I tend to be eaten alive when it comes to any kind of blood suckers, gnats, mossies etc. The best way to describe it is that I’m everyone else’s insect repellent. For some reason they just love me. It’s like one smells me and then calls its extended family around for dinner. Yes, and long lost uncle Bob who lives on his own is invited too.

It is not really the biting that annoys me, yes I get bitten (though way more than others) and it doesn’t itch that bad. What the main annoyance is, is that they swell up like no tomorrow and then become very warm, really burning. And then there is the oozing of what ever it is, looks a bit like amber on a tree, but it is not nice to look at either.

Years ago I was on holiday in Sweden with me old folks, while my dad was setting up a picnic my mum was busy applying protection on me. She first sprayed something on me and then she used the wet towels, while she was moving up my arm with the wet towel the BB’s just jumped over her hand to land again. Needless to say that that picnic got cancelled double quick.

I have been bitten on my my face next to my eye and it looked like I had a massive shiner but without the colour. And I couldn’t see anything for the best part of that day. And when I get bitten on my hands they are out of action for up to 12 hours.

Monday just gone I got a bite on my ankle and I couldn’t bend my foot because of the swelling and it was oozing for the King and Queen.

If the Church of Parasite Warding has a holy water, that holy water is DEET. DEET was developed by the US Army during World War II to assist with jungle warfare and keep soldiers from being eaten alive by aggressive hordes of mosquitoes and other jungle lovelies.

Around 20 years ago I was InterRailing around Europe for a month with my best mate. After one night in Greece I woke up the words “what the *beep* is that” from my mate. And then we started to count and gave up counting at 85 bites on my back alone. Lucky for me the army of BB’s who had a staff meeting with free buffet didn’t have what ever it is that causes me to ooze from the bites after. We gave up counting bites on me but started on my mate and the grand total was four bites in a month.

And so I could go on.

Most people swear by Jungle Formula but it does not even help on me, ok I have never tried the extra strength ones, 50% DEET, as I have just learned about it today. I have tried eating extra garlic which didn’t work, even tried the battery powered ultra sound things, still go bitten.

The only stuff I have found working is something that contains a high level of DEET. Yes there is some side effect with it like it can melt plastic and remove paint. But when it come to the choice of getting eaten alive or a bit of paint falling off, Long live DEET.

Over the years I have only tried two repellents that have worked, one from Australia and one from Sweden, but for the life of me I can’t remember what they are called and how much DEET there was in them. I must pay more attention when it comes to stuff that works since I get bitten so much.

Lifehacker.com have a good article about how to make your garden BB proof, with a good clean up and plant some plants that have mosquito-repelling oil in their leaves, read more here. They also have a article about how to avoid getting bitten this summer and what to do when you got bitten by a biting barstard, read more here.

I need to find something that really work, since I would love to do more cycle touring, camping and that we are going to Australia and New Zealand in a few months time. Yes I have read about the sand files in NZ and I will be bringing chemicals to that war, Geneva Protocol or no Geneva Protocol.

I was in the local pharmacy the other day and was told that antihistamine would help on the swelling and the itching, why haven’t I heard about this before. The pharmacist also gave me (well I paid for it) some Herbal Insect Repellent from A.Vogel which contain stuff from the Neem tree. The pharmacist said that he have had good success with it, so let us see how it works on me the next time I’m out and about.

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A few weeks ago I got a Garmin Dakota 20 GPS mainly for us to use when touring. Don’t get me wrong I do love the old paper maps, could spend hours looking at them. But a GPS will cut down the faffing with them while on route as it is easier for us to find out where we are, if we should be off the beaten track or in other words – lost.

I did have a quick dip into GeoCaching, pretty much treasure hunt with your GPS. I can see the fun in it and it pretty amazing that there is all these little treasures hidden all over the world. Though I don’t think it is something I will pick up and do much of.

What really tickles my fancy right now is OpenStreetMap, as free wiki map that you, yes you, can update and add too. I have already found a few places that were wrong to what is there in real life.

One thing I don’t get with the auto routing that you can set your GPS to do is how the heck it plans/plots a route. Sometimes it does not make sense whatsoever. Yes it is some sort of mathematical calculation the GPS does and it comes up with a suited route for us to take.

Last night I plotted out a route to take to work, yes I knew where to go but I’m trying to learn how to use this Dakota 20, before our big trip down under. So to see how it would warn me about an upcoming turn, I planned it to take a left one road earlier than I normally take when I head east from where we live.

Planned route: Head down Studdridge Street turn left into Chipstead Street then right onto New Kings Road, simple.

Route taken: Head down Studdridge Street turn left into Perrymead Street then right onto New Kings Road, simply because that is what I do every time I go that way and I forgot to follow the GPS.

Route re calculated route: As you can see on the map a big massive loop around. And the GPS was dead keen on that route until I got onto New Kings Road. It is funny that it does not see that Perrymead leads up to New Kings Road and it would be shorter to continue all the way to New Kings Road than doing the detour loop. Even when that right tour into Ryecroft Street is less than 50 yards away from New Kings Street.

Well I take it that this GPS thing is still learning and would get better in time. So lesson learned from this do not blindly rely on you GPS.

I have learnt that you can plot a Track to show you where you are going, a trick I picked up over on yacf.co.uk very helpful bunch over there. So when the Auto Routing wants you to go somewhere you can see if is on track so to speak and is not sending you on a wild goose chase.

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But, as there always is a but, the fecking LHT is the reason that I can’t ride my other bicycles any more. As my good friend at my LBS said … “Over the years as you get older you might find that you want to raise your handlebars a little bit as time goes on. You my friend have gone and done it, raised the bars by at least 20deg on your Surly and there is no way that you can go back again“.

And then there are the Brooks saddles, I do have a Brooks bum and there is no way I’m going back to other saddles.

Dirty Pia : My beloved MTB, which I have done umpteen miles on without any problems. Now I’m in agony after a few miles, too much weight on my hands and arms because of the forward leaning position. And then there is the saddle, how the heck did I manage all these miles before on that sharp brick ?

Chutney : My Speed Pro TT from Dahon, which I have climbed Col de Tourmalet on without any problems, ok I was cream knackered but it was not the bicycle’s fault. The position on that is also too much leaned forward and the brakes are not there compared to the Tank.

Stella : My Peugeot road bicycle which I have fixed, is also a bit too much leaned over for comfort, but along with Brooks saddle (Team Pro). It is still very much ridable as a pootle around town bicycle, though long distances are out unless I raise the bars a bit.

My little Tank, is just so comfortable, nice and high position where I can see what is going on when commuting. Just rolls, ok not fast, but this is not a racer at all. As I keep saying, four wheels and a sofa is what the Surly LHT compares to. And it has brakes that just work: they stop me on a dime, loaded or not. Brilliant control when riding loaded or not. And then there is the Brooks Saddle, some like them, some don’t and I do love it, comfy :)

So my stable has too be rethought. Pia is going to be retired since she will cost too much to upgrade as the group set is worn out. Chutney is going to be sold as parts for others to use. Stella I will keep as she is as she is still fun to ride on quick short rides.

Though this leaves the question what N+1 should I get ?

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Mainly to carry my work stuff to and from and of course touring. I fondly called them “bags of evil” simply because you keep putting stuff in them, extra lock and a brick and some tools and a brick and extra layer as it might be cold tonight when going home and that brick you forgot, now did I take a lock might as well just put one in to be sure etc etc. And the pannier just takes it and you end up with all that stuff you don’t need to take.

Since I do carry heavy things in my panniers and rest my Surly Long Hall Trucker against the wall with pannier as the wall support I have already worn a hole in the pannier. Might resort to the classic repair job with some duct/gaffa tape to stop it wearing thin where it is rubbing.

For some reason the spacers or grippers (as Erin and Sam call them) are starting to fall out of the hooks, when taking the pannier of the racks.

Erin and Sam of “A honeymoon to remember” fame over on crazyguyonabicycle.com, are suffering the same problem as me. They have a brilliant review here about that problem and general use of the Ortliebs.

I would say that using it that heavily as Erin and Sam have done over the last 18 odd months. I can understand why something breaks down, though their problems started early on their tour. Peli is using her pannier as much as me and takes hers off more often than I do; don’t have the issue with the grippers. It is only one of the grippers on one of my panniers that keep dropping when taking the pannier with me.

I’m still thinking of a way to solve this problem, which Erin and Sam rightly states shouldn’t be there since you have paid good money for our Ortleib panniers. I have looked at ortliebs .de and .co.uk sites and neither of them have these grippers for sale, so I do need to find a way to secure them.

Super glue : Will only shake/brake lose after a few miles, I’m sure. Though that is the easy option atm since I got glue at hand. Will use this option until I come up with an permanent solution.
Cable ties : They will just stop the hooks and locking mechanism to work, so that option is out.
Dental flush or thin string : Will easily wear out and therefore replaced often. Which of course will break when you don’t have string or paying attention.
Heat : Heating the grippers up and expand them so that it sits more snug in the hooks. Though I got a funny felling that this will not work either.

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Bananas: Just because they contain anti cramping agents aka potassium. And is not to sweet and just help with the fuelling of your legs. Pack it in with some peanut butter and jam in a sandwich and use it to nibble on while riding.

Chocolate bars: Plain chocolate, with nuts or fancy energy bars with chocolate is a great way to graze your way a ride.

Jelly babies: Simply the best little snack to keep the hunger/bonking at bay and will keep you legs turning that extra mile.

Carbonated drinks: I can’t normally drink this stuff, but for some reason I can drink Irn-Bru. It is as sweet if not sweeter than many other drinks, as an alternative to water or energy drinks.

Chocolate Drink: Especially the Danish one called Matilde Kakao Milk I have defined as the EPO of our drug intake while cycling. If you can feel you are running on empty but it is not time for a slap up meal or rest, drinking one of these will get you back on track. Plenty of fuel in there and will get you home.

Flapjacks: Now this drug has many disguises and yet not really a drug as such more fuel. These range from my favourite ones with a layer of chocolate on top with peanut butter within, over to the ones that has fruits inside.

Cake: Probably the most dangerous “drug” of them all as an cyclist will find it nigh impossible to say no to a slice. Any elevenses or tea stop is not really an a stop without cake. And I’m a firm believer that that extra slice does not hurt if you are cycling.

Ice cream: Well what can I say, the pieces de la resistance, NEVER ever let a chance for ice cream go you by.

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I can’t for the life of me understand how Anne managed to cycle around the world, over some of the highest mountains, through some of the driest deserts, on just some dried fruits, nuts and water. Her statement that a cyclist does not need a lot of food before a long day’s cycling just blows my mind, because we can’t do anything before we have a hearty meal.

We haven’t toured much but we have already fallen into a nice ritual while touring which pretty much is centred around food.

Breakfast:
Pretty much as soon as we got up our little Jetboil is busy with boiling water for our tea. If Britain could build an empire on tea, it will for sure get us 30-40 miles down the road. For then to cook some porridge, if we have we will add some raisins and bananas.

If we don’t have porridge we will have bread, mostly baguettes, with cheese, tomatoes and if we have peanut butter or Nutella.

Elevenses:
This is quite often just a banana or an energy bar of some sort. But it is unheard of us to stop at a cafe and not indulge in tea and cake. This is the best part of cycling, that extra slice of cake doesn’t count if you are exercising.

Lunch:
This where we are either hunting down a pub lunch or, if that fails, a cafe. Or we will pop into a supermarket to get bread, tomatoes, cheese and some sort of meat for me. And then have a picnic in a park, square or just by the road side. But the main part of our lunch is pudding such as a cake, a doughnut or the cyclists’ favourite, chocolate.

Afternoon tea:
Pretty much like elevenses, but it all depends where are are cycling and how far we are riding, because afternoon tea could easy lead into dinner.

Dinner:
This where we relax after days cycling and need to fuel up for the next day’s cycling. If we are in a country where eating out is cheap we will go to a local restaurant. Though if we have been to a pub or restaurant for lunch we quite often cook our own food.

Such as pasta and sauce where you will just need to boil it for five to eight minutes or so, or pasta with a simple sauce added. Couscous is also something that is easy to cook, add boiling water less than five minutes later you got food. You can either get a pre seasoned pack of couscous or just add what fancy your tickle. We tend to supplement that with bread, cheese, salad if possible, and of course pudding such as chocolate mousse, or the like.

Snacks:
Throughout the day I will be grazing on energy bars, flapjack, nuts etc. Bananas are great since they contain something that helps against cramps. Chocolate and jelly babies are a favourite snack of ours, just to get us that boost and prevent us from bonking on a climb or before the next meal. Peanut butter with jam sandwiches, you can even add bananas to that sandwich, are great snacks between meals.

Drink:
Then there is water, we drink quite a lot of it and never turn down a chance to refill our bottles. Even on a cold’ish and damp day in Wales we went through quite a few litres and kept reminding each other to drink. Because there is nothing worse than dehydration and it takes a long time to get over.

This is pretty much our daily food intake when we are touring and even if we don’t, we just like food. Which is why we both cannot understand how Anne managed what she did on so little. We have yet to tour in a less developed country were food is less abundant, which leads me to one of my worst nightmare, hunger.

So, over to the hurting of muscles when you’ve done a lot of exercising. My main thing is to remember to drink and drink beyond your thirst. To help you lift that extra Kg or run mile you can get the energy drinks to give you that extra boost. Though I find that they all taste horrid, fake and do not really give you that oomph, well for me at least. I think that they work as well as the poor man’s energy drink, 3/4 water and a pinch of salt and 1/4 orange juice and eating healthily. Milk (protein) will do a great job as an after the ride drink. Pasta and spuds (carbohydrates) is a must before any ride or exercising. Though I have found that “no taste” Torque recovery/energy drink is drinkable for me and does help when doing a hard ride. Not to speed through day but to have the power to last the day.

I have found that eating and drinking often will get me up any mountain, such as Col de Tourmalet (yes not fully loaded). I made it a rule to stop every 2Km to have a little rest where I get a bite to eat and something to drink. I’m not the fittest or fastest cyclist and Tourmalet is 2,115 metres gaining 1,268m, an average 7.4% with a maximum of 10%, which doesn’t sound much, but keep that going for 17.2Km.

I hear people does that from bottom to the top do it just over an hour, I did it in an hour and 30 minutes’ish but I’m cheating as I started in Barèges which is a third up the Tourmalet and I was utterly knackered. And needed all the food and drink that I could possible stuff in me that evening.

I know I should but quite often am just too tired (read : lazy) to go out and do a recovery ride after a long hard ride. Say that you did a hard 60-80 miles day one, the next day you do a a nice relaxed pootle of 20 mile. Just to keep you legs going, but also that second day is also used to refuel with water and food.

If you had decided that you want to lose some weight, great, but don’t rush it. I managed to lose 5 stones (20+Kgs) over two years, but I still eat what I used to maybe even more. Yes I stopped drinking beers as much as before and stopped eating that kebab late at night. Above all don’t go out there and do 30 miles bicycle ride or 10 miles run if you haven’t done it before. It will just do more damage and you will hate it because it hurts. Do it slowly, build it up, get used to your new regime and remember to rest now and again. And above all eat well, you can even enjoy the odd slice of cake if you keep at it.

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This book is written in the same way as A Bike Ride, very witty and page turning. You get into the book and just can’t get away, not that you are looking for a “whodunnit”. But because you are eager to learn what’s next – not only the touring tips and tricks, but also the history about the location she is touring through.

This book is not really a narrative from start to finish about her second trip around the world. It is split up into parts, each covering what you will encounter en route, such as where to stay, obtaining money and dealing with bureaucracy. One of my favourite chapters is “Men and Other Animals” where she spends a page or so talking about the problems with wild animals and the rest about men. :)

When we are touring we tend to avoid the metropolis and enjoy the countryside, but I still enjoy reading Anne’s books. Even though she states that “The country, abroad as in England, has less to offer and I try to avoid it … My cycling consists of a quick sprint from one city to the next.”
But because you are eager to learn what next not only the touring tips and tricks but also the history about the location she is touring through.

This book is not really a narrating story, from start to finish about her second trip around the world. It is split up in parts of what you will encounter as in where to stay, money and bureaucracy. One of my favourite chapters is “Men and Other Animals” where she spend a page or so talking about the problems with wild animals and the rest about men :)

Even though when we are touring we tend to avoid the metropolis and enjoy the country side. I still enjoy reading Anne’s books even though she states that “The country, abroad as in England, has less to offer and I try to avoid it … My cycling consists of a quick sprint from one city to the next.”

The other thing that gets me is that she ever eats much, well she does but her lunch is some dried fruits and nuts !!! We need a full square meal and pudding to get us up and over the Gospel Pass in Wales for example.

Rating:

Again a fantastic read and a must read for any potential cycle tourer. A real feel good book, if she can circumvent the world then that long weekend in Wales is nothing for us. The other thing that gets me is that she ever eats much. Well, she does, but her lunch is often some dried fruits and nuts !!! We need a full square meal and pudding to get us up and over the Gospel Pass in Wales for example.

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I have just signed up for their news letter and read their first eBook. It is well written and gives you plenty food for thought even for somewhat seasoned cycle tourer. If you are a newbie to the cycling touring world this is a must read, you will get plenty of links, pointers and ideas of what it is all about.

I’m looking forward to their next eBook.

From today, you can get the answers to these and many more questions in our new Bike Touring Basics eBook. It’s taken us many weeks of work but we think you’ll agree, the final result looks great.

It’s 60 pages of advice, tips and inspiration, drawn from our own bike touring experience and put together with photos, quotes and contributions from across the bike touring community.

In the book, you’ll learn about:

* Why bike touring is so much fun
* How to save money for a tour
* How to pick out a destination and a route
* Training before you leave
* What bike to buy
* The basic gear (sleeping mats, tents, bike accessories)
* Finding the pace that’s right for you
* Where to sleep
* Managing Money

And more!

LINK : Bike Touring Basics: A Free eBook

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Description: (From ukcampsite) Evergreen Farm is set in beautiful scenery of fields and woodland close to the medieval town of East Grinstead. Evergreen Farm has 12 pitches each with an optional fire pit (wood provided) set in 10 acres of idyllic woodland incorporating a natural pond. Natural wildlife on the site includes deer and badgers.

Site visited: 14,15,16th of May 2010.

As seen on the blog: Light my fire.

Last minute booking and since we had already booked the train tickets we had to go with the site or else we didn’t have a place to sleep that weekend. Jane at Evergreen Farm was very nice and even when we missed our train and would arrive late we were told that that would be fine. She even called up to check if we could find our way ok.

We arrived around 21:30 and were greeted by Chris and big pig and a few dogs, who are only doing their job. Chris took us to our plot, where he had already left two deck chairs, portable table along with some firewood and water. We didn’t expect the chairs and table at all, thank you very much for that, it made sitting around the fire so much more enjoyable.

We had a wander around the farm and woodland and still think that our plot on the edge of the forest was the best, since we would be able to enjoy the sunset. Though the plots within the forest look well kept and you were never right on top of your neighbour. Within the forest there is a little lake and every plot had a fire pit.

The toilet at the moment was just one very swanky, clean compost toilet, at the top of the hill next to the car park. There are no showers or washing facilities. You parked the car and Jane or Chris would take your tent and gubbins down to your plot on their quad bike. So no car driving around the site to worry about.

I must say that the price was expensive (£48 for two nights and a bag of firewood) compared to other campsites we have stayed at where there are only basic toilets (usually about £10-15 a night for two people). But if you arrive by public transport or bicycle you get a discount, which is a great idea. Chris even gave one extra bag of firewood for free to use, which made this “little” boy happy, hours of fun sitting next to a fire poking the ambers with a stick.

Contact Site:

www : No website as of yet so here is there listings on ukcampsite.co.uk.
phone : 01342 327720

The campsite was great, thanks Jane and Chris. It was worth it for the swanky compost toilet, and the big pig called big pig, and geese, and baby chicks, and horses, and miniature ponies, and sheep, and dogs, and a cat called Parsnip.

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He sent us on a nice little loop around the Weir Wood Reservoir to Forest Row and then onto East Grinstead. We stopped at the reservoir and had a look at the blue bells in full bloom before we headed onto The Swan in Forest Row. We had picked the right pub as we were greeted by smiles by five other cyclist. Who at first was very impressed by our bicycles and was very keen to know how far we had come and where we where heading with all that gear.

Them : How far have you come today ? Us : From a campsite outside East Grinstead.
Them : How far do you have to go today ? Us : To the train station in East Grinstead, was our answer to much amusement.
Them : And you are all ready, time was now 11:30, stopping for a pint! Us : erm yeah :)

They laughed at us but they told us to take the disused railway line which now is a cycle way all the way to East Grinstead and off the A road.

After a good old fry up, some tea for Peli and pint for me we headed out again for our massive journey of three miles :) We arrived at the station and found out that our tickets were open so we added another four’ish miles to our journey and got on the train in Lingfield just as the rain started to fall.

More pictures here than you can shake a stick at and read about how we got here.

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