April 2022 - Time to tour with my tent - a recipe for a great Easter



Bags, scales and a bit of holiday, can mean only one thing.




It must be time to dust off those panniers, charge up the Garmin and hope that the lungs and legs have recovered enough to get me round the miles and up those hills to a campsite. 





Once everything is packed, unpacked, repacked in a different order to make the bags balance, they are unpacked once more for a quick photo, which proves invaluable when it comes to packing again every morning. The evening feels hectic, but finally, much later than planned, it is off to bed for one more sleep till tour time. 

Apart from testing my fitness, I’ve a couple of new tools that I hope to test out too, but more of that later. 

First a quick trip to Winchester (by van thankfully) to join up with Jo. 


Add  a splash of water and one Jenny. 


Then after a short ride to Loveden lane, add a little Babs to the mix. Stir for three days and you have a perfect recipe for an excellent tour. 

It’s only when we stop to greet Babs that I realised my bike was no longer wobbling the way it did at the start. I had already got used to the new way it handled and I barely even notice the added weight. It just felt like a sluggish version of my usual ride. 


The rain had stopped, the sun, shining, and Avington hall was just crying out to be the backdrop for coffee and a quick change of layering.  


On to Ovington, where a beautiful church spire caught my eye and just had to be photographed. Along with the first of many village houses, topped with thatch and the bricks held together with wood. It never ceases to amaze me quite how much beauty there is within a short cycle of our city borders. I make a mental note to take more trips out in this direction. 




I’ve no idea how Jenny spied the coffee machine through the door of a tiny post office in Cheriton, but it was unanimously  decided that this was the perfect opportunity for a stop. Jenny and I made the coffees (the machine was a well disguised kettle) whilst listening to the tales of 90 year old motorists ploughing themselves into a tree when forgetting which pedal was which. Apparently, they are still worth keeping an eye out for even now, as they are currently in charge of a mobility scooter!
The coffee was nice, the location, perfect and thankfully not a single electric wheelchair in view anywhere. 



We paused to see the church then continued on our way past the Flowerpots Inn and began the first of the two big climbs of the day. 

Wheely down Road, took us on a long and tortuous route up towards the South Downs. Unusually, my lungs were complaining far more than my legs - a kickback from recently having Covid I guess.  


Not sure if I was smiling or grimacing as I cycled past Jo busily pointing her camera in my direction. 


As always, the view from Old Winchester Hill was more than worth the effort. And our hard work was rewarded by a warming coffee from Alans Coffee van which is regularly found in the carpark. We were given a set of deckchairs to rest in while we consumed our beverages, lunch and a sneaky lemon drizzle cake. 




Coffee’s finished. Chairs returned and bikes pedal ready, we had a surprisingly short ride before reaching a beautiful array of daffodils which indicated our final stop of the day. After a quick check to see where we should camp, we glided downhill to a green field punctuated by fire pits and pitch numbers and an ominous looking shed in the corner. 


Finally the chance to test the first of my new pieces of kit. This is so new, it doesn’t even have a name yet. But thanks to the generosity and patience of David and Jean, who deciphered a garbled description of something I’d seen on a website somewhere, then turned it into reality using their 3d printer. 
What is this red disk I hear you ask? 
It is a tool that inserts my tent pegs into even the toughest of grounds - no more bending them with my feet or searching fruitlessly for a stone. I have just the tool I need - on hand! Thank you David and Jean, it is brilliant. 






Tents erected and coffee made, I watched Jenny gathering twigs of a particular thickness. All would be revealed later, apparently. 
It was getting cold and damp so we opted for a blood warming walk around the beautiful grounds of the Sustainability centre. This certainly did the trick and we returned just in time to cook dinner. 




This gave the opportunity for more testing. Babs was trying out the jetboil as her cooker of choice. Jenny was using her old faithful gas burner.


But Jo and I were experimenting with a Trangia. Jo opted for a shepherds pie type meal. I went for a Mac and Cheese type thing. It’s amazing what you can learn from You Tube!






If you have never met one before, Trangia is a Swedish made alcohol stove that comes in a kit comprising of a stand, a windshield, a couple of pans and a really cute kettle. The design of which has hardly changed since the Second World
War. Though it lacks in speed (particularly compared to the Jetboil) the absolute silence of the flame makes it the perfect accompaniment to the slower life of self propelled camping. Later, I’ll talk more about what worked and what didn’t.    


Utilising a tip seen in a video, I put the pasta straight in to the water, allowing it to cook while the water came to the boil. Once boiling, I could put the pan to one side, with a lid on, enabling me to fry the onion, mushroom and fake bacon bits to make the sauce in the other pan while the pasta finished cooking. As I was trying to keep things simple,
I used a tiny carton of béchamel sauce as a base to which I used nutritional yeast to add a cheesy flavour.   


A sprinkle of Garlic granules once everything was together made for a perfect meal. The kettle slowly heated while
I ate, and boiled in time to wash up. (And fill my tiny hot water bottle.) 

By the time I was finished and washed up, Jenny was messing with a bag of white stuff that was due to form the evenings entertainment. 


Apparently we would have to wait for increased embers before all would be revealed. In the meantime, we busied ourselves making ‘s’mores’ (toasted marshmallows in a rich tea sandwich for the uninitiated)


Finally the white mixture was the right consistency, the logs were glowing and the long sticks came into play as we cooked ourselves twisted bread, which was all the nicer once dipped into cinnamon and sugar. A fitting end to a lovely day. 




Wednesday brought a misty start to the day. Jo and Babs were already sipping tea when I surfaced. It has been a very cold night! An unsettled stomach meaning a couple of trips to the compost loo (the one in the big shed) during the night which meant for quite an unsettled sleep. Note to self - reduce the carbs when camping (or pack more indigestion tablets) 

I decided a shower was in order. So walked along to the second shed fearing the worst. But the electric heater was surprisingly effective. And the water lovely and hot. I was only lured out by the pinging of my phone as an invite to share a pancake arrived. Jo was getting good at this camp cooking business. I need to up my game! 




Breakfast complete, the big pack up began. 


We’d not quite got to ‘leave no trace’, when a visitor arrived. Jill had taken the same route from Winchester, just to say hi and sample the coffee at the cafe. We couldn’t resist either so  once packed, sat and chatted for an hour. 




The day had just slipped into pm by the time we got underway, but the long downhill away from the sustainability centre soon had us clocking the miles. It took less than 15 mins to get to this junction in East Meon. 


A few hills later and we were all down to our shortest sleeves. 
Selbourne, was the location of our next intended stop.The famed Gilbert White’s house has a beautiful and well kept garden, but also contains a museum and tea rooms. He even has a brewery on site. 
We opted to sit outside for lunch and had to crack open the sun cream while enjoying the unseasonably clement weather.




The grounds looked beautiful, and I made a mental note to return to Gilbert Whites house at some point soon to walk round. 



Once we had decided which way to go, we reluctantly made a move away from our sun trap in the cafe garden. Our next stop was to find out the year that the ancient yew hit the church as this was my second clue from Cycle U.K.s British cycle quest. Only another 400 clues to go. https://www.cyclinguk.org/british-cycle-quest


You couldn’t fault the weather, blue skies all the way, I just wish I’d not rejected the shorts while packing. 
We struggled up the hills together and wizzed down the other side with smiles on our faces. 20 miles of sunshine, great company and beautiful scenery, what more could a girl want? Well, a shop was on my list as it happened. I kept an eye out through every hamlet, but there were no shops. Not even in Selbourne. There was a pub, a cafe and a museum, but no shop. 


I lost count of how many churches we passed. Jenny noted that all those that we chose to pause at had female vicars listed on their notice boards. Coincidence? 






The blue skies became a little more threatening as we worked our way towards Odiham. As did the sound of the hovering helicopters nearby. But though we needed an extra layer as it was getting cooler, we didn’t need our rain jackets to keep us dry. 



Odiham became my saviour. Jo spotted a chemist down the road to our right (we were about to turn left) a quick visit there and the indigestion that I’d been fighting for two days made a swift exit. I was relieved in more ways than one. 

A mile or so later we reached our stopping point for the evening. 
The Fox and Goose at Greywell allows camping anywhere in their field. Well anywhere apart from where we chose to pitch apparently, but we were kindly allowed to stay there as long as we’d be gone by 12. 



Sadly Jenny had to return home this evening so wasn’t staying the night, but she still helped us set up camp until her lift arrived. 

The pub didn’t charge for camping as such, but just asked that we ate a meal there. This was no hardship at all! 
I enjoyed a very pleasant vegan burger. 
There was an outside toilet and a tap freely available, but no  access to a shower. 


The night was warmer than before, but that meant a heavy dew had fallen on our tents by morning. It would be a while before the they were dry. We set about making breakfast. Babs cooked water for porridge. Jo made pancakes and I tried a vegan omelette recipe that I’d found on another You Tube channel. But I didn’t add enough water, the whole thing stuck to the pan which then took ages to clean. It did taste ok though. 

Ww


So what worked with this cookset?  And what just didn’t? 

 

Well the set itself was brilliant. Yes it takes longer to boil water than the jetboil, but it is just so quiet. And is quite fun to use. The fact you can get fuel for it in a supermarket is a bonus too. I am just wondering about getting the non stick version of the frying pan - it did get messy! But apart from that, a big thumbs up for the storm cooker . 
The chopping board/ strainer was also brilliant. It’s great that it fits into the kit and is multipurpose. I used it as a chopping board, strainer and lid while making my food. The knife is an Opinel. This has such high ratings it had to be good. My only complaint is how hard it is to open. I hope that will ease with time. 
Finally the lighter. It was the only thing I hadn’t pre-tested and the only thing that didn’t work. It is USB rechargeable and has a tazer like end. But this spark was just not enough to light alcohol fumes. This meant that I had to borrow Jo’s matches whenever I needed to light up - not a big problem, but wouldn’t be an easy prospect  if I ever managed to be up first. The moral of this story - test everything before going away!

It was going to take ages for the tents to dry enough to pack and even longer for me to wash the mess in the frying pan. I was yet again last to be packed. It’s a good job that it’s not a race. 

Jenny sent us a photo of her socks for the day and wishing us a good morning. We hatched a plan. 

Once we were packed, we took a slight detour to Odium castle. We chatted for a while to the local WI ladies who had taken a stroll down to see the ruins. It was a stark reminder about modern life when one of the younger ladies asked ‘Can you get to Winchester without going on the motorway?’ I was so glad that we were about to find out. 


The castle held a lot of history and much was clearly displayed by the surrounding boards. 
We did a return shot or two for Jenny, to let her know we were missing her. 




Then got back underway. Firstly along the canal path back past the pub, then onto our original route. It was a cooler day, but the scenery was just as stunning. Again we passed through numerous villages, all too small to support a shop these days, though I am sure each would have supported one before the mass take over by the motor car. The bigger ones did still have a church and a pub though! 




We wound our way through Upton Grey and Weston Patrick. Farley Warren and Dummer. Pausing to enjoy the scenery and change layers as the weather changed around us. 
As lunch time approached, Jo had a brain wave and lead us to the most unlikely set of buildings all advertising the benefits of cricket. I wasn’t sure what she was expecting of us. I’m not well known for my prowess with a bat or a ball for that matter. I needn’t have worried though as our target was the Honesty cafe, which honestly gave us a fine lunch and a good rest before embarking on the final half day. 



I particularly enjoyed my vegan sausage roll when it eventually arrived. 


But, as has happened on numerous times now. One of us had a puncture as we left. This time it was mine. I was in two minds whether to wheel it back up to the cafe for another coffee, but we had it fixed so quickly that I’m sure they would have been still taking our order by the time we were done. 




Now nervous about my tyre as I hadn’t found the cause of the puncture, we gingerly picked our way back towards Winchester. 
We rode through Micheldever station but not quite close enough to the famed Micheldever woods to take a detour. 
But judging by this small field. There would have been a stunning display of bluebells there. 


In no time at all we were saying goodbye to Babs as our routes parted and all too quickly we were back at Jo’s. Tired but satisfied that we had completed our three days. We sat discussing our next plan over coffee while I waited on my lift home. 
The next morning was beautiful and sunny, so the kit was aired and dried in no time. Then packed in readinessfor our next adventure. 



Thank you Babs, Jenny and Jo for your wonderful company, friendship and laughter. It was just what I needed to kickstart my Easter break. Thank you also for sharing your photos and allowing me to use them here, it is very much appreciated! 

If you want to see where we went,  take a look at the 3d Relive videos of our journey - 

Day 1
Day 2 
Day 3 































February 2022 - Round the harbour to bag a MP



Half term always flys by, but with loosing the first part of it to that dreaded caronavirus, this one felt particularly short. What better time to start a new challenge. 

Stage 1 - Head down to local station - Check.

2. Find the correct carriage on your train.
 Now if this had been my train, that would have been very easy. 


But this was mine. I couldn’t spot it at all. 


Thankfully, I did spot a cyclist getting off and was already following one heading on. This chap was obviously a seasoned pro - Asking when I was getting off and loading his bike accordingly. He grabbed his pannier and wandered off to find a seat, leaving me to faff for the next five mins of the journey. Bike safely stashed - check!



3.  Jump off at the correct station.
I always worry that I’m not going to get my bike off. But it really couldn’t have been easier. I found a quiet spot on the platform, and waited for the next train to arrive. 


I didn’t have to wait long. And was soon joined by my travel companions for the day. 


Babs and Jo had made their way from Winchester to meet me at Fareham station. We had all ridden parts of this  route in one direction of another, but none of us had ridden this particular version in its entirety. This and the beautiful blue skys (the first we had seen after a week of poor weather) filled our chatter as we found our way out of the station. 
The joy of paperless tickets and nothing more than a barcode triggering the gate to open was not lost on me, making the guard chuckle as we passed through. I’m guessing the technology is pretty new there too. 



Today, We were mostly following National Cycle Network routes, which has been carefully curated by Sustrans and maintained by their lovely volunteers. These guys had obviously been busy as even though we had just had 4 named storms blow through over the weekend, there was little evidence of tree fall on the route at all. And we, well Jo  to be precise, found it really easy to follow the little blue signs that marked the way. I have been reassured that this gets easier with practice. I’ll let you know when/if it does. . 

We quickly found our way onto the 236 from the station, following it to get onto the 224. This was a beautifully straight and wide route shared only with the Eclipse busses that run between Fareham and Gosport avoiding all the traffic. It was so fast and direct, we didn’t even stop to take a photo. 
The 224 continued following the original military train line right to the centre of town, but it became quite leafy once it parted company with the Eclipse bus route. We soon found ourselves at the waters edge waiting for the ferry to Portsmouth. 



The ferry ride is short but fun and gives a great view of the brand new aircraft carriers and the much older HMS Warrior. We paused for a while on the other side to enjoy the view and make our plans. 


Next stop, one of my favourite places,  Old Portsmouth. We carefully rode through the Camber docks - the oldest in the city and famed for receiving the first delivery of tobacco and potato to the country. We cycled on round the small harbour to inspect the mural on the side of the Bridge Tavern. We pedalled past the Still and West pub, again famed for drunken conscription into the Navy. We nodded to the statue of Nelson, who appears much smaller than his history suggests. We discussed the history of the roofless Garrison church, then rode on towards Southsea seafront in search of a coffee. 





We couldn’t resist the smell of the chips from the little shop on the front, so after a swift change of plan we found ourselves sat next to Southsea Castle enjoying the blue sea, blue sky and  the famous ‘Deep Blue’ chips 


Many a time I have waved away Naval ships from the front, but today we watched with a slightly heavy heart as HMS Diamond sailed away heading to take her place alongside NATO allies in the Mediterranean. I wished the crew safe travels and hoped that we would be seeing their safe return in the not to distant future. 



Following the recommendation of Babs’ daughter, we went in search of the Tennis club for our coffee and basked in the sun trap by the entrance. 


Eventually we pulled ourselves away from the comfort of our table and headed of towards the main reason for our travel. 

We quickly returned to cycle route 22 and rode through areas of Portsmouth I have never been before. Turning a corner just after the Rudmore roundabout, we spotted our quest. 




The first of many (I hope) millennium mileposts. There are approx 1000 dotted across the country so I have a quite a few to find before I’ve bagged them all. 
I will write a separate post about them, their history and any other information I can find. So if this interests you too, go take a look. 


It seems quite fitting to find  my first one in Portsmouth, and I marvelled that I have never come across it before despite it being here over 20 years. 

Once we had finished documenting our visit (Jo and Babs are very patient!), we returned to our route around the harbour. It’s been quite a while since I rode round Portsmouth island and the city council have obviously been busy upgrading their shoreline. We took full advantage of the new seating arrangement to enjoy the sun for a little while longer. And who could blame us after the recent foul weather we’ve had to endure. 

Babs chilling…

Jo chilling…

Hmmm!!! 


Lovely day! 

The nicest thing about travelling by bike is that it is very easy to change direction. This is especially useful when you miss a blue sign and misread the route. It is also really good when you decide to make a detour to another local attraction. 

Portchester castle was too much of a magnet to resist, and though the extortionate prices put us off sampling the grounds, we took the path round the perimeter and reviewed our route on the horizon. 


Babs embarked on a touch of enforced bike maintenance in front of the primitive toilets. Returning to our journey once the chain had been returned to its cogs. We headed on back towards Fareham. 



We stopped once more at a nearby Lidl to use the facilities and ended up in a conversation with a lovely lady asking advice on frame sizes as she was hoping to start cycling. We left her with a card after extolling the virtues of Breeze and wished her well with her cycling venture. 

Our route back to Fareham station was fairly quick and pretty unremarkable. But the sense of satisfaction having completed our task was huge. 

Having once more swiped ourselves through the barriers with our newfound digital technology, we checked in with the definitely non digital guard as to which platform we needed. We headed towards the first lift and across the bridge to the second as we watched a train pull in. The lovely guard waited for us to arrive, confirmed the destination of the train and directed Jo and Babs to the correct carriage. 
I didn’t have to wait long either before I too was on my way home. 

My train was small and did not have an obvious bike section. But keen not to miss it, I popped my bike in through the double doors. I was expecting to be told off any minute, but no one came through, and I wasn’t blocking anywhere or anyone. Two stops later and I was back in Southampton and heading home after enjoying another great trip out with friends and my bike. 













October 2021 - The 24 by train

So the conversation goes…
Sue- ‘I fancy going for a ride today’
Me- ‘Sounds good, where do you fancy?’
Sue - ‘Somewhere by train’ 
Me- ‘Ummm, Ok!’ 


Within the hour we were on a train heading out to Salisbury. 

Being the control freak that I am, I had been worrying all the way down to the station that we wouldn’t be able to get on, as, checking the website, there was no way to book bikes on the SW train that we were hoping to use. We cautiously wheeled our bikes into the station and up to the ticket office. This was new to us both. 

The jolly guy behind the desk was super helpful and gave us all the information we needed, along with our ticket. Next stop, platform 3b. And that involved a bridge!



Two lift rides later and we are standing on the platform waiting for our imminent train. 
Just two minutes later, it arrives. The guard jumps out right next to us and directs us further down the train and to look for the carriage with the bike sign on it. This was quickly located and we start to lift our bikes aboard. 

I had been worrying about this bit too, but I needn’t have, they slid aboard just fine. The only trouble was - someone’s bike was already taking up a slot. 
Was this it?
Was it game over already?

I really wasn’t sure if the rules of train travel and wished SW trains had invested in the same stock as Scotrails Highland explorer, with a whole carriage designed for onward cycle travel. It definitely has encouraged me to plan to take my bike next time I am that way. 

As if by magic, the guard reappeared and said there was space in the next carriage. I tucked my bike into the next corridor and we readied ourselves for the journey. 

As mine wasn’t looking too secure,  I was worried about it falling, we opted to stay by them rather than taking a seat in the main carriage. But as it happened, it was Sues bike in the proper rack that kept moving. 

There were lots of positives to our choice, it was quiet, well ventilated, we were alone so didn’t feel compelled to be wearing face masks and we had a great view from the door windows. 
The only downside was being located right beside a rather smelly toilet. 


At each stop, bikes were either wheeled onto or of the train. The very accommodating guard, happily allowing the space reserved for wheelchair passengers to be used as bike storage. This must be a popular route! 

In no time at all, we had arrived, disembarked and were busy working out the easiest way into the town centre and a spot of cheeky breakfast. 


You can’t visit Salisbury without taking a selfie by the cathedral. Sue wasn’t so convinced!!


She was, however, quite intrigued with the modern art located around the grounds, placed in juxtaposition with the fine art of the cathedrals building. 
 

After a pleasurable time enjoying our surroundings and finishing our takeaway coffees, we cycled round the perimeter of the cathedral grounds searching for our first little blue sign. 

I have read before that they do become easier to spot the more you use them. I wasn’t convinced and kept an eye on my route map too. 

Once located, the 24 took us through some well beaten playing fields and next to a rather bulging River Avon. This greenery was short lived and we were soon on a busy, but well kept, shared path running alongside the A26. This diverted left behind the large Tesco and the perfectly placed park and ride, then onto a few quiet roads between a flurry of houses on the outskirts of the city. 
The little blue signs directed us, to cross the crazily busy A26 again, via a pedestrian crossing then down what must have been the original A road complete with remnants of inns and toll houses, but was thankfully now relegated to side street. 
As we cycled on the noise levels reduced, the surroundings became greener, and our enjoyment increased. 
We were on a mission to find the prettiest version of the NCN sign as we travelled through the country roads. 


We took a break by a very scenic little church at East Grimstead, I stretched my photography skills while Sue stretched her legs around the grounds. 






We set off again, towards West Dean enjoying the beautiful vistas on either side of the road and trying to investigate a  little village shop that was sadly being renovated at the time. (There goes my hopes of a sneaky chocolate treat) 
We cycled on towards Mottisfont.  


At this point things started to unravel. The clouds had moved in. The sky, getting blacker by the moment. We had reached a large climb that Sue decided to power up, but as she didn’t have the route visible to her, she missed the right turn that we needed to take midway. She was so far ahead she didn’t hear me shouting to remind her of the turn. By the time I caught up to her (thankfully she had stopped - I can’t ever catch Sue on a hill) we had both needlessly climbed what felt like a mountain! 
Cold, tired and grumpy, we decided that we needed to get some food. Though we had brought some lunch with us, the call of warmth and soup at Mottisfont was way too strong to resist. 
We freewheeled back down the hill and in less than 10 minutes had locked up our bikes, flashed our NT membership cards that I had picked up just in case and heading towards the cafe. 
Taking our seats just in time to hear squeals as the heavens opened and soaked everyone and everything not under cover at that point. Our timing was perfect! 






Refreshed and revitalised, we headed back to Southampton. This time too cold and tired to stop for photos.

I always like the 24 as a route and loved the train element of this ride. Though I’m not sure if Sue was quite as keen. 

September 2024 - The one where things don’t quite go to plan

 It was the second Friday in September, and I was heading out of the garden on my bike, nothing unusual there, but this Friday, my bike was ...