This years
cycling was always going to be a little adhoc as the main priority of this
summer was my wifes gall bladder operation in London. I did try and be a little
proactive and initially planned 2 weeks at the start of the summer in which I
planned to cycle to Narvik up the middle of Sweden but this was cancelled as
Susie was admitted to hospital with gall bladder pain so I stayed behind to
keep an eye on her. I then decided that I needed to solve this issue I have with
not being able to travel with a bike within Sweden so I bought a Brompton but
this failed to arrive in time so that will have to be for next year.
Cut a long
story short we came back to the UK for Susie to have her gall bladder removed
and to have some vacation. At the end of our stay I added another week to my
planned time away from my client in Stockholm and instead picked up a hired
bike from “On Your Bike” in London Bridge. Took it back to our hotel and packed
a few essentials in the panniers they supplied before catching a train down to
Brighton. SJ in Sweden could learn so much from the British train operators as
the whole country is accessible by bike using the train. I don’t often have
anything to say against Sweden but this has proven to be one of my personal
disappointments.
Once at
Brighton I literally just turned right and followed the coast.
The bike is
a Trek 520 touring bike which is actually the first time I have ever had a real
touring bike as I have done all my cycling on a bog standard hybrid that I use
to do to work. Very sturdy and capable of taking quite a load it’s a bit
overkill for my 2 lightly loaded panniers. However I can see why they say that
a bike like this could be used to circumnavigate the world as she is certainly
sturdy. A little lower though than my normal bike caused by the tyres being
that bit more heavy duty.
From
Brighton I cycled through Shoreham by Sea and Worthing where I stopped briefly
to talk to a fellow touring cyclist from Iran. Always nice to chat to random
strangers and share experiences. From Worthing the route took me to Bognor
Regis (where decades ago my mum and dad took me to Butlins). Up to Chichester
which I bypassed and to Havant which is where I changed my route having
discovered that there was a ferry from Hayling Island over to Portsea Island.
Hayling Island is some where I was last on back in 1979 when Roger and I went
on a cycling holiday together just before we both joined the army.
That trip
saw us cycle from Hereford to Farnborough and pitching a tent in my Aunty
Sarahs garden before cycling down to Hayling Island and back. Our experiences
of that were rather damp as it poured with rain the whole time we were then
hence our return to Farnborough to recuperate. Once that was done we cycled
down to the Bovington tank museum before heading back to Hereford via Bristol
and the Severn Bridge. Sadly we didn’t make it to Hereford and rang my parents
and asked if they could give us a life back from St Arvans outside Chepstow. No
such options this year
Once on
Portsea I cycled up to Southsea where I had intended catching a ferry to Ryde
but then I happened to cycled past the hovercraft service so never having been
on a hovercraft before I decided to try that out and promptly arrived in Ryde.
Checked in at the Esplanade Hotel (terrible bed) and hardly slept a wink.
Combination of too big a meal and the storm that raged all night.
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