Last minute preparations

Today the last of the rescued bats I have been caring for were transferred to Suffolk Bat Rescue prior to release back to the wild. This marks the end of an intense, immense four and a half year stint of bat work, which has to stop because of my allergy to the mealworms these bats eat whilst in captivity.

So with a mixture of sadness and excitement, I am getting ready for the Big One: the tour of Britain, which starts in 3 days' time.  The Kent hills last week have made me nervous of planning ahead too assiduously, and of making any more grandiose statements about when we might reach the Shetlands, or Devon. I'll be glad if we get to King's Lynn in one piece, to be honest.

Isfield, East Sussex

The weather forecast is for snow on our first night, and as a result I can't seem to get my head round packing clothes for hot sunny days - all I can think about is skiwear.

My brain is also struggling with how I should cook my food/boil water for tea etc. There are endless considerations.  I managed perfectly well on the Brighton trip with a homemade meths stove but, whilst camp site shops sell gas cannisters for stoves, I think meths may be harder to come by. (Dogs aren't allowed in B&Q).

However, having learnt today from the man in Cotswold Outdoors that a small gas cannister (£2.50) will fuel about 24 hours' worth of cooking and tea-making, I went straight to my local hardware store for 5 litres of meths for £12, which would see me to the Shetlands and back, via Devon. Not that anyone would want to carry that much. But the economics are clear. 

Meanwhile I have spent so much on kit - tent, sleeping bag, mattress, panniers, lights, solar charging system etc etc - that getting beyond King's Lynn is essential if the economics of the trip are to make any sense at all. Let's hope it's stopped snowing by then.

Shake-down ride to Brighton

My mum moved to Brighton from Hertfordshire some 7 months ago and I still hadn't seen her new apartment before this trip. The plan was to take three days over the 140 miles, staying with a friend in Brentwood the first night and camping the second.

But the nearer we got to departure, the more apprehensive I felt about the distance of the first leg and then the Downs after that. So I added an extra day, a shortish hop from home to Sudbury where we camped in a garden courtesy of Warm Showers host Paul, who was kind and helpful and welcoming.

Next day we set off in the rain for Brentwood, some 40 miles away, the trailer feeling like a deadweight on the climb out of the Stour Valley with traffic thundering past on the A131. A bit later I realised the trailer had punctured, which accounted for the dragging feeling.  We were on a rough lane at this point and 10 minutes after fixing the puncture (easy enough on the trailer), its other tyre went flat. Always seems to happen in the rain. 

I was dreading finding our way through Chelmsford on this Saturday afternoon but the ride through Admiral's Park on a metalled, traffic-free, waymarked path to Writtle was a joy. Terry lives right in the middle of Brentwood and it was nearly dark by the time we rolled in, tired and hungry, to a warm welcome, hot bath and large supper.

The Tilbury-Gravesend ferry is undoubtedly the best way to cross the Thames by bicycle for our purposes. Unfortunately it doesn't run on Sundays. Rather than take our chances with the free pickup service in operation on the QEII bridge at Dartford, I gratefully accepted Terry's kind offer of a lift to Eynsford in her capacious Berlingo. 

Eynsford, buzzing with cyclists, looked pretty in the morning sunshine as we faced a 10 mile ride to Oldbury Hill campsite. An easy day, I thought, quite wrongly as it turned out. The hills were steep and long going up, scary going down.

The campsite was good, adjacent to lovely woodland which was perfect for walking Raisin and we set off next morning for Crowborough campsite, deciding - in view of the hilly terrain - to add yet another day to the trip rather than push on to Brighton. The Camping and Caravanning Club lady at Oldbury said we didn't need to book as 'backpackers' are never turned away from Club sites but I rang and left a message anyway. 

Which was as well, because the site was too wet and slippery to take any tents. By the time I received this news it was raining and difficult to use the touch screen on my phone, but it appeared all the nearby sites were also closed. My support team at home found a bed and breakfast that would take me and the dog, south of Crowborough. 

Ah, Crowborough! Home of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and knackered cyclists. As I was pushing up an endless hill into town, another cyclist, also on foot, overtook me saying "that's the trouble with Crowborough; the highest town in Sussex - it's a climb from every direction."

Anyway, by now extremely apprehensive about getting over the South Downs between us and Brighton, the next day was easier than expected. The only steep bits were in Lewes, after which a cycle path along the A27 took us all the way to Brighton pier. Mission accomplished.

Pre-adventure anxieties

Two and half weeks to go before we set off on the Big Adventure, a cycle tour round Britain's coast. It's all very exciting but a bit worrying too.

These are my main anxieties before we pedal forward into the unknown (in no particular order):

1. Having an accident on the road where Raisin is injured
2. Raisin getting stolen
3. Raisin being attacked by another dog
4. Wanting to come home at the first serious set back
5. Getting hospitalised and separated from Raisin
6. Getting attacked/hassled
7. Not being able to find enough food and water (because won't leave Raisin outside shops)
8. Not being able to find safe places to sleep
9. Not being able to find enough play areas for Raisin
10. Raisin getting too hot in the trailer
11. Raisin getting spooked and not liking the trailer
12. Having to ask for help
13. Being able to accept help without feeling bad
14. Trailer breaking/failing
15. Tent catching fire
    
16. Feeling lonely
17. Being too shy/pathetic to talk to people
18. Not enjoying it
19. Getting depressed
20. Giving up/wimping out
21. Spending too much money
22. That I won't be able to be keep to vegan diet
23. Raisin being aggressive to other dogs/people
24. Finding that my (unhelpful, negative) beliefs about my self, other people, the world and the future stay exactly the same
25. Finding that pubs are the best places to warm up, rest, get food and water...and finding the temptation of lager too much to resist (after 2 1/4 years of sobriety) 

Testing the tent...Storm Katie

Had an eventful trip to Hertfordshire on Easter Saturday, with 50 miles - including some off-road sections on muddy tracks - into a powerful headwind that made progress difficult. It was another very slow journey and despite setting off from Bury at 8am, by the time we arrived at Malcolm's (my step father-to-be) house in Braughing all daylight was gone. It was also cold, raining heavily and blowing a gale so I ditched the plan to camp in the garden.

But the next night Raisin and I did camp in the garden, with some bee hives standing sentinel, for our first time under canvas together. Despite the best efforts of Storm Katie our little tent survived the night unscathed, and we remained warm and dry, if a little traumatised by the wind's strange roar.  

There's not much room in the tent for anything other than lying down, but it is lightweight and packs up small for carrying on the bike. Very cosy!

It was still blowy the next morning, as you can see from the video.

Malcolm has about 40 bee hives in various places; we went out towards nearby Furneux Pelham to check one of his apiaries for wind damage. All was OK. The bees are 'cuddling' in this chilly weather and hiding from the wind he told me. Sensible animals. We rode home the next day enjoying sunshine and a tailwind all the way.  

Bury St Edmunds to Mersea: a tale of two aunts

Before setting off round the country, it seems wise to do some test runs so we can be confident: a) the bike and other equipment is fit for purpose; b) my legs are up to the job; and c) Raisin and I are going to enjoy ourselves.

With this in mind, we did our first major ride this week, which was 45 miles to visit my Aunt Rose in West Mersea on the Essex coast, and back the following day. It took ages. The speed was low and we had frequent stops for games of 'balley', which Raisin adores.

We went via Lavenham and took this photo of the plaque outside Little Hall, which commemorates another of my aunts, Aunt Eve, who was a volunteer there and did a lot to put it on the map. The bit about her says "This sign is dedicated to the memory of Eve Ranzetta who wanted people to know about this house and its contents."

Little Hall was home to many families over six centuries from medieval clothiers through to the Gayer Anderson twin brothers who filled it with their collection of antiques and antiquities.

 Since 1974, generations of volunteers have looked after it and shared its delights with thousands of visitors as the only medieval residential property in Lavenham open to the public.

Today it is the only Lavenham property in Simon Jenkins’ book England’s Thousand Best Houses and still retains the atmosphere of a friendly, family home. [Source: Little Hall website]

47 miles after setting off from Bury St Edmunds (we got a bit lost around Colchester), it was a relief to arrive at Mersea, to a warm welcome, tea and cake.  The tide was out, as it was 12 hours later (such is the way of tides) so no chance of a swim even if we wanted one. A lone cockle (or perhaps winkle) picker was out on the mud flats when Raisin and I took an early stroll the next day before heading back to Bury.  A successful test of kit, patience (canine) and legs (human).

Adventures by bicycle

We are planning a bike ride round the coast of Britain, starting later in April, from the Suffolk seaside.  There is lots to sort out but we have the bike and trailer already.

Others have helpfully written about this journey (eg Josie Dew and Anna Hughes) which is about 4,000 miles.

For the next month or so me and Raisin will be getting used to long rides and deciding what kit to take and how to carry it all.