The Vaude footprint I picked up proved to be an excellent choice, neatly fitting under the Hut2 and giving enough ground cover for two.
Ready for a good nights sleep.
The pole holder that I’d found (part of the packing from the tag a long bike) did the trick but I might tinker with it to give a few more centimetres lift.
Puncture proofer.
I’ve been following the progress of various people on the Challenge and LEJOG. There are various options available to do this so it’s interesting to see how successful they’ve been up to date. Especially as I’m still in the market for a system myself wanting to blog whilst on the Pennine Way.
Brendan started well, blogging daily as he tackled the hard opener of the LEJOG by going along the South West Coast Path. He was using an iPhone with a wordpress app and disaster struck when the app started to delete the posts that he was working on. Not that impressive and deeply frustrating for him.
Over on the Challenge Weird Darren managed three days blogging before his iPhone carked with charging problems. Not helped by the fact that the Freeloader charger he’s carrying doesn’t work. But that could of course be down to the weather that they’ve been enjoying up in Scotland.
More successfully Geoff has been using the Pocket Mail system to chart his progress on his LEJOG. This system does have it’s shortcomings though; you cant embed photos and the one he uses requires a call box to upload the text. Whereas some where in the Highlands Mick and Gayle are posting regularly with their Pocket Mail which they are able to use with a mobile. Go figure on that one.
There is one system that’s standing out above all others (at the moment) and that’s the one that Martin and Sue are using; a Blackberry on the Orange network. Martin has been able to post to his blog several times a day including photos taken at lunch stops on the tops of the various Munro’s that they’ve been bagging.
Mobile signal can be a bit hit and miss particularly in mountainous areas so we’ll see how those dependent upon one fair. And I must ask Martin how he’s managed to keep his Blackberry charged. Has he been using hamster technology or stashing spare batteries in Sue’s bag without her knowledge? I think we should be told!
River Lane, Petersham Meadow
Rain over night ensured that there were enough puddles to ride through and as neither my bike nor the tag a long had mud guards Ben earned his first cyclist stripe. Two in fact; one up the front and one up the back.
Splattered face; sign of a true off roader
I’m glad I didn’t opt for a detour into Richmond Park via Ham Gate because the pull up to the bike track that runs from Kingston Gate to Pembroke Lodge is quite sharp. I was happy to stay on the relatively level tow path, at least for now.
My bike’s close gearing made it easy to change up and down to suit the terrain but I did notice that controlling the bike was harder when I dropped a cog at the front rather than at the rear. He did do with some of the peddling which helped speed us to the Tide Tables Cafe for refreshments and a well deserved chocolate muffin.
Cant remember how I came up with this but it’s a real delight; the creamy texture of the brazil nuts, the toffee sweetness of the apricots and the tart, fizzy, sharpness of the kiwi compliment each other remarkably well. And nutritionally it ticks a number of boxes too.
250g dried un-sulphured apricots
250g broken brazil nuts
5 kiwi fruits, sliced and dried
To prepare the kiwi fruit; top and tail, peel and slice into four, then cut each slice in half. Place on dehydrator trays and dry for six to eight hours, turning occasionally to dry evenly.
Add the three ingredients to a zip lock bag and enjoy!
