not just using the phone as a PHONE. I was using the RADIO as my entertainment in the evenings, as I was also doing with the MP3 PLAYER. During the day I was using the CAMERA for both stills and video clips. I was also using the phone to access the INTERNET and check my emails etc. I wanted to be able to use the phone for all these things and not be concerned over power drain.
One other point that I was not happy about,was the fact that the unit in its basic form is not waterproof. The instructions tell you - do not allow it to get wet as this may permanently damage it's electronics - the supercharger seems to solve all these problems.
The Supercharger is a solar panel that is able to charge the Freeloader hub in half of the time of the standard mini panels supplied with the hub. It comes in a waterproof case (available in green or pink) which has clips and a velcro strap to enable you to attach it to your rucksack (see my photo on Dorset Round preview posting). With the supercharger on the outside of your pack you can place the hub inside your pack where it can be kept dry. I placed my hub inside a special freeloader case which is supplied as an accessory item and slipped the case into a side pocket on my rucksack. The hub and the supercharger are connected by a cable that is supplied. Whilst charging,the hub displays a red or green LED dependent on the level of charge.
Used like this on the Dorset Round the unit was generating enough power to top up my phone to 100% each day. It could have done this twice a day as I was not able to use all the power that was being generated. The unit is able to fully charge in about 4hrs on a sunny day and twice this time on a cloudy/dull day. This will produce more than enough power to keep my phone going no matter how many functions I use or how often I use it on a typical backpack. The basic hub unit is supplied with various adapters and cables to match a variety of modern phones etc.
I was very pleased with how this setup performed, enabling me to keep sending posts to my blog as well as using all the other fuctions I required. On a long trip such as the Southern Upland Way the FreeLoader and Supercharger combined would be a real boon.
Now to all those people out there that are shouting 'but your into ulralight what about the weight?' let me point out to you that these items are very light, about 200grms all in. The weight of this can be saved by not having to carry separate Phone- Radio-Camera-MP3player etc. and the spare batteries that would be required.
For those of you that are interested I am using a Sony Ericsson K770i mobile phone.
And the cost of the Freeloader etc ?
Well the basic FreeLoader costs £29.99. The Supercharger costs £19.99 and the Freeloader case costs £7.99. All of this can be purchased as a set for £49.99 saving you the cost of the FreeLoader case and this is the way that I would purchase the kit ,as you really do need to have all these items if you intend to use it for backpacking.
Overall I think that this is a really great bit of kit and although it may not save you money it can certainly save you a lot of hassle.
Further information can be obtained from http://www.solartechnology.co.uk/