Calshot Castle and beyond!!

Sorry to all those people that have regularly logged on to read about my progress, basically would could I report on, sitting at home for a week because I was snowed in, there were still remnants of the snow around this Monday, two weeks after it first fell. So here I was planning this major endeavour only for the coldest start to winter for over 30 years and heaviest snow fall in almost 20 years to hit the UK. Murphy’s Law or what. Here are a couple of images of the snow taken the Sunday afternoon, a week after the first fall. Underneath all that snow is sheet ice which meant trying to get the car out of the drive and onto the over half mile track down to the village took me almost an hour and a lot of frayed nerves, especially after the fact that a TNT wagon had come up the lane to deliver to a neighbour on the Friday and skidded off the track into a ditch alongside and then had to be winched out by a recovery truck effectively blocking me in for over 4 hours, even if I had wanted to get out.

Now after all the bad, bad weather and the postponements in the last month this weekend looks good to start the real work, temperature in double figures during the day and NOT freezing overnight, it is looking very promising. I had planned to stay at the Youth Hostel in Swanage on Saturday evening, from a trial run I did 18months ago shortly after the initial idea came to mind I know that would be a bit of a push, but it was worth trying as it would get me beyond the initial target for this weekend of Lyme Regis.

Unfortunately they are fully booked so I have had to use up some of my loyalty points from the Holiday Inn chain instead and have booked myself into the Express by Holiday Inn in Poole. So Lyme Regis maybe as far as I get. I also have to consider my return journey as next week is a very busy one, with back-to-back meetings in London almost all of week, so Sunday night will also include repacking my bags etc, being single means; not only getting away with the Big Ride it also means I have to do all my own ironing and the such like ( for any lady reading, yes I am very domesticated and I can also cook a fair bit)

On that last point I’ve been doing some experimenting over the last couple of months, what sort of food I can pack on the bike and cook when I am camping, without needing to take a huge big camping stove and multiple pots. Well it looks like I am going to be eating loads of stir fry meals, I’ve got myself this nice little Wok and a Trianga Swedish Army, cook kit, a brilliant bit of kit that works on a spirit burner, which when you get it going can boil a pint of water faster than an electric kettle (one of the little tests I tried out).

For anyone interested I am planning to set off from Calshot Castle between 10 and 10.30 on this coming Saturday (21st) morning a couple of friends have suggested they just might come along to accompany me for some of the day.

I have not forgotten about the video clips, I will be trying to put them up shortly, however they will either be posted via YouTube or Google, pressure of work has got in the way of me competing that promise.


Take care and as Mick says ‘You don’t stop riding when you get old; you get riding when the weather gets better! (Sorry that one is awful)