Post Mortem

Back road near Okehampton

November wasn't the best time of year, with the short days giving only 9 hours of light. The worst aspect of autumn were the rare days of sun; the flat light and general gloom were a bit depressing. It was good for stealth camping in England though, as I'd often put the tent up as the light was fading, and then be gone at first light. So towpaths and assorted farmer's fields were used with impunity!

I'm not sure if the winds would be more favourable in the summer. I had headwinds every day, and some were absolute pigs! There was a good northerly one day, but I missed that as it coincided with my enforced break in Nuneaton! And Storm Clodagh kindly blew me from Land's End to Penzance where I took a train back to Inverness.  I hardly had to pedal!

The kit all worked fine. I had a pair of rear Ortlieb panniers, an Ortlieb bar bag, and a 12 litre dry bag which fitted along the top of the rack. I took an Ortlieb 4 litre waterbag, two aluminium billies, an MSR 'Pocket Rocket' stove, and a 1 litre plastic measuring jug to use as a mug (perfect!). I slept on a Thermarest 'NeoAir XLite' mattress (350 grams and packs to nothing), and used a medium-weight sleeping bag which was often too warm due to the very mild weather.  In Scotland

Great Glen Way

I used a Vaude Hogan Ultralight for the first three days, then swapped it for a Vaude Power Lizard, only because the Lizard was a sandy colour and would be better for stealth camping. It only weighed 1050 grams, and had plenty of room for one person, and enough space in the vestibule to cook under cover, a big plus in November! It wasn't as stable in high winds as I'd hoped, and the foot of the sleeping bag would often get damp during heavy rain and wind. It easily fitted inside a pannier.

Dundas Aqueduct, Kennet & Avon Canal

I carried a 1/2 litre flask, wrapped in insulating mat to keep it secure in the bottle carrier, and a standard drinks bottle. The flask was great for stops where there were no cafes, but I might not bother with it for a summer trip. I picked up sandwiches for lunch most days, had a late morning cafe stop, and usually avoided carrying evening meal food, just buying it that afternoon if possible. I'd try and fill up the 4 litre waterbag in the late afternoon if I was camping, or buy a couple of bottles of water to see me through to the next morning.

I took 'Middlemarch' by George Eliot, to read, tearing out the pages as I read them, and using them to help dry the boots if they'd got wet. Sorry about that George.

Horse was a Dawes Galaxy Cross, steel, with disc brakes. I thought the brakes would be great, but they wore quite quickly and needed to be adjusted regularly to be effective. I had both sets replaced in Nuneaton, and the rear ones were only worn across 3/4 of the surface, so hadn't been set up properly in the shop where I bought the bike. One of the tyres need replacing at about the halfway point; the side wall was starting to blow out even though there was still plenty of tread left.  I had 12 punctures, all on off-road sections. 10 of these were caused by thorns on canal towpaths; apparently they cut the hedges at the end of the summer and leave the cuttings lying on the path. Next time I'd fit  Shwalbe Marathon Plus. Did I say next time?!! Some of the towpaths were really hard going due to the mud and grass. Obviously they were do-able on the touring bike and road tyres, but knobby tyres would have made a huge difference on the canals, and on some of the single-track sections of the Great Glen Way.


With a combination of very undulating back roads, tortuous progress on the canal systems, headwinds, soakings and pressure of short days it felt like the hardest thing I'd ever done. But I managed to lose half a stone, despite ending up with quads like Lindford Christie!

KIT LIST

Ortlieb Handlebar Bag containing:
Diary/Compass/Camera/Phone/Pebble Explorer battery pack/Headlamp/Multitool/Puncture repair kit/Tyre levers/Maps for the day/Folding knife/First aid

Ortlieb 12 litre dry bag along top of rear rack containing:
Buffalo mountain shirt/Spare gloves (I took 3 pairs: fingerless gloves, full finger unlined/full finger lined & waterproof (in theory!)/Overtrousers/Lightweight waterproof shell jacket

Ortlieb rear pannier set containing:
4 season sleeping bag/Ortlieb 4 litre waterbag/two nesting aluminium billies/MSR 'Pocket Rocket' stove/lighter/gas cartridge/Small square scourer/1 litre plastic measuring jug mug/'Spork'/Thermarest 'NeoAir XLite' mattress/Spare maps/Assorted cable ties/Gear & brake cables/Small pack towel/Hand sanitizer/Tooth stuff/Small tub 'Baby Butter'/Vaude tent/Book/Spare clothing/Tea and coffee bags/Instant porridge

1 700ml water bottle
1 1/2 litre flask

Clothing
Salomon lightweight boots
1 pr short neoprene gaiters (great for keeping the water out of boot tops)
2 prs socks
2 prs thermal undies
1 pr thermal leggings
2 thermal tops
1 lightweight stetch fleece pants
1 Ron Hill-style pants
1 lightweight marino T shirt (pub wear)
1 Vaude soft shell top
1 padded cycle shorts
1 Lightweight cycle shell jacket
1 pr waterproof overtrousers
1 Buff-style windsock hat
1 Buffalo mountain shirt
3 prs gloves
1 wool hat
1 lightweight climbing helmet

I took 2 Ortlieb compression dry bags, one to squash down the sleeping bag, and the other to compress spare clothes

It was unseasonably mild, so I usually cycled in boots/Ron Hills/thermal top/soft shell jacket/unlined full finger gloves.
When the temperature dropped for the last few days, and after a couple of bad soakings, I wore fleece pants, and the Buffalo mountain shirt with nothing underneath. Perfect!