5 Hours later we were back up again getting dressed to leave the Travelodge for 9am. Slightly tired but keen to get going we had breakfast at the Little Chef next door and found somewhere to stay for the 2 nights we were going to be in Dublin.
The route that had been selected was to carry on travelling along the A5 then taking joining the A55 to take us into Holyhead. This sounded like a perfect route taking in the Snowdonia National Park and passing Snowdon itself. From prior experience, I knew we were in for a visual treat.
So off we left at 9am on the dot in blue skies dotted sparsly with fluffy clouds. I couldn't have asked for a better start. Along we travelled down the A5 enjoying the winding, smooth roads (of the like we wish to see in England) taking in the views of the mountains which never fail to look anything but spectacular. As we approached Snowdonia, the skies began to grey and the rain started to fall lightly. Now the last time I was in this part of the world, I didn't pay attention to the warning signs and ignored the light rain in the hope that it would pass. It rained for 24 hours without a break and I was completely soaked! Not this time. Finding a suitable place to stop we opened the brand new rainsuits and geared up in all their bright red glory, much to Nikki's embarrasment!
We carried on and approaching Snowdon, the heavens opened and I was very glad to have my rainsuit on. Unfortunately, as the rain came down, so did my concentration and like any trip that I seem to plan, I took the wrong exit! Up we travelled along the A470 towards the A55 and although pleasant enough, did not compare to the A5. We reached Holyhead at 12pm in time for a bite to eat before heading for the ferry.
Finding the hotel wasn't too bad and riding in Dublin reminded me a lot of riding in London with the traffic being very heavy as we'd arrived slap bang in the middle of rush hour!
After some relaxing and a shower we found our meal for the evening then settled down for some much needed sleep having been travelling for 8 hours on the bike and 3 on the ferry in the last 24.
Saturday 21 May 2011
Friday 20 May 2011
I'm knackered! Part 1
So I'm writing this from my hotel room in Dublin (The Gresham - wouldn't come back!).
Hotel room? I thought you were camping??
Well, this was the idea but I think, as they say, fail to prepare then prepare to fail! Never was a saying so true! I thought after our ride that everything would be ok and that the sleeping bag would fit easily into the topbox as it had come vacuum packed and quite small. Fitting it into its bag was a bit of a shock. It is huge! Huge enough to take up nearly 52 litres of space! Unfortunately, this only became clear at about 8pm yesterday evening by which time we should have already left the house...
Given that we were running late already, an executive decision was made to say stuff it to the camping and we'd have to settle with B&B's! Not ideal in terms of cost and I was actually looking forward to sleeping under the stars for a few nights at least.
I will approach solutions to this problem on our return!
So after our last minute panic and trying different solutions we left at 9pm just as the sun was setting. I've not undertaken a journey so long at such a late time but I think the excitement and adrenaline were keeping me alert and after an hour and a bit we were due a petrol stop at which point we refuelled ourselves too with tea and redbull. The latter perked me up to a point further than I had expected and I spent the rest of our 200 mile journey to the Travelodge in Oswestry with my eyes wide open "making good progress"!!! The roads were quiet and our last stint on the A5 was so quiet that there were large spells without seeing a single car. I'd also opted to try out the Google GPS Navigation on the phone which I had successfully used in the car a couple of weeks previously. This time however, I only had my headphones to rely on. After sitting in silence for quite a while, evil psycho google navigation woman kicked in scaring the shit out of me, especially as I'd neglected to test the volume before setting off so not only did she sound evil, she was shouting at me too!
After 3.5 hours of riding and some fantastically accurate, if not scary directions, we made it to our Travelodge destination, checked in, discovered a dodgy window, swapped rooms and fell asleep promptly!
Hotel room? I thought you were camping??
Well, this was the idea but I think, as they say, fail to prepare then prepare to fail! Never was a saying so true! I thought after our ride that everything would be ok and that the sleeping bag would fit easily into the topbox as it had come vacuum packed and quite small. Fitting it into its bag was a bit of a shock. It is huge! Huge enough to take up nearly 52 litres of space! Unfortunately, this only became clear at about 8pm yesterday evening by which time we should have already left the house...
Given that we were running late already, an executive decision was made to say stuff it to the camping and we'd have to settle with B&B's! Not ideal in terms of cost and I was actually looking forward to sleeping under the stars for a few nights at least.
I will approach solutions to this problem on our return!
So after our last minute panic and trying different solutions we left at 9pm just as the sun was setting. I've not undertaken a journey so long at such a late time but I think the excitement and adrenaline were keeping me alert and after an hour and a bit we were due a petrol stop at which point we refuelled ourselves too with tea and redbull. The latter perked me up to a point further than I had expected and I spent the rest of our 200 mile journey to the Travelodge in Oswestry with my eyes wide open "making good progress"!!! The roads were quiet and our last stint on the A5 was so quiet that there were large spells without seeing a single car. I'd also opted to try out the Google GPS Navigation on the phone which I had successfully used in the car a couple of weeks previously. This time however, I only had my headphones to rely on. After sitting in silence for quite a while, evil psycho google navigation woman kicked in scaring the shit out of me, especially as I'd neglected to test the volume before setting off so not only did she sound evil, she was shouting at me too!
After 3.5 hours of riding and some fantastically accurate, if not scary directions, we made it to our Travelodge destination, checked in, discovered a dodgy window, swapped rooms and fell asleep promptly!
Ready to go!
So after fitting the luggage racks and riding with them empty over the weekend I figured it would be best to take the bike out for a test run fully laden.
Cases filled we jumped on the bike and the rain started to fall. Nothing like getting out on some slippy winding roads for your first test on the bike with large amounts of luggage!
The first thing I noticed was the weight distribution. Not only was the weight mostly at the back of the bike, the added combination of the weight sticking out from the sides of the bike made slow maneuvers interesting to stay the least. 30mins onwards and it felt like I could cope with it easy enough or so I thought....
Cases filled we jumped on the bike and the rain started to fall. Nothing like getting out on some slippy winding roads for your first test on the bike with large amounts of luggage!
The first thing I noticed was the weight distribution. Not only was the weight mostly at the back of the bike, the added combination of the weight sticking out from the sides of the bike made slow maneuvers interesting to stay the least. 30mins onwards and it felt like I could cope with it easy enough or so I thought....
Monday 16 May 2011
What happened in the last 2 months!
So, looking at the last date I posted it was just over 2 months ago! I've been lazy...
A lot has happened since back in March. I had just posted that Nikki had been on the bike for the first time and we were getting along with the bike just fine.
After a couple of weeks we had the first signs of warm weather on the 19th March. Hurridly, we packed a change of clothes and wash stuff into a rucksack on the saturday morning, jumped on the bike and rode into the distance...
We found ourselves heading down through the New Forest and west along the south coast. After a small stop in Lyme Regis later in the afternoon it was the point of deciding whether we should carry on and stay out overnight or carry on and stay out overnight. We decided that there was a B&B not far off from where we were that we'd stayed at last year in Kingswear near Dartmouth. Thanks to our handy new phones, we found the number quickly, confirmed a bed and headed off arriving just before sunset which was perfect timing in my opinion!
If anyone is interested, the B&B we stayed at was called Nonsuch House - http://www.nonsuch-house.co.uk/. If you're ever in the area, I would highly recommend a stay. The scenery and views from the rooms are outstanding and is in my opinion, the perfect getaway for a weekend away from the city. The breakfasts are also fab!
This was the view from our room!
Anyway, back to the bike!
Whilst chomping our way through a hearty breakfast, Nikki wondered how far Lands End was from Dartmouth. Now, my geography is good enough to tell you where abouts in the country places are but distances, I seem to be a bit worse with! The seed had been planted for a thought to the southern most tip and soon enough we were packed up and on our way.
We eventually arrived at around 3pm, a little achey, tired and hungry! There weren't many people about and most of the touristy shops were shut but we managed to get some food, took some snaps and started to make our way back. All in all, we were out on the bike, riding, for a total of 10 hours. This was a good learning curve for the both of us. I found out I couldn't spend an infinite amount of time on the bike and we came to the conclusion that 200 miles was around the maximum distance or 5 hours was the maximum travel time for one day - whichever was reached first.
Since then, the weather has warmed up further, the evenings have become longer and England's green and pleasant land has become green once again after the harsh coldness of winter. Given the warm and dry spring we have experienced, riding past woodland with Bluebells in full bloom have been a delight being able to smell the perfumed air as we ride past.
We've had evenings out after work riding to the coast for dinner and weekends a plenty travelling around exploring our county and the surrounding ones. It feels like Nikki and I are spending more time together exploring the country together much like when were first dating. I'm definitely glad we're experiencing this together now.
Back to the impending Ireland trip! Nikki still hasn't looked through any of the Ireland stuff I went through. I'm in the process of now confirming the route. At least I have something productive to do on my train journeys for the rest of the week!
We've now bought the luggage racks and top box and panniers for the bike. I've never experienced so much frustration. Different bolts required to get it to fit, bolting bits to different parts of the bike it took an entire day just to fit the panniers! The finished result is this though and it seems like we can fit loads in all the boxes (41 litres per pannier and 52 on the topbox!).
The rest of the week will be spent practicing riding with the boxes loaded up ready to leave on Thursday night!
A lot has happened since back in March. I had just posted that Nikki had been on the bike for the first time and we were getting along with the bike just fine.
After a couple of weeks we had the first signs of warm weather on the 19th March. Hurridly, we packed a change of clothes and wash stuff into a rucksack on the saturday morning, jumped on the bike and rode into the distance...
We found ourselves heading down through the New Forest and west along the south coast. After a small stop in Lyme Regis later in the afternoon it was the point of deciding whether we should carry on and stay out overnight or carry on and stay out overnight. We decided that there was a B&B not far off from where we were that we'd stayed at last year in Kingswear near Dartmouth. Thanks to our handy new phones, we found the number quickly, confirmed a bed and headed off arriving just before sunset which was perfect timing in my opinion!
If anyone is interested, the B&B we stayed at was called Nonsuch House - http://www.nonsuch-house.co.uk/. If you're ever in the area, I would highly recommend a stay. The scenery and views from the rooms are outstanding and is in my opinion, the perfect getaway for a weekend away from the city. The breakfasts are also fab!
Anyway, back to the bike!
Whilst chomping our way through a hearty breakfast, Nikki wondered how far Lands End was from Dartmouth. Now, my geography is good enough to tell you where abouts in the country places are but distances, I seem to be a bit worse with! The seed had been planted for a thought to the southern most tip and soon enough we were packed up and on our way.
We eventually arrived at around 3pm, a little achey, tired and hungry! There weren't many people about and most of the touristy shops were shut but we managed to get some food, took some snaps and started to make our way back. All in all, we were out on the bike, riding, for a total of 10 hours. This was a good learning curve for the both of us. I found out I couldn't spend an infinite amount of time on the bike and we came to the conclusion that 200 miles was around the maximum distance or 5 hours was the maximum travel time for one day - whichever was reached first.
Since then, the weather has warmed up further, the evenings have become longer and England's green and pleasant land has become green once again after the harsh coldness of winter. Given the warm and dry spring we have experienced, riding past woodland with Bluebells in full bloom have been a delight being able to smell the perfumed air as we ride past.
We've had evenings out after work riding to the coast for dinner and weekends a plenty travelling around exploring our county and the surrounding ones. It feels like Nikki and I are spending more time together exploring the country together much like when were first dating. I'm definitely glad we're experiencing this together now.
Back to the impending Ireland trip! Nikki still hasn't looked through any of the Ireland stuff I went through. I'm in the process of now confirming the route. At least I have something productive to do on my train journeys for the rest of the week!
We've now bought the luggage racks and top box and panniers for the bike. I've never experienced so much frustration. Different bolts required to get it to fit, bolting bits to different parts of the bike it took an entire day just to fit the panniers! The finished result is this though and it seems like we can fit loads in all the boxes (41 litres per pannier and 52 on the topbox!).
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