Let’s go camping she said…

In my defence, although to be fair it is fairly lousy, when I booked this weekend's camping we were in a September heatwave... 🙄

Anyway, who says it's going to be all sunshine and loveliness when we ride round the world? Exactly!

We have been much more organised with the system in the tent this weekend. Things are starting to get their place and even with all the luggage stored in the porch there was still plenty of room for us to sit and cook (we had plenty of ventilation so please don't worry). We kind of cheated with Friday night's meal as we took a chilli we had made earlier in the week and so only had to heat it up and cook some rice. Saturday night we had a stir fry. Cooking reasonably healthy meals with limited resources is part of our learning. You can't live on the road and eat pot noodles every night. You have to have a decent diet to stay healthy.

We had an awesome day on Saturday riding the byways and part of the TET (Trans Euro Trail) along the South Downs. A day I didn't think was going to be so good after I had been up literally every hour of the night with horrific foot and ankle cramps. A gift from my post breast cancer medication I need to take. It doesn't happen with that severity as often as it used to but when it does it's awful. I didn't get more than an hour's sleep on any stretch and so I didn't think I'd manage anything today, but we had porridge mixed with dried fruit for breakfast, off we went and it was brilliant.

The trails were nice and easy. Gravel tracks and wooded paths. There was one very knarly bit with a series of protruding tree roots which proved interesting but we're learning to just let the bike roll and do its thing and it'll get you there. And it did. 😊

Further along Colin flagged us down and asked how we liked the bikes. A leader in his local TRF group (Trail Riders Fellowship) he was a great source of knowledge and a good natter was had. "Did you get over the tree roots?". We felt quite proud to be able to say they were no bother!

Motorbikes, pedestrians, cyclists and horses all sharing a space amicably. Just as it should be. Everyone smiling and friendly and all enjoying the day.

We found a lovely tea room for lunch. A robin kept joining us and even sat on the bench beside us at one point.

We'd finished the trails we had set to do and so decided to ride to Eastbourne. How sad the seafront looked. The remnants of the hotel that burnt down, another covered in scaffold and looking dilapidated, the pier closed and generally no people. Admittedly it was quite chilly today but normally the place would be pretty busy with tourists. The pandemic is clearly keeping people away. Such a shame.

The Long Man of Wilmington, thought to have originated in the 16th or 17th century AD.

Lying in bed listening to the wind and feeling the tent shaking around was quite something. It made it a bit cold but we were reasonably snug wrapped up in our sleeping bags. I may have taken a hot water bottle with me... 😂. It would be nice to camp in good weather. So far this year we've pitched up in heavy rain, with millions of midges or with high winds, but hey, never mind.

A good weekend that's given us lots of food for thought and tweaks to make to the camping. It is lovely to be home by the fire now though... 🔥 😊

Let’s go camping she said…

First drop!

And we didn’t drop the bike