At last I'm off...

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So, just before I left for the Paris Roubaix, I had started to fix the body panels on the Discovery, thinking it would only take a few days. Well it didn’t. In fact it took the following two weeks, after I returned to get it finished. But I’m happy to say that the effort was rewarded with a Pass certificate from the MOT station, so I’ll except the extra time it took. Without further delay, I threw as much underwear as I could into the Van, grabbed all the bits I forgot the first time, and left the following Monday, with the objective of reaching Calshot beach, on the edge of the New Forest. As Bob the van is unhappy reaching motorway speeds, I opted for the “avoid motorways” option on the Tom tom, and yes it avoids motorways, but still sticks you on dual carriage ways, which if anything, are just as bad. Especially the A27, where it feels you’re trying to traverse a mountain range, and as Bob is also unhappy climbing any kind of gradient, it was an unnerving experience. But we got there in the end, and to be honest the traffic was very accepting of this mini motorhome, that looked like it was most likely going to stall before it reached the peak, even going through some of the city centres wasn’t too much of a drama, even if the sat nav only left me a spit second to react to lane changes!

Just past the half way point, I dropped in to see Louis at his work, and took him to the local Tesco for a coffee and a catch up, which amused him. Mostly because at over six foot tall, the front cab space isn’t exactly luxurious, (think more cupboard under the stairs), that and the struggle to climb the hills, now with two adults inside. Back on the road, and apart from the rush hour hold ups, the journey went well, until I found my destination, where there were endless “No overnight parking” signs everywhere, and the main parking area was a members only area. Luckily a guy was closing his shop up nearby, and said that it was OK to park just outside the fence line of the members part. But when I looked at the Facebook page, where I had got this location from, others had started saying that the wardens are very keen on ticketing. So that night was a little unnerving too, not only for the parking, but the winds were at gale force, so the van was rocking all over the place. This was more an issue for the bike cover I had placed over the bikes, as it was making a hell of a racket, so in the end, I removed it, and just hoped the shit weather would be enough to dissuade any would-be thieves.

As you can imagine, I got next to no sleep that night, so was able to get up and gone by 5:30, before the parking wardens would head down. Half a mile down the road I pulled over to watch the sunrise, only to discover a whole area of free parking! So after breakfast, I left Bob parked there in the sunshine, and went off for a cycle. This was great, as I got to visit some of the places I passed, when I did the sportive’s down this way, and check out some of the off road tracks I had spotted too. The only down side was by now the winds had started to pick up again, so One minute I’d warm up and get a bit of a sweat on, then freeze to death as the wind blasted me. I had also managed to forget a drink, and every cafe I passed happened to be closed still, so I stopped at a BP garage, only to then spot a Sainsbury’s round the corner.

After lunch I headed off to a campsite I had booked last night, just to make things easier. As while waiting for the knock on the door telling me to move on, (which never happened in the end), I had been looking for a cheap site nearby. Only to find the one I wanted to use has a mid week offer till Thursday, so rather than being £19, it was only £9, and I feel happier leaving the Van unattended at a site as opposed to a carpark. I did also look into crossing over to the Isle of Wight, but the ferry was going to be £90!! So that won’t be on my list this time.



The next site was only 20 miles away, but by half way, the tiredness was catching up with me, so I pulled into a carpark at the top of the open moors, pointed Bob at the Sun to carry on topping the batteries up, then kipped in the back. Once at the site, the receptionist noticed the solar panel, and so sent me to a part of the site that was in the open, and there is no one else here. Now as this site has no facilities like a loo or showers, you have to have your own in your van. This did mean I had to show the receptionist the portaloo, to prove I’m not just going to go in the woods, or on someone else’s pitch. Also as a bonus, I’m parked only metres away from the cycle trail I rode, when I stayed near here with the family! Unfortunately my little kip earlier hadn’t been enough, so Rather than unhook the bike and play, I made a start on dinner, and chilled out writing this. But tomorrow first thing, i’ll be off on the bike into town, as the fridge has decided to grow fur inside, and the overland fridge smells of the sausages I bought in France, so a big bottle of spray bleach I think, and maybe some doughnuts or cake too. Then It’s time to release the full suss bike and really play in these trails, as the 920 is good for long distance and load carrying, but the full suspension bike is all fun.

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