Berries, beaches, and bikes: A ride around Kent

It's that time of year when good-weather riding days demand to be taken advantage of, as you never know which one could be your last for a long while.

A couple of weeks ago the forecast called for sunny skies and nice temperatures so we decided to head out and try another of the routes from the Lost Lanes book. After spending the previous few weeks looking longingly at the wild blackberries that seem to grow all over England's country lanes, we brought some tupperwares along this time. It turned out to be a great decision and a great ride.

Hyde Park in the early morning

We took the train to Canterbury where we set out to do the Crab and Winkle route from the book. We decided to ride it in reverse so as to be in Whitstable for lunch time, as we have a good friend there who we could visit with.

Cycling through a quiet Canterbury on a Sunday morning

We were barely 500m from the station when Alberto noticed a problem with his chain. He had changed the chain recently but had routed it wrongly through the derailleur. We hadn't brought all the proper tools given that it was only a 50km ride but we had enough to make it work, so after about 15 minutes we were on our way again.

Densely leaved lanes

The route took us out of Canterbury on bike paths and then onto country lanes. The sun was shining, the roads were quiet -- it was one of those days where you want to give the inventors of the bicycle a big hug.

Kentish sunshine

There weren't as many berries around as on previous trips, perhaps because we were in a different area or because it is later in the season. But we soon found enough to fill two large tupperwares. As we smugly picked berries on the side of the road I could see people passing cars filled with jealousy.

Roadside picking

The route was truly lovely and we soon reached the beach at Reculver. From there we cycled along the coastal path to Whitstable. The first section was truly excellent a lovely grassy hill above the sea. As we hit Herne Bay things got a bit more built up and the final section into Whitstable was along a promenade of sorts - nice views but with a lot of people to dodge and plenty of bumps in the pavement. Still it was lovely to feel like we were squeezing the last bits of summer out of the year by going to the beach.

First sight of the sea

We arrived in Whitstable at about 1pm and met up with our friend Carol for a quick lunch at her place and a coffee and freshly made donut by the beach. Then it was time to head for our train. Here we diverted from the last bit of the book's route (the Crab and Winkle Way, a disused railway line that heads all the way to Canterbury) and took the roads to the train station in Faversham in order to save time.

Whitstable

We got home and got to baking our blackberry cake and drinking our blackberry smoothies. A perfect way to extend our enjoyment of the ride into the week.

Memories of the Dunwich Dynamo 2013

The sense of excitement that builds throughout the day on Saturday as you do your final preparations. The first glimpse of other Dynamo riders as you exit the canal at Broadway Market. The happiness of meeting new friends and friends-of-friends amongst the thousands of cyclists assembled at London Fields. The looks of disbelief on the faces of pedestrians as you pedal out of London. The coolest feeling when a perfect stranger rides up to you and says, "Machacas on Wheels!"

The increasing intensity of hundreds blinking red lights as the sun starts to set. The swift breeze as a set of fast club riders overtake you. The short-sighted pleasure of going a bit faster than you probably should so early in the ride. The unusual privilege of getting to ride two-abreast on a major road. The echoes of voices of all accents shouting "Car!" when one approaches. The worried feeling that comes after yawning when it isn't even midnight yet.

The panic of coming around a bend and having to stop suddenly because hundreds of cyclists are blocking the road outside the pub. The taste of peanut M&Ms at the moment when you can't imagine anything more delicious. The feeling of adventure as you set off into proper night riding in the countryside.

The sound of happy cyclists chatting all around you. The confusion of hundreds of cyclists queueing to walk their bikes through a narrow bit of roadworks. The sound of cleated shoes shuffling on plywood ramps over the makeshift bridge. The comfort of knowing the halfway stop is only just on the other side of the queue.

The utter ridiculousness of losing one of your ride companions when they miss the turnoff for the feed stop. The sight of hundreds of cycles and cyclists lying on the ground of the carpark. The restorative effect of a hot, caffinated beverage. The excitement of seeing "sunrise in 2 hours 24 minutes" on the GPS screen.

The sight of the sun rising ahead of you as you pedal into the dawn. The smell of bacon being cooked up by an enterprising local resident. The warm familiarity of visiting Needham Lake in the early morning hours. The increasingly tired looks on your fellow riders faces. The serendipity of coming across the free tea and coffee stand just when you start to get seriously worried about your ability to stay awake.

The final push into Dunwich through green fields and quiet lanes. The feeling of a light summer shower on your forearms. The joy of arriving into Dunwich with someone who has done it for the first time. The smugness of getting out your camp stove and cooking up bacon baps on the beach. The unfairness that it is slightly too cold to enjoy a morning on the beach. The smile that creeps accross your face when you see the thousands of other people who have done the same crazy thing with their Saturday night.

A Perfect Saturday Ride

London is enjoying an unusual spell of actual nice, warm, sunny, predictable weather. We don't know how long it will last but we'll try to get in all the rides we can while it's here! Looking at last weekend's forecast called for a ride to the beach. It just had to be done! But how to get to a beach on one of the nicest days of the year, without encountering tons of  traffic on the roads and on the trains back to London? We decided to turn to a new book on cycling Southern England, Lost Lanes, for inspiration.

Lost Lanes is written by Jack Thurston who hosts a bike radio show / podcast that we're fans of. We agreed to test ride a ride for him back in December so were sent a free copy of the book when it was recently published. The book is an absolute joy to read and Jack's love of cycling shines through. As often happens with cycling books aimed at a broad audience, many of the rides are shorter than we would consider a full day's ride, but Jack makes them sound so enticing that we want to try them out anyway.

We selected ride number 9, Turf and Surf, which would take us from Chichester to the Blue Flag awarded West Wittering beach. In order to put a few kms into our legs (and get cheaper train tickets!) we decided catch a train to Horsham and then plot a route from Horsham to Chichester where we would pick up Jack's route.

Quiet lanes, South Downs in the distance

It was a great day to ride a bike. We enjoyed quiet lanes out of Horsham and even got some off-roading in over the South Downs via the Slindon Estate. We had taken our Long Haul Truckers specicifically for that purpose, but still destroyed our arms on the off-road descent with no front suspension!

Great trail conditions on the descent, suspension would have been useful!

The off-roading (and the need to reapply sunscreen a few times!) meant that it took us a bit longer than planned to get to Chichester. We stopped there to pick up some picnic food from Marks and Spencers and then picked up Jack's route out of town. Because there was a ferry on the route that only ran til 6pm, we opted to ride Jack's route backwards, so as to put the ferry on the first half of the trip.

It was a great, quiet route and we saw many other cyclists. We passed Barreg Cycles in Fishbourne (just as Jack promised we would) and stopped to admire their unusual collection. Next it was on to Bosham, which has a road which floods twice a day, every day at high tide (we had checked to make sure this wouldnt be an issue for us on the ride!).

View of Bosham from the road that floods with the tides

We caught the Itchenor Ferry with our bicycles and ten minutes later we were on the other side of the harbour, picking up the Salterns Way cycle route and heading towards the beach!

Alberto's bike being loaded onto the ferry

On the ferry

The traffic only picked up when we joined the main road a kilometer or two from the beach, so all in all  I think we did pretty well. The beach was packed, but it was such an expansive beach, and with no commercialisation along the seafront, that it really didn't matter. We set up our blankets on a small dune overlooking the beach, changed into our swimsuits and ate our picnic. I went for a swim and Alberto had a nap, and then we traded places.

West Wittering Beach

We weren't the only people to have brought their bikes to the beach by a long shot - but we may have been the only ones to bring bikes worth more than two months' rent! - so we had to babysit them. It was certainly one of the best beaches I've been to in the UK, and when it came time to leave, neither of us were ready.

Getting ready to leave (I'm applying sunscreen!)

We decided not to follow Jack's route back to Chichester and instead take the shortcut of the main road for a bit and then sought out some quiet roads that run parallel to it. This gave us longer at the beach, but Jack's description of the other part of the route is so evocative that I definitely feel we have unfinished business with it. We made it to Chichester just in time for our train back to London, rounding out a perfect Saturday ride and probably one of my top days on the bike in a long while.

Outer Hebrides Tour Part V: The Isle of Lewis

Despite being geographically all one island, everyone talks about the Isle of Harris and the Isle of Lewis as separate entities. After cycling the one road that links these two regions it is not at all hard to see why.

The road from Harris to Lewis

We started up the steep hill on the A859 expecting it to end just around the bend. It did ease up a bit but  the expected descent never came. We climbed, and climbed, and climbed some more on what was one of the busier roads of the trip (though still nothing compared to the southeast!).  It was a cloudy and chilly day which made things even tougher, and we stopped by the side of the road near the turnoff to Rhenigdale for a snack, wondering where this mountain had come from and why none of the blogs we had read had saw fit to mention it!

Stopping near the top of the climb on the way to Lewis

Soon after, the road finally turned downwards, only for us to pick up a headwind, so the cycling wasn't that much easier. At the bottom we were officially welcomed to the Isle of Lewis which Alberto was convinced was 'much flatter than Harris'. Where he gets these strange ideas I'll never know.  Throughout this entire stretch we hadn't passed a single building of any sort, to say nothing of a building where we could find food!

We could see that the town of Airdbruaich was coming up and hoped to find something there...but the town came and went without any commercial enterprises to speak of. Instead we pulled into a bus shelter (to escape the wind) next to the Bonnie Prince Charlie Memorial to make a lunch out of the food we could find in our panniers--cheese and tomato sandwhiches were the main items on the menu. It was already on the late side by this point so we knew we needed to press on -- back out into the wind it was.

Lunch in a bus shelter

We had entered back into civilisation though and it wasn't long before we came to the next town, Baile Allen and spotted a gallery/cafe with a sign saying 'Cyclists Welcome'. It was all the invitation we needed to escape from the elements and have a hot drink. The tea and scones were very good, if the owner was a bit of a character. She reminded me of Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter.

But it was past 5pm and we had our sights set on Stornoway where there was a campsite (it had been too many days without a shower!). The scones left us feeling a bit funny for the first few km but we soon settled into a rhythm and were thrilled to be rolling into Stornoway at 7pm. We made a beeline for the Coop as we weren't sure what time it would close (turns out 11pm so we had nothing to worry about). It is a gigantic Coop, definitely the biggest I have ever seen, and to us it was like we had hit the jackpot. We wandered around in a daze after a very tough day, trying to figure out what to buy and overwhelmed with choices. We ended up with lots of good stuff including steaks for dinner!

The campsite was just down the road so we made our way there and got the tent set up before sundown. There's nothing special about the location or facilities but it was nice to be able to take a long hot shower. They even had a hairdryer which at that time felt like the best thing that had ever happened to me! By the time we had set up camp, showered, and Alberto had briefly forayed into Stornoway for fuel for the stove,  we didn't get around to cooking until nearly 10pm and didn't get to bed until midnight.

Bacon for breakfast

The following morning we had a massive breakfast with more treats from the Stornoway coop including bacon. We planned a bit of a sightseeing day, as there seemed to be actually more stuff to 'do' in Lewis, and we knew we had to stay close enough to Stornoway to head back the following morning for our afternoon ferry. We were on the road about 10:30 to head to the west coast of Lewis via the Pentland Road, an inland lane that takes you through the heart of Lewis' peat bogs. It was a lovely, very quiet road and very scenic, although with quite a different feel to the scenery on Harris. We had a tailwind on this part of the journey which certainly helped a lot--once we hit the coastal road it was a different matter.

Pentland Road

We made it to Callanish and checked out the famous standing stones there. They were not too busy and it was nice to be able to walk around and through them. We then had a coffee and cake at the visitor's centre there and chatted with two women cyclists who were credit-card touring on road bikes with only a minimum of luggage. They had come from Tarbert that morning! They told us about a beach nearby, Dal Mhor, and said it was a great camping spot if we decided to camp in the area. It was still early so we decided to wait and see as we headed up the A859, into the headwind, towards Carlabagh and Na Gearannan.

Callanish standing stones

Na Gearannan is a traditional village of blackhouses (as they are called) which was abandoned in the 1980s as the dwindling numbers of aging residents could no longer handle the harsh life that was required by living in those houses. It has now been revitalised as a tourist centre with information about traditional island life. We spent some time checking out the village and ran into our Newcastle campervan friends again in the gift shop.

It was mid-afternoon by that point, and we decided just to head to Dal Mhor and make an easy day of it for once. It would have been very quick to get there along the coast via a footpath but we took the road instead as the path didn't seem suitable for bikes. Once more into the headwind and up a few more hills, and we were there.

Camp at Dal Mhor

It did not disappoint. It was once of the best locations of the whole trip, and with public toilets as well. There was a cemetery just next to the parking lot, overlooking the ocean. Not a bad place for a final resting spot! We picked an out-of-the-way spot for the tent and put it up, then went for a walk up the hill nearby to take in the views. We had the place pretty much to ourselves, with a car arriving every now and then with people taking a look around and then heading off again. Then a car pulled up which had MTBs, skis, and surf boards, and a dog. That's a good way to travel! The couple came out and went surfing for a little while, then got back in their car and headed off.

Taking in the views from above

We had an early (as in, before the sun went down) dinner of pasta followed by cous cous and prepped things for breakfast so that we didn't have to cook in the morning. We were in our sleeping bags by 9:30pm for our last night in the Hebrides.

Sunset at Dal Mhor

At 7am the next morning we were up, and on the road by 9:30 to head back to Stornoway, again via the Pentland Road. We enjoyed it as much as we had the first time around, even though we didn't have the same cracking tailwind. We arrived in Stornoway around 11:15am and again headed straight to the Coop to buy some salmon for Alberto and some lunch food for the ferry ride. We also went to the Hebridean Chocolates factory on a residential road nearby and bought some gifts (and of course some chocolate for us!)--it was delicious.

We went into town and Alberto stopped in at a pharmacy to pick up some sunscreen, as his nose and ears had gotten quite badly burned and were even blistering slightly. Finally we stopped at the Stornoway Fish Smokers where we ended up with some smoked cheddar cheese. We got some for us and some to give to our Newcastle campervan friends, who we knew would be on the same ferry.

Soon we were boarding the ferry back to the mainland, with only the final push to Inverness ahead of us before the end of our Outer Hebrides tour...

(to be continued!)

Touring the Outer Hebrides Part III: The Uists and Benbecula

The ferry docked at Eriskay

The ferry ride from Barra over to Eriskay was less than an hour long but we mainly spent it inside due to the cloudy and windy weather which made it uncomfortable to be outside when we weren't generating body heat by riding. We arrived on Eriskay and climbed a big hill almost immeadiately. Soon after, we realised that the wind was actually an incredibly tailwind for us -- we were in for a fast day's riding.

Eriskay is quite small and in no time we were pedalling across the causeway which links Eriskay to South Uist. We enjoyed the tailwind all the way to Daliburgh where we found a Coop to restock on food and have some lunch. We made ourselves sandwhiches in the Coop parking lot, using the building as a wind-block.

 A little further up the road we diverted off the main road as we were curious about a beach we saw on the map. It only took a few kilometers (with crosswind of course) to reach the western coast of the island, and we then realised there was a short path to take us to the village of Howmore, which we had intended to divert to as well. We did the path on the bikes without a problem with the exception of one section where sand had built up making riding impossible. Howmore has a Gatliff Trust hostel which we would have loved to have used had it coincided with a sensible sleeping point for us, but we took a look around nonetheless as it is based in a traditional Hebridean Blackhouse. There were also some ruins in the village of former churches and the like.

The path - Howmore in the distance

As it was still too early to stop we headed back to the main road and then decided to divert again, this time to the East on the B890 which was intriguing in that it was a relatively major road which seemingly went to nowhere. This was an incredibly rewarding ride despite the headwind on the outgoing leg, with a rugged landscape, plenty of wild ponies by the side of the road, and several adorable baby lambs.

Wild pony, wild landscape on the B890

We retraced our steps and let the wind carry us across the causeway onto Benbecula. We decided to take the long way around the island by diverting off of the main road, which was convenient as we passed another Coop (where we had to stop to buy a beer, as it must be bad luck to pass a Coop without stopping on this kind of tour!) and a campsite. The campsite really didn't look like anything special so we decided to press on looking for a wild camping spot - but it was nice to know that we could head back to it if we became desperate.

Fortunately we found a lovely wild camping spot on some machair overlooking the beach just a few km down the road. We set up camp and were preparing to cook dinner when the owner of the land pulled up in his car. He said there was no problem with us camping there but wanted to warn us not to go near the electrified fence on the other side of his property! Although we knew we were legally allowed to camp there it was still a bit of an awkward coversation - though he was nice enough and he soon left us to finish cooking dinner.

Wild camp spot on Benbecula

Dinner with a view (the fire looks weird because of the camera exposure, it was not acutally that big!)

The following morning we again took our time getting going, and once we did get on the road at about 10:30am we realised that we now had a pretty significant headwind as although we were generally heading north, the layout of the roads actually meant that we were heading eastwards, into the wind, for much of the time.

It was hard going cycling into the wind and the sighting of a hotel with cafe in Carinish was a welcome sight. We stopped in and had some of the best vegetable soup we've had in the UK. At this point we assessed our ferry options and realised we could take it very easy in the afternoon to make the evening ferry to Harris, so we decided to take the long way around the west of North Uist as well.

Excellent food at the Temple View Hotel

We stopped in at a smokehouse and Alberto bought some local salmon, and again explored some beaches off the main road. We ran into one of the cyclists from the ferry to Barra, he had already been up to Harris and was on his way back down, after his boat trip to St Kilda was cancelled due to low demand. We thought how sad it would be to go all that way and not be able to get to St Kilda, which he had always wanted to go to!

Later in the afternoon the wind had changed and we had a bit of a headwind again as we headed for the ferry to Harris. We were a bit worried about timings so didn't stop to pick up any food or water. We hoped we'd be able to find something on the other side and find a wild camp spot before sunset.

Heading for the ferry

(to be continued!)

Touring the Outer Hebrides Part II: The Isle of Barra

View of Castlebay as the ferry approaches

We arrived on Barra just before sunset and made our way the 5km or so to Vatersay, on the recommendation of both of the other cyclists on the ferry. It's a tiny island connected to Barra by a causeway, with beautiful beaches and very quiet. We managed to find the spot where apparently everyone wild camps, a stretch of machair and beach on both sides of the road. We later learned that there are public toilet facilities at one end of this area which we did not know to take advantage of - but we didn't miss them. We cooked a quick dinner of filled pasta with bacon and tomato sauce, and fell asleep to the sound of the waves gently breaking on the sand. We didn't know it yet, but we'd be camping next to the beach almost every night of the trip.

Our Vatersay campsite in the morning

We awoke to glorious sunny skies, if a bit cold. We were in no hurry as we planned to spend a second night on Barra (and it really is not that big!) so we went for a bit of a walk after breakfast, checking out some of our surroundings. It was very quiet, with just two other people camping in the area. I can imagine in the summer the space gets much more full of tents.

Beach on the other side of our camp spot

We explored the rest of Vatersay (there's not very much of it!) and then headed back onto Barra where we made a beeline for Castlebay. By this time it was nearly midday so we were thinking about food again! We explored the town (which took all of about 10 minutes) and stopped in at the tourist information office where they didn't seem to be so informed about the flights arriving and leaving from Barra airport - which was on our list of things to see. Luckily we had phone signal so were able to check on the internet and time our trip around the island accordingly.

Vatersay -- Cariribean or Outer Hebrides?

We ate lunch in Kismul Cafe right on the harbor, which features heavily in the BBC reality series An Island Parish that first alerted us to the existence of Barra. I felt a bit starstruck walking inside, as everything looked exactly as it did on TV! About halfway through our meal the owner of the cafe walked in who I had seen many times on the programme  - about as close to a celebrity as someone in the Outer Hebrides can get I imagine!

Exploring Barra

After lunch we set off counter-clockwise around Barra, which had some good hills but even better views. We made it to the airport with about an hour to spare so explored the peninsula to the north of it before heading back, eating a quick snack in the shelter from the wind, and waiting to watch the flight come in. Barra airport is the only one in the world that uses a beach as a runway for its regurlarly scheduled flights. The beach at low tide is expansive, but the flight times have to change a few minutes each day to stay in line with the tides. Alberto really wanted to stay and see the flight land and take off again, so we did. We had a quick tea in the airport's cafe (also the departure area -- the place was tiny) and then continued on our way around Barra.

Flight landing at Barra Airport

We decided that we could do with a shower after two nights of wild camping so we headed to the campsite near Borve on the west side of the island. It is a small campsite, with not a lot of room for actual tents, but we were the only tent staying there (along with a few campervans) so it worked for us. The facilities as still being worked on but there were really nice hot showers, a kitchen area with kettle and microwave, and a washing machine that was in the process of being installed. Much nicer than many of the campsites we've been to England, and all for £12 for the two of us.

We enjoyed our showers so much that it was again dark as we set to cooking dinner--egg noodles and veggie "stir fry" with a sweet chili sauce, plus some microwaveable rice packets as a second course. It was great to make use of the kitchen facilities for some of this and I can imagine if it was wet outside the kitchen would be a godsend.

Borve campsite

We woke up at what we believed to be 7am, plenty of time to get the 11am ferry to Eriskay... until we realised a few moments later that we had forgotten about the start of British Summer Time and it was actually 8! We packed relatively quickly and were fortunately able to get hot water from the kettle which made breakfast a lot quicker as well. It still took a good two hours, and we were on the road by 10:05 to cycle the 45 minutes to the ferry terminal (near the airport). We made it pretty much right on time!

(to be continued!)

Caught in the Rain: Friday Night Ride to Bognor Regis

Last Friday night, Alberto and I went out on our second Friday Night Ride to the Coast (and third ever night ride). This one was to Bognor Regis in West Sussex, with about 80 of us in attendance.

As with all Friday Night Rides, we met at Hyde Park Corner at 11:30pm and departed at midnight on the dot. Due to the recent disturbances, we took a different route out of London, and it seemed to me that we stopped less than on our previous rides as we were able to stick together a bit more.

When we finally got into the countryside it was past 2am. We rode along on country lanes, making small talk with various of the other riders, until it started to drizzle slightly just before the halfway stop at the Cabin Cafe in Faygate (which had opened especially for us!). No problem, I thought... we'll go inside for a snack and it'll clear up!

WRONG... It was still raining when we left the cafe and it was still raining when we arrived in Bognor Regis four hours later. I remember when we were in the cafe, BBC news was on and they showed the weather forecast. A huge groan rose up from the entire cafe, as we realised we were in for a night of terrible rain. Although my jacket was waterproof, after four hours of riding in the rain, the water had started to be absorbed on the slightly-less waterproof areas like the hems, and then slowly seeping upwards so that only my arms and waist were wet. And my feet! Oh, my feet were soaked. I was peddling in puddles inside my shoes.

Because of all the rain, Simon (the group leader) decided to alter the route a bit. Rather than walking through some fields and over a kissing gate (which would have avoided the hills of the South Downs) we stayed on the roads, going up and over on the A217. It was tough, but I actually LOVED the hill. In fact, I loved all the hills on this ride. They were rolling and not very steep, and I really felt that I could keep up my speed on them (and even pass some people!) which made me feel good.

My fingers and toes became wrinkled as if I had been in a long bath, and we both had to take our sunglasses (well, actually they are sunglasses with clear lenses, which we wear at night to protect our eyes, because we are that cool) off because it was impossible to see through all the water droplets. Without mudguards, the rain came right off my rear wheel and onto my butt. The water even went through the hole in my saddle making it feel like I had wet my pants! At one point as we were stopped in the rain waiting to regroup, I turned to Alberto and said, "this is what we do for fun..."

Wet ride!

It was a little unpleasant, but it was fun. It felt like much more of an achievement to have to slog through the rain, and it made the reward of a breakfast at The Lobster Pot on the beach in Bognor Regis so much more satisfying! In fact, I actually think it was one of the most enjoyable routes I've ever done!

130 km in all, and it took us almost exactly 8 hours including all the stopping time. Can't wait for the next Friday Night Ride to the Coast!

Sun starts to come out... just as we are ready to leave!