I will also be posting a new micro adventure Monday. Weather predicting I’ll be out for another great weekend. After that ill be heading over to Thailand for a couple of weeks so expect to see some adventures of a different kind!

Check out the new site at www.longandwindingadventures.co.uk. This site will now become redundant

My last to trips had been by myself but I decided to see if the new house mate (Omar) wanted to join me. Poor guy said yes, I don’t think he knew what he was in for at the time but he would by the end of the trip. So at 7 that night with my new tent and sleeping bag packed we set of for Lymington. Twenty miles down the coast with a strong wind at our backs meant we hit the ferry point at 9.20pm. Now any of you that have ever been to I.O.W will probably have used the ferry and you will also know what a total rip of it is. The crossing is 3.4 miles, and how much did we pay as foot passengers?? Fifteen quid! I believe that for a distance to cost related journey it works out as the most expensive in Europe. We had to wait until 10.30pm as we had just missed the previous departure.

We arrived in Yarmouth at close to Eleven and it was dark, neither of us had ever been here before and we had no idea where to stay. All we knew was that we wanted to camp on the cliffs. Yarmouth to Totland and the needles looked like another 5 miles, not that far but all uphill and into the wind. An hour later and with a mixture of walking and cycling we climbed into the tent. We had achieved our goal to be on the cliffs. Sleep came fast and easily.

Day 2: I had woken up in the night with the sound of rain bouncing of the outside of the tent. If you have ever slept in a tent you probably do what I do which is guess the weather by how much light there is. … or maybe that’s just a josh-ism. Anyway…it was sunny! bloody hell and warm, happy days. We had slept on national trust land and the view we woke up to was amazing. The main coast line stretched out before us from Bournemouth to Portsmouth. Time to get cycling.

We dropped down in to Totalnd itself before climbing the sharp rise up to Tennyson Down. This has to be one of my favorite places on the whole island. Because of the strong winds the grass is so short it wouldn’t look out of place on the ninth hole of your local golf course. You have a steady climb all the way up to the top of the Down, Where you will find at a height of 147m stands a huge granite cross commemorating the life of Alfred Lord Tennyson. This is the start of one of the best down hills on the Isle and your eyes will be watering with joy and wind chill by the end of it.

We followed the coastal path all the way to Brighstone Bay where we cut inland and traveled through the villages of Yaford, Atherfeild Green before hitting another steep climb all the way up to the Hoy Monument. It was then down hill all the way to Niton where we re-joined the coast and cycled into Ventor. Ventor to Shanklin is superb, another one of my fave’s. It was like a mini Swiss alp decent.

I have to say one thing that we noticed was how friendly everyone was, Islanders always had time to talk, give us advice and offer us a drink. One place that we experienced Island hospitality was the Smugglers cabin at Shanklin. David and Diane that run the Cafe are lovely and their food is great. I’d recommend popping in to anyone in the area, you wont be disappointed! All we wanted to do was sleep after a satisfying meal but we had to push on.

Our plan had been to get as far as Ryde and then find some where to sleep, I don’t know whether it was the food or the rest but we zoomed through the countryside. Before we knew it we were miles past Ryde and it was getting dark. Eventually we had to call it a day and find a field some where just north of Cowes.

Omar was surprising me with every mile he completed. The fact he hadn’t been on a bike in a year or two combined with his diet of bourbons and crisps made me think he was going to shrivel up and die at any moment. Sure he had had his slow periods, but wouldn’t you if you did zero exercise then a hundred mile bike ride with no training?

Day 3: A 6am start and Omar woke up with two wooden legs, he was in pain and he wasn’t putting it on. So being the man that I am I told him to get on his bike a pedal. I know, i know all heart. As you come into Cowes you will find there is a ferry from East to Central. For foot passengers it is free. I guess after they have robbed you getting on to the island they assume you wont have any money left! Although we were only in Cowes from 7-8 in the morning and it was very quiet we noticed immediately how strong its Sailing passion was. Its every where, all the shops all the cafes have some sort of sailing theme. I wold love to see this place when the Cowes race is on. Maybe I will when Icome back.

Moving further west again we travelled along the costal path, past Gurnard, Thorness bay where we headed back inland to avoid getting stuck at Newton bay. This was a very scenic little stretch of coast land. The coastal path was quite narrow at times with more than its fair share of thorn bushes. There is no other way to get round Newton bay other than to go inland, no bridges or ferries so don’t waste your time looking. After skirting the bay we found our selves at Shafleet with about 6-7 mile to go, we couldn’t believe how far we had come so fast. Shafleet to Yarmouth was a straight run and we were surprised when we saw the Yarmouth sign whip past us.

If you ever get the opportunity to go round the Island go the way we did. The wind generally blows from west to east. Although like us you will need to climb into the wind for the first few miles, once you hit the peninsula you have the wind pushing you all the way to Ventor. And believe me its by far the hardest part of the trip. The south side of the island has all the hills and once your past Sandown everything will seem like a walk in the park.

Finally I would just like to say that the Vango spirit 200 held up well and I was nice and toasty in my new Vango sleeping bag. I cant wait to try it out in more extream conditions and see if it still does the job as well.

Hope you enjoyed and please feel free to comment.

J

Live the dream!

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.

On the fire trail

So at 6pm on Friday 14 I jumped on my bike and headed out on my first micro adventure. Pete my house mate had kindly lent me his Bivi bag and offered to ride with me along the first part of my journey. I knew secretly he would loved to of done it with me but he was sky diving on the Saturday and there was no way he was going to miss that! We headed out of Southbourne towards St Catherins Hill but unlike our usual evening trips there, we skirted the bottom rather than going up and over. We followed an old railway line cross country until we hit Hurn and from there headed around the south side of Hurn airport. From here we followed an old fire trail that ran along side Matchams road all the way to Ashley Heath.

I had originally kept my tire pressure quite low but after the first few miles it started to dawn on me that I needed speed and that the usual set up fro my day rides was just not going to cut it. When we reached three legged cross I waived goodbye to Pete and adjusted the tires so that hey were better suited to the conditions.

My day pack (a small north-face rucksack) was giving me no problems at all. I had thought that it would start rubbing against my skin or just be plain uncomfortable, as it was fully packed but  I had no problems at all with it.

After leaving Three legged cross I was heading directly North west on a road that would take me all the way to Shaftsbury. I passed by numerous small villages including Horton and Cashmoore.

The best part of the trip was the 45 minute climb past Tollard Royal as I entered Wiltshire to the top of the ridge on the B3081. The view up on the ridge was simply amazing. I wish I had been able to take a picture but the failing light meant that there was no way I would get anything worth looking at. I would recommend this route to  anyone. After the climb you are rewarded with a great drop in to Cann Common on some alpine style roads.

Accident!

It was now getting on for 10pm and I was debating whether to carry on or stop but the decision was made for me as I tried to head out of Cann Common. Id seen the blues and twos from some distance when I was on top of the ridge. Two cars had collided head on, luckily there were no fatality’s but it was pretty messy. If I had been 5 minutes earlier then…. well it doesn’t bear thinking about. Just one mile further down the road i came to Shaftsbury, where I discovered was the home of Golds Hill. If you remember growing up with an Hovis advert of a kid pushing a bike up a hill, that’s the hill!

After looking around for an hour or so I managed to find a Field just outside Shaftsbury where I set up camp for the night. All of which involved jumping in the bivi bag and falling asleep for the night. Just before I zipped the bag up  I took this long exposure shot looking into the valley below.

Lights of Gore Common

The next Morning I woke to the sound of rain and clouds, lots and lot of clouds. Having brought no water proofs or a change of clothing I had to head back. The return journey proved to be an adventure in it self.

I took a more direct southward route through the Tarrants, Wimbourne and Poole before heading along the coast past Bournemouth and eventually getting to Southbourne. A few places I would recommend along the way are Kingston Lacey House, The Vine @ Pamphill and following the old train line from Wimbourne to Poole.

It was 70miles in total and I completed it in less than 24hrs, hopefully I will be able to do a longer route over the coming bank holiday weekend though this time with waterproofs!

Ive spent the last day checking out a few of the larger products needed as well as a few of the small ones and come to a more finite on what i am looking for. The products listed below have been chosen for a mixture of reasons, these include:

reviews from previous long distance tourers

Quality – My tent, sleeping bag, waterproofs, panniers and cooking equipment will definitely be the big spends. These are things that you just cannot afford to skimp on.

Cost -  I will try to accumulate as much as possible through auctions such as eBay

Weight – It would be great if i can get sub 10kg for all my equipment

Comfort – Sometime the lightest or easiest to carry wont be the deciding factor. 15,000 miles is along way to regret not bringing something because you wanted to save a few pounds!

This is just the start of what i need to have:

Kit Description    Price     Weight (g)

Camping Gear
THERMAREST BASECAMP REGULAR SELF-INFLATING MATTRESS    £52.99    1250g
WhisperLite™ Internationale    £100.00    460g
terra nova voyager    £200.00    2000g
GELERT SILK SLEEPING BAG LINER    £25.00    100g
Trangia 27-2 Ultra-Lite Aluminium Stove with Spirit Burner    £40.00    860g
Marmot Wave 3 Reg    £80.00    1760g
Fire Steel Army     £13.00
First aid kit     £15.00

Altura Dryline 56 Rear Panniers/Ortlieb Backroller Classic Panniers    £80.00
dhb Earnley Padded Under Shorts    £13.00

My plan is to hit Turkey and then travel through Georgia to Azerbaijan. At present there is a little thing called a war going on between Russia and Georgia, though surprisingly you can still travel into Georgia without so much as a Visa for up to 90 days. After crossing into Azerbaijan from Georgia I’m going to head for a town called Baku. Baku sits on the western shore of the Caspian Sea where it is possible to get a ferry over to Turkmenistan. From Turkmenistan its a 900 mile journey to Uzbekistan, passing through some of the famous silk road cities such as Bukhara and then on to the Fergana Valley. Fergana valley  is the entry point in to Kyrgyzstan which in turn is the entry point into western China!

Yurtcamp near the Issyk-kul lake in Kyrgyzstan

“EuroVelo is made up of 12 routes, totalling over 66,000 km, of which about 45,000 km is already in place. The EuroVelo routes are made up of existing and planned cycle routes at regional and national level, selected according to published criteria (see the EuroVelo Guidelines for Implementation/ Route principles for further details). A signposting system for EuroVelo routes has been developed (see the Manual Signalization for EuroVelo routes for details).”

Of the 12 routes, i have dicovered that Eurovelo 6 passes through pretty much every Country i want to visit plus a couple of new ones!

Eurovelo 6

The great thingabout the Eurovelo cycle route is that it has to hit a certain criteria, and because of this there are certain things you can expect. For a route to be part of EuroVelo it must:

• have no gradient above 6%
• be wide enough for two cyclists
• have an average of no more than 1,000 motorised vehicles a day
• be sealed for 80% of its length
• be open 365 days a year, have provision points every 30 km (19 mi), accommodation every 50 km (31 mi), and public transport every 150 km

Start:

Christchurch: Dorset-France-Switzerland-Austria-Germany-Czech Rep-Slovakia-Hungary-Romania-Bulgaria-Turkey-Georgia-Russia-Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan-China-India-Burma-Thailand-Malaysia-Indonesia-Australia-New Zealand

23 countries in total so far, but I’m sure along thing will change as i find out about visa’s along the way. I think the best thing to do next is find out about the visa’s. How long each country will permit me to stay there for and what type of visa i will need.

After reading The man who cycled the world, the auto biography by Mark Beaumont (http://www.pedallingaround.com) and also following Alastair’s amazing journeys around the world, some 50.000 miles. I think its now time for me to have a go.

The next year will involve more planning than i can possibly imagine at the moment. Bike, gear, route, Charity’s, and visa’s to name but a few.

I also hope that this will prove to be a good resource to improving my writing skills how ever much my dyslexia wants me not too and also a great way to preserve all the memories not just the trip but also the planning will involve.

Thanks for tuning in.

Joshua