Bournemouth 2 Weymouth

What a weekend! decided on another micro adventure but being me didn’t get up till 12 on Saturday. Changed direction this time and headed towards Swanage, with the weather looking good I thought I would risk it and not take water proofs… and you thought I had learnt my lesson after last time.

Left Bournemouth just as the air festival was getting in to full swing, I thought this would be a blessing as the road were shut to cars but the crowds proved just something else to swerve. Once i was out side Bournemouth life got a little bit easier, the traffic died and I was starting to enjoy my self. So much so that there was no que for the ferry to Swanage, leaving me to pay my 80p fare and jump right on board for the epic 2 minute journey.

The great thing about getting off the ferry at Swanage is you are immediately out in the country side, cycling along the Studland. Waiving at the nudists and praying the wind is on my side I headed up the coast towards Swanage. Now usually I would head all the way to Swanage and then skirt the coast but I knew i would need to keep as much gas in the tank as possible as I wanted to hit the Purbecks with all cylinders firing. So after two miles I took a left on to one of the many cycle tracks and headed for the the first of the big hills.

Near Lulworth

Once your on the Purbecks its pretty easy to follow the trail all along the ridge and before you know it you’re passing Corfe castle, Lulworth cove and Durdle door to name but a few. But beware! there are some pretty steep descents and you can be out of your comfort zone before you know it.

One of the most annoying parts of the trip was hitting the army restriction zone: walkers aloud, biker not! I chose to walk for about 10 meters then thought “what the hell” and got back on the bike. Luckily for me the army are on holiday until the 3rd of September ( not to sure how that works?)

After a lot, and I mean a hell of a lot of ups and downs you reach Weymouth via the costal path, this is about another 15 miles past Lulworth. I’m not entirely sure where the Perbeck way gives way to the coastal path but its pretty seamless.  The Sunset was amazing and Ive included one of my favorite pics over Weymoth bay.

I spent that night outside of Dorchester in a field, in the bivi bag… happy days, even if I was being watched by some rather suspect cows but then again I think all cows are suspect.

Sunday: Joy of joy wok up to great weather and managed to get out of the field before the farmer could catch me Took a totally different route home headed directly east for Wareham, after the previous day being 100% off road my legs were screaming at me. So I squeezed as much air into my tires and hit the road. I made the mistake off assuming there would be at least one village shop on the way home …. but there were none until Wareham. Bloody Tesco’s. From there it was just a case of finding my way around Poole harbor and the the home straight.

All in all a pretty successful trip. One thing I have learnt is that I need to keep my body hydrated and fed. By the time i got to Weymouth I hadnt eaten enough and was feeling pretty low. This is a mistake I definatly wont be making twice.

Near Lulworth

Above Weymouth

Whitenothe

Sunset towards Weymouth

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