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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