Three days back from the New Forest

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I suppose I had better confess... though my journey started in the New forest I didn't actually cycle from there. A couple of days earlier the family had discussed going to Drusillas animal park, at Alfriston. I decided that I wanted to do this too, so rather than set off on the Thursday, we bundled all my stuff in to the truck, ready for Friday. Again to be honest, this did mean I missed out all the problem points of Southampton and Chichester, though like everything, once you know about it, its not such a big problem, so I probably would have enjoy the cycle back through these places.

Another change of plan was a lunch meet, midday Friday, with Louis in Shoreham, as Route 2 goes right passed his flat in shoreham-by-sea. On the first ride, I was there at 10:30, bit too early for Lunch, and now wasn't riding past there at all. So Louis suggested a BBQ in the evening. After a day at Drusillas, I unloaded the bike, added bags and tent, then head back along the route 2 to Shoreham. Cycling away from home, on a journey to get back home is a weird feeling.

The BBQ and ciders on the beach, made for a good night with good company, even if we did have sharp showers and Lightning all around us. Another plus point that I did enjoy, was the fact I would be sleeping in a flat, not a tent, which meant I got a decent nights sleep, even if it was on an ex army camp bed. Like the route the day before, it was only 60 miles to get to the campsite, so I had a very slow muster to get going, and Louis decided to join me for the first part of the journey. This made the beginning quite nice, even if Brighton sea front was ridiculously busy with everyone from tourists to drunks ambling along the cycle path.

Louis and I parted company after a bite to eat at the Marina, and I headed for a campsite above Bexhill. The ride went well until I reached Bexhill, where it seemed to climb a hill every time I turned a corner. When I finally reached the campsite, the road dropped down into a valley, and there wasn't a cafe on site. This meant if I wanted a meal I would have to cycle back out of the valley and climb further up to the next village, so I picked up a few supplies from the on-site shop, which was little sparse to say the least. Dinner that night was chocolate cookies with fruit salad, followed by rice pudding. Which also gave me problems, as I hadn't brought a can opener, so I hacked it open with a multi-tool and pliers.

The next day was an early start, as a lay-in was a bit uncomfortable, when in a tent thats just big enough for a sleeping bag, and when the final destination was home. The climb back out of the campsite wasn't too bad on fresh legs, nor was the climb up to the main road. Normally I try to avoid main roads at all costs, but being 7am on a Sunday morning, I didn't expect to see much traffic, plus I would pass an open garage to pick up some breakfast.

Before the first trip I changed the brake pads for upgrades as the originals had already come close to the end, but no matter what i did the front pads would scream every time I used them. This was more useful than a bell for alerting the zombie-like pedestrians that strayed into the cycle path, but when it came to hills it was me that had the shock, as I was never 100 percent convinced, through all the noise, that they would actually stop me, especially on hills like Winchelsea with a full load. Luckily While loading the truck Friday morning I did a final check and noticed that the pads had moved and were parallel. So after a quick angle adjustment they worked without the screaming. Though when I got to Winchelsea, I didn't really trust them to stop this amount of weight, so still took it cautiously, and took the other road down the hill. In hind-sight this road would have been a little easier to have climbed on the first trip, so I might not have needed to walk, apart from the 100 feet at the beginning which has a 25 percent gradient!

So far the trip was going well weather wise, but after I passed the Winchelsea coast it started to spit. By the time I reached Rye it was hammering down, so I avoided the First part of the cycle path out of Winchelsea and rode the main road all the way till the main Camber road. Luckily the cycle path after Camber is hard pack and gravel and was nice to be back away from the cars. On the plus side, it wasn't cold and there was no driving winds, which meant it was actually a very pleasant ride in the rain, even if I was soaked through. Once home it was a case of jumping in the shower ASAP to refresh, then slump in the sofa to relax.

As mentioned earlier the brakes had needed toeing in, and I had a spoke replaced by a shop in the New Forest, but I had also had to replace the kick stand. The bike didn't come with one, but the cheap fat bike I had bought awhile ago did. The only problem with this stand is its not designed to hold 35kg of loaded touring bike. This was most obvious when at Hayling Island I thought the stand was sinking, when in actual fact it was just bending under the weight. So I bought a slightly more substantial one, but this was only good if the bike was fully loaded, otherwise it would stand the bike bolt upright to the point it could be blown over. So this stand has also been replaced, with a double legged version, which looks like it should be much better. After the third and fourth spoke had popped on a charity ride a week later, the rear wheel has had the whole side of spokes replaced, which was fine till I attempted to true it using a cable tie, so I've dropped it off at a local shop to be professionally finished, before I bust it completed.

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