So.....What have I kept..?

Following my last post.... Peter Roberts of thediaryofmybike blog... left a comment saying that he would be interested to hear of the items that I had decided to keep.....
Good idea for a post I thought......

My Madonna del Ghisallo medallion ...an item kept!

One of the smaller items that I kept.... was the medallion that I collected from the museum next to the little chapel of the Madonna del Ghisallo... at the end of my ten countries in ten days ride in 2013.
I felt that so much effort was put into completing the route and in some ways it was a pinnacle of my longer cycling rides that I just couldn't part with it...

I have kept all three of my bikes....each bike has different characteristics...I couldn't choose between them so I have kept all three....

My Akto and Nallo3 GT Hilleburg tents have been kept....the Akto for any backpacking I might do and the Nallo for cycle touring....
Most of my lightweight backpacking kit/equipment has also been kept....

Cycling and outdoors clothing has been kept...although I have been ruthless in sorting it all out and only keeping my favourite items...items that I actually wear.
I was surprised at the number of things that I had spent a lot of money on, but have hardly ever worn....
I have kept a few of my more 'normal' casual clothes but again I have been really tough with the thinning out of the numbers....

In a smarter looking vein...I have kept my best suit..black shoes etc... for weddings and funeral wear although I seem to attend more of the latter these days.

One of the very few books that I have retained is a book called 'Gems of Dharma, Jewels of Freedom'... This is the classic handbook of mahayana Buddhism by the 12th century Tibetan bodhisattva... Je Gampopa. 
My copy is a translation from the Tibetan by Ken and Katia Holmes according to the detailed explanations traditional to the Karma Kagu Lineage...
I think that this is a book that just wouldn't seem the same in digital form only....

I have also kept a small (4cm) tall statue of the Buddha which sits in a tiny wooden box... Of huge sentimental and religious significance for me.

All my Leica cameras have gone.....apart from the camera on my smart phone the only camera that I have kept is my Fujifilm X-Pro1.
Since making the transfer over to digital imaging this is the camera that I love using the most....
Hopefully I will get to use it a lot more on our upcoming travel adventures....

Obviously there are other things that I have  retained... but I think that the above lists the most significant for me....these are items that reflect what I enjoy doing....my interests.... and what is important in my life..........

Thinking about it is the difficult bit.........

A lot of people have said to me that they would find it very difficult to dispose of the majority of their possessions, as Anne and I are doing in preparation for our upcoming road trip adventure...

In actual fact I found that thinking about doing it was what seemed to cause the most problems... As with so many things in life, the more I thought about doing it the more I kept coming up with lots of reasons why I shouldn't do it....
In reality none of the reasons actually held water.... It was just my mind trying to keep me in my comfort zone....

Whenever I have contemplated any idea in the past...such as an idea for a long distance cycle trip like the Ten Countries in Ten Days Ride, you can always come up with lots of reasons not to do it...experience has taught me that if we listen to the inner negative voice too often, we would never achieve anything.....easier to ignore the voice and just get on with the plans....

Back in September last year my book collection consisted of many hundreds of books...Throughout my life I don't think that I have ever disposed of a book...either by selling it or giving it to charity or by any other means....I've just kept it....
Many of these books I had only read the once but still held on to them...
It didn't make sense...economic or otherwise... to put them into storage when we head off on our trip so they really had to go.....
Since October I have been giving my books away and have now managed to reduce my entire collection to just over a small box full and even some of these will  go in the next few weeks..

A lifetime of books reduced to just over a box full..

As well as my books, many other things have been disposed of.... how about payslips and bank accounts going back over thirty years... why did I ever keep these things for so long ?
Photographs....cameras....ornaments...over 600 music cassettes and 300 music CDs as well as many DVDs and Videos have also now been disposed of and I have to say it does feel good.....

The more that goes the better I feel...it's almost like breaking free from a life that has been very comfortable but with which we have become more and more bored.....
Time for a change and the excitement is building..........

A few more items ready for the next visit to the tip....

A New Year....Just Three Months Until a New Adventure....

Well that's another year all done and dusted.....

I would be the first to admit that for me it was not one littered with sparkling achievements cycling or otherwise... 
My health issues caused lots of knock on effects including having to pull out of my 'big ride' for the year after only three days......

Still that was last year and now we have a new year to play with..... a new year on which we can make our own individual mark...

There are just twelve weeks left before Anne and I head off on our open ended caravan touring adventure and yes, bikes will be coming too......
During those twelve weeks we need to continue to dispose of most of our possessions as when we set off, our caravan will be our only home. We don't feel that it is worth putting items in storage and paying those charges on items that can be replaced easily enough when we do decide to stop travelling......

The longer term plan is that at some time in the future we will settle in Devon (Anne's home county) but until that day arrives we will be 'living the dream' (or nightmare) of touring the UK and Europe before we become too old to do it....

The caravan was ordered back in July last year and (hopefully)  will be delivered to the UK importer sometime over these next twelve weeks.....
The caravan will be coming from Germany..

I will continue to post details of our plans progress leading up to the moment that the caravan wheels start to turn and will then post regular updates of our travelling adventure.......

In the meantime I would like to wish you all..... A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR......
May 2015 be everything that you would wish for yourselves....

It's been quiet..!!

It's been a good few weeks since I last posted an entry on this blog. To be honest there has not been too much to write about and I didn't want to end up boring you all with tedious repetition.

Having to stay off the bike over the last eight weeks has been hard, very hard. 
Cycling thousands of miles one year and then hardly any at all the next, has been really difficult...mentally as much as physically.

However, this past week I had a couple of hospital appointments and I am pleased to tell you that I will be getting back on the bike this coming week....
Obviously it will be easy and steady riding to start with and for the first month I only intend to use my indoor training bike, just to be on the safe side.

The Cardiologist at the hospital explained in some depth what the problem with my heart beat was and showed me on my latest ECG the abnormal rhythm that I have been experiencing. 
The good news is that if I can learn to cope with the uneasy feeling this inconsistent rhythm gives me I won't need to have any more treatment at this time or have to take any drugs to control it... 

Moving on to the plans for my 'Big European Tour' and a life on the road......

A couple of weeks ago Anne and I travelled up to Birmingham for a visit to the NEC and the Caravan and Motorhome Show.
We had a good couple of days there and saw some really great bits of kit as well as the very latest caravans and motorhomes ready for 2015.
We did end up spending a chunk of cash on some of the items that I had on my must buy list....

Yesterday we attended the Automotive Leisure social weekend....
AL are the suppliers of the Eriba caravan that we have ordered and it was nice to visit their premises and have a bit to eat and drink in a nice relaxed atmosphere whilst seeing all the latest models and accessories.....
We also had a demonstration of the Reich Motor Mover that we had included as an optional extra to the van that we have ordered...

I've posted a couple of pictures below showing two things that I like so much about the iconic Eriba vans....
First is a stripped down caravan showing the solid metal frame that helps to give these vans their solid structure.... No wood to rot here..!!
Next is a shot of the split front windows....very similar to the look of a split screen VW.

The solid metal frame on a Eriba caravan,

Similar to the iconic look of a split screen VW campervan.

The Next Move.....

It must be over a year ago that I first mentioned the plan to move from Purple Towers and head off on a new adventure....

The general idea was to re-locate to the county of Devon and then set off on a UK and European Grand Tour and that is still the plan...but there have been some changes.

First....We WILL be leaving Purple Towers on the 31st March 2015, however up to now we have still not found a place in Devon to re-locate to, but we have decided that we are not going to let that stop us setting off. If a new location isn't found before our tour start date Anne and I will still be heading off on our full timing Grand Tour anyway......

  

In some ways, not having a permanent base for sometime will actually add to our commitment to the tour. We will become proper Nomads...taking a temporary roof over our heads along with us....much in the same way as I have when I've packed my tent and been backpacking and cycletouring.... only this time in a bigger way.

This brings me on to the next change....the roof over our heads...

We had almost made our minds up on a Motorhome.....indeed I even posted a picture of the model we had selected on this blog.

However something held me back from actually placing an order....some level of doubt still kept niggling in my head although I was unsure what it was.

I continued to research all the pros and cons and finally it dawned on me that for the kind of touring Anne and I were planning to do, the motorhome was not ideal. 

If we were planning on constantly moving on every day or two a motorhome would be perfect, however our plan is to base ourselves in places for two or three weeks at a time and for that a touring trailer caravan seemed more suited to our needs.

Unfortunately I tend to think that most traditional touring caravans look a bit like a 'fridge on wheels'. If I was going to go along the caravan route, it would need to be something a little different to most standard caravan designs...

I have always liked the look of the American Airstream trailer caravans, however I don't have a vehicle capable of towing one and have no wish to buy a vehicle that powerful anyway.... 

No, what I needed was something as Iconic as an Airstream but smaller... maybe more European... 

Enter the Hymer Eriba Troll 540........

An ERIBA TROLL 540

 The Eriba range of touring caravans are retro, iconic and quirky...... luckily only three miles from Bournemouth is one of only two suppliers in the UK of new Eriba vans.
One visit had us both hooked and in early summer we placed an order for a brand new 2015 Eriba Troll 540 model to be built with our own list of individual options etc....and to be delivered to us early in 2015..... My Honda CRV 2.2 i-DTEC will also be able to tow it..... a perfect match according to the What Tow Car site...

They are built in Germany (although they used to be made in France) and have developed an almost cult like following......

The range starts with the 'Puck' which is the smallest (I understand this is no longer made) then comes the 'Familia'...the 'Triton'....and then the largest model the 'Troll'. 
Each of the models is available in various layouts.... they all have a pop up roof or 'Pop Top' as it is often referred to and they are all built with a metal frame similar to the way an airframe is constructed, unlike the traditional 'fridge like' caravans which usually have a timber construction.....

Some of the New and Secondhand Eribas at the dealers compound..

Over the coming months I will tell you more about the Eriba vans and why Anne and I like them so much......

It's Gone...!!

The more observant regular visitors of this blog will have noticed that my bright orange Mountain Bike is no longer listed on the 'Bike Stable' section of The Purpletraveller...
The reason for this is simple......it's gone......moved on....in actual fact I have sold it.

Now don't get me wrong...it was a very nice bike but I just didn't get on with it...
Like two lovers splitting up "it wasn't her, it was me".

After 50+years of road riding I thought that I should give MTBs a try..... unfortunately to put it bluntly I just didn't enjoy it..... 
If nothing else it has confirmed what I always knew.....I just enjoy road bike riding too much..

I owned it for just over nine months...a personal record as it is the shortest time that I have ever owned a bike... usually when I buy a bike it is with me for many years.

Mind you the bike is not the only thing that has gone recently.....

Anne and I have now set a date for moving out of Purple Towers, that date is the 31st March 2015. We now have just under 7 months to sort out all the things that we have jointly hoarded away over the past years...
Each week now sees us having visits to the municipal tip disposing of all sorts of things...

Due to the type of adventure we are both setting off on next year, it's important for us to almost dismantle our current lives...certainly the lives that we have got used to....

I will share our plans with you in my next post......

A Mistake.......!!

This time last week I had just set off on the Bournemouth-Holyhead-Bournemouth ride that I have wanted to do for the past three years.... With the benefit of hindsight that WAS a mistake.....

Each time over the past few years whenever a date has been set to attempt this ride, something has always cropped up and prevented the ride taking place.
This year seemed to be no different....

Regular readers of this blog will be aware that just three weeks prior to the start of the ride I was rushed into hospital where I had a heart procedure completed due to a constant racing heartbeat of 155bpm. 
The Doctors had advised that if I didn't suffer too many side effects from the procedure I 'might' be OK to attempt the ride....
That was all I needed to go ahead.....ignoring what were obviously warning signs I gave it a go, only to be forced to abandon the trip half way through the third day........
This is what happened........ 

Peter and I met up as planned at about 0900hrs on the Sunday morning......
We headed north passing through Wimborne and heading towards Blandford....
At about a mile short of Blandford town there was a sound like a pistol crack and I realised at once that my rear tyre had blown....

After removing the wheel and checking the cause, it was obvious that the inner tube had split. This in turn had blown the tyre off the rim. Even though I had stopped almost immediately, with the weight of the panniers the tyre itself had been damaged as well...

Peter and I tried to patch the tyre using tape. We then fitted a new inner tube, but on trying to inflate the tyre it became obvious that the tyre was damaged beyond any form of temporary repair........

We were then forced to phone Peter's son-in-law Chris, who lives in Blandford and kindly drove out to give us some help.... It was decided that Chris would drive Peter back home in order to pick up a used but serviceable tyre that we could use whilst I stayed with the bikes...

In about an hour and a half they were back... the tyre was fitted and inflated...all seemed OK.....Chris went on his way...panniers were loaded back on the bike and then we noticed the tyre had deflated again!! 
We took off all the panniers... removed the tyre... checked out the valve and inner tube etc etc... and we tried two more inner tubes before we found one that actually seemed to hold any air....

To be honest, we should have seen the 'writing on the wall' for the trip at this early stage.....
In total we lost four hours faffing around at the side of the road....but....we did finally arrive at our day's destination at Frome, albeit four hours later than we had planned....

Stuck at the side of the road...

We had phoned Howard to re-arrange meeting up with him as we had been unsure if we were actually going to make it to Frome... The new plan was to meet up with him the next morning....
We arranged to meet up at the 'Live to Ride' bike shop in the town where I had decided to have new tyres and inner tubes fitted just to be on the safe side...

Up until this point I had found the cycling OK and although not as fit as I have been I seemed to be dealing with the various ascents and the loaded bike perfectly well....

We met up with Howard the next morning and after time spent in a cafe with coffee and cake and with a new set of rubber hoops on my bike we set off again to continue our ride....

The ride went well until the Tuesday morning, when I found that even after the first four miles riding on the flat I was struggling... I seemed to be breathless and lacking any energy at all....... We stopped at a cafe at an M&S store at Cribbs Causeway just north of Bristol and during our coffee stop it became obvious that I was seriously unwell....  my heart rate seemed to be all over the place and it became clear that this was going to be the end of my ride......

I could not even face getting a train back home..... I was just not well enough....
A taxi was called and within half an hour I was being whisked back home....

A visit to the hospital was to show another electrical malfunction of the heart was causing both missed and jumped beats and this in turn meant that insufficient blood/oxygen was being pumped around my body...
Some of the symptoms that can occur are Palpitations.... Feeling tired... Shortness of breath.....
Chest pain and tightness and Dizziness or light-headedness.... none of these are ideal if you want to ride a bike........

Currently I am off the bike for the next seven or eight weeks...... I have an appointment with the Cardiologist at the end of October and I will find out where this is all going to go at that stage.....

To say that I am gutted and depressed is an understatement....!!

Peter and Howard continued with a revised route of the ride and managed to save something from what we had planned......