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  • Pajero cargo frame/bed

    As promised, here is the information on the cargo frame/bed I made for my 2004 Pajero. You'll find videos on how to remove the seats, how to make the frame and how it went in use: Remove Seats Build Frame Using Frame I've driven over 4000 kilometers loaded up, but only slept on the bed once, no problems encountered. The cost was around $350 (Australian Dollars) I designed the frame to the following criteria: Can carry at the same time: Mountain bike Downhill bike Surfboard Hiking gear Surfing gear Beach gear Body board Mountain biking gear Mountain bike tool box Food Esky for cold food Camping gear Cooking gear Spare fuel Water Tyre compressor Carry some of the above in plastic boxes under the frame One person could sleep in it It was light weight The frame/bed could be removed The passenger seat wasn't loaded Can easily get from driver's seat to bed frame Considerations or changes you may want to make Unfortunately with the frame in, it isn't easy to get to the underfloor storage, but I do only store emergency items in there, such as spare clothes, spare cooking equipment, spare food, spare water etc. so ordinarily there should be no need to get at it. I can't sit up on the bed, I needed a specific height to get my boxes under it I weigh 60 kilos, if you are heavier you may need extra strengthening I left the carpets in my Pajero My Pajero is a 2004 NP 3.2L The two forward most lower legs are different lengths to all the others and to each other To increase or decrease the height you could change the length of all the 175mm sections (x 6 of them) Material Used: Metal Mate brand Anodised Aluminium hollow section 25.4mm x 25.4mm (1" x 1") Metal Mate brand plastic joiners (note these add 25.4mm to the height or length) Material Bought from Bunnings Warehouse Aluminium Lengths/quantity of material bought (Bunnings part numbers E&OE) 3 x 900mm long (no cutting required) Part number 9311059091026 4 x 1200mm long (to be cut to length) Part number 9311059091002 5 x 600mm long (to be cut to length) Part number 1138270 Aluminium Lengths cut to size by fabrication company 1 x 1200mm cut to 1 x 775mm 1 x 150mm 1 x 275mm 1 x 1200mm cut to 1 x 775mm 1 x 150mm 1 x 235mm 1 x 1200mm cut to 1 x 775mm 1 x 150mm 1 x 175mm 1 x 1200mm cut to 5 x 175mm 1 x 150mm 5 x 600mm cut to 560mm Check aluminium lengths you have now 3 x 900mm 3 x 775mm 4 x 150mm 1 x 275mm note this is adjusted for an error in my build 1 x 235mm note this is adjusted for an error in my build 6 x 175mm 5 x 560mm Joiners (Bunnings part numbers E&OE) 4 x 3 way T piece part number 9311059700089 4 x 3 way 90 degree Part number 9311059700072 4 x 4 way 90 degree Part number 9311059700102 Feet (Bunnings part numbers E&OE) 6 x Feet (obviously, these go on the six legs!) Part number 9311059700058 Wooden top 2 x MDF 900mm x 600mm x 9mm thick Cut one to length of 850mm Note if I did this again I would use one piece of wood cut to 1750mm Where the aluminium lengths are used Where the joiners are used Key: 3W = 3 way all at 90 degrees 4W = 4 way 90 degrees and Tee 3Tee = 3 way Tee

  • Bikepacking Gear List V5.0 Excel download - The solution to my problems

    The lure of the open road and the delights of living amongst nature for two days just isn't enough to motivate me to plan an overnight bikepacking ride. How can this be so, I want to go, I'd love to go, but just can't. The dilemma is a bit of a chicken/egg scenario, what's the point in packing up if I don't know what the weather's going to do, and if the weather forecast is favourable, I haven't packed up my bike. Why haven't I packed up my bike? Well, if I want my whole weekend free to bikepack, then I must do my shopping, laundry, grass cutting and other chores after work. I work Monday to Friday, the last thing I want to do when I get in from work is my chores as well a packing my bike, especially if the weather forecast is looking suspect. So I go nowhere. I needed to do something about this problem. I spent time thinking about why I just can't organise myself. I concluded there was mainly only one mitigating factor causing my inability to pack and that was that some of my bikepacking gear is used for other leisure activities such as hiking, car camping and mountain biking. Which means my gear was all over the place; some of it was in my car, some in my hiking store, some in my mountain biking backpack and some in my camping boxes. It took hours and hours to assemble it all together, well more like it took my brain hours and hours to get my head around it. I found a simple solution. Late-pack luggage! Now I have rearranged all my gear so that all multi-discipline items go in my rear Rollpacker and my Backpack. That way, I can service my bike, pack up the front end luggage and when a weather window looks promising, I only have the rear luggage and backpack to pack. It's been quite a revelation, and it worked well for my latest bikepacking ride and I think I'm at the dawn of a new era for me, an era where I can get out at short notice, and I'm feeling so good about it! You can check out my latest ride here Please find below my latest packing list, you can download it to Excel if you'd like to and modify it to suit your own needs. Click the icon below to download the V5.0 packing list to Excel

  • 16 of My Essential Beginner Bikepacking Tips

    Embarking on a bikepacking adventure is like opening a door to a world of unforgettable experiences. It's a journey that allows you to disconnect from the stresses of everyday life and reconnect with the beauty of nature. Yes, it all sounds wonderful doesn't it?!! Alas it's not always 'Instagram perfect'. It's not always like the emotive-music infused Tinkerbelle YouTubes, every ride is different and every ride presents new challenges. Nothing is a constant in bikepacking; the terrain, the weather, your physical health, your mental health, your equipment and your interactions with people you meet along the way. These change every time you venture out. Do I consider myself qualified to preach to you? No, not really but what I think I can do is make some suggestions to smooth what can be a rocky and sometimes self-doubting path. I will always consider myself a beginner bikepacker, I firmly believe no one has all the answers. We are all individuals, embarking on a journey, searching for something that is personal to us. I hope these tips help you to have a wonderful experience first time out! First-Time Bikepacking - Things to Expect & Things to Do Have a 'Late-Pack' piece of luggage This has transformed my ability to venture out at short notice. I can have my bike mostly packed up except for my rear bag and backpack, that will carry items that cross-over to other disciplines of outdoor pleasure such as hiking, car camping and mountain biking. Make a packing list If you would like to download my packing list to Excel click here. Knowing what is carried where has many benefits, for instance you won't be half packed up at camp, only to find there's no room left in your luggage for the rest of your stuff. Don't be afraid to carry a backpack I carry a 60 litre lightweight, properly fitted backpack, it's no hinderance at all. This also allows for a solar charger to be attached to my back and to be working whilst I'm riding. Be sure to pack it symmetrically, so it doesn't flop around! Check your packing list off fully - On a previous ride I just ticked my item named Clothes off, without looking at the detail of the clothes, which resulted in me forgetting to wear my sponge pants or taking them with me. Sore bum city! Test any new items you have - For example I went on an over-nighter with a new, good quality (Sea to Summit) cooking pot, I had washed it but hadn't cooked in it at home. On my ride I found that the hard anodising was leeching an awful taste into any boiled water or food. It spoiled the ride somewhat. Test electronics the day before you leave - Check everything works, check everything is charged and make sure all necessary software is subscribed to and downloaded and works properly, including offline, if it's meant to. Don't forget to download some films etc. to watch when you are chilling at camp. Carry a small notepad and pencil that are easily accessible. Have a page for To Buy items and a page for To do items. Jotting them down as you go along will mean you are better prepared for the next ride or the next leg of your journey. You can note down the names of people you meet and keep a daily record of your activities, temperatures, weather etc., which is helpful if you are Vlogging or Blogging Label your luggage - I have Rollpacker 1, Rollpacker 2, Gorilla Cage 1 and Gorilla Cage 2 plus a few small ones. On my phone I have a list of exactly what goes in which piece of luggage. This makes pack-up tidy and quick. A half-arsed, lop-sided pack-up will annoy you all day! When you get to camp unpack fully - Packing and unpacking can be fiddly especially when you're tired. But resist the temptation to skimp on the unpacking, get into the routine of unpacking everything you may need. When it's the middle of the night and you realise you've left your head-torch or toilet paper in the luggage it's a PITA!! Stopping to make adjustments - You may have to stop in the first kilometer to adjust a piece of luggage that just doesn't feel right. 500 metres later you may have to stop and adjust something else, this could happen many times. Don't worry, you haven't done a bad job, until you ride or shake-down, it's not easy to know what will work best. The same with your clothes, you may swap your T-shirt for a vest, and long shorts for short shorts etc Take a strong elastic band or use a cable tie to hook over your front brake lever when you park up. It makes the world of difference to the ease of propping your bike up. Invest in a Click-Stand This lightweight stand enables you to prop your bike up anywhere, you don't need to look for a tree or a fence. It's such a gamechanger. It also comes with some brake lever bungees, so point 9 is dealt with! Check the weather forecast - Do this before you leave and twice daily on the ride, be prepared for any rain or heat-wave events Your fitness might not be quite up to managing the weight of your loaded bike - don't plan on extreme distances for the first week or two, unless you know you are fit enough Cramping - If you are not used to pedaling such long distances you may find you get cramps in your hamstrings and calves. I found that to relieve this, if I occasionally positioned my foot on the pedal so as to have my toe pointing down, shortening my calf, and rode like that for 5 minutes, it eased any cramping. Be careful that your toe doesn't hit the ground!! Difficulty getting up inclines - I always understood that you should never stomp on your pedals and that if you did, you would go to hell! I'm not particularly fit and often get off and push up hills, but found that if I lift my feet off the pedal a small amount and gently stomp on it, actually it's more like a rhythmic tap, I could actually get up inclines that I would normally push up. This may be an additional load on your drivetrain, but I would expect it to be in tip top condition if you are planning a tour Consider getting some quick release pedals - These really have helped me, especially when pushing the bike, no damaged shins. See my YouTube here

  • Microsoft Access VBA - Create a User Login and Logout function with user functionality

    Hi, I'm thinking you're here because you have seen my video regarding this, in case not I'll briefly outline what I wanted and how I think I have resolved it! You can find the YouTube here I have created the video and this blog not for seasoned developers but for people like me that dabble, and just get by writing code. I hope it is useful to you, at least it may give you some ideas. Note that I have created this over the past 8 months, when I find a moment at work, often I completely forget where I got to, so sometimes it may not seem to flow! What I needed In Microsoft Access I wanted a name and date/time stamp to be stored against a record on a button press. For the system to know that name I decided that it would need to know who was using it. I wanted a modicum amount of validation to that login. I couldn't find anything suitable on Access help websites, or on YouTube. This blog details what I have created to do this. But it is important to note that I have not been able to test this on a multi-user basis as I have no network. Foundations Tables TabLogins - Status of logged in users and previous details of logins/logouts TabUserType - Types of user to determine permissions TabUsers - Recorded user names, passwords, user types and full name Forms FrmLogin - Form used to login Unbound field for user name is named txtusername Unbound field for PIN or password is named txtpassword Log in Button is named ButtonLogin Cancel Button is name ButtonCancel FrmLogout - Form used to logout (note this is always open while logged in) Unbound field is named TxtFullName End Session button is named ButtonEnd VBA code Button named ButtonLogin on FrmLogin Download file below Button named ButtonCancel on FrmLogin This has a Macro on event of button click to Close Window no further code Button named ButtonEnd on FrmLogout Download file below On Load of form FrmLogout VBA as below Private Sub Form_Load() 'FINDING THE USERS FULL NAME FROM THE TabLogins TABLE/POPULATING TxtFullName Me!TxtFullName = DLookup("IsLoggedIn", "tabLogins", "UserLogged = '" & LoggedInAs & "'") 'SETTING THE PUBLIC VARIABLE FULL NAME FullNameLoggedInAs = Me!TxtFullName End Sub Public variables declared as below(make sure the dropdowns are set to General and Declarations Public variable LoggedInAs stores the User Name (initials) Public variable FullNameLoggedInAs stores the Full Name (this is what is displayed in the FrmLogout I hope this is useful to you, if you have any questions or suggestions please comment!

  • Bikepacking Mount Lawson Loop

    Mistakes were made, no one died! Unlike Autumn 2022 when it didn't stop raining, Autumn 2023 was giving us beautiful crisp mornings and blue-sky days, with temperatures in the mid twenties. Easter in Australia falls in Autumn or 'the fall' as our American friends call it. So a long-weekend holiday of Friday through to Monday beckoned and it was promising to be perfect weather for outdoor activities. So, I loosely planned a short bikepacking tour. Unless you're an occasional and leisurely bikepacker like me, you'd be excused for thinking that the preparation for such a ride would be as simple as "putting a few things on your bike". Alas, a simplified preparation list includes things such as: service bike, mount luggage racks, plan route and download offline, pay emergency locator beacon subscription and test, pack six pieces of luggage, plan water requirements, packing appropriate clothes, charge all electronic equipment and pack. Each of those points expands, especially the packing of the luggage and the servicing of the bike. The servicing of the bike is particularly tedious because I only use Bay, my Specialized Camber, perhaps once a year, but still there is one job that should be done whether he's been ridden or not, this job I couldn't be bothered to do when I serviced him, and it came back to bite me on the bum! Some of my bikepacking gear doubles up as car camping gear, I had an overnighter car camp planned before Easter so the pack-up was a little disjointed. Luckily I have a Microsoft One Note tick list for my bikepacking gear, so I knew I shouldn't forget anything. And as it turned out I didn't, well nothing that was on the list! Some things can't be packed too early, such as spare clothing, down jacket, quilt, food and water, the reasons being: clothing is weather dependent, the down jacket and quilt shouldn't be compressed for unnecessarily long periods, and I don't want stale food and water, so I pack those much nearer to the leaving date. Likewise other things can't be done too early, such as subscribing to my navigation system ride with gps and subscribing to my emergency beacon Garmin, I only wanted to dip in for a month on both due to cost, so wanted to leave it as late as possible. Obviously charging my electronics needs to wait until the day of leaving,. I checked Bay over, and fitted the Rollpacker front and rear brackets, paying special attention to the rear one, which unless in the 'sweet-spot', tends to fall off. What I didn't do was put some cable ties or bungees on, like I had done for my long tour in Spain, the reason for this was, I had paid such close attention to fitting it this time, I was convinced it wouldn't fall off, I'm not sure why I thought that, as the over-center clamp on the tightening screw is poorly designed in my opinion. I'd decided I would try carrying my water bottles in my Gorilla Cage fork bags for this ride, instead of in my Rollpackers, as a test for when I may need to carry a lot more water, it meant I couldn't pack my fork bags yet, but I enthusiastically packed my front and rear Rollpacker luggage as much as I could, which really got me excited for the ride. As a note, carrying the water in the forkbags seemed to work fine although it was a bit of a pain to keep unpacking the bags to get at the water. A cyclone was building in the Northern Territory, although thousands of kilometers away, it often has an effect on our weather. disappointment was an understatement, when with ten days to go the weather forecast started predicting heavy rain and winds, starting on the Thursday night before Easter, and all through the holiday period. Bugger! It seriously put a dampener on things, I wasn't prepared to do a ride in torrential rain, and boy was it torrential that Thursday night and non-stop on Good Friday, and intermittently raining on the Saturday. I'd decided to do the Easter Egg hunt with my granddaughter on the Sunday. whilst hunting the chocolate eggs at the ungodly hour of 7:30am I realised the weather had taken a turn for the better. I checked the forecast, and although overcast, no rain was predicted in the region, there and then I decided the bikepacking was back on. Not for a moment did I stop to think hang-on, I'm back at work on Tuesday, so that only gives me the rest of Sunday, Sunday night and Monday to complete the ride. I knew generally that it was uphill to the summit, then a whole load of down hill, for around 40 kilometers, well that's what I had in my mind. Looking at the route now, with hindsight, it's an uphill trend to the summit with lots of ups and downs, and a downhill trend after the summit, again with lot of ups and downs. You can see my Youtube of this ride here You can listen to this story here Back home by 10am, I hurriedly started filtering five liters of water, two for each bottle in my fork bags and one to be carried on the bike for immediate drinking. I packed everything on my tick list, charged my electronics, subscribed to my navigation system and Garmin, tested the emergency beacon, downloaded the route offline, packed some food, loaded the car and within two hours I was ready to leave. Noting I was only able to do this in two hours because of the preparation I'd already done, ordinarily it would take perhaps a day. I left my house just past midday, with an hours drive to Mount Lawson, I'd be on the bike by 2pm. In my hurry to get out of the door I'd forgotten to message my daughter and send her my route or even tell her I was going bikepacking. The fireroad into Mount Lawson State Park runs through a farmyard. When I arrived at the farm I stopped at the farm house to ask where I should park so as not to be in their way. Amy, the farmer lady that I had spoken to on my previous visit to Mount Lawson, came out for a chat, she said I could park anywhere in her farmyard, which would save me driving on the rough 4x4 track. So park up I did. As I was unloading my luggage and bike from the car, along came a lady on a quad bike, turns out it's Amy's mum, Jo. She was just so lovely, for fifteen minutes she held my bike up while I fitted the luggage. She also gave me lots of information on the mountain, and she told me that hunters were due to do some night shooting on their plateau up the mountain, that very night! We had a little joke that as I was back at work on Tuesday (it's now Sunday), that if I'm not back Monday night, she should send out a search party, and I say it was a joke, but really it was kind of serious, Jo was genuinely interested and concerned, but I thought no more of it, of course I'd be back by lunchtime on Monday, or so I thought! Once my bike was loaded I said my goodbyes to Jo, locked my car, put my keys in my backpack, put my backpack on and started pedalling up towards the mountain, only to get 200 metres and remember I hadn't lubricated my chain, doh! So I returned to my car, backpack off, keys out, unlock my car, get my chain lube out, hurriedly lube Bay, then reverse the key palaver. I didn't mention this in my YouTube video, I needed to cut a lot of things out to keep the film at a decent length. Before you get into Mount Lawson State Park there's a 3 kilometer track from the farm, through a plain and paddocks to ride, it was rather windy on this day! A kilometer into the ride across the plain, a ute was coming from the direction I was going, the guy stopped, so I stopped to say hello to the driver, then I noticed there were four people in the back of the ute, we exchanged a few words, the driver was a little surprised I was taking a bike up the mountain, he said it's very steep and seemed a bit miffed! I tried to chat to the people in the back, it seems they'd been hiking, but the driver started moving off, so we both continued on our way. I hadn't ridden more than 200 metres when I cringed and swore at a loud whirring sound coming from the rear of my bike, I bloody knew what it was. The Rollpacker had fallen off the seat mounting and was dragging on the rear tyre. All the care I'd taken to fit it with precision was a waste of time, damn! In the middle of a plain, with nowhere to lean the bike and unable to move it, I had to do my best to re-connect the bracket to the seat and continue on until I could find somewhere to lean the bike. This I did a little further on, and tightened the over-center screw some more. I was heading for Mount Lawson summit on the Flaggy Creek Track, there's an un-serviced campsite up there, the summit was around 17 uphill-kilometers away, it was already nearly 3pm, the sun sets at around 6:30, so I didn't want to stop, unpack my fork bag to get the cable ties out and spend time securing the rear Rollpacker bracket. As it was, this decision was a false time-economy, with the Rollpacker falling off another 8 times over the next four hours. I was soon into Mount Lawson State Park proper, I would ride some, and push a lot, the bush and views are very pretty, sometimes rugged, with 'clouds' of copper-coloured butterflies in abundance. The fireroad is badly eroded and steep in some areas. I knew what to expect as I'd had a failed mission a few months back, trying to find Flaggy Creek Falls, where I'd bonked (ran out of energy) and had to go back down. Last time I didn't get to see the falls at all, I'd been so close, I found them this time but didn't have time to stop and search for a way to get up close. First I could hear them, then I could see them through the bush, I leaned Bay against a tree, and clambered through some fire-damaged gum trees and bush, took a couple of photos and got on my way. I continued pushing and riding the fireroad, it was so very pretty, never dull, after riding roughly eight kilometers, mostly uphill, I came to a large plateau, this is also Amy's land and it's where the shooting was to take place this night. I passed through the gate and skirted around the right hand side of her land. I'd stopped to take the photo below when along came three guys in a ute, turns out they were the hunters that would be shooting. Their plan was to camp up at the hay shed which was atop a hill in the distance, we had a chat and went our separate ways. I rode alongside a pretty creek that was running through Amy's land, which I presume is the Flaggy Creek. Very soon I was back on the fireroad running through mature bushland with the most beautiful tall gum trees. It was around now that I realised I hadn't told my daughter where I was going or that I was even going bikepacking, being without mobile phone signal, I sent her an email message on my Garmin satellite device, I didn't send a text on it as I only get around 10 with my subscription so didn't want to waste one. Little did I know that my daughter doesn't check her email messages, so she never knew I had gone away at all! I happily continued my uphill pushing, interspersed with some downhill stretches, sadly knowing that every descent meant I would need to re-ascend by the same height. I didn't see another soul as I happily meandered along, alas I didn't see any wildlife either. In fact on the whole ride, I only saw one wallaby, cows and cockatoos, oh and a snake! There was one thing determined to ruin this beautiful ride, and that was every twenty minutes or so, the Rollpacker would fall off. But still I was telling myself that I would waste half an hour fixing it properly, so I should just persevere. By now my bike had fallen over perhaps four times, crashing to the ground after I leant it up against a tree. One day I'm going to get caught out by this, I'll either do serious damage to the bike or it'll tumble down a mountain. As it was, I could have knocked the steering out of alignment when it fell. It's hard to understand just how unstable a fully loaded bikepacking bike is, you think you've done a good job propping it up, only to turn around to take a photo or do a wee and it comes crashing to the ground. I had forgotten my cable ties that I usually keep on my handlebars to pull the brakes on when parked, something I must add to my ticklist! Again I was lazy, I could have unpacked my emergency kit and got a new cable tie out. With around 5 kilometers to go until the turning to the summit road, which in itself was then another kilometer or two to the summit, the sun was rapidly dropping behind the hills and dusk arrived. Another thing I didn't show in my YouTube was that by now I was suffering terrible cramps in my legs. I had taken a lemon with me to squeeze into my water, but couldn't find it, so added a quarter of an electrolyte tablet to my water, knowing full well that I suspected electrolyte tablets give me terrible cramps. It was so painful, I had them in my upper and lower leg, I had to stop frequently and stretch to rid myself of them. I kept pushing in pitch dark for around an hour, it was neither creepy nor miserable except for the cramps, but I eventually realised that still with 3 kilometers until the turning, I wasn't going to make it to the summit that night as the cramps were too painful. I put my head torch on and started looking for a small spot to pitch my tent, where the trees were healthy and alive, it would be too risky, especially after the recent storm, to pitch under dead branches. I found a nice little spot, luckily not directly under branches and the surrounding gum trees were lovely and healthy. It was on a very slight incline, so I had to orientate the tent so it faced inwards to the bush, with the back to the fireroad. With no problems at all I was soon pitched. I didn't bother fitting any guy lines, I was quite sheltered should the wind have picked up. One pain in the bum is blowing up my airbed, it takes 50 big puffs, not something I really fancied doing and was annoyed with myself that I hadn't bought the miniature air pump I'd been looking at on Amazon! Anyway as it turns out 50 puffs really isn't such a big deal, after all, I do thousands of them every day! Luckily my airbed covered the great big rock that I’d unknowingly pitched my tent on!! The woodland was silent, the sky was clear, the stars were starting to prick holes in the black vastness, it was quite perfect. There were very few insects around, which was one less thing to worry about, usually it is such a pain dealing with flying insects. The temperature was around 9°C, not too cold, but I knew it would get colder, so I put my thick ski socks on, my LongJohns, a winter hat, a long sleeved top and a fleece. oh and some weird bootee things I’d picked up in the charity shop! The fleece started me reminiscing, I'd had it 23 years, it was a piece of team kit from when I worked at Arrows Formula One team, we had the best looking car and the best looking kit during the Orange Arrows years, in fact it was driven by the current F1 World Champion's father, Joss Verstappen! And I fondly remember the lady that designed the kit, Lisa Palmer, top lady. I set about making myself some noodles and a cup of tea, and enjoying the tranquility of the night. By the time I finished my dinner it was around 8:30. I noticed I was occasionally getting a 4G phone signal, it came and went, so I caught up on some Facebook browsing then snuggled down in my quilt and got to sleep. I was awoken around 11pm with a terrible pain in the middle toe on my left foot, I checked it out, nothing looked unusual, so I went back to sleep only to be woken around an hour later with even worse pain. I was alarmed at this, because I had a long way to ride and hike back to my car should this escalate, it didn't just hurt a little, it hurt a lot, an intense throbbing pain. I didn't mention any of this in my video, again it took up too much time. I removed my sock got my Swissarmy knife out and used the scissors to cut the toe nail right back on that particular toe. the pain didn't subside immediately, it was gone midnight by now, then I got distracted and the fright of my life, a large spider was walking around the roof of my tent, luckily it wasn't in the sealed mesh cell, but it would be able to get into the vestibule, worse still fall into it when I was getting out for a wee! I know it wouldn't hurt me but it scared me! It took me an age to usher the spider out of my tent using my long handled spoon, I'd get it nearly out, then it would come back in again. By now I was fully awake. I needed a wee, which is when I realised I needed to add my shewee onto my One Note packing list, as I hadn't packed it. I'm not sure if I will pack it, the device itself is small and lightweight, but I'd also need to pack a plastic bottle which would take up some of the all important limited space, perhaps I could use a plastic bag? I'll think about that! I got out of the tent, the night sky was stunning, lots of stars, a beautiful gibbus moon, absolute silence, not a leaf was a rustling! So very beautiful. I checked the temperature, 7°C, so not too cold, and my sleep system did a fine job keeping me warm after getting back to sleep at around 2:30am. I had a good night's sleep after the spider and toe pain palaver, with the pain having completely gone. I awoke at around 6am, still tranquil, a little bit misty, a little bit chilly but a fine and wonderful morning. It's a happy place to be, knowing you survived the night, that you have a nice cup of coffee to come and a great days riding ahead of you. I knew that I still had 4.5 kilometers uphill to the summit, then another 38 kilometers what I thought was downhill to complete my proposed loop! I was in no hurry, I had a small tin of cold baked beans for breakfast, a couple of cups of coffee then set about breaking down camp. Before I finally packed up, the most important job of the day was to fix the rear Rollpacker. I added two cable ties, one to stop the lever moving up and one to stop the lever moving down, then I added the only spare strap I had on me wrapping it tightly around the bracket of the seat and the Rollpacker. The ride to the summit was up and down up and down. I think it may have rained a little overnight further up the mountain, or it was still slightly wet from the storms, as the sometimes rocky ground was slippery in places. Pushing my heavy load of an estimated forty kilograms with all my might, up a steepish incline I slipped and fell hard onto the rock, then the bike fell on top of me. It may have been at this point that I knocked my steering askew, something I didn't realise until I was editing my video footage at home. The fall caused a jagged cut to my right knee and a grazed left knee and left elbow, and a sore thigh muscle from where the bike fell. Nothing debilitating, I was lucky. The ride up the mountain through glorious mature woodland was just beautiful, I could have ridden in this tranquility and beauty all day. There were signs of humans when I came across some large gum trees that had been felled, I used the felled trees as a photo opportunity, I think it was the best photo of me and my bike that I've ever taken! By now I noticed I was being followed by some squawking sulfur-crested cockatoos. Mostly it seemed to be just two of them. As I moved they moved, when I stopped they stopped. With the distraction of the cockatoos and the magnificent mature trees the time passed quickly. I got into a little game of squawking back loudly to the cockatoos, which would then cause a whole flurry of activity from an entire flock with squawking aplenty, so funny. I was soon onto the left turning onto Mount Lawson Road which leads to the summit. The ground was littered with gum tree bark shed from the many enormous trees in the beautiful mature woodland, so littered you couldn't even see the ground for around a kilometer. With the cockatoos still following me, I made my way to the summit signpost, arriving around midday. By now I was starting to be aware of the time and I was thinking if it's nearly lunchtime now, I'm not going to be back at my car by lunchtime like I imagined I would be, I better get a move on. With time being an issue, I didn't have long to spend at the summit, which was a real shame as I'd have loved to explore a bit, especially as I'd heard there was some indigenous rock-art up there. I didn't find the campsite, but imagine it was to the left of the sign in the photo below. I pushed up the road to the right of the sign and came to a sign showing a map of a short summit walk, with a lookout around 200 metres into it. I started the walk, along a fireroad then along a short piece of singletrack pathway through some woodland that opened up into a clearing with some pretty impressive boulders. As usual with my useless sense of direction and as usual the trail signposts being non-existent, I struggled to find the lookout. I walked alongside the massive granite slab, then walked up it, then turned right when I got to the enormous bolder, walked along in front of it then followed the granite slab around, along which I saw a couple of hi-viz orange arrows pointing in random directions, I continued on until I could see some views. There are many boulders on this granite slab, all very impressive, the view was nice but I just didn't have time to explore further so I returned to my bike. By now the sun has suddenly disappeared and dark clouds were gathering, little did I know they were preparing for a massive storm that night, so good job I wasn't camping a day later. Being worried the clouds were going to bring rain very soon I changed out of my longjohns and put on my leggings, it had turned far too cold for my cycling shorts. I also made sure my poncho was at the top of my forkbag. Sadly I had to leave the summit and start getting down the mountain, because of what I thought was impending rain. I wasn't sure whether to go back the way I came or to continue my loop. My video shows my indecision here, I say 'I'll do the loop, I've got all day', famous last words! It started as a fast ride down from the summit, back onto the road I came in on, then turning left when I hit the junction where I'd turned left towards the summit. Eventually this road, still called Mount Lawson Road, went from interesting fireroad to a wide, hardpacked gravel road, bulldozed through the woodland. It was muddy in places, fast and nowhere near as interesting as a narrow fireroad. With the speed I was going and with the sky now clouded over, I was freezing cold so had to stop and change into my ski socks, put my longjohns on over my leggings put my fleece on and my winter hat on, was icy cold! After a few kilometers on the mostly downhill, wide logging road I had the choice to stay on that and return to my car via a proper gravel road then a paved road, or turn right onto the Koetong Creek Track that was part of my loop. I stupidly chose to continue my loop thinking it would be mostly down hill, and that it was much shorter than the former option, little did I know what was to come. The first few kilometers on the Koetong Creek Track are of reasonable quality but clearly it was an unmaintained ex-fireroad, running deep into the river valley so mostly downhill. When I was too far into the river valley to turn around I came across a gate and a sign stating 'Walkers only'. I'm not usually one to disregard things such as this but I had no choice but to continue, as pushing back up several kilometers of uphill out of the river valley would take me hours, so I rode on. It was very pretty with the Koetong Creek to my right, a reasonably sized creek, quite shallow but running fast over rocks and boulders, with a small waterfall here and there. I wished I had time to stop and have some lunch and enjoy the solitude and views. As it was, I didn't have time. I was so glad that I'd packed more snacks than I usually do! And with drinking just plain water I had not had the return of the dreaded cramps, even when I was pushing heavily up hill and was exhausted. The track deteriorated considerably as I rode on, from steep severely eroded descents, to just as steep and eroded ascents, it was hard going. Sometimes the track was just loose rock, often it was just grass. At around 2pm I started to get worried that I wouldn't make it out by nightfall, but my biggest worry was that as the track was deteriorating rapidly, that it would suddenly come to an end and become an indistinguishable trail through bush. I was in relative wilderness by this point, there are no turn-offs no houses no farms in a 15km radius. Clearly an unmaintained track, making fallen trees a frequent obstacle. It was easy to get over small to medium size trees. One was a large tree with no alternative but to either strip the luggage from my bike and carry it all over, or go through unbroken bush with the bike, I chose the latter worrying all the time that I'd get bitten by a snake. And I knew snakes were about as I had a few small streams to cross, at one of them a black snake around 150cm long was in it, which soon slithered off when it spotted me. I was covering ground very slowly, not only because of the poor quality track and the obstacles, but the steep rocky, grassy or eroded ascents were a struggled with all the weight I was pushing against gravity! At around 3pm I was thinking I would have to spend another night on the mountain, I came to terms with the fact that I wouldn't be going to work the next day, but never mind my daughter could call in an explain was my thinking, not knowing she hadn't a clue I was bikepacking! Then there was Jo, I told her to send out a search party, what if she called the rescue crew out and there was a big palaver! I didn't know her last name, or have any contact details, so I couldn't track her down at all. That did worry me so although I was prepared to spend another night there, I was determined to do my best to get back to my car, so I plodded on. Because I was hurrying, I was forgetting to take my pedal off when pushing up and down the steep eroded ascents and descents, the calf of my right leg paid the price! As though things weren't bad enough I heard a weird sound from my rear tyre on a particularly rocky section. There were lots of brambles and thorns on the unmaintained trail which proved too much for the sealant that was left and I now had a flat rear tyre. I do carry a tube and I do carry sealant, but with time being short I decided I would try and pump it up and see if it would hold and for how long it held. It wasn't too bad I had to stop every half hour and put more air in, phew I got away with that my the skin of my teeth. If I had wanted to put sealant in I was worried that I would pop the bead, but on reflection it was already flat so I should have put sealant in. I must learn to calm down when things go wrong and think logically! As for fitting a tube, that would be the last resort as I'd have to strip all the luggage off my bike. One consolation was that my repairs to my Rollpacker bracket did the job and it didn't fall off again. The fear was real though, perhaps unnecessarily so, my main one was the trail ending, if the trail ended I'd have to back track which would mean spending another night on the mountain. Really the only problem was worrying about Jo worrying about me and although I'd only just met her I could tell she was genuine and would worry. I took very few photos during this period as I just didn't have time but below is one where I'm looking very worried as I stopped to photograph Bay by the creek. I was doubly worried when I heard thunder in the distance, luckily I didn't hear it again. So coming to terms with what will be, will be, I decided to filter some water at a point where I needed to cross the creek. And blow me my bloody water filter was blocked. This was a brand new filter that I had ran water through it when I got it to test it, then followed the storage procedure of running a small amount of bleach through it. I should have tested it before I left, damn! But tadaah luckily I had brought with me a backflush device I had cobbled up, which eventually got a little water flowing. I very slowly filtered two liters of water, one to fill my water bottle the other in case I needed it later. Anyway to the know-it-all lady that criticized when I mentioned my backflush device on Facebook, in your face! Up and down, up and down, these ascents and descents continued, I was praying that the next one would be the last one, suddenly I noticed the terrain flattened out, and no more steep ascents, yay! The trail started looking less grassy and more fireroad like! Then I came upon a gate, which denoted the end of the walker's only section. You have no idea how so very relieved I was to get to this gate! and even more joy on seeing that ahead was a recently maintained logging road! Oh my I was overjoyed! I was going to get out! and I wasn't going to have to back track! At this point I wasn't sure if I would make it back by nightfall but I was going to give it a damn good go!! The logging road was in pretty poor condition, I think it had been laid on a very small budget and they were paying the price for that now, but for me it was heaven, gently undulating and most of all it meant I was getting out! I came to a gate, and soon I was passing through randomly scattered ramshackle farm houses, paddocks and cows, lots of cows. Many different breeds, many different ages! The gravel road meandered through rolling hills, with a gate every kilometer or so. Some of the cows had got out of their paddocks and were panicked by me riding through, so I stopped and let them go, but still when I caught up to them they'd start panicking again. I tried walking. I tried talking to them, but no, they just panicked. A guy driving a RAM truck stopped for a chat, he had walked the track I'd just ridden and couldn't believe I'd got through! I was hoping he'd offer me a lift, he didn't! But he did give me a tissue as my nose was running, as it was quite windy. I continued playing cat and mouse with the cows, eventually we got to a gate after around two kilometers, I stood back from it, over to one side, hoping they would just double back, but they didn't ! Five of them thought it better to jump a very high barbed wire fence, the biggest cow fell, I was panicked myself for a moment as it struggled to get up but get up it did and it ran off with the others. I hope it was OK. I could see the Murray River and the Murray River Road in the distance, this is where I was heading and it spurred me on! Eventually I hit the surfaced road,! I had thought it was nine kilometers on this road back to the farm, I was dismayed when my navigation told me it was 12 kilometers! But no problem, nothing could spoil my mood! There were pretty views with the road running alongside the Murray, mostly it was gently undulating, with just one stop to pump up the tyre. I gobbled up the kilometers! The clouds were still gathering, but no rain fell, I was feeling so relieved, I said a Buddhist prayer and thanked the gods when I arrived at the farm entrance at ten to six, it was still daylight, hurray! As I packed up Jo drove up in her truck with her husband, they'd been out looking for me, such a relief that I didn't put them to any more trouble than I already had! Thanks so much for being a genuine kind lady Jo, you're one in a million. And so, just as nighttime fell, I drove out of Amy's farm and made my way home thanking my lucky stars and promising myself that I wouldn't be such a nincompoop again ........ but I expect I will! ! It took me all week to assimilate all that happened in these last 28 hours, I was kind of in shock, it had seemed like the end of the world at times, but on reflection, it’s the best ride I’ve ever done! I have added some checks to my packing list, as follows: Upload offline route to all devices Subscribe to Emergency Beacon Test emergency beacon Charge all devices Check water filter is working Check tyre sealant Tell someone where you're going Check luggage mountings are secure I've also bought a stand for my bike, in the hopes it won't keep falling over. Since being home, I’ve carried out a lower fork service and removed both tyres and cleaned them out, ready for some fresh sealant. My V4 packing can be downloaded by clicking on the Icon below Happy adventuring, hasta luego!

  • Bikepacking Gear List V3.0

    A downloadable list of all my bikepacking gear can be found in this post, first some background information. Clothes and personal items If you’re riding as I did, taking your time, enjoying exploring the remote sierras, towns and pueblos and staying a few days, you will want more clothes than if you’re on a mission to finish a route as fast as you can. You don’t have to be dirty and smelly all the time! After having a shower, it was so good to be able to put clean clothes on. I washed my dirty gear in the hostal bathrooms and dried them where I could. I had packed for warm to hot weather in the day, with chilly mornings and evenings (above freezing temperatures) I would swap out some items if I was riding in colder weather. My clothes were packed in a vacuum bag, to keep the volume down. Sleep System and camping My preference was to have a completely free-standing tent. I really can’t be doing with staking out the guy ropes every time I put it up. I was generally happy with my choice of tent, although in strong winds it felt quite unstable. It’s tall and thin and must be pitched with the thinner end facing the direction the wind is coming from, which isn’t always easy to establish. It survived, was roomy enough for me and all my gear, except my bike, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in it. It's very good at keeping the bugs out! Bike Standard, out of the showroom Specialized Camber FSR 2017 except for tubeless tyres and Promend Quick Release pedals (See pedal review here). The bike is fitted with standard tyres - Ground Control and Purgatory. My only criticism of it would be that a full suspension bike is obviously heavier than a gravel bike, but not to a point where I wanted to throw it down a mountain, unless I was on it of course! Bike Luggage I chose the Arkel Rollpacker luggage as they looked the most suitable for a full suspension bike. At 25 litres they are some of the largest bags around. When I fell off my bike riding down from the Puerta de la Ragua, the luggage took a hard hit. On my final day of the ride, the front Rollpacker bracket snapped, I managed to fudge a repair to continue. I can only think I may have cracked it in the aforementioned shunt. I also think I put excessive stress on it by strapping my tent to it, now I don’t do that. After contacting Arkel, they promptly sent me a new front bracket free of charge, I did have to pay the postage though. My rear Rollpacker has been problematic from the get go. It comes adrift from the seat. The only way I have been able to fix this is to put two cable ties on the tightening lever, so it can't move up or down, AND I put a Voile strap around the bracket and the seat, these two modifications seem to hold it in place, even on fast gnarly trails. My fork luggage bags are Gorilla Cages, I bought new ones after I had my accident, which was caused by one of the bags falling into the front wheel. I also bought the correct bags for them this time, which is a great improvement! The cleats holding the bracket on to the fork are the same, but the brackets are the V2 ones, these are much bigger that the previous version. Rucksack I carry a lot more things than a bikepacker on a mission would. All the extra gear doesn’t fit into the bike bags, so I carry some in my rucksack. The rucksack is quite heavy, and when I’m tired it feels extra heavy! I carry my laptop, electronics, some of my food, some of my water, paperwork, and a fleece in it. I would like to not have to ride with it but can’t see how I can keep my 'luxuries' if I didn’t use it. Cooking equipment I’m happy with my cooking stuff. My Sea to Summit titanium cooking pot was problematic for the first perhaps 10 cooks, the food or water tasted of chemicals. I think a hard anodising by-product was leeching into the food. I would suggest, if using a new pot, testing it at home before you leave for your ride, or you could end up like I did, unable to eat or drink. At some point I’ll need to buy a new stove, the one I have is around ten years old and it sometimes falls apart! But I will stick with the screw on gas canister type I think. I found it difficult to find screw on canisters in the small pueblos in Spain, luckily I’d bought an adaptor that fits into my existing canister, so I can refill it with a butane aerosol type bottle, which are easily found in ferreterias in Spain. Gas refill adapter - threaded canister to butane aerosol can be found here Electronics My YouTube films are very basic, I only use a GoPro, without gimbal and don’t use a drone. My notebook laptop and camera are very basic too. As far as navigation goes, I use RidewithGPS on my phone to navigate, and Komoot to plan a route. I like to have a spare mobile phone, in case of disaster, such a that I had in Spain when I smashed my navigation phone to pieces! I carry an emergency beacon, in the form of a Garmin Inreach Explorer Gear List Below is an XLSX sheet of my gear that you can download, in case you want to adapt it for yourself. It shows what I carry, product details, where I store it, and if I use it on an overnighter. II hope it's useful to you! Full Gear List Item Check Upload offline route to all devices Check Subscribe to Emergency Beacon Check Test emergency beacon Check Charge all devices Check Check water filter is working Check Check tyre sealant Check Tell someone where you're going Check Luggage mountings are secure Bag of Vitamins Cooking Pot Tea, Coffee And Sugar Bowl Cup Mozzie Headnet Stove Lighter Spare Batteries Gas Canister Pillow Quilt Sleeping bag liner Windshield For Stove Beanie Hat Cable Bike Lock Hand Sanitizer Insect Repellent Shit Tickets Sun Hat Trowel 2xBungees Allen Keys Chain Oil Eye Cover First Aid Kit Emergency Blanket Makeup Rain Jacket Sawyer Filter Snake Bandage Spare Plastic Bags Spare Sawyer Bottle Suspension Pump Tyre Sealant Tyre Tube Washing Stuff Water Bottle Wrist Straps Solar Charger Towel Umbrella Clothes bag 1x Pair Of Leggings 1x Pair Of Short Shorts 1x Pair Of Knee Length Shorts 1x Pair Of Padded Cycling Pants 2x Pairs Of Knickers 1x Sports Bra 1x Long Sleeve Tops 1x Tidy T Shirt 1x Vest Top 1x Fleece 2x Pair Of Socks (Short/Ankle/Long) 1x Pair Of Long Johns 1x Pair Of Riding Gloves Buff Fisiocrem Flannel Front Bike Light Head Torch Headband Lighter Neck Cooler Puño Rear Bike Light Spoon Sun Screen Swiss Army Kife Wet Wipes Tissues Snacks Emergency Repair Kit 1 x 3 Metres Paracord 3 x Safety Pins 1 x Sewing Kit 1 x Large Darning Needle 1 x Chain Splitter 1 x Derailuer Hanger 1 x Darning Thread 1 x Plugs For Holed Tyre 1 x Toothbrush To Clean Chain 1 x Silicon Gloves 1 x Sawyer Washer 1 x Double Sided Spongy Tape 1 x Super Glue 1 x Tube Of Adhesive 1 x Small Reel of Tank Tape 1 x Pen 2 x Brake Caliper Piston Spacer Blocks 1 x Repair Patch for Airbed 1 x Repair Patches for Tent 3 x Tyre Levers 10 x Cable Ties 1 x Small Reel Of Wire 2 x Spare Strap Clip 1 x Fire Lighter Rod 1 x Co2 Canister And Adaptor 1 x Spare Chain Link Puncture Patches 2xAdaptor to Fill Gas Canister Empty Holdall Incense Sticks Water Bottle Spanish Fan Rain Poncho Power Bank Airhorn Compass Face Mask Notepad Pencil Lip Salve 2xGorilla Cages 2xRollpackers Bike Mounted Bottle Holder Handlebar Telephone Mount Knife Securing Straps-Large Securing Straps-Small Telephone For Navigation Tent Bag Tent Body Tent Rainfly Ground Sheet Tent Poles Sleeping Mat Sleeping Bag Liner Top Tube Saddle Bag Tyre Pump Water Bottle Wedge Top Tube Bag Dry Bag For Electronics 2xPower Banks Electronic Cables And Sd Cards Gopro Fittings Laptop Spare GoPro Spare Telephone Wall Charger Ear phones Ear Plugs Camp shoes Food Garmin Inreach Insulated Food Bag Money, Credit Card, ID Selfie Stick Tripod Waterproof Matches Spare Prescription Glasses Water Bottle Whistle Temp/Wind gauge Digital Camera Peak Designs Camera Clip On Me (or packed away) 1x Long Sleeve Tops 1x Pair Of Knee Length Shorts 1x Pair Of Padded Cycling Pants 1x Pair Of Socks (Short/Ankle/Long) 1x Pairs Of Knickers 1x Sports Bra Backpack Bike Helmet Gopro Camera Gopro Chest Mount Prescription Sun Glasses Trail Runners

  • Wye River Beachfront Campground Independent Review of tent only pitch

    Jump to review A load of waffle Sometimes my inability to plan ahead fails miserably, sometimes it pays off! My daughter and her family had booked the Big4 campsite at Wye River months ago. I really couldn't be arsed to drive for nearly six hours just for an exhausting weekend, so I said I wouldn't be going. Their break was going to be for 7 days from the public holiday onwards, on the 26th of January, which happened to lie on a Thursday this year. Unexpectedly my boss announced that we would have the Friday off as well, making it a four day long weekend. It wasn't until late on the Wednesday afternoon before the public holiday, that I decided I'd find out if there was any spaces left at the Big4 campsite for me and my little tent. Unsurprisingly, there wasn't, and I was kind of glad as I couldn't really be bothered, it was all just too much effort, I was just going through the motions. Then I noticed on Google Maps that there was a campground opposite the Big 4, so I gave them a call and was shocked that I found myself booking the last pitch on the Beachfront Campground! I was kind of panicking as I gave the guy on the phone my card details, as I hadn't committed in my head that I was going to do this!! But, too late, it was done. When I got in from work that Wednesday night, I hurriedly packed my camping gear, mountain bike gear, surfing gear, beach gear, surf board, body board, mountain bike, skateboard and electronics. Thursday morning I packed my clothes and food, and set off around 10:30am. It was all quite civilised really! I used to love driving but for the last 25 years, with the introduction of speed cameras, and the sheer amount of traffic on the roads, I find it tedious nowadays! So tum-te-tum te-tum I plodded along the M31 from Albury towards Melbs, then skirted around the west of the metropolis on a couple of other major roads, only hitting a stop-start-jam for 15 minutes, after there had been an accident near the Avalon airport. Eventually I hit the Great Ocean Road. Australians like to put Great in front of things! The Great Dividing Range, the Great Ocean Road, the Great Australian Bight, the Great Barrier Reef, the Great Alpine Road etc. Now if there's any Aussies reading this, it's just an observation not a criticism and in fact, the Great Ocean Road is very scenic, beautiful ocean views one side and forested, sometimes rain forested, hills the other. The trouble was, due to it being a public holiday it was busy. Sight-seers driving along, without a care in the world, at 30kph argh! The first 400 Kilometers went reasonably quickly, the last 150 kilometers went very slowly, at least for the last 50 Kilometers I could take in the pretty views! Eventually I arrived at the Wye River Beachfront Campground. I'd left home at 10:30 and arrived at 16:30, with only a quick stop for fuel in between. The Review! Driving west along the Great Ocean Road, you'll find the campground on your left. You can drive in and park-up outside the office to check in. Alan is very helpful and friendly, checking in was very slick and easy. One thing I didn't realise was that if you occupy one of the four tent only pitches along the beach, not only can't you get a car to the pitch, you're not permitted to keep your car on the site at all. I knew I couldn't get to the pitch, but I didn't realise you couldn't park on site. Parking arrangements for beachside tent pitches I cringed when Alan told me this, but anyway, this perceived parking palaver turned out to be a non-palaver, you can temporarily park as near as possible to the pitches, unload, then take your car off-site. Luckily I was on pole position in the car park, which is directly across the road from the campsite entrance. So when I had to keep returning to my car to get things I'd forgotten, it wasn't a big deal. I left my car, with my mountain bike in, for all four days I was there, with no problem. The only thing I found was that I didn't venture out in the car at all, as I didn't want to lose my prime parking spot! A curse and a blessing, I didn't get out to the mountain bike park which is around an hour's drive away but I really did just chill out! You can catch the video of my time at this site here Give us a like and a subscribe please! Unloading/Loading for beachside tent pitches If the campground is busy, you have to park outside some caravan pitches to unload. The closest you can get is around a 50 metre walk to the beachside tent pitches. It's certainly worth explaining to the caravan campers that you are only temporarily parking outside their 'home', while you unload, explaining you'll be gone soon. One caravanner was getting quite irate, as the couple setting up next to me on pitch 4, parked up, unloaded then walked off site! The surface of the short walk to the pitches is sand. I struggled to get my heavy battery to and from the tent, hence my skateboard! I was pushing it to the tent and a neighbour carried it for me. On pack-up, I pushed it on the skateboard! The skateboard stopped dead in the sand so I had to push it on the grassier part on the side of the path. If you have a lot of stuff a trolley would be handy, especially if it's heavy. I shall look at buying a simple trolley for my battery. The beachside pitches You can see the fence in the photo, above, then there's a narrow band of bush, then the beach. It's worth noting that when the tide comes in, it's around 10 metres from your tent. The ocean covers the rocks you can see in the photo below, so is quite noisy, a beautiful sound but not if you're a light sleeper! There's a family of Superb Fairy Wrens living in the bushes above the tent area, they're so pretty. There wasn't many bugs for the first couple of days, very few mozzies. On the Saturday, I think possible because the site was being whipper-snipped, there seemed to be more horseflies around. I was at the site from the 26th - 29th January 2023, the high tide was around 4:30 am and 4:30 pm, varying as much as an hour later. As the tide is fully in at 4:30 am, it is coming in, in the middle of the night, so can be quite noisy. Book your pitch here I paid $72 AUD per night, I would imagine that is peak season prices. The facilities certainly made that payment worthwhile. There seems to be varying, and reasonable cancellation policies, depending on the time year you have booked. Open fires, solid fuel barbecues, or fire pits are not allowed at all. The ground is a very sandy soil, easy to push the pegs in, but of a good enough consistency to secure the tent pegs The beach From the tent only pitches, you can get on the beach at either end of the four pitch area as shown below in the two photos There are other beach entrances on the site, so not everyone is accessing the beach via these two entrances. The Surf Life Saving club house is actually on the campground, when I was there in January the beach was protected by life savers from 10am to 4pm The beach itself has the rocks opposite the tent only pitches, when the tide is out it's a good place for young ones to explore, there are many rockpools to paddle in. I didn't, nor did my 2 year old granddaughter, find the rocks slippery. The beach is sand, not pebbles, although there are a few pebbles to the very right hand end of the beach, right as you look out to the ocean. The life savers were setting the flags approximately three quarters of the way from the left, as you look out into the ocean. I tended to bodyboard between the flags whilst they were there, and in the centre of the beach when they weren't. The weather was warmish whilst I was there, perhaps 25°C, until the Sunday, when it rained all night and for my morning pack-up. Pitch vacate time is 10am. Dogs are permitted on this beach. Each morning, except Sunday! when it was raining, there was a beautiful sunrise over the ocean. I'm no ocean expert but I didn't see any dangerous conditions whilst I was there. The campsite rules and facilities It's not a big site, but it's in a prime spot. It's well arranged, nicely kept and clean. The campsite quiet time is 10pm to 7am, which was fully adhered to, thankfully! There's a single loop of a road that circuits the site, so you can't get lost! Even I can't get lost! The kitchen is a 100 Meter walk from the tent pitches, perhaps not even that far! It's clean and well equipped. There's two fridges, one with a freezer, hob, barbecues, toasters, kettles, microwaves and sinks, unusually, the sponges and washing up liquid is provided! Such a shame some of the guests a) can't read and don't close the doors like it asks, so the aircon can work properly and bugs don't get in. And b) are quite disgusting, one leaving a cheesy goo in one of the sinks, my OCD just made me clean it up, filthy heathens! The toilet and shower blocks are further from the tent pitch area, next to the reception building actually, perhaps 200 metres. There's two separate men's shower and toilet rooms, and two separate women's shower and toilet rooms. I don't know about the men's, but in the women's rooms there was around three showers and three toilets (perhaps 4 of each), some wash basins, a full length mirror and an electrical point. I believe there was a disabled room too. There was two outdoor showers to wash off after being in the ocean. No wetsuits were permitted in the toilet blocks. Summary Location, for beach fun, perfect Clean and well arranged Good kitchen and bathrooms Good value Pleasant staff Don't hesitate, just book it!

  • Mount Lawson State Park - Camp - Bushwalk - Bike Ride

    Cold and rainy weather here in Albury, New South Wales, Australia, has been the norm for the past ten months. With working full time, doing life and carrying out Grandma duties I'm left with little time for leisure activities. Unfortunately the coincidence of sunshine days and free time are very rare. After Granny duties until 5pm last Saturday, I realised that if I want to get out more, I needed to change my mindset, and break the chain of thinking that I have to go on a weekend trip on a Friday night or Saturday morning. So decision made, at 5:30pm, I was to go camping that night! Check out my video of this trip here Mount Granya State Park and its neighbouring Mount Lawson State Park have been on my radar for a short bikepacking trip for a while. I've already checked out Granya, so I thought I'd go to Mount Lawson this weekend, with Granya as a backup, should it be busy or not suitable. Very stupidly, in my rush to pack my camping gear, hiking gear, cycling gear, food etc. I forgot to print out and download detailed maps of Mount Lawson State Park, which caused a bit of a headache later in the trip. Setting off at 7pm in the evening sun gave me such a buzz, the freedom and anticipation of what will happen this night was just what I needed, it's a bit like driving home for Christmas, there's something so special about it. It's a beautiful drive, over the Bethanga Bridge, crossing Lake Hume, then alongside the swollen Murray River, with the sun setting behind me. Not knowing what to expect, or whether there was even a campsite at all, I had no time to meander. I wasn't sure of the exact layout of the park and the campsites, there wasn't time to investigate properly. My first destination was going to be the Kurrajongs, shown on Google Maps as a campsite, that is situated on the north-most left hand corner of the park. What a relief, driving into the Kurrajongs, it was clear that I'd be able to camp here, whether legally or not! There wasn't any sign of other campers, which is always preferable to a hermit like myself. I slowly drove along the fire-road that runs through a sparse bushland into the site. A drop-toilet can be found approximately 300 metres in, on the right, then at 450 metres the road ends in a turning circle, with picnic table and firepit. I couldn't see a decent camp spot at the firepit area so I headed back the way I'd came. There's plenty of flat ground and some shorter brush, I'm allergic to grass, so the shorter the better for me. I parked up in a more like meadow part of the bush, on the right next to a clump of gum trees, that I thought would make a great anchor for my tarp. I'd packed my car quickly and messily, so I was very disorganised during camp setup but managed to get it done before darkness fell. Two things I hadn't expected was the amount of ants and mosquitoes! The 15 to 20mm long ants were relentless, if I stood still for too long they'd be crawling up me. The mozzies were tiny, which made me think they'd be quite harmless, how wrong was I! I'd changed into long sleeves and leggings when I saw just how many were about and thought that as they were so small that I'd be OK, alas not. Once zipped up inside my tent, my Marmot Fortress this time, I was safe from the insects, well except for those that got in whilst I setup. I regularly found an ant for the next few hours and I spent quite a bit of time swatting mozzies. I'd lit an incense stick inside my tent, I'm pretty sure that the smoke, pungent aroma or both, deter the insects. I settled down to sleep around 10pm, but was awoken quite often by wildlife scurrying around outside my tent and by the fact that I had only brought my Z-lite foam mattress, being a side-sleeper, it isn't comfortable on my hips at all. I opened the tent a few times to see what was making the noise, and always it was a possum, well that's what I think is anyway! Around 1am I was woken by a deep throaty growling, a bit like a cats growl but louder. I'd shout 'go away' and it would growl, I'd shout go away and it would growl, this went on around ten times, until I drifted off to sleep again. I don't know what it was and wasn't going to be going outside to check! I was soon awoken by the possums again so decided to go outside and take some photos. I'm so glad I did, there was a beautiful night sky, with stars and a bright three-quarters moon. I wish I had a video camera that could capture the night sky, it was so beautiful. I also got to see a baby and mumma possum, they really didn't seem bothered I was so close to them, and I caught some footage. Waking at around 6am Sunday morning, I had a coffee or two then set-off on my bike to explore the Kurrajongs. This didn't take long! The fire road that goes off to the left just goes in a short loop and back to the turning circle and the campsite. This is where having no map or accurate download was hurting me. I knew you could get into Mount Lawson from the East, West and South but didn't know exactly where, and I don't think the offline Google maps gives you the same view that it does in a browser. The mozzies were up early as well, as were the ants. Guess which nincompoop hadn't checked the weather forecast! The blue sky suddenly turned dark, and some gentle rain fell but not much became of it, and a cloudy blue sky eventually returned. Checking out the information board opposite my camp, I found some info and a map on the Flaggy Creek Walking Track. There was a short out-and-back walk to Valley View approximately 3kms return, and a long out and back on the same track, 14 KMS return. I decided to do the short hike, luckily I'd remembered my gaiters this time, so I had a small amount of protection against snake bites. Setting off, you come to a Visitor Intention Book, which is the first time I've seen a book on an Australian trail. I've seen them on YouTube videos in the USA, so it was exciting to make my first entry in a hike book! Heading out, it's mostly an uphill, well-marked trail, with lots of switch backs and boulders, through a rocky bushland. In no time at all you've climbed quite a way up and are rewarded with some beautiful views of the Murray Valley and surrounding peaks. Not long into the trail is this lovely spot for a picnic, although I'm not sure on the ant situation. There are ants everywhere here, many a time they were crawling up my legs, and at times I just couldn't get away from them. The ground is quite loose, and there's some minor rocks to walk up and over but nothing too strenuous. You eventually come to the Valley View sign that is in front of a large boulder cluster. There has been some human intervention to make it easier to climb the boulder, enabling you to get atop and have a wonderful view of the Murray Valley and surrounding hills. I wouldn't recommend clambering up the boulder it if it's wet, as there is no protection from falling, I wouldn't be taking minors up there either. In fact, I thought it a bit foolish of me to climb up it, since I hadn't told anyone where I was going, had no phone signal and there was no one around to help should I have injured myself. I nearly forgot to check for a phone signal, remembering just below the top of Valley View, I managed to download a fire-road loop in Mount Lawson State Park in the Komoot app. I'd recommend hiking poles, particularly useful on the way down, if you're a bit wobbly like me! The ground is loose, not too steep but certainly downhill on the way back. I didn't take note of the time I left for the hike, but I'm guessing the round trip was perhaps 3 hours, probably an hour or so was filming and taking photos! On returning to my tent, around 11am, I thought I'd cook something to eat but again the ants were relentless, so I had a quick cup of soup and started packing up. I'd skipped breakfast, so skipping lunch was later to have me over. With hindsight, what I should have done was rest up, make lunch then pack-up, my day would have been that much more successful should I have done that. The ants really were problematic while packing up, but it didn't take long and I set off around midday to take a look further East down the Murray River Road/Highway. I could see that the may be a way into Mount Lawson State Park from the East, which would mean turning right some way after the park, then right again. I took a quick look at Burrowye Reserve Camping area which was off the Murray River Road/Highway, as I was driving out East, it's a nice little riverside spot. I drove 28 kilometers East/South East to try and find a way in, with not seeing any opening on Google maps, I decided to return West to find the route I downloaded on Komoot. The entrance to the Flaggy Creek Track is through a farm entrance, it took me three goes to actually select the right part of the farm yard to pass on through, it's the right-most track from what I remember. Driving through gates, over cattle grids and meadowland, after around three kilometers you're into the woodland, it wasn't too gnarly, but it made me aware that really with no phone signal, no one knowing where I am and driving a two wheel drive car, that I should think about getting a 4x4, sooner rather than later. I parked up in a little cutting and got ready for a ride. On seeing someone racing out of the forest on an ATV, at first I was a little worried, in case this actually was private land, then it became a complete pleasure as the lady racing down the hill stopped to say hello. I didn't get her name, she lives at the farm on the entrance to the track. We spent ten minutes chatting, giving me lots of helpful information which was so very nice of her. "Straight up the hill for 2kms and keep an eye out on the left-hand side of the track", she's marked a cutting through to the waterfall and rockpools that you can cool off in. It was hot and sunny when I set off on Stumpy (my bike) to find the waterfall. As I was riding, then pushing up the steeper parts of the track, I was getting increasingly tired. It was only around two o'clock, if I'd have thought about it, I'd have taken a nap in the car, had something to eat, then set off. As it was, I barely slept the night before, I didn't have breakfast, and I'd only had some soup for lunch. I very soon 'bonked', which is where you have burnt all your energy reserves and there's nothing left. Feeling exhausted, after around 1km, I had to turn around and ride back down, which I had to do slowly as I'd forgotten my crash hat! Argh what a disaster, and what a pity I didn't just rest up, eat something on my return, then try for the waterfall again. Never mind, I'd had a good micro-camping adventure, a nice hike and learned where the waterfall was. I came away with some lessons, and also on my legs, 24 mozzie/ant bites, 9 of those on my bum!! Homeward bound, the skies darkened again, with some moderate rain falling. I was a little disappointed but promised myself I will return to find the waterfall another day! I again learnt lessons from this, and they are: Always check the weather forecast Download some route variations and a map of the area I'm going Take time to fuel myself Take time to rest up when required Tell someone where I'm going before leaving home I need a 4x4 vehicle Make improvements to my insect repellant situation!

  • Online Cycling Gear (OCG)-Independent Review

    OCG buying experience and initial thoughts The only time I can go bikepacking is during the three weeks shutdown my workplace has over Christmas and New Year. That time of year is high-summer in Australia and it's hot. During my short bikepacking tour last year, with little shade from the sun and up to 38°C, wearing my normal mountain biking gear of baggy shorts and baggy jersey, I was just too hot! I'd seen a few adverts on my socials for road cycling clothing and it got me thinking, road cyclists ride in during the summer and for long long distances sometimes, perhaps their tight-fitting clothing helped them do this and not just aerodynamically . So, I decided I would get myself some and give it a go! I'd seen perhaps ten or more different companies advertising flashy road cycling gear on Facebook and Instagram, I checked them all out, some were very expensive (to me) like $120 for a top! some were in my price range, but I didn't like the designs, some I liked the design but were winter tops. Exasperated at not finding what I wanted, I was so excited to come across the Online Cycling Gear advert! They had designs I liked, at a good price, you could customise the tops and you can order different size shorts to the top. It's always worrying when something looks too good to be true on the internet, but I did my due diligence and spent some time checking out reviews on OCG, and with 69% ***** reviews on Trustpilot, I thought them worth a punt! Women's Ride Free Sunset Short Sleeve Cycling Kit Short Sleeve Cycling Kit - M / Green Customization: Remove Jersey Back Pockets Customization: Change Pants Size - 4XL Customization: Add Side Panel Text (nosecondseason.com) Customization: Make as Long Sleeve - No Fleece Total in Australian dollars including postage and a first time buyer discount of 15% was $118.14 The OCG experience Now, it wasn't all plain sailing, as you can see I ordered a long sleeve top with a few customisations, and size 4XL shorts. This actually came as a short sleeve top with no customisations and size M shorts. The top was too big anyway, but the shorts were perfect! You may wonder why, being a UK size 10 that I ordered size 4XL shorts! Well that's what I determined from the size chart, but I think I mixed up my waist and hip measurement! My hips measure 97cm and that does correspond to a size M. My chest measures 92cm and that corresponds to a size S. So, i'd say the chart looks correct, at least for my size anyway. I contacted OCG support via email and immediately got a reply with instructions to follow their exchange process, which is very organised and simple. Within 10 days my replacement top had arrived, in size S and with all customisations! All I had to pay was $16 because I changed the size. The jerseys are made from a 145GSM soft and cool moisture-wicking polyester, the summer and autumn long sleeve range have 120GSM mesh side panels for extra comfort and breathability. I can only presume the shorts are made from similar. Points to note I wanted tight fitting gear, the sizes I ended up with suited me perfectly The top has a full-length zip The shorts have seat bone padding I have long arms for my height 175cm and the arm length is just right Summary Bear in mind there's a possibility you could be sent incorrect items OCG customer support is good to deal with and are efficient The OCG returns process is easy to use The goods look like they are made in, and sent straight from the factory There's a large range of designs and they are customisable Delivery time is around 10 - 14 days (in my experience) The clothing is good value for money (time will tell if this remains so) The manufacture of the clothing looks reasonably good The size chart is reasonably correct The padding in the shorts makes my bum look a very strange shape! For a UK size 10, a small top and medium shorts was perfect I went for a trail ride in my OCG kit and loved that I could unzip my top in the heat and that my bum had some padding I'm very pleased with my purchase and plan to order another set so I'll have enough kit for a bikepacking adventure. I'll report back here any further points of note after I have ridden further in the kit👍 Here's a link to the gear I bought See my YouTube video on this subject

  • Layering your summer sleep-system for Winter use on a Snowvernighter

    If like me you're on a tight budget, and can't afford the luxury of different sets of camping gear for the different seasons, it's worth evaluating if you can layer your gear to make it work for summer and winter. We are all different. We all have different tolerances to cold. Some sleep hot, some sleep cold. I seem to waver between both. I wanted to do two things with my summer bikepacking gear, before venturing on a snowy hike and overnight snowy camp: 1) Was to see if I could fit it all in my Exped Lightening 60 liter Backpack, along with my snowshoes and snowfeet 2) Was to see how my summer camping gear fared in the snow The results of this can be seen in this video Here's what I did to carry out the test It took three visits to the mountains to achieve my test snow camp. The first visit was to see how the land lies at Mount Buffalo, there was plenty of snow at Lake Catani on my visit, so I had planned my first snow camp to be there, alas, it wasn't possible in the subsequent weeks as the snow had melted. My second recce was to JB Plain, where there was plenty of snow, two weeks later there was still plenty of snow, so my third trip was my first snow camp. The Answers - Part 1 The answer to question 1 was yes, it's a bit tight but yes I could get away with using my existing backpack, along with using a bumbag or similar to carry my electronics. I only had 1 day's food supply, so I need to be a bit more creative when packing! What I packed for my Snowvernighter Extra clothes; fleece, merino wool T shirt, woolly hat and buff Down jacket Rain poncho Hiking umbrella (leave out next time, I didn't need it) Folding shovel Food and water, spoon, cooking pot, stove and gas, collapsible cup Head torch and additional light GoPro spare mounts and lightweight tripod Towel Water filter Micro-spikes (crampons) Tent, ground sheet, air bed, pillow, quilt, foam roll-up mat Snowshoes and Snowfeet The Answers - Part 2 I survived the night! but I was cold. I have no accurate data on the temperature outside that night, but in the village of Dinner Plain it was to be -5°C with feels like -10°C. Being a little higher and more exposed I think these would be the warmest temperatures I would have seen that night. The cold transferring from the snow through the multiple layers of the groundsheet, tent floor, foam sleeping mat onto my blow-up sleeping mat was much more than I thought it would be. I was icy cold! I used my thin rain coat as an extra cover, and used my towel to lay on my blow-up sleeping mat as an extra barrier from the cold. I had on underwear, a vest top, merino wool T-shirt, a fleece and a hooded down jacket, a synthetic beanie hat and a woolly bobble hat, thick ski socks, two pairs of leg warmers on my feet and ankles, long johns and insulated snowboard pants. I was inside a cotton sleeping bag liner with my quilt wrapped around me. Looking at the R-value of my mat, it's not high enough for me in the snow, I think I need something like a minimum of a 6 I don't strap my quilt to my mat, I don't like it like that, I like to wrap it around me, if I had the dough I'd get a lightweight higher rated sleeping bag for snow camping. I've had a look online and here in Australia they are very expensive, so I've decided I will layer my gear to give the R-value I need. One thing that is strange is that the season rating for my quilt is 2.5, so I'm unsure how that sits with the comfort/Lower limit rating? My sleep system ratings Big Agnes Aircore Ultra Insulated Wide sleeping mat on foam mat R-value of 4.5 Sea to Summit Ember EBIII quilt rated -4ºC for comfort and -10°C Lower Limit with a season rating of 2.5 which I find a bit of a mystery! Layering Action Plan Get rid of the cheap foam roll, I've no idea of the R value of this but I'm sure it's negligible, perhaps 1 maximum. Buy a Thermarest Z-Lite closed cell foam mat, with an R-value of 2.5, I'm sure it will increase my total R-value by at least 1 (approx. $90 AUD) Use my cotton sleeping bag liner as a 'fitted sheet' for my Big Agnes sleeping pad, thus giving me two more layers of insulation from the cold, must be worth part of an R-value! Buy a Sea to Summit Reactor Extreme sleeping bag liner this is said to increase sleeping bag warmth by a maximum of 15ºC (approx. $105 AUD) Leaving behind the cruelty of down equipment As I replace equipment I plan to move away from using down products, technology is progressing in this area, with much better pack-down-ability of synthetic insulation. Further problems/solutions It wasn't until the last hour that my feel became cold, perhaps I will get some sort of sleeping booties A suggestion was made to me was to fill a Nalgene bottle with hot water to use as a hot water bottle, trouble is they are heavy and I don't use one for water, perhaps there's a light weight solution around? My quilt isn't very insulated on the body section, my torso was cold, perhaps I need to take a better solution for a fleece? All these things are adding weight to my load and taking up space in my backpack, I will have to be inventive! Conclusion Until I can get out again in the snow, I don't know if my layering solution will work but considering I wasn't so cold that I retreated to my car, any improvement is going to help make a more comfortable night. Spending just over $200 AUD I hope is going to be worth it. A higher rated mat and sleeping bag would cost me at least $1000 AUD! I'll keep you posted! Equipment Ratings Sleeping Mat Rating - R-value R-Values are an insulating material's resistance to conducting heat flow. You will find R-values listed for most sleeping mats. It's important to note that R-values stack up i.e. a pads of 2.4 R-value will give you 4.8 R-value, so very handy! Sleeping Bag and Quilt Ratings - International Standards Your sleeping bag or quilt are likely to be listed with up to three ratings conforming to one of the international standards: Comfort Rating Lower Limit Extreme rating It also may be allocated a season rating. Tent - Ratings It's trickier to select a tent, there are a couple of ratings but there are lots of other considerations when selecting one. If I was on the market for another tent, I'd do my research within my budget range, then scour YouTube and Internet for reviews on that particular tent. Ratings include Hydrostatic Head (HH) which is a guide to how waterproof the materials is. But that doesn't mean it won't leak at the seams and zips, so it's very important to read reviews Season rating - often a tent will be categorized by which season(s) it's best used for, such as three season which will be good from mid-spring to mid-Autumn. Things to consider when buying a tent: How many people it's to accommodate The weight The seasons it's to be used in Do you want a free standing tent Do you want to use trekking poles to hold it up Read lots of reviews! **Update** Unfortunately, when I returned to JB Plain to test my new equipment, as listed here, the temperature was considerable warmer. Therefore any test was invalid. I was warmer, but not as warm as I thought I'd be. I used a different tent, the weather was not only warmer but much damper, the snow was very wet, and I used a tarp overhead as it was raining. You can see a video of my return to JB Plain here

  • Mental block on getting out on a ride

    So here's a thing, I love mountain biking, I love bikepacking, I don't mind a bit of hiking either. The longer I leave it between rides or hikes, the harder it is to get myself out of the door. I know that if I can just get myself out onto the trail, that I'll have a great time and be so pleased I forced the issue. But still, that getting out is the difficult part oftentimes. You can see a YouTube on this subject here Why does it matter if I don't ride or hike? Getting out into nature is so important for my mental health. When I ride, not one thought is given to any other matter than to having fun. Things that prevent me from riding my bike: Motivation. My head isn't always in the right place and I just can't get myself out the door. Rarely nowadays does getting out come easily to me. Indecision on where to ride. I'm so spoilt for choice of where to ride, I end up going nowhere because I just can't decide. Procrastination over what type of ride to do. Mountain biker or Bikepacker, trails or Bikepark. I can't decide which I want to do on the rare occasions it is possible to do either. Laziness. I like my warm/cool house and comfy sofa! And I don't like getting up early on a weekend. Time Restrictions: I struggle to ride on days where I am restricted by a short time window There's no one to let down: I always ride solo Fear: Fear of getting injured Another cup of coffee: just one more, then I need a wee and so the time wasting goes on! Make it easy to get out: Here's a few things I do to encourage myself to venture out when my head isn't in the right place. These things don't cure the problem but do make it easier to just get in the car and go: As soon as I can after a ride, I wash, spanner check and lubricate my bike After cleaning and servicing it, I put my mountain bike back in the car On returning from a ride, wash and dry my Camelbak ready for next use I wash all my kit as soon as possible Give myself no reason not to ride: On a day when I know what I want to ride and where I want to go, but just can't get my head around getting out of the house, I do the following: Get all my mountain bike gear on as soon as I get up Fill my Camelbak Put some snacks, electronics and tools in my backpack Put my backpack and helmet in the car Make a flask of coffee, and don't hang around the house for one last tea or coffee Go for my final wee, and preferably a BRP (before ride poo!) Mooch about the house until I have no more excuses not to go! Dealing with indecision, laziness and procrastination Make a decision on which day(s) I plan to ride and make no other commitments on any of those ride days. Decide before the day, whether I will mountain bike or bikepack Have a rough idea of where I'm going to ride if mountain biking or have a route planned if bikepacking Overcoming the fear of getting injured Reducing falls and mitigating injury should I fall: I commit to riding well within my capabilities, this does hold me back in skills progression, but really what does it matter, as long as I enjoy myself Make sure I wear all the protective gear I have, every ride! Make it too expensive not to ride! There's a few things I do that would waste a load of money if I didn't ride: Book an uplift Book a campsite When bikepacking, pay my Garmin and Ridewithgps subscription for the month There's nothing I can do about having no one to let down, I like stress-free, uncompromised rides, so always ride alone🤷‍♀️ And as for not wanting to get up early on a weekend, that's not going to change anytime soon!! If you suffer the same mental block on getting out, I hope you got something out of this little article. If you have any tips, please leave them in the comments below. Onwards!

  • Will I be able to start mountain biking at my age? with my disability?

    The different disciplines encompassed by Mountain Biking range from a bimble on a woodland trail to the wild double-backflip free riding, with all sorts in between. They'll always be an exceptional 80 year old that can still perform tricks on a mountain bike, or an exceptionally able disabled woman that can shred Downhill with the best of them but here we'll be talking about the average John or Jane. There are no laws as to an upper age limit for starting out mountain biking!! If you can easily ride a bike on the road, then there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to ride a mountain bike, likewise if you're healthy and have never ridden a bike, you can learn. Mountain biking is harder than a gentle ride on a bike path or paved road, since you are constantly correcting the steering and having to add torque to get over or around even small obstacles. Fall for fall, young to old, the resultant injury is likely to be worse as you age, and injury to injury, it will take longer to heal as you get older too. Only you know what your body can cope with, so your tolerance to pain and downtime needs some consideration. Think about this when deciding exactly which mountain bike discipline you want to engage in. Whichever you choose, take it slowly, get the experience and be sure of your skills before you tear down a double black downhill course! Check out my blog on Starting out in Mountain Biking You have an injury or illness? No matter your age, if you have good balance but are compromised health-wise in another way, you can still go mountain biking. The solution: an eMountain Bike (eMTB) When would an eMTB be useful for you? When you want to ride mountain bikes but: You have shortness of breath You have painful joints You are considerably over-weight You are lacking stamina and/or energy You have a disability (perhaps due to amputation but can still ride a bike) You have an injury that prevents full pressure pedalling motion You live in a particularly hilly area Your local downhill mountain bike park doesn't have an uplift You can't be arsed with all that strenuous pedalling period! You want some effortless fun! Overview of eMTBs Most big bike manufacturers have a range of mountain bikes with electric motor assistance, here are some points to note: In this article I am referring to electric motor 'assisted' mountain bikes, this means you still have to pedal, a little or a lot, depending on the bike and what you have set the level of assist to. An eMTB is different to an electrically assisted commuter bike. An eMTB will be suited to off road conditions, it will be more robust and will have front suspension, and often rear suspension too. Most eMTBs are 29ers, there are a few 27.5" available, these are the diameter of the wheels in inches You could choose not to follow the crowd, there are specialist, low volume eMTB manufacturers out there. You could build your own bike. You could buy one off Alibaba. But one thing you should do is make sure whatever you propose to buy meets the electrical safety specifications in your country, that the amount of assist, top speed and the maximum output of the motor all fall within the realms with what is considered a bicycle, in the eyes of the law, in the country in which you will be riding. There are electric 'off-road' bikes with throttles, that you don't have to pedal to be propelled along. Again check the laws regarding them in the country in which you will be riding. In some countries eBikes should be fitted with a sticker detailing the manufacturer's name, the power output along with some other specification details. Be sure yours conforms to the country or state in which you are riding. There are tuning kits available to increase the assist and the top speed of eBikes, this would take the bike outside of the legal range of assist and top speed but it may still have the original sticker. Buyer beware! Not all venues such as bike parks, trail centers, national parks etc. allow electrically assisted bikes on their trails, so check your favourite riding venue allow them before investing. The mass produced top range eMTBs all have a similar battery capacity of approximately 625Wh and also the motors have a similar torque output, approximately 85Nm. The top speed permitted varies country to country, for example in Europe it's 25-28kph whereas in the USA it's 32kph. Most eMTBs have Walk Mode, this allows some motor assistance whilst pushing the bike, very handy. How long you can ride on one battery charge depends on how much assist you use, how much you use it, the health of your battery and the specification of your bike, so do some comparisons whilst checking bike specs. Should you run out of charge, you can still pedal home, it'll just be hard work! Benefits of riding an eMTB It allows those previously excluded from mountain biking, due to injury or illness, to be able to get off road and engage in mountain biking. You can go further, quicker and easier You still have to pedal, so it's also a healthy pastime, you'll get your blood circulation going, your joints gently moving and it will help your metabolism by burning excess sugar/fat. Just by getting your blood pumping and your metabolism working, you'll find those simple health benefits will also boost your mental health too. Add that to getting out into beautiful countryside or woodland and you get a double dose of the most natural of anti-depressant. The movement involved in steering and pedalling, providing you have the correct size bike, will be lower impact on your joints than for many other forms of exercise. If you want it to be, eMTBing can be social too, look out for local eMTB groups You'll have your very own uplift, for trail centers that don't have one All mountain biking is fun! Drawbacks of eMTBs Even the most expensive mass-produced eMTB will be considerably heavier than the equivalent specification non-assisted MTB. As a guide, the weight of an eMTB could be around 24Kgs, some of the really high-spec ones could be as low as18Kgs, but that is still heavier than a good spec MTB, that could weigh as little as 13Kgs These bikes aren't cheap, for a big name, lower spec bike in 2022, you'll be paying upwards of AUD$8000, all the way up to AUD$24000 for a top of the range Specialized S Works Turbo Levo. You need to take care of the battery, so extra work outside of riding is required to maintain the health of the battery and to prolong its life. You'll have to put up with the banter, friendly and not so friendly, about 'cheating' which is something purist cyclists think eBiking is. Whatevs! Resources for eMTBs eMountainbike.com Magazine EMBN EMBN YouTube You are unable to ride a standard MTB or eMTB Should you be unable to balance, pedal or steer a standard or electric mountain bike or perhaps you have poor eyesight or are blind but would still like to get the adrenalin pumping out on the trails, there's an exciting emerging sport just right for you. The solution: An Adaptive Mountain Bike or aMTB These two, three or four-wheeled adaptive mountain bikes come in various guises: Tandem Recumbent propelled by leg Recumbent propelled by hand Recumbent propelled by both hand and leg Hand propelled Cycles Recumbent Kneeling Upright Leg propelled Cycles Recumbent four wheeled Recumbent three wheeled Tricycle Others Quad gravity propelled Bucket seated bicycle Specialist adaptation aids and prosthetics The above list isn't exhaustive by any means, but you can see there are many options, and thrown into the mix are that these can also be electric assisted. Some things to consider before buying How you will transport the bike to the trails Investigate if there are aMTB trails that you can easily get to Perhaps try some different bikes at an aMTB coaching center or the like Mountain biking will be no less dangerous on an aMTB, so make sure you get some protection Check out state or national sports bodies, there may be help out there to get started Resources for aMTBs Where to ride, check out Trailforks adaptive section All about aMTBing at Break the Boundary YouTube check out GMBN and GMBN Tech A less well know YouTube aMTB channel Just like any form of mountain biking, aMTBing will have some top class riders, check out their YouTube videos and get inspired, noting you don't have to have a disability to ride an aMTB! Martyn Ashton of Global Mountain Bike Network (GMBN) riding one of his aMTBs

  • How do I start mountain biking?

    How do I get into mountain biking? Am I too old to start mountain biking? What do I need to know to get started? You've decided you want to try mountain biking, none of your mates are into it, so how do you get started? Well read on, here's some ideas and information on a great way to start, what gear you need and the basic jargon you need to know. Mountain biking itself has many sub-disciplines: Trail Riding, Downhill, Cross Country, Slopestyle, Free Ride, Dirt Jumping, All Mountain, Bikepacking and Gravel riding to name but a few. There's crossover between these different disciplines, one bike could see you good for many of them. Which discipline you decide to start with is really up to you, all I can say is be guided by your cycling skills and perhaps your courage! Noting fitness and skills will come the more you ride, start off slowly and build up. If you have a serious illness or injury, be more cautious, listen to your body....... and your doctor! If you're totally new to mountain biking, take a look at some mountain biking YouTube videos of the different disciplines, seek out low key recreational riders such as me, this will give you an idea of everyday riding. You could also watch some of the more extreme riding on these two channels Sam Pilgrim and Red Bull Bike. How I started At 52 years old I wanted to go to clubbing in Ibiza one more time and do something else the rest of the week. I'd been thinking about taking up mountain biking for a while, so I researched mountain biking in Ibiza online and found Ride Ibiza. I stayed with them for a week, and had my first go at mountain biking. You can see from the photo below, that I had no special equipment, the only thing I bought was the helmet. I was wearing my MMA shorts, my normal trainers and no protection. I really enjoyed it, so when I got home I started researching bikes and about six weeks later bought my first mountain bike, a Specialized Stumpjumper Evo Comp it cost me £2500 back in 2014. This was a very high specification bike for a beginner, but it's served me well. The bike's eight years old August 2022, and I'm still riding him, this video's shot in January 2022. As soon as I got Stumpy, I went to my local downhill trail centre, Aston Hill, and scared myself stupid, but had a great time and learnt a lot, very quickly! When I started riding I didn't know everything that is in this article, I just did it and obviously was a little confused as to what was where at times! How you could start mountain biking Hire a bike and book a lesson with a coach at your nearest bike park Book a holiday where you can hire a bike and learn to mountain bike with a coach Buy a bike and join a local mountain bike club, join in the social rides, check Facebook or Google for your local group Buy a mountain bike, start off small, riding off-road routes such as at your local park, woods or bridleways, perhaps get some coaching. Watch some YouTube how to videos such as GMBN and Aaron Gwin, for riding tips What to do when you go to the bike park or trail center for the first time Research the following online before you leave home: The parking arrangements, parking fees etc. Do you need to sign on? Seek out the trails suitable for you, so you know what you're going to ride Watch some YouTube videos of the trails you're going to ride If you're going to book an uplift, get in early, the places go quickly Arrive early so you're not flustered Park your car and buy a parking ticket if necessary Register and pay any fees in the club house if necessary Go to the loo!!! Get you and your bike ready Take a photo of the trail map Research where the uplift picks up and drops off Don't be intimidated by others, they could be a first-timer too If you're intimidated by others riding near you, seek out the least busy trail or wait until everyone has dropped in and go after them Ride within your limits Get pedalling before the trail sign, so you hit the trail running, don't start pedalling at the sign Don't go straight out on a black trail, and teeter down it, build up from green to blue to red to black. It could take hours, weeks, months or years to be able to ride blacks, only ride the next level up when you're riding the lower one well Have a great time! What's 'cool' and what's not Personally I don't give a shit, in fact the people that try so hard to be cool, really aren't in my eyes. I do what I want but here's some things that are considered un-cool in mountain biking Leaving the reflectors in your wheels and pedals etc. Leaving the plastic disc in your rear wheel, commonly known as the dork disc Leaving the bell on your bike Having caps on your valves - why wouldn't you want to prevent shit getting in your valves???? Above ankle length socks are the law!! I wear these because I don't like liners or ankle socks. The brighter the colour, the better! Cutting up trails when it's wet or by messing around (unless you repair the damage) Not helping out repairing trails at your local trail centre on 'dig days' - No Dig, No Ride is the motto! Things you'll need to start riding Bike Helmet (preferably a full face) Gloves (optional) Knee pads (optional) Water, either a bladder or bottle mounted on the bike Multi-tool (optional) Tyre pump Something to carry the water and multi-tool and bits and pieces like phone etc. such as a hydration backpack A street or a trail or a field or a woods, in fact anywhere you can ride Trail Etiquette Never stop on the trail itself, if you have to stop, move yourself and your bike off the trail Don't drop litter and perhaps pick-up some litter when you spot it Some trails are one way, don't be tempted to ride or walk up one the wrong way If the trail is shared with horses and hikers, be courteous and slow down past them, also keep your speed down on blind bends If you come across someone on the trail with their back to you, whether they are biking or walking, politely shout 'Coming by on your left/right' before you attempt to pass Close all gates that you open If you see someone on the side of the trail that looks like they have some sort of problem, slow down and ask if they need help Mountain bikes are not permitted on some walking trails, look out for signs or research before going to the area, particularly National Parks, State parks, AONB, preservation areas etc. eBikes are not permitted on all trails, look out for signs Be prepared to fall off If you're trying to improve your speed (or flow as we call it), you are likely to have the odd fall. I used to fall multiple times each ride, and have done lasting damage to my shoulders If you bimble about, and there's nothing wrong with bimbling, you are less likely to fall Invest in a tube of Fisiocrem, this can work wonders with sprains, keep it in your car or somewhere handy! The more protection you wear the less you are likely to get gravel rash but it doesn't always mean you won't get injured, broken bones and soft-tissue damage are common place Be prepared for some downtime due to injuries, so think about whether you can afford time off work etc. before tackling that huge drop on a black that you know you're not really ready for! Carry a first aid kit, at least in your car, it came in handy when I had to get my bike back up the hill to the car park, load it and drive 90 minutes home with a badly sprained wrist There are some super lightweight full face helmets on the market, I nearly always ride with a full face helmet whether I'm trail riding or downhill riding. Open face helmets are commonly used for 'normal' trail riding Fisiocrem - buy here (I may receive a small commission if you do👍) Benefits of using an Uplift Shuttle Of course, they'll be those old farts that'll tell you that you should ride to the top .... ignore them! The benefits of being shuttled to the top: You get a rest between each run, so you don't get tired too early in the day You get time to think about how you are going to improve on the next run You get many more runs in, in a day, therefore get to know the trails quicker, and your riding progresses quicker Sometimes when there is no uplift and to get back to your car it's a half hour walk up a steep hill, you're dead on your feet but when you do get back to the top you get a second wind and think it's a good idea to do another run, DON'T. Stop riding if you're exhausted, your concentration may not be good enough, and it could result in a fall Basic Tips on Buying a Bike Like with cars, you get what you pay for, buy the best you can afford but do your research and always read reviews Covid has changed the mountain bike buying experience, as at this moment February 2022, there are few bikes available and you may be waiting up to 18 months for your choice to come into stock, if it ever does. So compromise your search in these Covid times, by checking what is actually going to be available. Decide on a maximum budget and check out reviews on bikes within your budget Bikes are like cars, each manufacturer will have various models, within that model, there will be a range of different specification bikes. With bikes, usually the more expensive the variant of a model, the higher the specification of the bike You can buy second hand from eBay, Gumtree, Pink Bike, Facebook Market place etc. You could be lucky and get a whole load of superb bike for your dough. Just be careful that the bike's not stolen, that it's not in a poor state of repair and that it's actually good value for money. Some people ask a nearly new price, which is fine if it's nearly new and in top condition and not stolen! Due diligence my friends. Size, each manufacturer has a different size grading, then again each of their models can be different too. Check out the specific size chart for the particular model of bike you are interested in. If you can, try the bike for size and/or get a bike fit before buying. Unfortunately if you're buying online and don't know your size for that model, you could be compromising your perfect fit. So do some online investigations on whether the size chart is 'true', over-sized or under-sized. For instance on the Specialized size chart my bike size should be Medium or S3, but in fact I prefer their Large size, perhaps this is because I have long legs and a short body? There are some well known mountain bike manufacturers; Specialized, Trek, Giant, Santa Cruz, Whyte, Canyon, Cannondale, Rocky Mountain to name but a few. All of these, amongst others, make excellent bikes but they are costly. You're going to be looking at around £3000 or $8000 Aus for a base model. I always buy Specialized bikes, they are one of the most expensive, but I know they rarely have any problems. As yet, touch wood, I have never had a problem with any of my three Specialized bikes, and they get some abuse! All the major manufacturers make good frames, it will be the suspension, brakes, wheels and drive train that differ, specification to specification. Compare all the different specs on all your options of make and model Buy the bike for the specific discipline you want to ride, although if you want to aim for Downhill riding, I wouldn't start with a downhill bike, they are heavy and not great on less steep trails, get a full sus trail bike with a good descending pedigree If you want to go tubeless, look out for tubeless ready wheels and tyres The material the frame is made from; most good mountain bikes are made from either carbon fibre or an aluminium alloy. You can get steel and titanium frames, but it's unlikely that you'll be buying a mountain bike made from those materials. I'd go for an aluminium alloy frame, simply because of cost, if buying new. Is Carbon Fibre a no no? It's fine and the state of the art at the moment. Formula One cars have been using carbon fibre suspension, steering columns, monocoques, gearboxes and pedals to mention but a few of the applications, for over 20 years but bear in mind they are frequently tested to check that the structural integrity hasn't been compromised. Having said that I wouldn't buy a second hand carbon fibre mountain bike, not unless I knew it's history. There are carbon fibre bike repair specialists around, that carry out non destructive testing and repairs. You can spend as little as $100 to $300 on a 'mountain bike' from a 'Supermarket' but it most likely will not be suitable for proper gnarly mountain biking. Unless you have no other option, aim higher. If you can't afford more, make sure you research properly or think about buying second-hand. I'm not rich, but I know value for money, that my 8 year old bike cost my £2500, it is testament to it's quality that it's still in good condition. The only thing I've bought is new wheels, tyres, brake pads and it had one full service 3 years ago. There are some budget mountain bikes on the market, such as Polygon, where for around 3000 Australian dollars you can get a full suspension mountain bike of reasonable specification, check out the reviews Wheel sizes: mostly for mountain biking these are 29" (known as 29ers) and 27.5" (also known as 650b) Some bikes have a mullet setup, different sized wheels Mountain Biking Disciplines Trail riding This can be on any unsurfaced Singletrack or Dualtrack or any width trail for that matter, such as Bridle paths, Fire roads, Tow paths, Woodland trails, Heathland trails, Trail centre maintained trails, Bike park groomed trails, Desert trails, Mountain trails. Suitable bikes: Hard tail, Full sus, eMountain bike and Fat bike, possibly a Rigid too All Mountain Riding This can be anything! Riding a wide variety of mountain terrain, including gnarly natural features such as rocks and boulders on extremely steep terrain Suitable bikes: Full Sus, perhaps eMountain bike Gravel Riding Singletrack or Dualtrack on Bridle paths, Fire roads, Tow paths or Un-surfaced roads Suitable bikes: Gravel Bike, Rigid Mountain Bike, Hard Tail, Full sus bike, Fat bike, eMountain bike Downhill Mountain Biking Also known as Gravity riding, these trails are likely to be at bike parks and trail centers but not exclusively, some hiking paths and off-piste riding of a mountain could be considered downhill mountain biking. The trails will be all downhill, with perhaps a little uphill, where if you're carrying enough speed, little pedalling is required. Often downhill trails are steeply downhill, have jumps, drops and rock features, which can need a high degree of skill to ride safely. There are downhill flow trails which can be easier especially if it's a blue grade. The difficulty depends upon the Colour or Diamond rating. Don't psyche yourself up into thinking it's too dangerous for a beginner, do your research and start slowly on blues Suitable bikes: Full sus, Downhill mountain bike, eMountain Bikes designed for downhill Cross Country Mountain Biking As the name suggests, when ridden non-competitively, this can be across all types of terrain, depending on where you are. It can involve flat terrain, uphill, downhill and natural features such as rocks and drops. The emphasis is on covering ground where puff and power, basically fitness, is paramount. Of course you could tootle along if you so wished! Suitable bikes: Rigid Mountain bike, Hard Tail, Full sus, eMountain Bike, Fat bike Enduro You'll hear Enduro mentioned quite a bit, and bikes can be sold as 'Enduro' but really this is the term for a type of competitive riding, which is really an extreme cross between downhill and cross country, I guess it is All Mountain riding? Check out the Enduro World Series YouTube Slopestyle and Dirt Jump riding This is a specialist field, usually ridden competitively, it involves precision riding skills and a great deal of courage to perform 'tricks' such as multiple backflips over massive jumps and drops. It's a cross between gymnastics and mountain biking! I guess it begins with dirt jump riding, which itself may evolve from BMX riding Suitable bikes: Dirt Jump bike Free Ride Again a specialist field, requiring great skill and a lot of courage, jumping massive jumps with steeze. Less emphasis on competition, more for entertainment, although events such as Red Bull Rampage, is a cross between Downhill and Free ride, which is judged on things like technical merit, speed, style, difficulty etc. My favourite to watch! Suitable bikes: Usually a downhill mountain bike Bikepacking Riding mainly unsealed trails for multiple days, where you carry your food, water and accommodation (tent or trap) on your bike, camping as you go. Suitable bikes: Gravel bike, eMountain Bike, Fat bike, Hard tail, Full sus (but not downhill), rigid Can't ride a bike? If you've never ridden a bike, now's the time to learn! Google learn to ride a bike as an adult, and choose the method that suits you. There are courses out there, don't be embarrassed, lots of people can't ride a bike. MTB Jargon 27.5 or 650b this is a bike with wheels 27.5" diameter 29er this is a bike with wheels 29" in diameter Attack Position your pedals are level and parallel to the ground, with your favourite foot forward. Stand up on the pedals, knees slightly bent, your bum somewhere behind the saddle, arms bent, elbows wide, with your body bent over, chest low over the handle bars, relaxed and ready for action! As I'm lazy I often assume this position kind of half seated. All Mountain Trail Bike this is a little ambiguous, for me it's a modern full suspension mountain bike that can cope with uphill, downhill, jumps, drops and extreme natural features Berm a corner that has an angled bank, gravity allows you to corner much faster than in a flat corner. Do your braking beforehand, ride it high and fast, with your bike perpendicular to the surface. If it's not going to snag on a rock, put your outside pedal to six o'clock (down), sit or stand in the attack position Bike Park a commercial enterprise where you can pay to ride the trails they have made and maintain, there is likely to be a method of uplift, to take you and your bike to the top of a hill or mountain, so you can ride back down. Also there's likely to be a café, bike shop, toilets and other facilities. BMX a type of riding, performing tricks and jumps, on a specific type of bike, a BMX bike which is usually rigid. This type of riding can be done on a mountain bike to a certain degree, recreationally. Braking Bumps When many people brake in the same point, and the bike breaks traction and bounces along the trail with the rear wheel locked up, this creates a kind of waveform on the surface of the trail, sort of corrugations. The more people brake, the worse they get, so the more people have to brake, a vicious cycle! Often found at the entrance to a berm or a steep fast corner BRP before Ride Poo, if you're not going to a bike park, where there's likely to be toilet facilities, if you're going to be riding for several hours, you need to think about where you're going to relieve yourself! Chicken run a small route to bypass a tricky feature Cross Country Mountain bike this can be a hard tail or a full suspension bike, the suspension usually has less travel than an all mountain trail bike Dirt Jump Bike a bike with a specific geometry, and usually front suspension, suited to riding large jumps (perhaps the bigger brother to BMX) Downhill a specific discipline in mountain biking, where you ride errr downhill! Note that these downhill trails can be exceptionally tricky, require a high level of skill and a high degree of courage is required when faced with some of the features!! Downhill Mountain Bike a robust full suspension mountain bike, with extra travel front and rear, with a slacker angle than a trail bike, although some trail bikes are designed to cope with recreational downhill riding Dropper Post an automated means of raising and lowering your seat, via a level or button on your handle bars Dropping In when you start riding a particular trail Dualtrack an unsurfaced roadway on which a car or 4x4 vehicle could drive, such as a fire road Dual Suspension Mountain Bike this term is used in Australia, it's means the same as a Full suspension mountain bike, where the bike has front and rear suspension eBike a bike that has an electric motor assisting the pedalling effort of the rider eMountain Bike or eMTB a mountain bike that has an electric motor assisting the pedalling effort of the rider (different to a commuter eBike, it is specifically made for harsh terrain) Fat bike a bike with oversized width tyres, often over 3" (75mm), it can be an eBike, have suspension or be a rigid bike. They are particularly good for loose surface riding, such as snow, sand and mud Flow this is more a feeling, it's when you feel you're putting each feature together nicely, and will result in a big smile at the end of the trail, and an eagerness to ride it again .... even better! Forward Foot when not pedalling, we ride with the pedals parallel to the ground which allows clearance between your pedals and obstacles such as rocks. As the pedals are set at 180 degrees to each other, this means you will have one foot forward and one foot back. Ride with whichever feels the most natural to you, although it's great if you can ride with either one forward. Full Suspension Mountain Bike a mountain bike that has front and rear suspension Full Squish Mountain Bike it means the same as a Full suspension mountain bike, where the bike has front and rear suspension Gap Jump a jump where there is a hole between the take-off and landing (some people call this a double) Getting Air a period during a jump when you and your bike are flying! Gnarly, Rowdy, Chonky, Chunky varying degrees of roughness of a trail particularly in reference to ruts, rocks, boulders and roots Gnar an expression used as a general term for gnarly trails, for instance you might hear 'I had a rad time riding the gnar at Mount Buller yesterday' Goggles wearing motocross type goggles is common place in downhill, some people wear them with open face helmets. An alternative is some specialist cycling sun glasses, which are useful when riding in sunny conditions. Gravel bike a bike suitable for riding non-surfaced roads and trails, they can cope with some gnar but they are not made for extreme mountain bike trails. The come as rigid or hard tail bikes. Hard Tail Mountain Bike a mountain bike that has front suspension only Helmet for downhill mountain biking, a full face helmet is often mandatory at some bike parks. Open face helmets are common place for trail riding, make sure you get a mountain biking specific one, with a large peak. Hydration Pack a backpack or rucksack, of varying sizes, that carries a rubbery bladder in which you store water, it will have a rubber hose that you suck the water through. Jump a feature where your bike can take off, get some air and land LBS local Bike Shop, it's cheaper to shop at a large bike chain, but get to know your LBS they may be more expensive but they will get you out of trouble when you need them to! MTB Mountain Bike Mullet a bike fitted with a 29" wheel at the front and a 27.5" wheel at the rear Off-piste basically riding mountains, meadow and woodland, not on an official trail Presta Valve a type of tyre valve, most high end mountain bikes have these. You take off the cap, then loosen the very top of the valve and press it to let air out, or put the pump on. Tighten the valve with your fingers, then refit the cap. Caution! Do not unscrew the whole valve from the main valve stem. Protection unless you are super talented, it's very likely you're going to fall off at one point or another. There are many pieces of protection available: helmet, neck brace, elbow pads, knee pads, gloves, body protection, chest protector, back protector, wrist straps etc. For me, a minimum would be Full face helmet, knee pads, elbow pads and a chest/back protector. Before buying consider the climate you are proposing to ride in, if it's going to be hot, you will perhaps need to compromise. Noting that downhill mountain biking can be a nasty place to have a fall. Rig bike! Rigid Bike a bike that doesn't have any suspension Rollable a feature that is just that, you don't have to jump it or drop down it, you can simply ride it, sometimes with caution! Roots often trails are in woodland, exposed tree roots can be very tricky to negotiate, especially when wet Schrader Valve a tyre valve, sometimes on mountain bikes, but rarely on high end bikes, the same as a car tyre valve. Remove the cap and push the little tip in the middle to let air out, or to fit the pump on. Shuttle Runs at most bike parks there will be a method to get you to the top of a trail, often a bus and trailer, ski lift or tractor and trailer. You will need to pay for this, and often book but sometimes you can pay on the day Singletrack a narrow trail wide enough for one bike Slack Angle a bike where the angle of the front fork is less upright to the perpendicular, leaning outwards from the bike, i.e. the from wheel is not under the handlebars, it is way out in front of them on a slack angled bike Steeze style with Ease! When people do certain things whilst riding and look 'cool' Table Top Jump a jump where the section after the take-off and before the landing are flat, the idea being you get air over the flat section (a bit like a gap jump with the middle filled in!!) Trail Name trail centers and bike parks give each trail a name, often they can be a play on words and slightly amusing Trail Center very much like a down-sized bike park, but it's more likely to be run by a local club, forestry or woodland commission. It's unlikely that there's an uplift method but occasionally a café and/or toilets Tubeless if you have tubeless ready wheels and tubeless ready tyres, you can opt to go tubeless without too much expense. This not only saves on weight but you will also experience much less downtime with punctures. But it doesn't suit all bikes, so read up on your wheel, tyre and discipline for the best solution. Most bikes are bought new with tubes, you will have to pay extra for your supplier to swap it to tubeless. To go tubeless you remove the tyre and tube, fit a special tubeless valve to the rim, tape up the inside of the rim (probably done already), refit the tyre, seat the beads, squeeze in some tyre sealant through the Presta valve stem (valve removed), screw in the valve and pump up the tyre. This should last up to 1 year before it needs attention. I use Orange Seal Endurance, it's very good. Uplift at most bike parks there will be a method to get you to the top of a trail, often a bus and trailer, ski lift or tractor and trailer. You will need to pay for this, and often book but sometimes you can pay on the day Trail Difficulty Ratings Mountain Bike trails are generally, but not always, allocated a colour or a diamond rating to denote the skill level required to safely ride that trail. It's important to note that not only does this allocation vary country to country, it can vary trail centre to trail centre. I would suggest taking a look at some YouTube films of the specific bike park, trail centre or trail you plan to ride, to see that it's suitable for you. Be sure to carry out a slow ride of any new-to-you trail, before riding it hard, it could have hidden difficult features, beyond your skill level Green Mountain Bike Trail Suitable for a family ride or beginners. A cross country style trail, with uphill, downhill, twists and turns on pathways, gravel or woodland or meadow trails, perhaps with some very small features such as rocks and small berms, but nothing extreme Blue Mountain Bike Trail Suitable for novice riders - You will find many blue flow trails, these are great and I mostly stick to these. Most flow trails are downhill, but not extremely so. General blue trails can range from smooth and well groomed to naturally littered with rocks, roots and undulations. You may encounter some small drops, as with any jumps, they are likely to be rollable or will have a chicken run. You may also encounter some rock gardens, steep twisty berms and un-rollable very small drops Red Mountain Bike Trail Suitable for intermediate riders, there may will be some tricky features such as jumps and drops, that may not be rollable or have a chicken run. You may encounter some small gap jumps. There's likely to be some fast and fun berms. Black Mountain Bike Trail These could be denoted by a diamond allocation, 1 diamond being less difficult than a double diamond and so on. Suitable for experienced and skilled riders, the trail could be loose, steep uphill and or downhill, have un-rollable jumps, drops and natural features, without chicken runs. When you're good at red runs, then progress to the black run. Don't be tempted to try and ride the blacks before you're ready, you could end up injured and in fact you'll probably not enjoy it at all, although sometimes it's unavoidable, if you accidentally end up on a black or it's all there is available. Don't let your ego stop you getting off and pushing around, up/down a particularly dangerous section, getting injured sucks!

  • Exped Lightning 60 litre Backpack - Review after 2 year's use and abuse!

    I use my Exped Lightning 60L for bikepacking mainly. It doesn't list that as one of it's uses on the Exped Website but it serves me very well. I've given it a hard time, and I hope this review from a user of the product is useful to you. An ultra lightweight pack, at 1.15 kilos it's no hassle to carry at all. It is said to be able to cope with up to 52.9lbs (23 kilos) of load, which is pretty impressive. The shoulder straps and hip straps are well padded, so it's comfortable if adjusted correctly. I've used it for bikepacking, as luggage when flying, carrying shopping, in fact for all sorts of things for over two years now. Generally I'd say I carry around 6 - 8 kilos in it when bikepacking. It's had some abuse, two big falls of my bike, with no damage to any of the straps or main body. The worst it's suffered, whilst getting dragged along the gravel, at speed, during a heavy fall, is a small hole in one of the side pockets. The pack has an aluminium spine, of which a shorter spine is provided with the woman's spec of the product. What's great about this pack is that it can be adapted to your body shape using the multiple adjustment points: Hip to shoulder Hip strap Chest strap height Chest strap Shoulder strap to backpack body distance (important for helmet or large hats) Hip strap to backpack body distance Shoulder strap tautness I've been able to fully adjust the pack to my body shape on my own, it would be easier with someone else but I didn't find it a big deal. You can see my video of me adjusting it here. It has many straps and loops for carrying on the top, bottom and sides and back, so many options in fact. There's a few pockets, but not so many as to be annoying, one each side on the outer body, great for carrying water bottles, one each side on the padded hip strap, both zipped and great for carrying things you want on you in case of emergency such as a whistle, phone etc. There's a large water resistant zipped pocket on the top, but discreetly hidden, accessible from the outside, and another zipped mesh pocket with key ring accessible from the inside, which I use for important documents and money, Apart from the one flat zipped interior pocket, it's one big cavity! There's only one thing I don't like about it, and that's that the side bottle pockets have two straps in each, which sometimes get in the way, but it's only a slight annoyance and doesn't in any way deter me from using the backpack. The pack has a roll top, with an over-the-top securing hooked strap, plus it has a strap and clip to clip it down each side. I don't use those clips, I clip the two clips on the roll top together, forming a loop, that way I only have to undo one clip when I want to get into it. All the straps have a lot of adjustment, including the zig zag straps, and all are secured by a velcro loop so as not to dangle all over the place. The pack is water resistant, made from 210 D HMPE ripstop nylon, PU coated, with a 1'500 mm water column. I have ridden in torrential rain, but always have a poncho over the top of the rucksack, so cannot vouch for it's water resistance, but would suspect it does what it says on the website! I'm actually surprised I'm writing this as it's fared much better than I thought it would, so my conclusion is that this is not only a great, robust backpack but also an ultra lightweight robust backpack! But wait, there's more! It also has a five year guarantee!! Well worth the money, nice one Exped👍 Check out the Exped specification here Thank you for stopping by, I hope you'll subscribe and read some of my other blogs. *** update *** Nearly a year later, I used my backpack to carry my snowshoes, and a full snow camp loading. I didn't hike far with it, it was more a test to see if I could do it. The Exped was absolutely full. I'd probably have to strap my Snowfeet skis onto the outside as I couldn't get my electronics in it. You can see what I put in it here

  • New to Bikepacking - 12 Tips for your shakedown or first tour

    I'm a meanderer, I like to ride slowly, savour nature and chill at camp. I'm in no rush to bash out the kilometers. I think with this in mind, the two short bikepacking rides I've done in the past year didn't give me the feeling of freedom and serenity that I felt when I rode the Altravesur in Spain, where the plan was, 'There is no plan' I think it's the fact that a time restriction takes something away from the experience. That said, I still enjoyed my shorter rides, I was still able to savour being in nature, and I was still grateful to be able to do it. The time restriction is 'normal' for those in work and I have to just get used to it. One thing with a short ride, that made me feel a little uneasy, apart from the time restriction, was that there is no settling in time. I can't quantify what a settling in time is but it is a thing!. First-Time Bikepacking - Things to Expect & Things to Do You probably would have made a packing list - Check it off properly! On my last ride, I just ticked my item named Clothes off, without looking at the detail of the clothes, which resulted in me forgetting to wear my sponge pants or taking them with me. Sore bum city! Test any new items you have - For example I went on an over-nighter with a new, good quality (Sea to Summit) cooking pot, I had washed it but hadn't cooked in it at home. On my ride I found that the hard anodising was leeching an awful taste into any boiled water or food. It spoiled the ride somewhat. Test electronics the day before you leave - Check everything works, check everything is charged and make sure all necessary software is subscribed to and downloaded and works properly, including offline, if it's meant to Label your luggage - I have Rollpacker 1, Rollpacker 2, Gorilla Cage 1 and Gorilla Cage 2 plus a few small ones. On my phone I have a list of exactly what goes in which piece of luggage. This makes pack-up tidy and quick. A half-arsed, lop-sided pack-up will annoy you all day! When you get to camp unpack fully - Packing and unpacking can be fiddly especially when you're tired. But resist the temptation to skimp on the unpacking, get into a routine and unpack everything. When it's the middle of the night and you realise you've left your head-torch or toilet paper in the luggage it's a PITA!! Stopping to make adjustments - You may have to stop in the first kilometer to adjust a piece of luggage that just doesn't feel right. 500 metres later you may have to stop and adjust something else, this could happen many times. Don't worry, you haven't done a bad job, until you ride or shake-down, it's not easy to know what will work best. The same with your clothes, you may swap your T-shirt for a vest, and long shorts for short shorts etc Take a strong elastic band or use a cable tie to hook over your front brake lever when you park up. It makes the world of difference to the ease of propping your bike up Check the weather forecast - Do this before you leave and daily on the ride, be prepared for any rain or heat-wave events Your fitness might not be quite up to managing the weight of your loaded bike - don't plan on extreme distances for the first week, unless you know you are fit enough Cramping - If you are not used to pedaling such long distances you may find you get cramps in your hamstrings and calves. I found that to relieve this, if I occasionally positioned my foot on the pedal so as to have my toe pointing down, shortening my calf, and rode like that for 5 minutes, it eased any cramping. Be careful that your toe doesn't hit the ground!! Difficulty getting up inclines - I always understood that you should never stomp on your pedals and that if you did, you would go to hell! I'm not particularly fit and often get off and push up hills, but found that if I lift my feet off the pedal a small amount and gently stomp on it, actually it's more like a rhythmic tap, I could actually get up inclines that I would normally push up. This may be an additional load on your drivetrain, but I would expect it to be in tip top condition if you are planning a tour Consider getting some quick release pedals - These really have helped me, especially when pushing the bike, no damaged shins. See my YouTube here I hope these observations are helpful to you. Enjoy your ride👍

  • How to select the correct shoe size for Bikepacking, Backpacking and Hiking

    See this related post Subscribe to my YouTube Measure your feet Take the measurement from the most prominent toe point to the most prominent heel point. Your feet usually swell during the day, so take the measurement in the evening. If you are going to wear particularly thick socks, measure with these on. Most of us have one foot larger than the other. It would be quite unusual to be able to buy two different size shoes as a pair, if this is possible it would be ideal, alas, normally it is not possible, so buy for your largest foot. My right foot measures 248mm, going by the chart at the bottom of the page, this roughly equates to a UK size 7. My left foot measures 252mm and that equates to roughly a UK size 7.5 If I was buying a casual shoe I would simply go for a UK Size 8. If I was buying footwear for a vigorous activity I would need to add 15mm (20mm if being used in an extremely hot climate) to the largest measured length. 252mm + 15mm = 267mm, this is the length I need to look up on the chart. Size 9 are for 271mm length feet, this gives me the 15mm additional ‘rule of thumb’ length and is proven out by the fact that the UK size 9/US size 11 Altra Lone Peaks I wear have given my feet a very comfortable time over the past 18 months. I noticed in my recent bikepacking tour that riding on a very hot day, 35+ Degrees C, by the time my feet swell, the shoes are tighter, so perhaps next time I may go up a half size. Shoe width Generally the width of the shoe increases as the size gets larger. Not only does the width gets wider, the depth of the shoe also increases. The measurement for width is taken across the widest part of your foot, the bunion point. As with shoe size charts, the width assignment of whether it is Regular, Narrow or Wide varies from country to country, manufacturer to manufacturer. My right foot measures 250mm long and 90mm wide, this sets me within the Regular zone. By my calculations, the width of the foot in a regular shoe is approximately 37.5% to 38% of the length Measure yours to see what range you are in. If you need a narrow or wide shoe, the range of footwear available will be considerably reduced but it is essential you buy what will suit your feet Wide toe box You may have noticed that the shape of modern footwear nowhere near resembles the shape of your foot. Our toes are squeezed into tapered pointy shoes, even if the arc from the big-toe area to the small toe area may be slightly rounded, if we could see how our toes sit, it would be found that the toes and forward foot bones are unnaturally positioned and squished up This squeezing up can cause bunions, hammer toes, Morten's Neuroma, in-growing toenails, numbness and numerous other foot ailments I only have experience with one type of wide toe box shoe, and that is the Altra Lone Peak, so have no comparisons to offer you but I can say that the wide toe box on the Altra has transformed my feet, no longer are they painful due to in-growing toe nails, numbness and Morten's Neuroma **Update** I now have experience of Topo Ultraventure Pro wide toe box trail runners. See my comparison video between these and the Altras here For your current or future foot-health, I would say seek out your chosen footwear in a wide toe box version if at all possible It is important to note that wide shoes are not the same as wide toe box shoes Different width shoes are a different fit for the whole foot, being tailored to slim, regular or wide feet. The wide toe-box is just the shape around the toes Foot arch type and insoles If you don't already know what type of arch you have, it's worth finding out. This will give you an idea as to whether you need to replace your chosen shoe insert for a more appropriate one. You may even be able to select your chosen shoe with the correct insert and also correct sole for your foot To see what type of arch you have, do the following: Place a piece of cardboard on hard ground such as tiles, approx. 2 metres long Place your feet in a bowl of water Shake off the excess water Walk along the cardboard Observe the wet print your feet have left Shown below, these are options of the imprint you will observe If possible find a shoe suitable for your arch type or seek out a suitable insole You may already have a favourite orthotic insole, if you feel the insole is particularly thicker than the insole supplied with shoes, you should consider if you need to add another millimeter or two to your foot length, as the width and depth of the shoe will increase slightly to account for this If you don't already have the correct insole, purchase those first and see how they change the fit of your existing shoes There may also be another reason you need a special insole, in my case that is to raise my heel because the only wide toe box shoes I have are zero drop (where your foot is flat on the floor). Zero drop does not work well for my Achilles tendon, so I raise my heel around 8mm Summary Don’t get hung up on the 'size' you have always bought. Measure your feet, then add the additional 15mm-20mm. Find the appropriate footwear you want to buy, then seek out the correct Size Reference chart for those specific shoes. Select the correct size for your foot length and also for your foot width, taking into account any special insole you may need. If you can, select a shoe with a wide toe box Not all charts list the foot length or width, this can make things tricky. If you are buying online and cannot establish your size from a foot length, select a supplier that has a hassle-free returns policy Recap and additional information Shoe sizes across the globe are not consistent, they depend on: The country of manufacturer or sale The manufacturer itself The gender the footwear is intended for Military use Your age (split into Baby, Child, Adult groups for ladies and men) Consider any peculiarities in your feet or any injuries you are nursing Have your feet measured at a shoe store if it is possible, both length and width. If this is not possible measure your feet, in millimeters Stand barefoot, with the weight evenly distributed between both feet Measure both feet, from your most prominent toe to the most prominent part of your heel Add an additional 15mm for normal activity or 20mm for activity in extreme heat, to your foot measurement Once you’ve found the type and style of shoe you want, try to find that manufacturers size chart online Buy for your largest foot, unless you are lucky and can buy different sizes for each foot When it comes to measured length, note that the internal size of the shoe and external size of the shoe will obviously differ (so don’t measure the outside of your existing shoes!) Seek out whether any quoted measured lengths are saying: Is it the internal cavity size for the size quoted Does it include 'moving room' for the size quoted A rule of thumb would be you need your internal shoe size cavity to be at least 15mm longer than your actual foot size, more if you are hiking, biking or running in an extremely hot climate The Euro Shoe sizes don’t seem to increment in a linear fashion, sometimes they increment by 5mm each full size up in UK/US/AUS Sizes, then sometimes they jump 10mm between one UK/US/AUS size For example, Euro Size 40 = 255mm, the next size up Euro Size 41 = 260mm (5mm change) But Euro Size 42 = 265mm, the next size up Euro Size 43 = 275mm (10mm change) The Euro Sizes appear to inconsistently equate to UK, USA and Australian Sizes Exercise Caution when using Size Charts (this one included) There are many size conversions guides available online, these do not give consistent results, therefore the size charts you reference should be taken as a rough guide. Only the manufacturers guide for the shoe you are buying can give you the correct size to order. To be able to gauge your correct size, the guide will need to show a foot measurement. The size chart below is to be used as a rough guide only, as already noted, the best course of action in buying the correct size footwear is to measure your feet and seek out the specific manufacturers sizing guide. Reference any generic size guide charts as a sanity check only! Useful conversion information Ladie’s Australian Ladie’s Sizes are the same as USA Ladie’s Sizes For example, Australian Ladie’s size 8 = USA Ladie’s size 8 Australian Ladie’s Sizes are equal to two sizes up from UK Ladie’s Sizes For example, Australian Ladie’s size 8 = UK Ladie’s size 6 UK Ladie’s Sizes are equal to two sizes down from USA Sizes For example, UK Ladie’s size 8 = USA Ladie’s size 10 Men's Australian Men’s Sizes are the same as UK Men’s Sizes For example, Australia Men’s size 10 = UK Men’s size 10 Australian Men’s Sizes are equal to one size down than USA Men’s Sizes For example, Australia Men’s size 10 = USA Men’s size 11 UK Men’s Sizes are equal to one size down from USA Men’s Sizes For example, UK Men’s size 10 = USA Men’s size 11 The size chart below is to be used as a rough guide only, as already noted, the best course of action in buying the correct size footwear is to measure your feet and seek out the specific manufacturers sizing guide. Reference any generic size guide charts as a sanity check only! I may receive a small commission if you purchase via this link Altra Lone Peak 5 for Women Australia - https://amzn.to/3ngARCF USA - https://amzn.to/34Jp4Xj UK - https://amzn.to/3rdmwbw Altra Lone Peak 5 for Men Australia - https://amzn.to/3r9lTPY USA - https://amzn.to/3rdmJvk

  • Shop for Equipment I use

    I will link on this page pieces of equipment I have used for some time, and that I think are a good quality product. I may receive a small commission if you purchase via one of these links. I am not an Amazon affiliate at the moment as they cancelled it because I didn't sell enough but the links are still here, so you can source what you need easily. Currently my website and YouTube channel is self-funded, but it is getting very expensive, especially as my renewal for Wix is due, US$600 for two years. I hope I provide you with valuable content, and aim to improve the quality of this over the coming months. Any benevolence you can show me would be gratefully received. Helinox Lite Cot Australia - https://ebay.us/Bvt2fJ Gorilla Cage Fork Luggage Australia Cleats - https://amzn.to/3FsgjgJ Brackets - https://amzn.to/33ez9uV (note this is a different design bracket than those I use) Bags - https://amzn.to/3qv7fnb UK Cleats - https://amzn.to/3fIFTUx Brackets - https://amzn.to/3A0IKRZ Bags - https://amzn.to/3nsifQ4 Sea to Summit Ember EBIII Quilt Australia https://ebay.us/Ko5NUF This is a different seller than I bought from Promend PD R67Q Pedals Ships to most countries https://ebay.us/dMjv05 Camera tripod - Lightweight Australia https://ebay.us/4dIjZN This is a different seller than I bought from but it looks the same part Exped Waterproof Compression Bag 19litres Australia - https://amzn.to/3to35za UK - https://ebay.us/aojgm4 Altra Lone Peak 5 for Women Australia - https://amzn.to/3ngARCF USA - https://amzn.to/34Jp4Xj UK - https://amzn.to/3rdmwbw Altra Lone Peak 5 for Men Australia - https://amzn.to/3r9lTPY USA - https://amzn.to/3rdmJvk Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter Kit (you can filter the muckiest of water with this) Australia - https://amzn.to/3f7jS13 UK - https://amzn.to/3F2S9JC USA - https://amzn.to/3zH7yyk Big Blue Solar charger - Upgraded from the spec of mine Australia - https://amzn.to/3FblPnT UK - https://amzn.to/34sOB6F USA - https://amzn.to/3JUs8zJ Hansin GoPro battery charger Australia - https://amzn.to/3F90XO9 UK - https://amzn.to/3JSvrra Net Dot Gen 12 Magnetic USB cables & Adapters Australia - 3 x 30cm long cables + 3 x each Micro USB and USB C adaptors - https://amzn.to/3zDAQh7 UK - 3 x 2m long cables + 3 each Micro USB, USB C and iPhone adaptors - https://amzn.to/3qZc3A3 USA - 2 x 1m long cables + 2 each Micro USB and USB C adaptors https://amzn.to/3F2PVde

  • How to select the best Footwear TYPE for Bikepacking, Backpacking and Hiking

    There is no perfect footwear solution if you are hiking or riding on varied terrain. An important factor in the comfort of your expedition, particularly if you are a senior, will not only be your footwear type and footwear fit but also your general foot health before you set off. Your footwear will be one of the most important pieces of kit you take with you on an expedition, do your research and buy the best you can afford You can find a video below describing a small routine I do to nurse my feet back into long distance riding and hiking condition. It is crucial to set-off with your feet in tip-top condition, and know of and be able to mitigate any injuries or conditions you are nursing. If you can afford to take professional advice from a Podiatrist, then that would be the optimum way forward, diagnosing yourself can leave room for error

  • The Bikepacking Gear Essential for Seniors

    One thing that may not rank as high as it should on your bikepacking or hiking gear list, could be your footwear. Unless you're using a hand cycle, it is crucial that you take proper care of your feet before and whilst on your tour. It's miserable knowing you have great distances to cover and will be in pain every inch of the way. Here are some points to consider when selecting your bikepacking, backpacking or hiking footwear: The terrain you will be riding (loose, surfaced, slippery, rocky, sandy, boggy) The expected weather conditions The expected temperatures Pedal type River crossings Do you need boots or shoes Comfort during hours of pedaling Comfort during hours of pushing/walking, up/down steep, perhaps loose terrain Any foot conditions or injuries you are nursing Do you need an insole Will the insole fit in your shoes Can you wear thick/thin socks with the insole you need, in the shoes you want How long are they likely to last and will you be able to replace them on the road It is worth spending as much as you need to on this essential piece of kit, possibly you'll need to cut back on something else less important. Choose wisely! Next time we will look at selecting the appropriate shoe

  • Veganuary - Easy Meat-free recipe for snacking, packed lunch or a meal

    ****January is Veganuary month**** If you're not already plant-based, can I tempt you into trying just one meat-free meal? You never know, you might like it! Perhaps it could become a once a week (or more) habit? If you don’t like the word vegan consider it plant-based, and unless you can afford grass-fed animal meat, consider it healthy. Most of us like to think we love animals, unfortunately most of us are culpable in what, in hundreds of years’ time will be looked upon as the abomination that was factory farming. I don’t want to give you nightmares as to the utter cruelty of factory or intensive farming, but just consider the basics, mothers are separated from their young, these animals are traumatised and mourn as much as you or I would. For those that are now huffing and puffing about being top of the food chain, consider this, unless you raise, kill and eat your own meat, you are dependent upon the shops opening tomorrow, that’s the extent to which you are top of the food chain! Tofu, pronounced tow-foo, made from fermented soya beans, is a versatile food, especially the firm variety. If you can afford organic, for your health, that is the best to buy, as it is for any food stuff. Aldi sell a good range of plant-based foods, including some organics, as do most of the larger supermarkets. It stores in its sealed packet, in the fridge for several weeks. One of the things I’ve found hard to give up is dairy. Having been a milk lover, after about a month on soya ‘milk’, I could no longer bear the taste of cow’s milk. Soya milk takes a bit of getting used to, stick with it for a week or two and you too may find you don’t want to go back. One thing that is hard to give up is cheese. Cheese is such a wonderful food, and hard to replace, and one of the last things that I am giving up. Nutritional Yeast is a savoury alternative, I sprinkle this on my salads and meals to replace cheese, and it’s doing a great job thus afar. Here’s a quick recipe that I rely on to stop me snacking on sugary foods and it doubles up as a filler for my packed lunch of salad leaves, lentils, chick peas, tofu and a minute sprinkling of yeast and sea salt. What you need to buy For 4 Servings A 450 (ish) gram pack of Firm tofu A bunch of Spring Onions A dash of olive oil A blob of dairy-free ‘butter’ (I use Nuttelex pulse buttery) A few dashes of Soy Sauce (I use Kikkoman’s less salt) Add Sea Salt to taste, if it isn’t salty enough for you! Utensils required A knife A wooden spoon or spatula A 50cm deep frying pan How to Prepare Trim the Spring Onions and cut into 3cm lengths Slice the tofu First down the narrow edge, to create two slabs Then along the long side to create 1.5cm wide strips Then cut the strips into 1.5cm cubes Easy Peasy!!! How to cook Heat the butter and olive oil in the frying pan Add the Spring Onions to the frying pan, Stir occasionally on a medium heat Cook until caramelisation (turns a bit brown) starts You may need to add some more ‘butter’ and/or olive oil, probably not though Add the tofu to the frying pan with the spring onions Stir occasionally on a medium to low heat Cook until the tofu is evenly caramelised With the onions and tofu still in the frying pan Drizzle a good quantity of soy sauce over the food Cook for 10 minutes on a low heat How to eat My preference is to eat it cold, it’s much tastier, but you can re-heat in other foods Add to a salad Snack on it Re-heat in stir-fried vegetables and/or noodles Re-heat with Chick Peas and Lentils Or just use in the place of chicken Once cooked, I store mine in the fridge for up to 3 days in a plastic container, without dying! Cost Pack of Tofu from Aldi (not organic) around $3.80 aussie dollars Bunch of Spring Onions (not organic) around $2.50 aussie dollars Tofu can be used in so many places, such as in curries and sliced up thinly and use in a fry-up instead of bacon, make sure you caramelise it for best taste, or buy some Tempeh (pronounced Tem-pay), which is similar, usually flavoured. Enjoy your cruelty free meal, I pray you will love it or can at least tolerate it, to make it a regular thing, thank you from the animals ❤

  • Cheap $21 (Aussie dollar) 1.05 Metre 365 grams Lightweight Camera Tripod

    Being mainly a solo cyclist, when I want a photo or third person video, I have to do the photography or filming myself. For that I need a good tripod, or rather a suitable tripod. I’d been carrying a short plastic tripod with bendy legs for several years, it did the job of sorts but was always a compromise, a little heavy and tbh a bit of a pain to set up. It was good for hanging in a tree or off a fence but not much use if there were no objects to hang it off. Then I tried a selfie stick whose base opened up into a small tripod. To use this as a tripod, it had to be on level ground, it often fell over and didn’t last long at all, all the tripod legs eventually broke off. So, I was left looking for a cheap lightweight tripod. And this is what I found It was so cheap, $20.99 (Australian Dollars, that’s around £11 (GBP) including postage!! I was obviously skeptical about its quality but for that price I thought it was worth a punt. I ordered it and it arrived in 7 Days! And what a lovely bundle of a bargain it turned out to be. In the box was: 1 x Tripod 1 x Mobile phone clip 1 x GoPro camera clevis and screw 1 x Carry bag 1 x Bluetooth remote control (including CR2032 battery) I have a GoPro mating clevis for my camera already, so that meant I could mount my Phone, GoPro and Camera on it. The legs can be adjusted to different lengths when on uneven ground, and with a spirit level on the mounting head, you can level it up easily. The legs lock/unlock with some nice over-centre plastic clips, that are quick and easy to use. Once mounted, it’s easy to move any of the devices from Landscape to Portrait, which is great. It can be used at the smallest height of approximately 32cm and anything in between fully extended at just over 1 metre in height. The included remote control Bluetooth remote control button paired easily to my Android phone and it works well but I wasn’t able to pair it to my GoPro or Olympus camera. There are a couple of little niggles with it, but to be expected at that price, the screw on GoPro clevis doesn’t tighten down (on my one, anyway), this can be rectified with a washer under it, but I haven’t bothered, it doesn’t really pose a problem. The other thing to look out for is that two of the tightening thumb screws screw into a loose nut, so be careful not to lose them. I did lose a nut but found one from an old selfie stick that did the job, to avoid this, just don’t fully unscrew any of the thumbscrews. The tripod packs into my Camelbak rucksack fine and is lightweight at 365 grams. I don’t expect it to last forever, but at that price you can’t complain. I’ve been riding with it for around 6 weeks now and have had no problems yet. All in all, it’s a great little tripod and worth the dough. If you purchase via this link, I may receive a small commission. Note that this link is a different seller that I bought from, the previous seller has run out of tripods https://ebay.us/4dIjZN

  • 2 Must-know tips for your Sawyer Squeeze!

    Tip 1 – Follow the instructions on the pouch! I love my Sawyer Squeeze, it’s a great little water filter but little did I know that if you’re going to store it away for some time, that there is a flushing procedure you need to carry out before doing so. I’d stored my filter away for around eighteen months, during that time I’d taken it out and flushed it through, in preparation for a couple of bikepacking adventures that, for one reason or another, didn’t materialise. It was six months since I last did this, but an adventure was on the cards so I attempted to give it a flush alas, no water would pass through it, I could squeeze the pouch as hard as I could with two hand, but nothing! I was a little baffled as to why this was, and in my efforts to get it working, I noticed that on the pouch is a storage procedure! This storage procedure involves flushing the filter through with a mix of water and bleach. I never buy bleach, so I tried to flush it and soak it with a white vinegar/water mix. After doing this a small amount of water would flow but only under heavy pouch-squeezing pressure. I tried lemon juice too but still, only a small amount of water would flow. So, I borrowed a small amount of bleach from a friend and soaked and flushed it with a bleach/water mix, and hey presto, the water flows at a decent rate again. After all this messing around, I was worried that I had compromised the Sawyer’s ability to filter properly, so had no option but to buy a new one. Getting ill on a tour really isn’t something I want. Tip 2 – How to backflush on the trail without using the syringe The syringe that comes with the Sawyer Squeeze, for back-flushing, only weighs 27 grams, but it’s big so I don’t take it with me when touring, but always feel vulnerable because I don’t have the ability to back-flush, should I need to. When I bought my new Sawyer Squeeze, it came with 2 pouches, a length of hose, a syringe, a blue threaded adapter and a grey threaded adapter. You can buy a set of threaded blue and grey adapters separately, costing around $14 Australian dollars, so I purchased a pair. I can’t remember if these adapters came with spare white washers, so you will have to investigate that. I know you can buy the washers separately btw. I had enough spare washers to fit one into each of the two blue adaptors I now had. I cut a 50mm length off the pipe that came with the kit and joined the two blue adapters onto it, this assembly weighs 14 grams. Now I can screw one blue adapter to the filter housing, and one blue adaptor to a pouch, enabling me to backflush without a syringe. Obviously, if you use the blue and grey adapters for connecting to a hydration pack, you can amend the method of joining to suit your situation. I’m so happy I have this, just knowing I can backflush if I need to makes me feel I am better prepared! I hope these two tips are useful to you too! If you purchase a Sawyer Squeeze via the following link, I may receive a small commission. As yet I have no income from my website or affiliate links, but live in hope! It would be great if you helped me out. To purchase a Sawyer Squeeze follow the relevant link below Sawyer Squeeze Water Filter Kit (you can filter the muckiest of water with this) Australia - https://amzn.to/3f7jS13 UK - https://amzn.to/3F2S9JC USA - https://amzn.to/3zH7yyk

  • New MTB kit - DHaRCO clothing review

    DHaRCO Gear For around ten years I’ve been wearing my Fighter Girls martial arts shorts for everything; hiking, surfing, swimming, biking. I’ve around 4 pairs of these shorts, they’re made primarily for MMA, but if you don’t mind not having pockets, they’re a great, robust piece of kit. With all my scrapes, falls and escapades, I’ve yet to tear or split them. They have bright colours and furry designs, the fabric is slightly glossy and of good thickness, but dry reasonably quickly too. I’ve not bought any recently btw but will when funds allow. If only Fighter Girls had a pocketed range! For riding I prefer my men’s Fox mountain bike shorts, they have cavernous pockets! But are sadly on the slow boat from the UK to Australia, so I decided I’d treat myself to some new ones, plus some riding trousers, or pants as they call them in Australia, and some gloves. On your socials you may have seen many adverts for DHaRCO mountain bike gear. To me, being the suspicious type, It all looked a bit too good to be true so I kind of ignored the adverts, even though I did like the look of their range. I really wasn’t over enthused by the colour of the Fox gear, the range I usually buy. I’m really not a stealth colour girl, of which most of the mountain biking apparel available is, although I did like the Fox Defend teal coloured option, the only non-stealth colour they have available. I filled a basket online with the teal shorts, pants, jersey and some brightly coloured gloves. But I had a nagging thought about the DHaRCO gear, so before I pressed the go button, I decided to check it out. I have no idea why it is spelt DHaRCO, or how to pronounce their name, which is a little annoying and a reason not to want to bother with them tbh. Anyway, I found that they had good reviews, the range is designed in Sydney Australia and they seem to be a well respected company, so decided I would buy ‘Australian’. Noting the clothes seem to be made in China. Looking at the Fox and DHaRCO size charts, it’s impossible to know which would fit better, as they both list different points of measuring the length in their size charts. I wish these companies would offer a ‘Long’ option, even if it meant paying a little extra. When I’m at my medium weight I’m a UK size 10 bottoms. Looking at the DHaRCO size chart, I was a medium. Gloves-wise, from the end of my longest finger to my wrist measures 19.5cm, so I usually go for a large glove, whether it be driving gloves, biking gloves or rubber gloves! Although only 5’8” tall, that’s around 170cm, I always have problems with getting trousers long enough. From my hips to my knee, if they are fitted with a ‘knee-bend’ detail, the knee-bend is always above my knee, and the hem is way above my ankle, basically they are too short. With no option of 'long' available, I thought I'd risk the regular size. My purchases DHaRCO Womens Gravity Shorts size Medium in the Clay colour DHaRCO Womens Gravity Pants size Medium in the Leopard colour DHaRCO Womens Gloves size Large in the Panama design I wasn't really keen on their jersey designs, so ordered the Fox top. Fox vs DHaRCO Price Comparison Fox shorts $150 Dharco $125 Fox pants $195 Dharco $180 So not much in it! I ordered direct from DHaRCO, their website tells you what is and isn’t in stock. My order arrived quickly, in around 3 days. The clothing certainly has an air of quality about them, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they fare. They’ve a lot to live up to, my Fighter Girls shorts and Fox shorts, in all the years I’ve been falling off in them, have never worn through or ripped. Although the Fox shorts lose their stick on decals after a few washes. Summary Shorts Pull-in Velcro adjustment on both sides of waist Waist fastened by Velcro, two poppers and zip (seems a little excessive to me) Zipped pocket centrally on rear Zipped pocket on right hand hip Snug fit over protective pants Fill the knee pad gap OK Slim fit (neither tight or baggy) Pants Pull-in Velcro adjustment on both sides of waist Waist fastened by Velcro, two poppers and zip Zipped pocket centrally on rear Zipped pocket on right hand hip Zipped pocket on left hand thigh Snug fit over protective pants and bulky knee pads Too short for me Gloves Can operate touch screen with gloves on Feel good, fit well and really, I don’t know they’re there, so like a second skin No serious protection (but fine for ‘normal’ riding, for serious gnar I’d wear something with a lot more protection) Look good Faux suede palm Pull on, with no fastener at the wrist More Detail Shorts Good looking, nice quality shorts. A slim fit. With my Bluegrass protective pants underneath, the shorts are snug, when my Troy Lee ones arrive from the UK, I expect the shorts to be tighter as the Troy Lee protection is thicker. The shorts pull in each side of the waist by means of a Velcro adjuster tab, I’m using the Velcro fully open. There’s two poppers and Velcro to fasten the shorts, along with a short zip. There’s a pocket, fastened by a zip, on the right hip, it’s not huge (like the old Fox men’s shorts I wear) but I can get a phone, measuring 7.5cm x 16cm x 8mm thick, into the pocket. Personally, I wouldn’t want to ride with it there, it’s a bit tight but may give it a go sometime. I rode with my Olympus Tough G6 camera in the pocket yesterday, it was a tight fit but didn’t hinder my pedalling. Bear in mind that the tighter the short are on you, the more limited the pocket space will be. There’s also a central pocket on the rear, in the small of the back, fastened by a zip, it’s quite small but would hold a lift pass, credit card and some money. The shorts are long enough to reach my knee pads, so no unfashionable gap, if you're bothered by that!! The shorts aren’t lined except for the a pretty lining around the inside of the waistband. The short's material is quite thin and has a crepe look to it. I’ve ridden in the shorts and they feel good. If I order again, I’d probably go for a large, and pull them in at the waist with the Velcro, which will mean I can have baggier shorts, and a bit of extra length. Pants Nice looking in the animal print, Leopard design. A slim fit, the same waist and hip fit as the shorts, then the legs taper. With my Bluegrass protective pants and my bulky 661 knee pads on underneath, they are snug on the waist, hips and knees. I have particularly skinny legs, so the pants are baggy on the thigh and calf. I would imagine if you have ‘proper’ thighs, then they will look a whole lot better than they do on me! The pants pull in each side of the waist by means of a Velcro adjuster tab, I’m using the Velcro fully open. There’s two poppers and Velcro to fasten the shorts, along with a short zip. There’s a pocket, fastened by a zip, on the right hip, I can get a phone, measuring 7.5cm x 16cm x 8mm thick, into the pocket. Obviously, if the pants are a tighter fit on you then the pocket space will more limited. A zipped pocket can also be found on the front of the left thigh, my phone doesn’t fit in it but a slightly smaller one would, but then that depends on how tight the shorts are on your leg. Personally, I wouldn’t want to ride with anything on the front of my leg, when I go over the bars, I always land on my front! There’s also a central pocket on the rear, in the small of the back, fastened by a zip, it’s quite small but would hold a lift pass, credit card and some money. Now length. A rough measurement from my ankle to my waist is 100cm, from my waist to mid-knee is around 55cm. The pants are too short for me from waist to knee, and from knee to ankle. They look a bit silly, but tbh, this is normal for any trousers I buy! They didn’t restrict my pedalling or riding and gave me added protection against mozzies. I bought long pants mainly for bikepacking, and to encourage me to ride in the colder weather! I'll certainly welcome the added protection of my lower legs too. The pants aren’t lined, there’s a pretty lining around the inside of the waistband, and double thickness material on the knee detail. The material is quite thin and has a crepe look to it. Gloves The gloves are light-weight and pretty in the Panama design, with a black faux suede palm. The large size are a perfect fit for me. There is no fastener at the wrist. I can operate my phone touch screen, although it takes a bit of getting used to tbh. I’ll use these for bikepacking once my more protective gloves arrive from the UK. Conclusion All in all, I'm quite pleased with my experience with DHaRCO so far. The quality looks good, the fit, except the length of the pants, is good. If they are as robust as the Fighter Girls and Fox gear, I'll be happy to buy again. **Update** A year later, I've worn the Dharco gear for most of my rides. If I could buy again, I'd go a size up in both the trousers and shorts, to allow for my yoyoing weight! Thus far, no splits or tears to report. I've only fell off a couple of times!

  • Oer! Quick Release Pedals - Promend PD R67Q Quick Release Pedal Review

    If you purchase these pedals via this link I may receive a small commission https://ebay.us/dMjv05 If you’ve read my Altravesur bikepacking blogs or seen the videos, you’ll know that on occasion I struggled to push or pull my fully loaded bike up and down some steep banks or mountain road washouts. 'How hard can it be' I hear you ask, after all, the bike is rolling on wheels! Well, I can tell you it is more difficult than it sounds! Physics has a lot to do with it, along with a bit of pain! When you factor in the weight of the bike and luggage, the lack of grip of your feet on the rocky ground, the steepness of the incline, the tendency of the rear end of the bike to want to overtake the front by flipping over!, all made that much worse by the fact that you can only push from a very upright position as you need to stand between the pedals and the handlebars, which means the effort you can put into pushing is very limited, makes it is a tricky old game indeed! Of course, there’s always the option of stripping the luggage off the bike and taking it a piece at a time, in the first week of my tour, that’s just what I did, as I wasn’t fit enough to haul it. It’s effective, but time consuming. On one occasion, later in the ride, I’d have had to do just that if it wasn’t for the kindness of a hiker that happened upon me whilst I was slipping and sliding, trying to get down a steep washout. Still, with her pushing from behind and me trying to steer and support the bike, with the pedals bashing my calves or shins, depending if I stood in front or or behind the pedals, made it all very difficult. On another occasion I had fallen down an embankment, I needed to haul the bike back up it, by dragging it, with the pedals digging into the ground, or getting caught in the brambles and foliage, it was again, very difficult. Yes, I could unpack my tools and unscrew the pedals, but really in these situations it isn’t something I want to be doing, for the reasons that it’s fiddly, there’s nowhere to lean the bike quite often, it could be raining and windy and so on. So I decided that at some point in the future, I would investigate quick release (QR) pedals. I spent some time researching what was available, MKS seem the most popular brand, I couldn’t afford them so forgot all about the project. Wind forward two years, I finally got around to ordering some, not the MKS brand but a cheaper one, a much cheaper one! I know it’s foolish to buy cheap, especially a safety critical item like pedals, but at around $45, Australian dollars that is, around £25, I thought I’d order them and see what they look like. If they looked of poor quality, then it was a wasted 45 bucks, but luckily, they looked reasonably engineered, enough so to carry out some measured testing, with intermittent checks. The ones I bought are the Promend make, type PD-R67Q, which are mountain bike style pedals. I bought them on eBay, from a company called cxm_sports. I can recommend this seller, they seem like an honest and trustworthy company. The pedals arrived reasonably quickly, in around ten days. Fitting them is simply a matter of taking off your old pedals and screwing in the QR coupling in their place, tightening them with the spanner that comes in the kit. It’s important to refit the washer if your bike pedals use a washer, without it, the QR coupling doesn’t push back enough to enable the pedal to slot in. To fit the pedal to the QR coupler, you push back on the spring loaded QR coupling outer shell then slot the pedal into the QR coupling, letting go of the outer part of the QR coupling locks the pedal in place, giving the pedal a push and the coupler a pull, does no harm, just to check they have seated correctly. A plastic safety keep plate is supplied with the kit, this is slipped behind the outer part of the QR coupling, preventing it accidentally being pulled back whilst riding. The coupler means the 'shank' of the pedal is around 15mm longer than the standard pedals which means the pedal would stick out further by this amount, but the platform of these pedals are 15mm narrower than my old pedals, so they measure just around the same from outer pedal to outer pedal. I’ve fitted them to Stumpy, my trail bike, so I can give them some fast and gnarly rides down the local downhill trails. Which thus far, I’ve done once. I’ve also ridden around the block a few times too. If all goes okay, I’ll get another pair for my bikepacking steed as well. As yet, I’ve had no problems with them. You can see my YouTube here, of the fitting and riding with the QR pedals At some point, if there’s someone local and cheap enough, I’d like to get them crack checked, so I’ll keep you posted on that! One thing that I’ve been doing is to wipe both the pedal and coupler down each time I remove them, I’m sure grit and dirt getting into the coupler could cause some problems down the line. I’ve found that I get quite negative comments when I discuss these on social media, mostly with people 'telling' me they can't see why I'd want such a thing. For me, this isn’t up for discussion, they suit my need perfectly. A big bonus to being able to remove them easily, is the ease of which I can put my bike in the back of the car. It slides in easily, and doesn’t rock around at all, this alone will be the reason I’ll leave them on my trail bike! These are the reasons I think they are a good idea: Pushing up and down banks without bashing your legs on sharp pedals Ease of transporting in a car Ease of taking on public transport Theft deterrent Ease of quickly packing for flying *update* When riding last Sunday, I also discovered a pedal makes a fantastic weapon!! If you can think of any other reasons, please leave a comment below! So let’s see how they go. I pray they don’t let me down, it won’t be pretty if they do! ***** DISCLAIMER ****** I don't know if these pedals are suitable for heavy work such as mountain biking, jumps and drops etc. I will continue to test them and will report back any problems. If you choose to fit these pedals, it is at your own risk, check with the manufacturer if you are unsure they are suitable for your riding. I've been wanting some quick release pedals for some time, and I don't mean clipless pedals, I mean pedals that you can remove from the bike in seconds. Obviously with more moving parts there is going to be a maintenance overhead, but the benefit of being able to load the bike in the car easier and not bash my shins on the pedals, I think will be worth it. What I'm not sure about is how safe they are, a pedal falling off is going to end in injury for sure. So I'll test them for some time, this is my first ride with them, I'll report back if I have any problems.! If you purchase these pedals via this link I may receive a small commission https://ebay.us/dMjv05 ***UPDATE*** Over a year later and nothing untoward to report! I have the pedals on all my bikes now, including my downhill bike. One problem is I lock the car up and have forgotten to put my pedals on!!! Remember I only weigh 60Kg also note the platform is around 15mm narrower than a 'normal' pedal. You can see a video of my update here

  • Bikepacking Gear List V2.0

    A downloadable list of all my bikepacking gear can be found in this post, first some background information. Clothes and personal items If you’re riding as I did, taking your time, enjoying exploring the remote sierras, towns and pueblos and staying a few days, you will want more clothes than if you’re on a mission to finish a route as fast as you can. You don’t have to be dirty and smelly all the time! After having a shower, it was so good to be able to put clean clothes on. I washed my dirty gear in the hostal bathrooms and dried them where I could. I had packed for warm to hot weather in the day, with chilly mornings and evenings (above freezing temperatures) I would swap out some items if I was riding in colder weather. My clothes were packed in a vacuum bag, to keep the volume down. Sleep System and camping My preference was to have a completely free-standing tent. I really can’t be doing with staking out the guy ropes every time I put it up. I was generally happy with my choice of tent, although in strong winds it felt quite unstable. It’s tall and thin and must be pitched with the thinner end facing the direction the wind is coming from, which isn’t always easy to establish. It survived, was roomy enough for me and all my gear, except my bike, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in it. It's very good at keeping the bugs out! Bike Standard, out of the showroom Specialized Camber FSR 2017 except for tubeless tyres Upgrade. Standard tyres - Ground Control and Purgatory. My only criticism of it would be that a full suspension bike is obviously heavier than a gravel bike, but not to a point where I wanted to throw it down a mountain, unless I was on it of course! I’d love to get some quick release pedals for it, but that’s for when I’m rich! **Update I now have some QR pedals, see the blog** Bike Luggage I chose the Arkel Rollpacker luggage as they looked the most suitable for a full suspension bike. At 25 litres they are some of the largest bags around. When I fell off my bike riding down from the Puerta de la Ragua, the luggage took a hard hit. On my final day of the ride, the front Rollpacker bracket snapped, I managed to fudge a repair to continue. I can only think I may have cracked it in the aforementioned shunt. I also think I put excessive stress on it by strapping my tent to it, now I don’t do that. After contacting Arkel, they promptly sent me a new front bracket free of charge, I did have to pay the postage though. My fork luggage bags are Gorilla Cages, I bought new ones after I had my accident, which was caused by one of the bags falling into the front wheel. I also bought the correct bags for them this time, which is a great improvement! Rucksack I carry a lot more things than a bikepacker on a mission would. All the extra gear doesn’t fit into the bike bags, so I carry some in my rucksack. The rucksack is quite heavy, and when I’m tired it feels extra heavy! I carry my laptop, electronics, some of my food, some of my water, paperwork, and a fleece in it. I would like to not have to ride with it but can’t see how I can keep my 'luxuries' if I didn’t use it. Cooking equipment I’m happy with my cooking stuff in general although my cookpot is causing a problem, as it gives a metallic taste to boiled water, currently ongoing. At some point I’ll need to buy a new stove, the one I have is around ten years old and it sometimes falls apart! But I will stick with the screw on gas canister type I think. I found it difficult to find screw on canisters in the small pueblos in Spain, luckily I’d bought an adaptor that fits into my existing canister, so I can refill it with a butane aerosol type bottle, which are easily found in ferreterias in Spain. Adaptor https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/292685121323 Electronics My YouTube films are very basic, I only use a GoPro, without gimbal and don’t use a drone. My notebook laptop and camera are very basic too. I’d like to attract more subscribers to my channel, but think I need better equipment and content to do this, so I may review my whole media production equipment setup. If I continue with the current standard of my films, I’ll keep my current setup. As far as navigation goes, I had taken three mobile phones with me, all with SIMs with data. It was lucky I had taken three, as I broke my newest one on the second day of the ride. I smashed another completely in my tour-ending accident, so was left with one properly working. At least one spare phone is a must for me. I’m navigating with Google Maps, Google My Maps and Ridewithgps. And I carry a Garmin Inreach Explorer which can always be used as a navigation device also. I'd love to add a bike stand to my gear, but really I'm not sure I can afford the extra weight, I'm pretty heavy already. I will weigh my bike and gear at some point! But I'm guessing 40 - 45 kgs in total including my rucksack. Below is an XLSX sheet of my gear that you can download, in case you want to adapt it for yourself. It shows what I carry, product details and where I store it, I hope it's useful to you! Full Gear List Item 1.5 litre Water Bottles x 2 Quilt Tea, Coffee And Sugar Rain Poncho Gas Canister Bag of Vitamins Windshield For Stove Cooking Pot Washing Stuff Mozzie Headnet Bowl Cup Stove Makeup Trowel Shit Tickets Cable Bike Lock Beanie Hat Sun Hat Tissues Sweets Hand Sanitizer Insect Repellent 1 litre Water Bottle Pillow Towel Vacuum Pack Bag For Clothes comprising 1x Pair Of Leggings 1x Pair Of Short Shorts 1x Pair Of Knee Length Shorts 1x Pair Of Padded Cycling Pants 2x Pairs Of Knickers 1x Sports Bra 1x Long Sleeve Tops 1x Tidy T Shirt 1x Vest Top 1x Fleece 2x Pair Of Socks (Short/Ankle/Long) 1x Pair Of Long Johns Solar Charger Umbrella Spoon Swiss Army Kife Front Bike Light Rear Bike Light Head Torch Puño Wet Wipes Fisiocrem Sun Screen Small Bottle of Fruit Cordial 1x Pair Of Riding Gloves Buff Headband Neck Cooler Flannel Lighter Tyre Tube First Aid Kit Snake Bandage Emergency Blanket Chain Oil Tyre Sealant 2xBungys Spare Sawyer Bottle Rain Jacket Spare Plastic Bags Suspension Pump Wrist Straps Eye Cover Allen Keys Sawyer Filter Empty Holdall Emergency Repair Kit comprising 1 x 3 Metres Paracord 3 x Safety Pins 1 x Sewing Kit 1 x Large Darning Needle 1 x Chain Splitter 1 x Derailuer Hanger 1 x Darning Thread 1 x Waterproof Matches 1 x Plugs For Holed Tyre 1 x Toothbrush To Clean Chain 1 x Silicon Gloves 1 x Sawyer Washer 1 x Double Sided Spongy Tape 1 x Super Glue 1 x Tube Of Adhesive 1 x Small Reel of Tank Tape 1 x Pen 2 x Brake Caliper Piston Spacer Blocks 1 x Repair Patch for Airbed 1 x Repair Patches for Tent 3 x Tyre Levers 10 x Cable Ties 1 x Small Reel Of Wire 2 x Spare Strap Clip 1 x Fire Lighter Rod 1 x Co2 Canister And Adaptor 1 x Spare Chain Link Puncture Patches 2xAdaptor to Fill Gas Canister Spanish Fan Incense Sticks Spare Batteries Notepad Pencil Tissues Face Mask Compass Airhorn 750ml Water Bottle Tyre Pump 2xRollpackers 2xGorilla Cages Wedge Top Tube Bag Top Tube Saddle Bag Knife Handlebar Telephone Mount Telephone For Navigation Tent Bag Tent Body Tent Rainfly Ground Sheet Tent Poles Sleeping Mat Sleeping Bag Liner Bike Mounted Bottle Holder Securing Straps-Large Securing Straps-Sall Prescription Sun Glasses Backpack Bike Helmet Gopro Chest Mount Gopro Camera Trail Runners 1x Pair Of Knee Length Shorts 1x Pair Of Padded Cycling Pants 1x Pairs Of Knickers 1x Sports Bra 1x Long Sleeve Tops 1x Pair Of Socks (Short/Ankle/Long) Money, Credit Card, ID Water Bottle Insulated Food Bag Dry Bag For Electronics Spare Prescription Glasses Gopro Fittings Electronic Cables And Sd Cards Whistle Food Garmin Inreach Spare GoPro Selfie Stick Tripod Wall Charger Flip-Flops 2xPower Banks 8800mAh Laptop Ear Buds Ear Plugs Spare Telephone Lip Salve Digital Camera Power Bank 10400 mAh

  • A Bikepacking Overnighter - Every Day's A School Day

    Complacency, that’s what it was, not that I didn’t put many hours into the preparation and packing up, a quick bikepacking over-nighter surprised me by showing me my failures. Not for one moment did I think I’d learn anything from such a short trip, after all I’d spent months riding across the mountains of Spain 18 months ago. Whilst I was back in the UK in 2019, after my accident in Spain, whilst my broken shoulder healed, I used the downtime to prepare my bikepacking gear for my next trip. I swapped the broken items for new ones, I swapped some less efficient items for new ones and also made some additions to my kit. A blog listing these changes will be coming soon btw. Why I'm telling you this is to point out that my bike is now packed with some different items than it was for the Altravesur ride, so there was a few unknowns. With all these kit changes, it was important to make sure everything packed up into my bike luggage and onto my bike okay, so I fully built my bike up in the UK before stripping it again and boxing it up to take to Australia that Christmas. It certainly felt heavier than before but it looked good! I was hoping that the additional items weigh no more than the weight I have saved with lighter swapped items. One day I’ll weigh the bike to see just how much it does weigh fully loaded. I flew to Australia with all my bikepacking gear only to find temperatures of 43°C on the day I landed and rising to 45°C a couple of days later. The temperatures remained in the 40s for several weeks and this blistering heat resulted in what is now known as Black Summer, where Australia experienced wildfires of the like they hadn’t seen for decades. Living in the foothills of the Australian High Country and Great Dividing Range, with those national parks ablaze and smoke even in urban areas, bikepacking wasn’t a safe option for me, or the emergency service who would have to rescue me, should it go wrong. After a spell working back in the UK from March to June 2020, as soon as the Covid locked down borders opened I flew to Spain with all my bikepacking gear, intending to finish the route I’d so dismally failed at the year before. I'm very slowly writing a blog of my time in Spain during this period, I'm finding it hard, as it is very upsetting for me, but I hope to publish it sometime in the coming months. You can see my YouTube showing snippets of that time here. To cut a long story short, a dear little foster puppy came into my life whilst I was in Spain, so my bikepacking plans took a back seat until around January 2021, when, still in Spain I finally built my bike up for a quick two-night adventure, only for the plane tickets that were to get me to Australia to be cancelled on the day of setting off bikepacking. I went nowhere, It took three days to sort my flights out. Never mind, I’d be going on a tour once settled in Australia, right? Unfortunately, no! I planned to ride part of the Victoria Divide route, I built Bay (my bikepacking steed), loaded him up, subscribed to both Garmin and Ride with GPS, downloaded the route and offline maps, only for my daughter to be so upset on the day I was leaving, because she thought I’d be murdered or injured, I decided not to go. On arriving in Australia, it was six months into a housing boom, with rapidly rising house prices. I needed to buy myself a house, and with the Australian tax rules, it was necessary for me to A) buy quickly. B) spend more than I had intended. And C) live in the house instead of renting it out. Those requirements meant I needed to get a job and quick smart, so bang goes my bikepacking plans again. I was beginning to wonder if I should sell my bike and bikepacking gear as I’ve not found a full-time job, although I have done a few casual hours at a local food takeaway. It seemed that bikepacking for me, just wasn’t meant to be. Anyway, I didn’t sell it. Still packed up from my failed Victoria Divide ride, when I had completed the purchase of my house, I rode Bay, fully loaded across town from my daughter’s to my new house. That’s as near to bikepacking as I got before this overnighter. Even though it was just a suburban ride across town, it felt so good to be on the bike. And I realised, even though it is heavy, that it’s so much easier to ride on surfaced roads than on mountain roads! In the area I live it’s a short drive to numerous mountain bike trails. If I travel a little further, an hour or two, I can be at some of the larger trail centers, or uplift assisted bike parks or out on the remote mountain bushland. It really is a good place to have a mountain bike. But what I wanted was to find some trails close to my house, that I could ride to. My house is surround by bushland and wooded hills after all. So, I set off with Stumpy in my car, checking out local gravel roads to see if they led to the hill rides. After a couple of hours driving around, I parked up at a new-to-me trail head. This was on the same hill but the other side of it, Nailcan Hill, that I often ride some downhill mountain bike trails. The route I was to ride this day was more a 4x4 track running along the spine of the range, aptly named the Ridge Line, eventually becoming the Bakes Trail. Whilst riding this, I was thinking what an excellent little bikepacking trip I could have on this very trail. You can see my YouTube on this here. When I got home from this short ride, I spent some time on the Ride With GPS app, and plotted the trail I’d just ridden and added a loop in the hills to the North East, continuing on from the Bakes Trail, which I thought would be a good two day ride. A problem with all of these route planning and navigation apps is that they don’t always show the available off-road routes and if they do show them, you don’t know if they’re on private land or not. I find it very time consuming and tricky, especially on the small screen of a notebook computer. Anyway, I managed to create a ride, 24.1Km in total, not far but I don’t ride fast and like to meander, so enough for me. One of the additional items I have is a Garmin Inreach which is a satellite messenger, navigation device and SOS beacon. After my disaster in Spain, where I fell and broke my shoulder in a rather remote sierra, where there was no phone signal, and having fallen down an embankment on the same tour a week or so before, having some form of PLB (personal locator beacon) was a must for me and my family. Both events turned out OK, but they could have been so much worse had I not been rescued on the sierra and eventually managing to get myself back up the embankment. I was lucky to find the Inreach on special offer at Anaconda whilst in Australia 2019. With the Inreach, you need to subscribe to a Garmin usage plan. It’s quite economical really, there’s three choices of plan: Safety, Recreation and Expedition, priced at £15, £35 and £65 per month. The excellent thing about these plans is that you can suspend them, online, and there’s no penalty to do so. I believe I pay around £30 per year or thereabouts, to have a contract-free subscription. Being so short of money I did consider not taking my Inreach with me on this ride, but thought better of it, I am a disaster waiting to happen and you can guarantee if I hadn’t taken it, I’d have had a massive accident!! I wanted to leave for my ride around 3pm, foolishly I left my final preparations until the last minute! First to be done was set-up my Inreach subscription, upload my route to the device, sync it, activate it and test it. I been through this procedure twice before, for my non-ride of the Victoria Divide and for my non-ride in Spain, having subsequently suspended those subscriptions. I thought it would be easier than it was. I logged into my Inreach account on my laptop and clicked the button to re-activate my plan, and waited, even after refreshing the screen, the app still showed my plan as suspended. I dicked about for around 10 minutes waiting for it to change, but it never did. So I thought I’d check the activation status on the device. It offers to activate when you turn the device on, requiring a direct view to open skies to communicate via satellite. This took around ten minutes to complete, still the app on my laptop was showing the plan as suspended! It's also necessary to carry out a communication test of the device to make sure everything is OK with regards to the SOS and messaging functions, again this took a good ten minutes but eventually returned a ‘test successful’ message. So, I uploaded my trail and synced the device. Phew this took far too much time, next time I won’t leave it until the last minute! With more time spent on the Inreach than I thought would be necessary, the minutes were slipping by and it was getting on for around 3:15pm by now. I didn’t re-check my gear again, to be honest I couldn’t be bothered anyway, I’d done it only a few weeks before. As the bike was loaded for my aborted Victoria Divide tour, it was fully packed with all my gear. I thought I may as well take a few items out as I’d only be a few kilometres from my house and could walk home at any point. I should have put more thought into the items I removed really. The following items came out: Head net, Umbrella, Head band, Neck cooler, Clothes, Insect Repellent, Poncho, Holdall, Camera Tripod, Wet wipes, Washing gear, Sun hat and Hand Sanitiser. It was more a going through the motions really! After that, I pumped up my tyres, and got going. The first couple of kilometres are through suburban areas, then I turn onto a gravel road, which did not seem as steeply up hill when I drove up it in the car! With so much weight to push along, including the bike I’m reckoning on around 40 kilos, it was too hard for me to ride up some of the steeper inclines, so mostly I pushed up the gravel hill. By now it was 4pm and the autumn sun was well on its downward trajectory. I was puffing, panting and sweating to get up the hill as fast as I could! I didn’t want to be setting up my tent in the dark. The ambient was starting to get chilly by now, which helped cool me a little. It’s a good job the weather was fine as I’d completely forgotten to check the weather forecast. I finally got to the trail head, it was quite a feat getting the wide handlebars of Bay through the narrow opening to the trail, normally you would push your bike through on its rear wheel but with the luggage on, that’s not really possible. It’s uphill from the trail head too, for a couple of kilometres or so, to where I planned to camp for the night, not too far at all but the sun was rapidly going down and had started to dip behind the trees already. I rode and I pushed, rode and pushed, and was being eaten alive by mosquitoes by this point, well perhaps that’s an exaggeration! I was certainly regretting removing the insect repellent from my luggage. I arrived at my camping spot just after 5pm, hot and sweaty with steamed up glasses! I dicked about doing a little filming then whipped my tent up. The ground, although flat, was on a slight incline, I can cope with that as long as I have my head uphill. The air was still, barely a breeze could be felt, so I didn’t bother fully staking the tent out and quickly set about unpacking all my gear. Really I should have checked the weather forecast again at this point. Usually, I remove my main luggage from my bike and unpack it at the tent, often leaving the fork luggage on the bike, as I tend to only pack in them items that are emergency use only. But this time I had propped Bay up against a tree and removed the items as I needed them, leaving the luggage on the bike: Air bed, quilt, pillow, water, cooking gear, power packs, head torch, you can bet your arse that I’d settle for the night and have forgotten something. I laid Bay behind my tent as I usually do, and cable locked him to the back of the tent, then suddenly it was dark! The mosquitoes were a real problem whilst setting up, I lit an incense stick, to keep them at bay, which works to a certain degree. More of a problem was that my expensive head torch wasn’t working. I had changed the batteries a few weeks before, when I built the bike up. But it was dead, so I changed the batteries again, and nothing, I carried out the internationally recognised electronic repair routine of banging it in my hand, but still nothing. When I say expensive, it was around $150 AUD three years ago, I’d bought it specifically for my trek to Everest Base Camp, it’s seen a lot and had served me well until then and I was hoping to be able to repair it. When I got home, I unscrewed the circuit board, I found it was quite corroded, after a good clean up it would occasionally work, but not light up in all configurations. I thought, I can’t afford a new one, but moreover I can’t afford to have an unreliable piece of equipment, so binned it. I’d actually decided, after my Spanish tour, that I didn’t need the additional tent light I had taken with me, so removed it from the packing list. That wasn’t a good idea on reflection, having no redundancy for such an important thing as light. As it was, I used my small bike light in the tent, only to realise that without having a mains plug, I couldn’t actually recharge it. So, another lesson learned, I’ll add a new front light to my list! I settled down to cook my dinner. It was only going to be quick noodles, but I hit another snag. I’d bought a Sea to Summit Alpha cooking pot a year or so before, smaller than my old one, to lighten the load a little. I remember I’d washed it but I’m not sure I’d ever boiled in it. Before making my noodles, I made a cup of tea, and yes, I had left something in my bike luggage, my bloody spoon, so I had to get my shoes back on and fetch it. The tea was undrinkable, the metallic taste from the boiled water was very strong, there was no doubt it was from the hard anodising of the cooking pot. I boiled and discarded water three times, hoping it would clear the awful taste, and it lessened but not to any great degree, then I set about making my noodles. They were edible but with all the chemicals in them, I don’t think I’d have tasted the metallic aftertaste anyway. I made a cup of tea after that, and yes, it was still there. I really enjoy camp time, especially with a nice cup of tea, so was kicking myself for not properly testing the cooking pot before I took it camping. Whilst camping I often wake up around 2am and like to have a cuppa and check out the night sky. This time I would have to do it without tea because I was worried that if I keep drinking the water from my pot, that I’d poison myself! It was a cloudy and slightly misty night, the three quarters moon shone brightly, with barely a sound to be heard, it was perfect, well except for no tea! I took some time to go outside and take a night-time photo or two, then settled down to sleep at around 9pm. There was surprisingly little wildlife noise, a couple of times I heard something quite small close by. At one point I had woken when I heard what sounded like someone running through the woodland at great speed, which quite shit me up for a moment, then I realised it must be a kangaroo bouncing along on a mission. After a reasonable night’s sleep, I woke around 7am and thought, as I usually do when camping, that I just didn’t want to get up and would love to hang around camp. But with the cooking pot situation, I decided to try a coffee, as it would cover the metallic taste more than tea did, and to skip cooking anything for breakfast. The food I’d taken consisted of noodles, quinoa, bread, vegemite, a boiled egg and an apple. And really, I didn’t want any of the items that didn't need cooking either. After breaking down camp and loading my bike, I had a check around to make sure I’d left no trace, a quick check on making sure my fork luggage was secure, then I set off. It was a lovely ride along the 4x4 trail, quite a cloudy day but not at all cold. I stopped to take a few photos at the mirador on the top of what I now know is Hamilton Hill, that I’d ridden to on Stumpy a few days before. Then I continued down the steep singletrack that I hadn’t ridden before. That singletrack is somewhat rocky as well as being steep, ordinarily I’d have run down it at great speed, on this occasion, I really wasn’t confident having not ridden with all that weight for some time, so wasted that wonderful piece of downhill by teetering along the steepest section. At the highest point Hamilton Hill is around 450 metres high, riding down on that singletrack made me smile and I thought to myself ‘this is reminiscent of riding down the North side of the Sierra Nevada, at Puerto de la Ragua' albeit that is from a much higher altitude, what was similar was that no pedaling was required, and this trail was quite rocky too and certainly put a smile on my face. The singletrack ran through pretty meadow land then through thickets of eucalyptus trees, eventually morphing into a 4x4 track. Not long after, the main road leading into Lavington from the North, comes into sight, and far too soon the fun is over and the track ends at a point called Jindera Gap. I was hoping there’d be something interesting there, but I couldn’t see anything of note! It was around 9:30am by now, on reaching Jindera Gap, I needed to decide if I was going to continue and ride the loop that I had plotted, in the hills from there or not. I’m guessing that loop would take me the best part of the day, and there was no guarantee that it wouldn’t be blocked off by private land. As I was deliberating, my GoPro clip broke, perhaps it was a sign from above! Without having had breakfast, I definitely would have wanted to cook something for lunch, and have a cup of tea or two. At this point I thought I really can’t be bothered to do the loop if I was going to be compromised on sustenance, so I decided to pedal back home on the road which would take me to my house. I arrived home at 10:04, having left the day before at 15:30, it had been a truly short trip in distance and time! But still, the feeling of being on my bike, carrying my food, shelter and water, was as warm and cozy as it ever had been. I can’t say that I was over enamoured with such a short ‘tour’. Even if I’d pedaled 100 kilometres for an overnight trip, it is a considerable amount of preparation to do. Don’t get me wrong, how I felt about the niggles wasn’t a big deal, the niggly problems were just that, well except for the cook pot! I certainly enjoyed the time I was out there, but I probably won’t be hurrying to do another overnighter, although the urge to get out may override that that feeling! Apart from the enjoyment, another thing I took away from this ride was that I need to prepare better for any short rides I do, and not be so sloppy with my prep! It's not essential that a ride runs smoothly without niggles, but it does make for a happier and more comfortable ride, giving more time to enjoy the scenery! I was very lucky, I hadn’t checked the weather forecast the day I left, as it turned out there was a torrential thunderstorm the night I arrived home, something I had no idea was going to happen! You can view the YouTube of my ride here I've made a list of things I need to address before my next ride: Things to buy Head Torch Bike light GoPro bracket Tent Torch GoPro muffler Things to do Resolve the metallic taste issue or buy a new one Create a crib sheet to remind me of my GoPro settings Lessons learnt Prepare and load equipment close to leave time Check electrical equipment is working close to leave time Take what you definitely need, take what you might need, don’t take what you’ll never need Fully test new items of equipment Don’t take out emergency items (poncho and insect repellent spring to mind) Have redundancy for cheap electrical items Subscribe to all necessary apps a day or so before leave time Make sure all device offline downloads are setup a day or so before leave time Check sundown time and plan to leave with consideration to the kilometres and terrain to cover before you plan to camp Allow time for lack of fitness on a short ride, there is no settling in period Check the weather forecast the day of leaving and during riding Write a crib sheet for filming tips

  • The Tale of Two Sarahs

    You can see the four episodes of my time at Caballo Blanco here If I’d have looked down last year whilst riding the section of the Sierra Nevada from Nigϋelas to Pampaneira, I’d have seen Caballo Blanco which is situated mid-way up the sierra above Lanjarón. After getting two buses, from Malaga to Granada, then Granada to Lanjaron, I waited at a bar. Sarah #1 soon arrived at the bar to pick me up, we had a quick drink and a chat. An attractive, blond, English lady, she had an air of being calmly competent, living a very hectic life. I liked her and felt safe in her hands. Even though it’s possible to read the blurb on a Helpx hosts establishment and the reviews of other helpers, one never really knows what to expect, or the true personality of the host. After going to a supermarket to do my food shopping, we made our way up to her ranch, Caballo Blanco. Being mid-summer, the land was parched, there was a nice-looking stable block, an oasis of greenery around the cortijo, horse paddocks up and down the valley, horses, dogs and cats everywhere. How would I ever learn all their names was the first thing going through my head! Sarah left me in the hands of her lovely son Charlie, he whizzed me around the various buildings; the outdoor compost toilet, my quarters, the helper’s kitchen, the shower etc, then left me too it. My sleeping quarters, a stone cabin, hadn’t been lived in for around six months, so needed a good clean. It was around 4pm, the sun hadn’t soaked through the stone walls by then, so it was the coolest place around, alas that didn’t last. By midnight the stone walls had started releasing the heat they had soaked up during the day, Charlie had said it’s best to leave the door shut, but I couldn’t remember why, so I did. It was like an oven. There were mosquitoes. I couldn’t sleep. I put my tent up inside the cabin, but it was like a sauna. I couldn’t get the tent outside without taking it apart, so I got what sleep I could with the tent inside the cabin. I barely slept that first night. And I’ll be honest, I thought about leaving that day, but I told myself I must give it a couple of days at least. And I’m so glad I did. When I left the UK, my friends Van and Kim had given me a mozzie net as a present, Sarah arranged for it to be fitted over my bed in time for my second night there. How it transformed my experience, I could sleep with the door open for cooling and be protected not only against the mozzies but also all the other insects that were around. I slept so well that second night, and from then on this bedroom was my happy little refuge. I slowly learnt all the dogs names, I never did learn all the cats names, quite a few of them were very similar in colour, I didn’t stand a chance with my memory! The horses names were difficult to learn, most had summer fly rugs and hoods on, you could barely see their unique colouring or form so I learnt their names by which paddock they were in! It was very hot the whole time I was there which made working in the relentless sun harder work than it would ordinarily be. My first job of the day was to let the chickens out of their shelter and to feed them, I forgot once but luckily Sarah had spotted my mistake. It amazed me that they have a finely tuned body clock, each night just as the sun was going down, they would all go back into the coop without prompting, adjusting the time as the sundown time changed week by week. I would then lock them in, to protect them against predators. Again, I had forgotten once, I was terribly upset that I’d forgotten but luckily none were harmed. I was to work at least five hours a day, six days a week, in return for food and accommodation. I was happy to pay for my own food, Sarah took me shopping in town once a week, to me it was my way of contributing to the ranch. I didn’t stick strictly to the hours and tried to work as much as I could, within reason. I wasn’t sleeping well, waking at around 2am for a few hours, at least giving me the chance to go out and watch the wonderful Sierra Nevada night sky. But it did leave me tired, as did the heat and moreover, the punishing sun. My jobs were varied; from cleaning the semi-outdoor shower, barbecue, and outdoor cooker to tacking up horses and building fences. For three weeks, after letting the chickens out, I’d spend a couple of hours a day, before the sun got too hot, repairing the fence around Tequila’s paddock, which was located ‘over the river’, basically down and up a valley. I’d be greeted each morning by Fluffy, a beautiful fluffy grey puss cat. She was banished over the river because Porcini, another cat, didn’t like her. He was a bully, poor Fluffy. I got quite attached to her, she would come in my bedroom for cuddles and sleep under the table in our kitchen, I’d try to protect her as much as I could. I was so very sad to leave her, I hope she is happy and healthy. The wooden poles needed fixing to the metal posts, some of the poles weren’t quite long enough, so fixing them with bail string was quite difficult but I did my best! No two poles were fixed the same, but it looked quite tidy by the time I’d finished. Sarah's partner, Miguel, grows many vegetables in the three vegetable gardens at Caballo Blanco, luckily I didn't have to weed them!! But most days I would pick vegetables: tomatoes, courgettes, peppers, chillis and French beans, for Sarah's household and for me and Linda. It was lovely to eat fresh veg, along with the fresh eggs. Me and Linda took turns in making a soup, usually tomato or courgette, which would last us a few days. I could have ridden the horses more than I did, I found a two hour ride in the blistering sun drained my energy for the rest of the day but I enjoyed the rides I was taken on by either Linda or Elle. They have some fabulous routes up or down the sierra, along the caminos and along some steep and rocky singletrack that would have also been fun on a mountain bike. It was scarier riding steeply downhill, over rocks, on a horse than it is on a mountain bike, being so high up, and totally dependent on the horse’s sure-footedness. When I was a kid, I had a fascination with Percheron horses, a French working horse. I'd never actually seen one until I arrived at Caballo Blanco. Malibu stood out from all the other horses, I noticed her as soon as I took a look around the paddocks, she is so big, around 17 hands high. I was very lucky as I'd always wanted to ride a Percheron, and Elle arranged with Sarah for me to ride Malibu! Elle rode Ciel and I rode Malibu, out on the sierra, it was wonderful. She was such a good girl, very well behaved and a comfortable ride. This was one of the many memorable times of my time at Caballo Blanco. I had planned on staying a month or two, as it turned out I stayed just over five weeks, which wasn't long enough really but I was keen to secure myself another placement that could take me through September, when the weather would have cooled a little, making bikepacking a little more comfortable. And that’s where Sarah #2 comes in! Really, I could have stayed at Caballo Blanco as long as I wanted, within reason, Sarah was happy with my work, but I didn’t want to miss the chance of going to Sarah #2’s. As it turns out I could have stayed a little longer as the house-sitting Sarah #2 wanted me to do didn’t come to fruition until a much later date. It’s now mid-November, I’ve been with Sarah #2 since mid-August. Looking back at those balmy days at Caballo Blanco fills me with such joy, it was a wonderful experience. I would love to go back but doubt I’ll get the chance now. Certainly, when I’m back on my feet and have a job, I’ll send them some money when I can. Caballo Blanco not only rescues horses, Sarah also takes in any animal in need, hence not only the horses, cats and dogs but birds, geese and chickens. Whilst I was there her daughter Emma was looking after two foster kittens, both of which were found forever homes by the strong animal rescue network that exists in the Sierra Nevada. Sarah funds the ranch with the money raised from giving riding lessons and horse trekking experiences, and from donations. The menagerie whilst I was there consisted of 25 horses, around 7 dogs and 10 cats, a flock of geese, two flocks of chickens, and a partridge (not in a pear tree). Sarah also has two teenage kids to look after, when I arrived, she was doing all the work herself, quite amazing! Sadly, the Covid19 lockdowns have had a detrimental affect on the ranch’s income, luckily Sarah has a lady called Elle in charge of raising funds to enable her to keep the place running. As you can imagine, it takes a great deal of money to keep everything fed and protected. Checkout how you can help at caballoblancotrekking.com

  • Covid Times February to July 2020

    It’s early September, here I sit, nearly seven months on since leaving Australia, overlooking the beautiful, jagged, forested hills of the Los Guájares municipality of Andalucía. Comfortably swallowed up by the old leather sofa on the veranda of the wonderful Cortijo de Tajos. It’s just gone midday, the heat is building, the sunshine is darkening my screen, the only sounds are of wind chimes, cicadas and the rustling of leaves. Three of the four dogs are snoozing aside me, we’re being cooled by an occasional but welcome mountain breeze. How lucky I am, and I give thanks for this serene time I’m being afforded. I’m not sure a lot has happened in those seven months, but my life, probably like yours, has changed. I was already wearing a mask and feverishly sanitising my hands on my arrival back in the UK from Australia on the 25th February 2020. Renting a room at my friend’s house, I prepared myself for what I thought was to come, stocking up on masks, disinfectant, and hand sanitiser. A week later, starting a three month contract at a local Formula E team, I was shocked to find that there were no precautions in place to avoid the spread of Covid. Being mocked didn’t deter me from disinfecting light switches, door handles, my desk and keyboard and the kitchen, every morning and a few times throughout the day. It did however deter me from wearing my mask, I ditched it in the office after a few days. Two weeks later and the UK was starting to take notice of the threat of Covid19, by this time I had started to get a slightly chesty cough, a few days later we started working from home, which was perfect for me as my cough had progressed into some sort of monster! I’ll spare you the gory details, but over a six week period my lungs filled. There were two occasions where I thought I’d have to call an ambulance, something I was avoiding, as many people were dying in hospitals from Covid19. I helped myself as much as possible, I often slept in Puppy Pose, to give enough space in my lungs to be able to breathe. Three different antibiotics and an inhaler later, over the six weeks, and I was clear of whatever had infected me. The doctor only saw me once in that period, and she thought it was Covid 19, but I’ll never know, as I wasn’t tested! After my work contract ended, my thoughts turned to preparing Bay, my Specialized Camber, ready to finish my bikepacking tour that had ended abruptly the previous June. He had sat in the box he’d returned from Spain in, for nearly 11 months, by this time the damage to my shoulder had mostly healed, so I had no problem in building him up and fitting new tyres, new chain and new fork luggage. I also spent some time researching how I could lighten my bikepacking gear. I swapped a few items out, such as a lighter poncho and a lighter tyre pump. I spent time investigating how I could charge my laptop via a USB C cable, you can find a separate blog on how I achieved this, it saves around 200 grams. In mid-May the news reported that the Spanish borders would open to non-residents around the beginning of July, so I took a punt and booked a flight six weeks ahead for the 5th July to Málaga. I booked a flexi-flight, with the costs to take the bike and extra luggage, it was quite expensive, £200, but I thought it was worth the risk. I was keen to get out of the UK before a second wave hit and all borders got locked down again. Little did I know that the expensive flexi-flights aren’t really very flexible, turns out you can only move it plus or minus 1 day, what a swizz!! My idea was to get to Spain and do some voluntary work, with accommodation, until the weather cooled in September. As it turned out, the Spanish borders were opened from the 1st July. Although masks were mandatory in the airport and on the airplane, it was never enforced. Just makes you wonder whether some people actually have brains at all! I was staying in a hostal, in Málaga for two nights, to give me time to buy a SIM card and some camping gas. The gas was hard to find, the SIM card much easier! Which is the opposite to what I found in Seville last year. It’s a good job I had allowed the shopping time as I found I’d forgotten my prescription sunnies, what a pain. I had to visit four opticians before I found one that could cut some decent clip-ons to the size of my glasses. They’re a bit gimpy, but two months on and they’re doing fine, although I do lose them a lot! The Alsa bus company in Spain has an excellent website, you can book your tickets, extra luggage and bikes, online! Bay was in a large box, I also had a heavy holdall and a heavy rucksack. Although close to the bus station, I didn’t fancy dragging the box from the hostal, so got a taxi for the two-minute journey! I was heading towards Caballo Blanco horse ranch, in the hills above Lanjarón, where I had arranged to work for one to two months. Getting there needed two bus journeys, one from Málaga to Granada, then another Granada to Lanjarón, where Sarah would meet me and take me to Caballo Blanco. The two bus journeys passed quickly, heading along the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada made me feel very nostalgic of my ride the previous year. It was stinking hot! Over 30°C. On arrival in Lanjarón, I only had to drag the box a hundred metres to a bar, where I had a lovely asparagus and egg flan, whilst waiting for Sarah, who instantly recognised me, being the only person on the terrace with a blooming great big box!

  • How I converted my laptop to charge from a USB C PD cable

    With the downtime that the Covid lockdown gave me, my thoughts turned to how I could lighten my bikepacking gear. I carry a notebook computer with me as I blog and vlog along the way. It’s heavy! Along with the laptop I need to carry the charging gear; a mains plug that has a thick mains lead, a power supply box and another lead with the jack plug that connects to the notebook. I spent many weeks researching my options, I could get a mains plug with the power supply attached, that would save a few grams only, but that wasn’t enough. I knew that high-end laptops had charging via a USB C PD cable, I couldn’t afford a new computer, so I spent a further few weeks sourcing components to enable my Asus notebook to charge via USB C PD. Please note that if you purchase any items from the product links below I could receive a commission from Amazon To see my YouTube on this subject click here Considerations · Laptop input – 19V 45W 2.37A · Emulator – 20V 3A max · Joining lead – 60-100W input 18-29V output · Laptop connector – 2.5mm Jack Stage 1 I needed to find an emulator that would convert the USB C PD output into something my Asus would accept. At one end it needed to connect to my computer, at the other end it needed to be a USB C male plug or female socket that I could connect a USB C male connector. I couldn’t find an emulator lead that had the correct jack plug but I found one with a larger jack plug, luckily I had a set of jack plug adapters (details listed below), one of which I knew would connect to the jack plug on the emulator lead. The other end being a USB C female socket. Emulator Lead USB 3.1 Type C USB-C to DC 20V Jack plug conversion kit - BERLS Universal Power Cable, USB to DC 5.5 * 2.1mm Jack 5V Charging Cord with 10 Selectable Connector Tips Stage 2 I searched for a wall adapter that had a USB C PD output, if the adapter could also have some USB A outputs, I wouldn’t need to take my multi-plug charger bikepacking either. Eventually I settled for the Tommox multi-output wall charger. Tommox USB C Charger Universal 60W Type C PD with mains plugs for most countries. Stage 3 I needed a lead to join the emulator and the wall charger, so needed a male USB C to male USB C lead, as both the wall charger and the emulator had female USB C sockets. There is a specific lead for carrying the USB C PD output, so make sure you don’t use a normal USB C cable. USB C PD male USB C to male UGreen Fast Charger Cable Type C 60W Power Data PD lead Caution! · It’s important to note that not all USB C devices like to be charged via a high-output USB C PD · You need to be aware that the components I sourced are suitable for the input of my laptop. · If you decide to carry out this conversion, it will be necessary for you to research the specific input requirements for your laptop. · Do not blindly buy what I have bought, do your research. · You carry out this conversion at your own risk, be aware it could invalidate your laptop’s warranty ….. or blow it up!! I have been using the above components for around four months now, without a problem. It only cost me around £60 in total! Good luck!

  • Quilt Review - Sea to Summit Ember EBIII

    If you purchase via this link I may receive a small commission https://ebay.us/Ko5NUF When wanting to kit-up for bikepacking, I spent a few months researching a sleep system. I decided early on, due to their lower weight and size, to research quilts instead of sleeping bags. Something else that helped me come to that decision is that my temperature fluctuates while sleeping: I’m hot, I’m cold, I’m hot again, covers on, covers off. My thinking was that a quilt would be easier to kick off, or partially cover myself etc. Affording a top price range quilt was out of the question, I would be looking for something mid-budget, around the £200 mark. Once I had decided upon the temperature rating, around minus 5 degrees C, I scoured merchandisers, looking for special offers. Ultralight Outdoor Gear had the Ember on offer at £199.99, the quilt was rated to a low of -6 ish and it was in stock. It had good reviews, so that’s what I went for. I purchased mine in January 2019. I can recommend the merchandiser, good stocks, good prices and good service. Important notes on how I used the quilt · I was using this quilt with a Big Agnes Insulated Air Core Ultra Wide Sleeping Mat · I slept with the Ember EBIII and the Big Agnes mat around 15 times · The 15 days use was in Spain, during Spring and Early Summer, March to June · At altitudes up to 1700 metres · I didn’t use it to its max of minus 6 ish deg C · No frosty nights were experienced · Lowest temperatures I experienced, at a guess, was around 3-5 deg C · I slept wearing long-johns and a T shirt, perhaps a fleece in the lower temperatures · I always zipped up the footbox · I didn’t clamp the quilt to my airbed · I’m 5’8” (172cm) tall · I’m a ladies UK Size 10-12 (60kg) · No damage has occurred to the quilt in during this use · I bought the regular length, an extra long is available I believe · Weight with compression sack is approx. 800 grams Review Summary Bearing in mind the ‘Important Notes’ above, there was never a time I was too cold, although I did get chilly now and again. Length-wise; the quilt is generous. Width-wise; when chilly I like to tuck the sides under my body, a bit like a sleeping bag, there was sufficient material to do this. It’s of good quality. A thumbs up from me, for this mid-budget quilt. What’s in the bag · 1 x Compression sack packs down to approx 20cm diameter x 28cm long · 1 x Storage ‘cube’ for less compressed storage of the quilt · 1 x Quilt · 3 x Straps for clamping onto an airbed Full Review I used the quilt as stated in the ‘Important Notes’ section above. It packs down nice and small to carry in my bike luggage. The down is ‘treated’ to improve its water resistance, should it get wet. The quilt has small baffles so that the down doesn’t clump in one area, also the down seems to be thicker at the top and the bottom, the centre section seems to be less thick, which makes sense. The zip-up and drawstring foot box is really handy, I found using this was enough to keep the quilt where I wanted it. I didn’t use the three straps to clamp it to my airbed, in fact I didn’t really know what they were for! With the bedclothes I wore, and the temperatures I experienced, I was occasionally a little chilly but never to a point where it disturbed my sleep. It’s a nicely made, quality looking piece of kit, and seems robust enough even though the material, especially on the ‘body’ side is very thin. I’ve also used it ‘in the house’, in high temperatures in Australia. I found it to be light enough to not overheat me in those circumstances. I’m more than happy with it and will continue to use it. I’m not sure it would be sufficiently warm enough for minus 6 deg C, not for me anyway. Should I bikepack somewhere icy cold, I would take a liner also, still, this would be more compact and lighter than a mid-range sleeping bag. Benefits of a quilt This is my first camping quilt, unless I am in high mountain, high minus deg C temperatures, I will stick with a quilt. The benefits I found are: · It packs down small · It’s Lightweight (no big mummy bag ‘hood’) · You can kick it off if you get hot · You can move about when sleeping without getting tangled up ***UPDATE*** It's October 2022 now, I recently did two snow camps with this quilt, I think I would prefer a sleeping bag for the snow. Take a look at the videos for some ideas regarding laying to help with cold temperatures Video 1 and Video 2

  • Tent Review - Marmot Tungsten UL1P

    Planning my first bikepacking tour I had a long shopping list. By far the most expensive part of the set-up, apart from the bike of course, was my sleep system. Making decisions on which tent, airbed and sleeping bag to buy took several months of research and review reading, firstly on the merchandise, then once a decision was made, further reviews on merchandisers! Criteria for selection, in order of priority: Free-standing Cost Good Reviews Weight Package Size Quality I'd seen some YouTube reviews by through-hiker and bikepacker influencers, often they were out of my price range and/or not free-standing. Eventually I decided upon the Marmot Tungsten UL1P weighing in at around 1.3Kg for the 3 season bundle. Be careful if purchasing, don't confuse the Tungsten UL1P with the heavier Tungsten standard tent! The UL1P sells for around $300 USD. When buying in the US from the UK you will also pay import duty and a considerable delivery charge. I purchased mine from US based Backcountry Gear and was more than happy with their service, it came out at around £300. It is possible to find them in Europe, but there was none available at the time I wanted one. See my YouTube series Bikepacking the Altravesur - Episodes 1 to 16 for examples of how and where I used the tent. Also I have a YouTube of the tent review Quick Review For the purpose I bought it; bikepacking in Spain during Spring/summer, being a mid-range budget shelter, it was perfect and I will continue to use it. It was wobbly in the strong Levante Winds though! Review in summary Approx 1.3kg and packing down to around 15cm diameter x 47cm long Easy to put up, around 15 minutes at a leisurely pace Even easier to break down, less than 4 minutes packed into bag There's no special folding or rolling to pack it away The bag also holds my large Big Agnes airbed and groundsheet I'm 5'8", there's plenty of headroom for me to sit-up whilst on my thick airbed There's around 12" at the end of my airbed spare and around 6" along the side No condensation problems as you're not touching the fly-sheet Lots of room in the vestibule for gear There's a handy pocket for things that you need quickly in the night There's a pocket on the ceiling for a light I didn't get wet in a thunder storm that ran for around 5 hours It gets wobbly in winds over approx 35 knots if orientated correctly. If not orientated correctly approx 20 knots gives it a hammering. I haven't done extensive testing but possibly this isn't the tent for windy high-mountain camping. The colour is a bit bright for stealth camping The guy rope tags are hi-viz, not good for stealth camping It was perfect for my bikepacking in Spring/summer in Spain I've replaced the bag it stores in, as it got damaged Full Review Being Ultra-lightweight you need to accept that to achieve a low weight, the material will not be as thick as a 'normal' tent, therefore not as robust. I'm clumsy and I'm careless, and as yet I haven't destroyed it. I have slept in my Tungsten around 15 times and ridden with it on my handlebars for around 800 kilometers. I've had two quite big falls with it on my handlebars too. I have melted holes in my tent with incense sticks, the repair patches work well. I light the incense sticks as it is supposed to be a fly/mozzie deterent, I think it works! The duffel bag Marmot provide got a good bashing where it rubbed on my handle bars, it sustained further damage when I had a big fall, tearing the bag when the bike somersaulted. The bag looks so tatty now I have bought another one. It is an Exped Waterproof Compression Bag with circumference straps Medium 19L Manufacturer's code: X7640147-768390 from Outdoor GB it cost around £20, the ground sheet fits in the new bag with all the tent parts but the airbed doesn't. I can't say whether it's good for the job, I haven't used it yet! The tent's easy to put up, just remember the silver/grey end of the pole goes to the silver/grey tab and the silver/grey clip on the main body. The yellow end of the pole goes to the yellow tab and yellow clip on the main body. I didn't bother putting the guy ropes on when it wasn't windy. When it was very windy and with the tent orientated correctly, with the narrow end pointing towards the wind, at around 30-40 knots, I found it best to put more weight inside the tent to help stabilise it. The poles started to shift from their designed position at this wind speed. Being tall and thin, I'm not sure this tent is good for higher winds. But I will say that the more meticulous you are when pitching-up, the better the tent will perform in winds. If you pitch-up without orientating the tent properly, then the wind has much more of an effect on the stability of the poles. At around 20 - 25 knots, with the wind on the long side, the poles were shifting from position quite a lot. I was in the tent only once for a real heavy rain storm, it lasted around 5 hours, and I stayed dry inside the tent. The good thing about the thin construction material is that it dries out very quickly. The zip on the external and internal vestibule doors rarely snag, and both are two way/two toggle zips. All doors can be tied back with a toggle and tag. Then colour is a little bright for stealth camping, but I still did it and wasn't disturbed. At each corner is a tag to tie the guy strings on, they have a small strip of hi-viz paint on them. If you're thinking of stealth camping you may want to eradicate the hi-viz with a market pen. I'm 5'8" (172cm) tall. I have long legs and shortish body, sitting on my thick airbed there is plenty of headroom and I wasn't constantly touching the sides of the tent. With the mesh interior, if you should touch the sides or ceiling, you're not getting sopping wet from condensation, which is limited to the fly-sheet. The vestibule and tent was big enough to hold all of my gear, except my bike, which I laid out the back of the tent, and cabled my bike lock through the rear tag adding a bungee strap from the bike to the each rear pole. This gave me an extra anchor for the tent and also I should have been able to hear if anyone tried to steal the bike! The free-standing inner body is all mesh, except for the bath-tub type ground sheet. In good weather you can pitch-up without using the fly sheet at all, just using the inner body to protect you from any bugs, watching the night sky. In that case it would take you five leisurely minutes to erect the shelter! If you do use the fly-sheet, the vestibule doors fully open, so the whole of the front of the tent is a window to the big outdoors with the added bonus of you being inside a bug free cell! My only concern with recommending this tent would be if you was going to be in a particularly windy area. When I was in Spain, the Levante Wind blew hard for 10 days. I decided not to be in the tent for the highest of these winds, 50 - 60 knots. I have no idea if the tent would have withstood those speeds. I am extremely happy with my purchase and will continue to use the tent for the foreseeable future. I bought mine in January 2019. Specifications could alter slightly so I will not include a specification sheet here. All details can be found on merchandiser's or Marmot's websites. This review is to pass on my usage experience. What do you get A Bag Lightweight duffel stylie Free-standing main body No-see-umm mesh all around except the incorporated ground sheet, and incorporated clips to attach it to the poles Fly-sheet Mine is a bright yellowy colour, I believe a green may be available, it has one vent at the wider end. Each bottom corner has an attached hook to attach it to the main body, and each cornice has two Velcro straps to attach it to the poles, with one Velcro strap at the top, again to attach it to the poles Poles and a stuff sack to hold them Two sets of elasticated strung together aluminium poles. One end is silver/grey and bent the other is yellow and straight Repairs A repair kit with three different sticky-back materials. A short section of pole repair tube Pegging down hardware Six aluminium pegs, four guy strings and four guy string adjustment clips, these need assembling together and a stuff sack Footprint (not supplied) This is not supplied and is at extra cost. I bought a cheap £5 tarp, build the tent onto it and cut around it, to use as a cheap footprint Pitching The Tungsten is thinner one end than the other. Looking at the vestibule side of the tent, the wider end (90 deg to the vestibule) is to the right. The narrower end, to the left (90 deg to the vestibule). The tent should be pitched with the narrow end facing the direction from which the wind is coming i.e. so the wind is hitting it. Pitch-up procedure You can see my YouTube on how to put the tent up, take it down and my thoughts on it here Lay the main body on the footprint with the narrow end orientated towards any wind Join the poles up Lay the poles, crossed in the middle, over the main body, orientate the poles so each of the silver/grey ends are at the corner where there is a silver/grey tab on the main body (along the vestibule side). The yellow ends of the pole should now lay at the corners with the yellow tabs Stick the pole into the hole in the tab at each corner, bending the pole into an arc, and sticking the pole into the diagonally opposite main body hole Clip the main body to the poles Peg out each corner of the main body using four of the pegs Throw the fly-sheet over, orientating the vestibule to the main body vestibule Attach the top centre fly-sheet Velcro to the two poles Attach the two Velcro tabs that are on each corner of the fly-sheet to the poles, one above the first clip, one above the second clip Pull everything straight Attach the hook that's on each corner of the fly sheet, to the loop on each corner of the main body Peg out the vestibule (I use two pegs) Pull the tab on the hooks at each corner taught If you want to add the guy strings you will need to tie them to the little tabs that are on each corner of the fly sheet, you'll need four more pegs or pull them out of the main body corners. ***UPDATE*** It's October 2022 now, I've used this tent for a snow camp in temperatures of minus 5 Deg C, and it performed great. I didn't notice a difference between this and my Marmot Fortress that has a non-mesh inner. You can see a video of that snow camp here here

  • My Secret to teetering on the edge of 'fitness'

    Physical Fitness Carrying out a physical activity that raises your heart rate, eating healthily and getting enough sleep should give you a certain level of physical fitness. Higher levels of fitness are specific to the activities that a person carries out. You can be fit to carry out one particular task, that doesn't mean you are fit to carry out every task. Mental fitness Just like physical exercise, reaching and maintaining a mental state of well-being can take work if it isn't your natural state. Mental illness aside, gaining a calm and contented mind can come from engaging in your preferred form of physical exercise, whether it be going to the gym, going for a run or climbing a mountain. My reality Fitness is fleeting, it has to be maintained or you will lose it eventually. And it's that maintenance, over a lifetime, that I am finding tedious. Just lately I've had a love-hate relationship with physical exercise. I only want to be doing epic things, not huffing and puffing in a gym or on a monotonous run. This is new to me, I have always enjoyed gym classes, martial arts and going for the odd run. Whilst saving up for my next adventure I tend to go into a physical and mental lock-down state. There's no logical reason for this lock-down, going for a run or exercising at home doesn't cost anything. It's a cycle of doom; I don't exercise so my mental wellness suffers, my motivation drops, so I don't exercise. And so it goes on. I lack the gene that makes people want to be better than other people at, what I consider, a leisure activity. So that doesn't motivate me. I've no interest whatsoever in competing in anything, my leisure activities are for savouring the moment only. Anyone that has worked with me will be saying 'She's such a liar, she always wants to be the best at work' but let me tell you, that's not true, I just wanted to do a really good job for my own satisfaction, I was never competing with you! Bearing in mind that health and fitness are closely linked, I try to maintain a modicum of 'fitness' during my lock-down periods. This ticking-over of a general fitness has allowed me to do 'nothing' for 6 to 8 months, then go on an epic adventure, without injury (excluding falls!) or aching muscles. Whether that is real 'fitness', I don't know, but it's my best effort at the moment and it works for me. We can eat the healthiest of meals and consistently engage in physical activities, yet still get ill. Chemical and radioactive pollution, genetics, accidents, germs can all lead to disease or injury and stop your hard-earned fitness dead in its tracks. So I don't let it rule my time on this planet, in this one life we get. Don't get me wrong, I wish I could find the motivation I used to have, and I will continue to search for it, within the bounds of not letting it stress me. I used to spend a lot of time stressing if I couldn't get to the gym. It then stops being fun. My solution Yoga. Oh and a plant based diet! Yoga, to the uninitiated has a bad reputation; it's for hippies, weirdos, the very flexible and the spiritual. And granted it can be, but not exclusively, it's for 'normal' people too! When I practice yoga I take it easy, and often my poses look nothing like the teaching yogi's pose. It's not a competition and there's no need to make it painful or feel inadequate. I'm not very flexible and have the balance of an egg! There is a wide range of benefits I get from engaging in yoga: It raises my heart rate It keeps my joints supple It helps with my balance when cycling It helps with bone and muscle strength It heals aches and pains It increases my energy levels It improves my mood and mental state It improves my circulation It helps drain toxins It clears my lungs and sinuses It helps with facial and neck tone It makes me feel 2 inches taller! It helps me sleep For me, yoga improves my mental and physical wellness, and it's what keeps my fitness ticking over until I'm off on an epic. I've practiced yoga on and off, for around 20 years. I used to attend classes but nowadays I practice at home. I do this for three reasons: 1) Cost, 2) It can be difficult to find the right class and 3) I can do it everyday, when I want There are many genres of yoga, you can Google them if you are really interested! I engage in very simple routines that work for me, mixing and matching what I can do and sitting-out what I can't. Resources Yogi Ashokananda For my everyday yoga sessions, I will alternate my two favourite sessions on Yogi Ashokananda's DVD named Power Yoga & Kriya Yoga Anti-Aging Unfortunately you can't download his teachings as an MP4 from his website, although there are some options on Amazon Prime. The DVD is around £10. Both me and my daughter have a copy, so I can practice home and away! The two sessions I regularly practice are the Strengthening session and the Kriya Yoga anti-aging session. I also do the Power within now and again, but it is more advanced than I am! When I want to go to sleep I'll run through his Savasana routine! Yogi Ashokanada does have a YouTube channel I sometimes follow his Beginners session YouTube - Yoga with Adriene Occasionally I'll do some of Adriene's sessions. She has a yoga session for everything, from skateboarders to insomniacs. My go-to is her Beginners class When I have a specific ailment or injury I will reference Adriene's catalogue and practice the specific routine. So that's it folks, it's my best effort at the moment! I try to do at least 10 minutes everyday. If you're feeling lethargic and stressing over not getting to the gym, give it a go, it's as hard as you make it! And it can transform your life.

  • Bikepacking the Altravesur-Gear Review

    You can see a video of my Tent Review here and one of my Sleeping pad Review here Below is a review of the gear I took on my Altravesur ride. To make it simple, I’ve used the following key to mark each item: Perfect = An item I used and was totally happy with, and will use on my next tour Unused Retain = I didn’t use this item but will still take it on my next tour Retain = I wasn’t totally happy with the item but will use it on my next tour, due to the expense of replacement Remove = I didn’t use this item and won’t take it next time Replace = I wasn’t happy with this item and will replace with something better Addition = Something I didn’t take but will next time Clothes and personal items If you’re riding as I did, taking your time, enjoying exploring towns and pueblos and staying a few days, you will probably want more clothes than if you’re on a mission to finish a route as fast as you can. You don’t have to be dirty and smelly all the time! After having a shower, it was so good to be able to put clean clothes on. I washed my dirty gear in the hostal bathrooms and dried them where I could. I had packed for warm to hot weather, I would swap out some items if I was riding in colder weather. My clothes were packed in a vacuum bag, to keep the volume down. 1 x Pair of leggings – Perfect 1 x Pair of short shorts – Perfect 1 x Pair of knee length shorts – Perfect 1 x Pair of padded cycling pants – Perfect 2 x Pairs of knickers – Perfect 1 x Sports bra – Perfect 2 x Long sleeve tops – Perfect 1 x Tidy T shirt – Perfect 1 x Vest top - Perfect 1 x Fleece - Perfect 3 x Pair of socks (short/ankle/long) - Perfect 1 x Pair of flip-flops – Perfect 1 x Pair of trainers – Perfect 1 x Panama hat – Replace (I will get a ‘brim’ that fits onto a mountain bike helmet) 1 x Beanie hat - Perfect 1 x Baseball cap with neck protection – Perfect 1 x Linen scarf – Perfect (good for sun protection) 1 x Buff – Perfect 1 x Bikini top – Perfect (used instead of a bra) 1 x Pair of Long-johns – Perfect (used at night and often in the day also) 1 x Pair of riding gloves - Perfect 1 x Pair of thin liner gloves – Remove 1 x Mosquito head net – Unused Retain 1 x Crash hat - Perfect 1 x Lightweight rain jacket – Replace (The one I took was a piece of old F1 Team Kit, it was heavy and the zip broke) 1 x Thick plastic poncho – Replace (If I can find a lighter plastic one, otherwise retain this) 1 x Washing and hygiene items – Perfect (Decanted into small plastic bottles) 1 x Mixed vitamin pills – Perfect (Decanted into one plastic bag) 1 x Spanish Fan - Perfect 1 x Pair of Sunglasses - Perfect 1 x Vacuum bag for clothes - Perfect Sleep System and camping My preference was to have a completely free-standing tent. I really can’t be doing with staking out the guy ropes every time I put it up. I was generally happy with my choice of tent, although in strong winds it felt quite unstable. It’s tall and thin and must be pitched with the thinner end facing the direction the wind is coming from, which isn’t always easy to establish. It survived, was roomy enough for me and all my gear, except my bike, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in it. Tent - Marmot Tungsten Ultra-Light One Person – Retain (Not so good in high wind) Sleeping Quilt - Sea to Summit Ember EBIII – Perfect (I would use a liner in minus deg C temps, it got a little chilly at temperatures below 8 deg C) Sleeping Mat - Big Agnes Air Core Ultra Insulated Wide – Perfect (I’m a side sleeper, this mat is thick, wide with raised edges, so you don’t ‘fall off’ it) Ground Sheet - Cut out from a cheap plastic 'tarp' - Perfect Thermarest down Pillow - Perfect Camping towel - Perfect Head torch - Perfect Sleeping bag liner – Addition (If I tour in colder weather than that of the Spanish Spring/Summer) Bike I really wouldn’t want to have ridden the Altravesur on a fully rigid bike, I’m not sure about a hardtail either. The Specialized Camber, that I rode, doesn’t have aggressive geometry, it’s more a cross-country trail bike, so I found it a little difficult to ride on a couple of the steeper single-tracks. I did get carried away sometimes, going too fast with all the weight I was carrying, but soon learnt to calm down a little. My only criticism of it would be that a full suspension bike is obviously heavier than a gravel bike, but not to a point where I wanted to throw it down a mountain! It performed faultlessly, even after hitting a tree hard. Although I haven’t unboxed it since returning home, it looked in perfect condition after my second accident. Standard, out of the showroom Specialized Camber FSR 2017 except for tubeless tyre upgrade - Perfect Standard tyres - Ground Control and Purgatory – Tubeless - Perfect Tyre pump - Perfect Suspension pump - Perfect Allen Keys - Perfect Chain lube- Perfect Tyre sealant- Perfect Suspension oil – Remove Unused Puncture repair items – Perfect (I repaired my Rollpacker with some patches, which worked well) 2 x Inner tubes – Replace (with just one as I didn’t use these, and they are heavy) Unused 1 x CO2 canister and adaptor – Unused Retain 1 x Spare chain link - Unused Retain 1 x Litre bottle for water – Perfect 1 x Front light Retain (Used in my tent only) 1 x Rear light Unused Retain 1 x Cable bike lock – Perfect 1 x Stand – Addition 1 x Quick release pedals – Addition (I will further research their reliability before buying but these would be great on hike-a-bike sections) Bike Luggage I chose the Arkel Rollpacker luggage as they looked the most suitable for a full suspension bike. At 25 litres they are some of the largest bags about. I was very pleased with the rear one but am on the fence about the front. I had strapped my tent on top of the front Rollpacker, this may have been the reason it hung so low, which is one of the annoyances with it, as on drops and large bumps it would hit the tyre even with the forks on full stiff. When I fell off my bike riding down from the Puerta de la Ragua, the luggage took a hard hit. On my final day of the ride, the front Rollpacker bracket snapped, I managed to fudge a repair to continue. I can only think I may have cracked it in the aforementioned shunt. I will probably buy a new front bracket if it’s cheap enough, unless I find something as big but with a higher fixing. Update: Arkel kindly provided me with a new front bracket, free of charge, although I paid the delivery costs of around £35 As for the Gorilla cages on my forks, I’m unsure if I’ll ride with these again due to one of them being the cause of my accident that ended my tour prematurely. I don’t know if I had broken the cage earlier in the day, that failed, then fell into my wheel. Or if I had secured the drybag incorrectly, that caused it to fall into the spokes. But psychologically it’s going to be a hurdle! 1 x Arkel Rollpacker25-Rear (bracket and bag) - Perfect 1 x Arkel Rollpacker25-Front (bracket and bag) – Replace/Retain (unsure if I will use this again, it hung a little too low and the bracket snapped) 2 x Gorilla Cages and Cleats (two aftermarket dry bags) – Replace/Remove (unsure if I will use these again due to psychological reasons, as it caused my accident, and broken arm!) Update: Cyclemiles, that supplied my Gorilla Cages, kindly supplied me with a new cage, free of charge. I have purchased some Gorilla Cage-specific dry bags that look much more suitable, and rigid than those I used. 1 x Monki Cage and Cleats (bottle holder) - Perfect 1 x Small bag for phone, money etc – Perfect (final iteration was a bum bag that I kept on my rear luggage) Rucksack I carry a lot more than things than a bikepacker on a mission would. All the extra gear doesn’t fit into the bike bags, so I carry some in my rucksack. The rucksack is quite heavy, and when I’m tired it feels extra heavy! I carry my laptop, electronics, solar charger, poncho, cold food, food for the day, two small water bottles, some paperwork, my long johns and a fleece in it. I would like to not have to ride with it but can’t see I can keep my luxuries if I didn’t use it. Exped Women’s Lightning 60 litre - Perfect 1 x Drybag to protect electronics - Perfect 1 x Insulated bag for perishable food - Perfect 2 x Small water bottles 600ml - Perfect Cooking equipment I’m happy with my cooking stuff, perhaps I’ll buy a new stove, the one I have is around ten years old and it sometimes falls apart! I especially like the Sawyer filter; it meant less pressure when it came to me having enough water. In every Ferreteria (hardware shop) I went in, in Spain, it was possible to buy the butane aerosol shaped bottles. I only found a proper threaded canister for my stove in Seville. Luckily, I had bought a cheap adapter on Ebay to enable me to re-charge my canister from the aerosol bottles. This I did throughout my ride. The link to this adapter is here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/292685121323 1 x 500ml butane threaded canister- Perfect 1 x Titanium stove - Perfect 1 x Long handled titanium spoon - Perfect 1 x Collapsible bowl - Perfect 1 x Collapsible mug - Perfect 1 x Sawyer Squeeze water filter system - Perfect 1 x 2 litre cooking pot - Perfect Plus food (instant noodles, instant potato, bread, jam, tea, coffee, sugar, milk, biscuits, sweets) – Perfect Wind shroud for stove - Addition Electronics My YouTube films are very basic, I only use a GoPro, without gimbal and don’t use a drone. My notebook and camera are very basic too. I’d like to attract more subscribers to my channel, and think I need better equipment and content to do this, so I may review my whole media production equipment setup. If I continue with the current standard of my films, I’ll keep my current setup. As far as navigation goes, I had taken three mobile phones with me, all with SIMs with data. It was lucky I had taken three, as I broke my newest one on the second day of the ride. I smashed another completely in my tour-ending accident, so was left with one properly working. I was navigating using Google maps on my phone. I got by but it was hit and miss when it came to losing signal. I had uploaded the Altravesur GPX to Google Maps, which is then stored in Googles My Maps. Although I had uploaded Spain offline maps in Google Maps, the Altravesur route would not open offline. On the last day of my ride I discovered that if I opened My Maps, in its own separate App, then I could see the Altravesur route offline. My Maps has very limited functions though. I had played around with Orux maps, on the advice of a bike shop in Spain, but I couldn’t get my head around it at the time but have since spent some time learning how it works, it looks quite good. I had paid Komoot for world offline maps, before my tour, only to find the rubbish app wouldn’t upload the long Altravesur route, I had an emailathon with their helpdesk, but the matter didn’t get resolved. Having crashed in a remote area, with no phone signal, I will definitely buy an SOS signalling device such as a Garmin In-Reach. Also I would consider buying a Garmin for navigation. Solar Charger - Big Blue 28 - Perfect Battery Packs - 2 x Pebble 8400mAh power packs - Perfect Phone holder - SP Gadgets mobile phone bracket clipped to GoPro handlebar bracket - Perfect Update: The SP Gadgets did get broken in my accident, I have bought a new one Camera - GoPro Hero 5 - Perfect GoPro Mount - GoPro Chesty – Replace (after falling heavily on this, and it causing me to be winded and some rib bruising, I will think about using a different camera position) Small tripod - Perfect Charging cables for devices - Perfect Laptop and charger – Perfect (I may replace this with something lighter) Spare GoPro clips, clamps etc – Perfect SOS device – Addition Navigation device - Addition Emergency equipment 1 x Emergency Blanket – Unused Retain 1 x 3 metres paracord - Perfect 3 x Safety pins – Unused Retain 1 x Sewing kit - Perfect 1 x Large darning needle – Unused Retain 1 x Super Glue - Perfect 1 x Tube of Adhesive - Perfect 3 x 20cm strips of Tank Tape - Perfect 3 x Tyre Levers – Unused Retain 1 x Compass – Unused Retain 2 x Bungees (Additional support for rear Rollpacker) – Perfect (plus additional 2) 2 x Camelbak bladders (1 x 2 litre and 1 x 3 litre) – Replace (perhaps I will use plastic bottles) 1 x 100 litre holdall - Perfect 1 x Swiss Army Knife - Perfect 1 x Knife in sheath strapped to bike - Perfect 10 x Cable ties - Perfect 1 x Umbrella – Replace (This was a cheap rain umbrella, perhaps I will replace with a trekking umbrella) 1 x Notepad and pencil - Perfect 1 x Insect repellent - Perfect 8 x Spare batteries AAA and AA for torch and lights - Perfect 1 x First aid kit (antihistamines (for bites), anti-septic cream, plasters, bandages, painkillers) – Perfect (I add antihistamine cream) 1 x Small bottle of Fisiocrem (for sprains and injuries) - Perfect 3 x Plastic bags – Perfect (Used for rubbish, shopping etc) 1 x Small reel of wire – Unused Retain 2 x Spare strap clips – Unused Retain 1 x Fire lighter rod – Unused Retain 2 x Lighters - Perfect 1 x Wad of toilet paper - Perfect 1 x Pack of tissues - Perfect 1 x Dust Mask - Perfect

  • Bikepacking the Altravesur-Gear List

    You can see my YouTube video on my kit list here See later blog for my updated Gear List (Gear List II) For my first bikepacking tour, not having a huge budget, I tried to use as much existing gear as I could. Anything I had to buy would be mid-range lightweight equipment. I couldn't afford the top of the range stuff, so knew my base-weight would be compromised. This mid-range gear is smaller and lighter than 'normal' gear but not as light or as compact as the very expensive stuff. When I say expensive stuff, an example would be a £600 tent, compared to mine at £300. I hadn't weighed my bike, but I'm guessing the bike and loaded luggage it was around 35Kg, riding with 10Kg in a rucksack also. I wanted my trip to be comfortable, I wanted to hang around camp and have some luxuries so again space and weight would be compromised. Also blogging and vlogging meant carrying a notebook computer as well as phones, power packs, leads, solar charge etc, as well as a GoPro and various fittings for the same.In a further blog I will review this gear but generally I was happy with this set-up and I didn't have anything that I didn't use, except for emergency repair items, of which, some I used. Sleep System and camping Tent - Marmot Tungsten Ultra Light One Person Sleeping Quilt - Sea to Summit Ember EBIII Sleeping Mat - Big Agnes Air Core Ultra Insulated Wide Ground Sheet - Cut out from a cheap plastic 'tarp' Thermarest down Pillow Camping towel Head torch Bike Standard, out of the showroom Specialized Camber FSR 2017 except for tubeless tyre upgrade Standard tyres - Ground Control and Purgatory - Tubeless Tyre pump Suspension pump Allen Keys Chain lube Spare chain link Tyre sealant Suspension oil Puncture repair items 2 x Inner tubes 1 x CO2 canister and adaptor 1 x Litre bottle for water 1 x Front light 1 x Rear light 1 x Cable bike lock Bike Luggage 1 x Arkel Rollpacker25-Rear (bracket and bag) 1 x Arkel Rollpacker25-Front (bracket and bag) 2 x Gorilla Cages and Cleats (two aftermarket dry bags) 1 x Monki Cage and Cleats (bottle holder) 1 x Small bag for phone, money etc Rucksack Exped Womens Lightning 60 litre 1 x Drybag to protect electronics 1 x Insulated bag for perishable food 2 x Small water bottles 600ml Cooking equipment 1 x 500ml butane threaded canister 1 x Titanium stove 1 x Long handled titanium spoon 1 x Collapsible bowl 1 x Collapsible mug 1 x Sawyer Squeeze water filter system 1 x 2 litre cooking potPlus food (instant noodles, instant potato, bread, jam, tea, coffee, sugar, milk, biscuits, sweets) Electronics Solar Charger - Big Blue 28 Battery Packs - 2 x Pebble 8400mAh power packs Phone holder - SP Gadgets mobile phone bracket clipped to GoPro handlebar bracket Camera - GoPro Hero 5 GoPro Mount - GoPro Chesty Small tripod Charging cables for devices Laptop and charger Spare GoPro clips, clamps etc Emergency equipment 1 x Emergency Blanket 1 x 3 metres paracord 3 x Safety pins 1 x Sewing kit 1 x Large darning needle 1 x Super Glue 1 x Tube of Adhesive 3 x 20cm strips of Tank Tape 3 x Tyre Levers 1 x Puncture repair kit 1 x Compass 1 x Bungees (Additional support for rear Rollpacker) 2 x Camelbak bladders (1 x 2 litre and 1 x 3 litre) 1 x 100 litre holdall 1 x Swiss Army Knife 1 x Knife in sheath strapped to bike 10 x Cable ties 1 x Umbrella 1 x Notepad and pencil 1 x Insect repellant 8 x Spare batteries AAA and AA for torch and lights 1 x First aid kit (anti-histamines (for bites), anti-septic cream, plasters, bandages) 1 x Small bottle of Fisiocreme (for sprains and injuries) 3 x Plastic bags 1 x Small reel of wire 2 x Spare strap clips 1 x Fire lighter rod 2 x Lighters 1 x Wad of toilet paper 1 x Pack of tissues 1 x Dust Mask Clothing and personal items 1 x Mosquito headnet 1 x Crash hat 1 x Pair of riding gloves 1 x Pair of thin liner gloves 1 x Washing and hygiene items 1 x Bikini top 1 x Pair of short shorts 1 x Pair of flip-flops 1 x Pair of Long-johns 2 x Long sleeve tops 1 x Tidy T shirt 1 x Fleece 1 x Lightweight rain jacket 1 x Thick plastic poncho 1 x Pair of leggings 1 x Vest top 1 x Pair of knee length shorts 2 x Pairs of knickers 1 x Sports bra 3 x Pair of socks (short/ankle/long) 1 x Beanie hat 1 x Baseball cap with neck protection 1 x Linen scarf 1 x Buff 1 x Pair of trainers 1 x Mixed vitamin pills 1 x Spanish Fan 1 x Small bag (for money, passport, phone etc) 1 x Pair of Sunglasses 1 x Vacuum bag for clothes 1 x Panama hat 1 x Pair of padded cycling pants

  • Chapter 27: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Hospital to the UK

    17th June to 3rd July 2019 In the arid plains of the Sierra de Cazorla, I had taken a heavy and fast slam face-first from my bike, and was somewhat dazed. The first thing I knew that I'd fallen was that I could hear myself screaming and grunting, I'd winded myself, something I'd done a few times when having fallen over the handlebars, but never this heavily. I'd fallen face first onto the rocky camino. My left arm was in great pain. Assessing the situation, my Gorilla cage, that holds luggage onto the bike fork had fell off into the wheel and stopped the bike dead. I think the bike somersaulted with me still on it for the first part of the fall. I took my fleece out of my rucksack and made a sling for my left arm. Every movement, of my other arm, when I breathed, got up, coughed or walked, created great pain in my left arm and my chest, and where the ribs joins my armpit. I couldn’t believe it; I knew this would be curtains for my Altravesur ride. I was trying not to panic; I knew other areas hurt but only my arm and chest were bad. I could walk and use my right arm, being right-handed, that was a bonus. The Gorilla cage was tangled between the forks and the wheel, I managed to get it out, by emptying the contents. I had food, water and shelter, everything I needed to be stranded for a day or two if needs be. I thought there was little hope of a vehicle passing by so decided to make my way to the village, thinking it was only around five kilometres away. I tried pushing my bike, but with one hand and unable to get my rucksack back on, I only got ten metres or so, then I dropped it. By then I realised that I had gone into shock, I was in a cold sweat and dizzy. I returned back to the shade of the bush and laid down for a while. I wasn’t thinking straight but knew not to panic. The lens of my GoPro was smashed, but it still turned on, so I recorded my ramblings. I could have sworn it was on when I crashed, but there’s no footage. It helped, talking to my GoPro, it kept me thinking and calm. I decided I’d strip the luggage from my bike and put it in the holdall that I carry with me, exactly for an incident like this. It took some time with one hand. I hid Bay in a bush and tried to walk, with the heavy holdall and my heavy rucksack, it didn’t work, I could only manage a few steps before I had to put them down. Thinking back, I should have emptied my bags of everything but food, water and shelter, it would have been easier to walk with less weight. I continued to walk slowly, I’m not really sure what happened, perhaps I fell asleep, eventually a truck came along, from the direction I was going. I stopped it by walking in the middle of the camino, two men, Domingo the driver and Antonio the passenger, were in it. Their face when they saw the state of me was a picture, I’d cut my face and was covered in dust. They put my bags and me on the back seat, and they drove further back into the plateau. They explained that it was their sheep I’d seen earlier, and they wanted to go to their navé to do some jobs, that would only take a few minutes. After they’d done their work we set off for the village, it was probably around 5pm by now. On our way back down the camino, we were trying to find my bike, but couldn’t see it anywhere, luckily I’d thought whilst walking that I may not be able to find the bush again, so took a photo of the general area, after showing that to Antonio, he figured out which bush my bike was behind, and put it in the back of the pickup. Jeez, what a vulnerable situation I was in, I’m not a very trusting person, but had to fully trust that Domingo and Antonio were good guys, and that’s what they turned out to be. The pain from my arm was something of the like I had never experienced before, every slight movement was painful Domingo drove slower and slower to try and make it comfortable for me but I could feel every stone and slight undulation. They kept saying ‘not much longer on the camino’ and the surfaced road was soon, but it seemed to take forever! I don’t know which village we went to or how long it took, they took me to a clinic and waited around until I was in good hands. I was put in a wheelchair, my arm still in my fashioned-up sling, and taken inside. In Spain, medics won’t tend to you unless you have your EHIC card, mine had run out around ten days before, I ordered a new one before my trip, but it hadn’t arrived in time to bring with me. Luckily, very luckily, only two days before I’d phoned my mate Paul, whose house the card went to, and asked him to send me a photo of the new card, I saved it to my cloud. Domingo and Antonio left, once I’d been admitted. I’m not actually sure that Antonio’s name is Antonio, it may be Juan-Antonio? It kind of got too late to ask. He was lovely and returned to the clinic around 9pm to check on me. How sweet. The phone I’d been using when I crashed was smashed to pieces back and front. I think that is what damaged my ribs near my armpit. I had two other phones, long story! But how very fortunate, as using one of my usable phones made it possible to access my cloud and the photo of my new EHIC card, the clinic were happy with that. First thing that was done and looking back it probably wasn’t the best thing for the pain, they took my jumper-sling off and put my arm by my side and wound a bandage around my arm and body, so I couldn’t move it. It hurt a lot, them doing that, and now it hurt to sit down as obviously I couldn’t bend my arm! So I had to go on a trolley. Luckily, they’d given me some pain medication, and it started to kick in. It’s always been a problem when hospitals try to find a vein in my arm, this time was no exception, several different nurses and doctors tried in four different places, poking about, eventually thinking they’d succeeded, only for me to have to tell them my arm was swelling up, they didn’t have a vein at all! So another load of poking about, resulting in success but not giving me much confidence in the facility. After being triaged at the cottage hospital I was taken on an hour and a half’s ambulance ride to a hospital, Sierra de Segura, south west of the Sierra de Cazorla. The driver was so very careful over the speed humps, I soon drifted off and must have slept most of the journey, arriving at the hospital just before midnight. My doctors name was Angel, he spoke some English which helped but I’m sure somethings got lost in translation as I don’t think they understood just how hard I’d fallen or how ill I felt. When he asked where it hurt, after having strong medication, and probably being concussed, I just held my shoulder, so they only x-rayed my shoulder. But there was so much more hurting; shoulder blade, lower arm, elbow, wrist and chest. Typing this one-handed five weeks on, I’m thinking at least one bone in my lower arm is fractured, but don’t know, as the hospital only x-rayed my shoulder and elbow in Spain, and they did the same when I got to the UK hospital yesterday. Back in the Spanish hospital, on taking the temporary bandage off, which was very painful, I had a massive passing-out episode, and the same happened when I was x-rayed. My arm was fractured, the Humerus, at the shoulder end, around the neck of the big bulge on the end. A proximal humerus fracture or broken shoulder, to use the common term. In all this time I hadn’t been allowed a drink of water or anything to eat, in case I needed an operation. After the x-ray they still wasn’t sure if it needed surgery. But the doctor let me have some water. Angel wasn’t so sure I hadn’t fractured my sternum, so I had to go back to get more xrays, although sore, it wasn’t fractured. He asked if I’d hit my head, I said definitely not, and at that time I didn’t think I had, I guess I was delirious as I knew I bashed it quite hard . What I haven’t mentioned is that I didn’t have my helmet on when I crashed, I’d been alternating my helmet with my Panama hat, it was on and off, constantly and I’d forgotten, as I know it’s important. But when pushing up hills, I need the sun protection, that the helmet doesn’t give me. He wasn’t too chuffed when I said I didn’t have my helmet on. Anyway, he clearly knew I was mistaken about not hitting my head, he poked my cheekbone and said does this hurt – Yes, then poked my brow bone and said does this hurt – Yes ooops! I just didn’t remember hitting it because I was probably momentarily knocked out. I had a big graze/cut on my chin too, so it was clear I hit my head! It was a modern hospital, well laid out with nice staff. It’s a scary feeling, there was around five doctors and nurses attending to me at first, and they could be putting you on any medication, you just have to trust they’re doing the right thing. Once on the ward, a private room, I had two lovely young female nurses looking after me, they decided I needed an additional cannula put in, which filled me with dread, they debated for a while as to where to put it, I told them all the positions that had already been tried. This nurse was shit-hot, she got a vein straight off! I was given morphine intravenously and don’t remember anything until morning, except the nurses waking me to say their shift was over. The doctor came to see me at around 11am and said I could be discharged; I was a bit disappointed as I didn’t feel in any fit state to go. I was dizzy, overheating, confused, tired and in pain. My whole arm and shoulder were swollen and bruised. I asked the male nurse, that was looking after me, an exact time I had to go, he said by 8pm, which was music to my ears. My arm was now in a proper sling, the only thing to do was to let my arm heal. I think I had done some soft tissue damage, hence the high level of pain. I’d think about finding a hotel later, now I needed to sleep. On waking, I thought about what to do, and this is where I started making some really bad decisions. What I should have done is find a local hotel and stay there until I had recovered enough to be able to get around without being in pain. But I decided it would be best to leave my stuff with Domingo and make my way to the nearest airport. Murcia looked the nearest, three hours away, but the nurse guy thought Madrid, which was much further away, he didn’t realise there’s flights to the UK from Murcia. This was a bit of a rash decision, but I was in no fit state to worry about it further. The nurse managed to book me a taxi, 300 euros! The taxi arrived around 7pm, I really was in pain with every movement, even though it was a modern Mercedes, no matter how slow he went, it was painful. There were many speed bumps to get out of the pueblo, the driver went as slow as is possible but still it hurt! The taxi driver wasn’t very trusting, and nearly fainted when he saw the state of me! I only had 240 euros cash on me, so took me straight to a cashpoint to get the rest of his cash! He was a bit grumpy, and kept asking where I wanted to go, the hospital had told him to take me to the airport. I told him to go to Murcia town, and I’d let him know the exact address once I’d got 4G and managed to book a hotel. I booked a good quality hotel in Murcia town centre, the Hesperia. The taxi driver was grumpy again when he had to negotiate some narrow streets. For his grumpiness he got sod all tip! So I checked in to this rather high-end hotel, hair all over the place, cut face, black eye, arm in a sling under my dirty cycling jersey, dusty shorts and mucky trainers, feeling like a tramp, thinking they are going to look down on me here. But no, the manager came out to see me, arranged for my bags to be taken to my room, and he couldn’t have been kinder. I've given the hotel more than one glowing review, I was so touched how well they treated me. I’d booked two nights here, it was the luxury I needed to get rested and to get over the accident. It was around 10:30pm by now, a café was just starting to close next door to the hotel, but the guy served me, my first cup of tea for nearly two days. This café became my regular place to eat, the two guys running it were so kind, they cut my food up for me and made my tea just how I liked it. The next morning, and no longer on the morphine, all the aches and pains were coming out. I was still feeling rough but was on a mission to get some clothes and hygiene products, all mine was in my Rollpackers, several hours away at Domingo’s. I managed to get the clothes, toothpaste etc that I needed, but struggled with my prescriptions at the Farmacia, they said they hadn’t been filled in properly. I started crying, something that happened a lot that day, I think it was the medication I was on. The lady in the farmacia found a pharmacist that spoke English, she said I could buy the drugs I needed, Ibuprofen and Paracetamol and Tramadol, they only cost about six euros, so it wasn’t the end of the world. I decided that I wasn’t well enough to fly home, so looked for somewhere cheaper to stay. I’d have loved to stay at the Hesperia but it was 65 euros a night. I booked the first bed and breakfast that looked suitable, for ten nights, thinking that I’d be better by then. The rest of the day I slept. The next morning, Thursday, I went out and bought a suitcase, then took a 20 euro taxi ride to the Murcia suburb of La Alberca. The taxi dropping me at number 30, on the wrong street but the kind teenager at that house walked my suitcase to the correct street for me, how lovely, again.It was on an urbanisation, I thought it would be a bit average, but I was pleasantly surprised when Encarna opened the door. It was perfect, she was lovely, her house was lovely, spacious and clean. I knew we’d get on from the get-go. She quickly showed me around, then had to return to work. Encarna spoke no English at all, which was good for my Spanish, but she spoke so fast, I often had to ask her to slow down. If that failed, Encarna was a whizz on Google translate! I’d been exchanging messages with my friend Ruth, in the UK. She thought it best that I retrieve my bike and belongings and fly home with them, rather than have the expense of having to go back sometime. And she offered to come and help me, I wanted her too, but I hate being a burden, she insisted, and I was glad she did. Ruth had some plans for the next few days, so she booked a flight for the following Tuesday. Encarna, a carer by profession, was amazing. She gave me free rein in her house, and often invited me to eat with her. She ate healthily, cooking Gazpacho and other Spanish dishes from scratch. I loved her food. On Saturday she took me out to an outdoor market in a nearby town, where she bought a trolley load of vegetables, in preparation for another cook-up! Encarna’s house was 20 years old but at the end of her street a new shopping complex had been built, with a supermarket, so I could get things I needed there. There was also a small town centre with shops and restaurants too, within a ten-minute walk.On the Sunday, Encarna’s friend Paz came over for lunch. Paz spoke quite good English, but I tried my best to speak as much Spanish as I could as I didn’t want Encarna to feel left out! We had a lovely day, ending with us all having a siesta before Paz left at 6pm. On Monday we had a bit of a drama, I was sitting on the front terrace in the evening, when Encarna was off to an evening appointment at the podiatrist. As she started to pull away, I noticed a big puddle of what I thought was water, under her car, so shouted out to her. She stopped to have a look and realised it was diesel. I looked under her car, the fuel was gushing out of the pipe. Encarna is unflappable, she called the tow truck and cancelled her appointment, without the slightest hint of annoyance! Many of the neighbours came out to help clear up the spilt fuel, that was running into the gutter and was halfway across the road, Encarna ran to the shop and bought kitty litter to soak up the diesel, ingenious! By now, it was a week from my accident, my upper arm swelling had started to go down and the rainbow of bruising was coming out, a bright purpley blue at this time. My lower arm was concerning me, it was still very swollen still and as badly bruised as the upper arm, as well as cut on my elbow. I’m pretty sure there is a fracture in my lower arm, but the Spanish, and subsequently the UK hospital didn’t x-ray it. Five weeks on as I type this, the lower arm is still very sore, and still bruised. Argh, I’ll just leave it, it’s only going to be a fracture if anything, so it’ll heal. Annoying though, why doctors don’t listen to you properly. The grazes on my face soon healed, but my eye socket was going through the rainbow colours as well. By now, I could walk at a normal pace and ride in a car without my arm hurting, well unless there were any jerky movements that is! Ruth arrived by taxi late on Tuesday evening, I’d bought fresh pasta and a readymade sauce, Encarna prepared some vegetables and we all sat down to eat around 10pm. Ruth had no Spanish when she arrived, she has some now! Her and Encarna conversed via Google translate! I’d booked a Berlingo type hire van, for Ruth to collect late Wednesday afternoon, so we got a taxi to the Murcia Enterprise office, where, giggle giggle, Macarena served us, she got the joke, in fact rolled her eyes when she told us her name and waited for the dance moves. She was so professional, it was easy, but the van turned out to be a bigger one than I’d booked and brand spanking new! Ruth had never driven on the right-hand side of the road before. Even with Google maps I couldn’t find the right way home, we went up and down the highway several times! Ruth was not only getting used to a left hooker, but also the strange road junctions of Murcia, a bit like the Coventry ring road, where you get on and off the same slip road, scary! On the Thursday we were to go and collect Bay and my things from Domingo. I was wracking my brain as to what present I could buy Domingo and Antonio, to thank them for being so very kind. In the end deciding I would get them a card each and put fifty euros in it, so they could buy what they wanted. We walked into La Alberca town that evening and got some cards and had a lovely meal on the terrace at Restaurante Victoria, on the town square, it was exceptionally good, by the way. We made our way back to the Sierra de Cazorla on Thursday, Domingo had asked we meet him at Restaurante Escobar in his home pueblo of La Matea. The drive from Murcia was across some large plateaus, flanked in the distance by hills most of the time. Then we started climbing the mountains. Ruth wasn’t that keen on being on the switch-backed mountain road, at the side of large drops, with no barrier, but we had no incidents and made good time, it only took around two hours. It was nice to be back in the mountains again, with some great views from the passenger seat!We met Domingo at the restaurant, he was drinking with several chums, so we sat at another table and had some lunch. There was no point in joining them, we wouldn’t understand what was being said and it would be awkward.We couldn’t work out why it was so busy at the restaurant, out on the terrace, on the next table was around four or five people, with more and more people joining them, in party mood, ending up with fifteen or so. The ladies all in their finery, as Spanish women do. It turns out that in La Matea it’s a four-day fiesta.We waited until Domingo was ready to go and get my stuff. And not really understanding what was going on, we crossed the road to go to our hire van, the next thing I see is the keys to it in Domingo’s hand. There was no way I was going to let him drive it, he wasn’t insured, and he’d been drinking, so I had to tactfully say that only Ruth was insured and that she must drive. I felt awful, as he’s a fun guy. Three of his friends piled into the back of the van, one with a puppy in a carry basket, Domingo got in the front with me. I felt, and as we discussed later, Ruth also felt, slightly uneasy what was going on. He directed us to his house, higher up in the village. Then we walked up the side of his house to a large workshop in his back garden, with four men, I was feeling a little vulnerable and was thinking that this was the sort of situation I shouldn’t get myself into, I know better, and as we were walking I was thinking up an escape strategy. It seems silly, I trusted Domingo, he had been nothing but kind, so I had no reason to doubt him, but one of his friends was a little drunk and that’s what concerned me. We went into the building and there was Bay and my holdall, then Domingo’s wife Maria-José came in, that made me feel at ease. She was lovely. I gave Maria-José the cards, asking her to pass Antonio’s onto him when she could. Apparently, he was at work so wasn’t around. I regret not making more of an effort to see him, I should have gone to see him at his work, but what’s done is done.We got out of that building as quickly as possible, Domingo’s friends pushing Bay up the steep drive and carrying my bag. How could I have had bad thoughts; they were all so lovely. I guess I watch too many murder investigations on the Crime and Investigation channel. I guess being an honest guy, and a very happy smiley chappie, Domingo wouldn’t have considered that we would be scared! After loading the van, we took a few photos and I filmed a little on my GoPro, then we took them all back to the restaurant. I’ve still no idea why the other three came with us! I thanked Domingo for the hundredth time, said our goodbyes and left La Matea. I can’t express just how grateful I am to Domingo and Antonio, they were so very kind and thoughtful. We returned to Murcia safely ruth had done a fine job with the driving. The next day, Friday, we took Bay to the Hospital de Bici in the town centre, to have him boxed up for flying. I’d not quite understood Juan, who runs the hospital, I thought from his emails, that he would box Bay while I waited, as long as I got there before 1:30. He was a little miffed that we arrived mid-morning, expecting him to box him there and then. So we went off for a couple of hours to give him some time. Whilst in the town, we had a photo I’d taken of Encarna, in her fiesta finery, blown up and framed, as a gift to thank her for her hospitality. We took the opportunity to have a little look around, and got some lunch. Murcia, I learned is a self-governed province as well as a city, it’s not part of another Spanish region. Every day’s a school day! Juan phoned to say Bay was ready, Ruth collected the van from the car park whilst I went in and got the box. Juan had done a good job, the box was small so we wouldn’t have problems at the airport. Although he had stripped Bay right down, forks off and all! He runs his bike repair workshop, Hospital de Bici, and one day a week runs a community project where old bikes are restored and given to those that can’t afford one. Look him up if you’re in Murcia, if you want to help or need help with your bike. Ruth brought the van around to the hospital, we loaded Bay in, and set off back to La Alberca, of course, taking the wrong turnings again, adding an extra half hour onto the fifteen-minute journey! No matter, I’d put too much fuel in the van anyway, we took it with half a tank, after putting 50 euros of fuel in, with all the driving we’d done, it was still just over half full. Later that afternoon we drove back to Murcia to return the van, getting lost again, of course! Encarna kindly collected us from the hire place. The flights from Murcia to Stansted are quite expensive, except on a Wednesday, so we now had five days to kill in La Alberca. The weather had been very hot in Murcia, in the high thirties (deg C), so it was difficult to walk very far without getting sunburnt or too hot. I’m not sure what we did from Friday to Wednesday, perhaps we went to the supermarket and a café or two! Encarna had taken the day off work on the day we were leaving, we’d bought some food from the supermarket, and had a lovely last lunch together. We gave Encarna her present, I could tell she loved it, as she caught a glimpse of it whilst unwrapping it, I saw her eyes light-up. We took some photos, had a siesta, then it was time to go. Encarna called us a taxi for around half five, we said our goodbyes and were gone. I wonder if we’ll ever go back? I’d love to see Encarna again, she is the nicest, calmest lady I’ve ever met, she’s a giver, so it’s hard to give back to her. At least we got the present in!!! We were at the airport far too early, but that’s how I like it when I have a bike, so if it needs repacking, there’s no panic! We mooched around, drank tea, there’s not much at Murcia airport, especially after you’ve gone through security, for food there’s only a Costa with horrendous queues and a Subway. On the other side, at least there was a normal café! We watched our bags and Bay’s box get loaded on the plane as we queued, so knew he was coming with us! The flight was pretty uneventful, as was retrieving Bay at Stanstead. Ruth obviously did all the work! We landed around 11pm, Ruth’s partner, Paul, came and collected us and took us back to their house in Norfolk, arriving at nearly 1am. I’m so grateful to Ruth, she was fantastic the whole time, I know I annoy her, but she didn’t tell me off once!! And Paul was so kind, collecting us at that late hour, he had work the next day, I would’ve been happy to get a taxi, but he wouldn’t hear of it.I stayed in Attleborough with Ruth and Paul for just under two weeks, it was so nice to spend the time with her, and I got to see her son Daniel, and meet Paul’s girls for the first time. They have three dogs, a golden Labrador, Sophie, a black Labrador, Maisie and a Spaniel, Lola. And live on a farm, so it was nice to be able to go for a little walk around the field with them a few times a day, Lola took a shine to me, and we spent a lot of time cuddled up on the sofa. It was four weeks from my accident now, I could sleep laying down, instead of sitting up, the swelling in the lower arm had gone. I can’t move my upper arm from my side yet. I made the mistake of thinking it was getting better, but really it was just the medication making it feel less painful, so I started taking my sling off and trying to use my arm. That only made it hurt a whole lot more! And since having the fracture explained to me better, at Addenbrookes, I understand the implications of trying to move it, and of taking off my sling. I need to be patient! Ruth drove me to my brother’s house, an hour away, in Cambridge, and a week on I’m still here. I went to the hospital in Cambridge, where they x-rayed it again, and I have another appointment at the fracture clinic in two weeks. Just over five weeks on, and I have stopped taking my medication, with just the application of Fisiocrem, a natural anti-inflammatory that I swear by. In fact, I had some with me on my ride, so was applying it from the get-go. It really is a wonder cream, available off the shelf in Spain and Australia, but only online in the UK for some reason! So here I am, I still only have minimal stuff of my own, and I’m itching to get back to my friend Paul’s in Banbury so I can have my things! I’m running short of money, and there’s no chance of getting a job with one arm working. What my plans are, I don’t know, although I do know that I’d rather be back in the sierras of Spain. But there’s no chance of me riding a bike, I don’t think, until next year. We will see! So my Altravesur ended abruptly, who knows perhaps I’ll go back one day and finish it! I had a message from a bikepacking guy on Facebook, he’d done the Altravesur last year, and when he said that I’d ridden all the main sierras, it made me feel a little better. I was around two to three weeks from the end of my tour, what a shame. But I’d had the time of my life on it, it was probably the best thing I’d ever done. And I have no regrets. Spain is such a vast country, they must have a hundred mountain ranges! I could ride there forever. It’s tempting to go and ride in South America or the USA, but I think I’ll stick with ‘doing’ Spain first, if I can afford any further trips. I need to find a job and to save up first! So now I’d like to say Thank you, thank you to everyone that’s read my blog, watched my YouTube or subscribed to my YouTube. And those that have commented on my YouTube and given me encouragement. Thank you to a few friends that have encouraged me on my journey, Dave North, Nick Dowland, Ann Bourne, Roger Mortimer, Mary Malde, Alex Vaughan-Thomas, James Buckland and 'his friends'! it meant a lot. Thank you to my daughter Sam and her boyf Ryan, his mum and family and friends. I’m sure Sam reluctantly gave me encouragement, she would rather see me take up knitting, perhaps with good reason! Thank you to my Uncle John for his witty banter and to Aunty Yuriko for her genuine best wishes. Thank you to my brothers, Paul and Gary and sister in laws, Tracy and June, for checking I’m still alive! And Gary and Tracy for giving me somewhere to live. Thank you to Ruth for coming to rescue me, and for Paul for looking after the dogs and collecting us from the airport, and for putting up with me in your house for two weeks. Thank you to Mike and Natasha, not only for their moral support but for the gift they are sending me! I can't wait! Thank you to everyone I met along the way, and special thanks to everyone that has helped me, it’s a long list, and I hope that one day I can repay your kindness: Ken in Albuñuelas, Wendy, Alejandro and Csilla, Richard Spoor, Andy, Amanda and Tina, Antonia, Jose-Manuel in Ronda, Francisco, Rosa-Maria, Joanna and Roscia in Ubrique, Salva and Juan-Miguel at Runbaik in Los Barrios, Gazala in Trevelez, Jack the Bikepacker, Brian and Lynne at Alpujarra Bike, Tem, Antonio in Albuñuelas, Meta and Robert, Maria-Jose and Antonio at Hostal Méson in Riogordo, Filipe and Paco at Bar La Pena in Villanueve de Cauche, Marie-Carmen, Gabriel, Jessica, Michel, Jesus, Christopher, Dah and Timo at Refugio de Alamut in Valle de Abdalajis, Alain and Helene from Bordeaux, Pepe and Inma who helped me on the way to El Burgo, Bartholome in Valle de Abdalajis, Tadto who I met at El Chorro, Paco the farmer in Ronda, Jen and Natasha in Ronda, Sharon and Alan in Jimena, the owners of Casa de Luna, Peter and Theresa the owners of Cortijo Cairo, Alexi from Russia, Vanessa, Trinny and Antonia at Hostal Barbate, Andrew in Alcútar, Sam and Paula at Bar Rosabel in La Calahorra, Pepe and Brigita at Case Pepe in Campo Cámara, Encarna and Paz in La Alberca, Juan at Hospital de Bici, Domingo and Antonio my heros, Angel my doctor and all the nurses, the Manager at Hesperia Hotel in Murcia, the guys at the Las Maravillas café in Murcia, David the waiter at Restaurante Labella, the teenage girl that carried my suitcase to the right BnB and all the grumpy waiters that made me laugh! You all made my trip what it was, fan-bloody-tastic! If I’ve left you out, my apologies, let me know and I’ll update the blog!!! Adios Amigos x

  • Chapter 26: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Sierra de Cazorla to Hospital

    You can see my YouTube of this ride here 17th July 2019 At the Refugio Fuente Acero, in the Sierra de Cazorla, I’d pitched the tent facing south, in front of the refugio so was in the shade first thing in the morning. The sky was clear and blue, the sun rose, lighting up the side of the refugio. I needed to dry the dew on my tent and catch some rays on the solar charger, so put my things in the sun then took my empty bottles down to the Fuente for filling. When I arrived back at the refugio a fox came by, it seemed used to humans and sat looking at me, waiting for food. Unfortunately, I’d packed my food already so didn’t have any to give it. I was hoping to get to the village of Santiago Pontones by nightfall, I left the refugio at half nine, a lot later than I’d planned. By now the sun has climbed high enough to be quite hot, with the heat and leaving late, I wasn’t sure I’d make it to the village. I rode out of the refugio grounds, that are protected from motorised traffic with large boulders and an iron girder, I tried to pass through a gap between them, forgetting my forks are much wider as I had the Gorilla cage luggage on them. The right-hand Gorilla cage snagged and was pulled off the cleats, I swore as I thought it was broken, reached down and attached it back on, it pushed firmly home. I was so relieved that it wasn’t broken. Not stopping to check it, you will learn later was my downfall. I needed to ride the camino back to the signpost I’d turned left at last night. I needed to go straight ahead, which would have been last night’s right turn. I could have sworn, to the left was uphill and to the right was downhill, alas not. But no matter, the distant and immediate views were beautiful, a small herd of deer ran across, into the protected woodland to my left. There were signs stating it was ‘Area de Reserva’, I was guessing it was protected land, and what a fab job they were doing. A fabulous way to spend a Monday morning! I’d forgotten to put sun cream on my face, and to put my sunnies on, so I stopped at a random spot to do it. I propped Bay up against a lone tree, then realised what a view I had. This sierra was just the best! I was even pedalling up the gently ascending camino, the sun was hot already, with all the trees there was enough dappled shade to keep reasonably sheltered from it. Moments like this, to experience the beauty and solitude is what made this tour something I’d never forget, and forever want to replicate. At this stage of my tour I was increasingly forgetting to turn off my GoPro, which flattens the battery and fills the SD card, so I devised a mechanism to help me remember; every time I turned it on, I would count to sixty then turn it off. This mainly worked…. when I remembered to count! I’d flattened both my 8400mAh power packs as I’d flattened both my GoPro batteries the day before, and both my phones, charging them overnight on the power packs, so had my Big Blue solar charger out on my bike this morning charging the power packs. I need to devise a better method of mounting it on both the front or rear of my bike, often it flops around and is quite distracting, although I've now found if the sun is behind me, attaching it to my Exped Lightning backpack works well. The ascent levelled out; the terrain didn’t stop delivering, I was riding through wooded plateau and mountainside, eventually coming to a small lodge building and gate, with a signpost to Pontones, 9 hours walking time it said. That’s where I was heading, it was around midday now, so I was thinking I may not make it there this day but would decide later what to do. There was at least another three refugios en route, around 11 kilometres apart, so I was trusting they all had water. After passing through the gate, the terrain soon became less green and rockier, with many eroded limestone outcrops, some small aside the camino, others large distant spires. In this desert-like land I came across the next refuge, Refugio Rambla Seca, it was a pretty little building, I had no plans to stay but thought I’d take a look. A lot smaller than the refuge I’d stayed at, but fully equipped with the bed platform, table and seating and the bonus of a water pump and sink inside. Strangely the door had been left open, and when done I left it open too as there was a large green lizard inside! I hadn’t needed to filter any water at this point, a short distance after the refuge, perhaps 100 metres or less, I noticed many geckos, birds and butterflies. Then appeared a cascaded set of water troughs, the water flowing into the top one and flowing down into the six or so others. Where the water had spilled over the trough and dampened the ground, many small blue butterflies were covering the ground. It was a wonderful sight, as I walked past, they would flutter up, their closed brown wings then flashing the beautiful sky blue of the top of their wings. There was one different type of butterfly, with dark brown and white striped wings. Although I didn’t really need water, I thought I’d take advantage of this fresh supply and topup my bottles. I continued on across this undulating desiccated terrain, the camino quite rocky at times. When there was a rare tree, I took advantage of the shade. After half an hour the trail became hillier, quite tiresome in fact, up then down, up then down, my helmet and Panama hat was being swapped continually! Then I realised I’d missed a turning. There was no excuse for this as whilst having my lunch I discovered that if I opened the Altravesur in the Google My Maps app, I could open it without a signal. This was good news as I’d not had a phone signal for well over a day now, there’s none at all in the Sierra de Cazorla. I couldn’t work out how to measure a distance in this app, so I could see how far I’d have to back track. What a pain, it was hot and hard work riding those hills again. I had been riding along one of the GR routes, before getting lost the signposts had gone another way, but I was on the Altravesur at that point. When I got back to the turning I missed, at the end of that short road it had some signs with the GR cross on, basically saying don’t go this way, so I reckon whoever mapped the Altravesur had took a wrong turn earlier, and this odd turning that I missed, was returning onto the GR route, as after, the GR posts appeared again. I’d wasted around an hour with this mistake. Riding on, now back onto the less hilly plateau, I was hoping to get to the next refuge so I could stop for lunch and rest. But I was still a few kilometres away from it at around 1:30pm so I stopped in the shade of a large Hawthorn bush to get out of the sun and have something to eat. I was so glad I’d had that large bocadillo from Casa Pepe, it was so big, just a quarter of it was enough for my lunch. It was a vicious bush! I got a long hawthorn through the sole of my shoe, it had gone right through, into my foot! When I went to return to my ride, I noticed that my front Rollpacker’s bracket had broken. The Rollpacker is the luggage at the front and rear of my bike, a waterproof bag hung off a bracket that attaches to the handlebars. The metal bracket had snapped clean through, near the handlebars on the left side. I took one of the lower straps off and used it to hold the lower section of the bracket to the handlebars at the front and the seatpost at the rear. Where the break was, the metal was jagged and close to my brake pipe, I did my best to hold it away from the pipe with the strap but it wasn’t too clever, I would have to nurse it until I could get it somewhere I could stand the bike up against something and do a better job. I’m thinking perhaps the Rollpacker was damaged in the accident I had a week or so before.I rode on, taking care not to hammer it over rocks, which was quite difficult on any descents! I reached the next refuge, Refugio Forestal, within around an hour. It was another pretty little building, like the previous one but this didn’t have any beds, just one table and ten or so chairs. The room is dominated by a large open fireplace. Strangely there was sacks of dog food inside, and large bags of salt, I’m not sure what for, I guess it gets icy in winter? The refuge was on a hill, to the left of the trail. For some reason, on Google maps, it was called Refugio de Cañada Rincón. Equipped with a sink and water pump, I filled my bottles. And had a nice rest in the large porch that sheltered me from the sun and the wind. This being at around 1600 metres, there was a nice cooling wind blowing across the plateau. I tidied up my Rollpacker repair, still it was a bodge, and I’d have to be careful. I removed the plastic map of Spain, that I’d had wrapped around my tent bag to protect it, my thinking being that the handlebars would take more of the tent weight, rather than the Rollpacker.I had planned to siesta at the refugio, through this the hottest part of the day, but I wasn’t feeling tired so decided to move on. There would be another refuge in 11 kilometres, should I want to stop. I can understand the need for these frequent refuges, it’s so desolate and arid out here, with no phone signal, if you had an emergency, it’s a long way to get help! I’m unsure why there couldn’t be a phone mast on one of the mountains, perhaps they don’t want the eyesore, why not make it look like a tree or a rock?! I rode on, very soon coming across a beautiful white Arab horse, eating grass that was growing around another set of cascaded water troughs, that were dry. Very strange, the surrounding land was damp, again with colonies of the pretty blue butterflies. Grass was growing in a large area surrounding the troughs, presumably irrigated by them, when the Fuente is running, perhaps just once a day? I thought the horse was roaming free, but its front fetlocks were tied together with a short piece of rope! The camino became increasing undulating, and rocky, luckily with steep but short ups and less steep, long downs! Soon I came to the next refuge, Refugio Campo del Espino, of the same pretty design as the other two. I didn’t go in, I stopped and deliberated about staying the night but it was only about 3pm so decided to keep going.The dry white land continued, with the undulating Camino disappearing off miles into the distance, the village of Santiago-Pontones seemingly a long way off, I could see way into the distance, with no signs of a village. Struggling to keep my speed down on the stony descents as they were good fun, I was annoyed with myself that I wasn’t nursing my broken Rollpacker. I came to a small green wooded copse of perhaps ten large trees, very strange, it was like an oasis in this chalky land. A flock of sheep were sheltering in the shade of the trees. I stopped to baaaah at them! Tearing down a hill, not as fast as I could go, but quite fast, the next thing I knew I could hear loud screaming. I was laying facedown on the dusty gravel camino, not knowing where I was, having a prolonged episode of de ja vu, in great pain. Luck of all luck, this happened next to a large bush that gave shade. I’d fallen, and hard.

  • Chapter 25: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Campo Camara to the Sierra de Cazorla

    16th June 2019 A strange thing the night I stayed at Casa Pepe, and to this day I’m still not sure if it actually happened or was a dream, but during the night, around midnight, someone slowly tried my door handle. I was so glad I’d locked it. How creepy. Sunday morning the Casa Pepe bar, in Campo Cámara, was open early, and quite busy with many locals having breakfast. Pepe, the owner was behind the bar this morning, he was a happy friendly chap. It was a nice atmosphere, so I wasn’t hurrying at all. I had a coffee or two and a tostada, Pepe’s wife made me a bocadillo to take with me, and as a treat I took a can of Coke, to open when I was really needing it! I rode back to the top of the town and continued on the surfaced road I had ridden in on. The mountains ahead of me were getting closer and closer, the road was tree-lined and undulating. Along this road, I left the Granada province and entered Jaén. Almost immediately the road was passing through beautiful thick woodland, and a massive descent had started, it was nice payback after the awful climbing nearly all of the day before. And the sun wasn’t high yet, which was another bonus. Not far into Jaén, around half ten, I came across an entrance to a restaurant on my right, and thought I’d stop and have a Coke. I didn’t realise because of the woodland, that the restaurant was sitting above a lake, the Embalse de la Bolera, another turquoise-watered reservoir. It was similar to the one I’d visited the previous day. It looked like you could hire kayaks further around the lake, with many already on the water. I had a quick drink, then got on my way. I wasn’t feeling too clever this day, I think I’d way over-done it in the 13 hours of riding in the sunshine the day before, but I was quite excited that I’d soon be on another mountain sierra. I continued on the surfaced road, still a scenic ride through woodland and cuttings made for the road to pass through the rocky terrain. I hadn’t seen the dam for the Embalse de Negratin but stopped to have a look at the one for the Embalse de la Bolera, this Embalse runs well into the Sierra, the dam wall being just outside the parc. Then soon a right turn took me into the Parc Natural of the Sierra de Cazorla. There seemed to be some holiday chalets at the entrance, it would be a nice place to stay, mental note made! From the get-go, this Sierra was scenic and calming. It was busy with hikers and mountain bikers, most of whom were returning from an early morning jaunt. The camino passed through wooded land, not far into it was a finca-like building, it looked like the base for an outdoor activity centre, seemingly run by an English person, I guess, from the Union Jack on the building signage. I couldn’t see anyone around, so I opened the door and went inside. It looked rather elegantly decked out in polished dark wood, I didn’t go too far into the building but could see out the window into a large internal courtyard, that seemed to be surrounded by rooms. Possibly dormitories? Anyway, there was no café, so I was off! Back riding along the forest, I stopped for a rest and a mountain biker, going the same way as me, stopped to have a chat, we talked for a while, finding out what each other’s story was, compared bikes, as you do and after a photo he went on his way. He said his name was Guzman, but I think that must have been his surname?? He had ridden in the Sierra de Cazorla quite often, driving from Almeria, which was good to hear, as I knew it must be a great place to mountain bike, having driven all that way! Soon the mountains to both sides of the camino becomes steeper and rockier with gorges and high cliffs all around. It was another good sign this was going to be a special sierra! I was never actually sure that all of this was the Sierra de Cazorla, as there are many different sierras within it. I was a little confused as to whether I was in the Sierra de Cazorla, Castril, Segura, Villas, Hornico, Pozo Alcón or what!! But we will call it Cazorla! In fact on looking, it’s official name in Google maps, is Natural Park Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and the Villas. The signposting was excellent, and it seems there are many different ways to walk or ride through it. The views got prettier and the trails quieter, except for mountain bikers returning from their rides. The camino was stony, sometimes with a descent, eventually the Altravesur moving off the camino onto a singletrack that passed over grassy meadows and through woodland. The singletrack became rocky and gnarly. Thus far the route had followed steep cliffs along the valley of Rio Guadalentin, to my left. Exiting the woodland and meadows, the route turned towards and followed high above the perimeter of this, the far end, of the Embalse de la Bolera. A nice bit of singletrack, descending, with a long drop, probably 50 metres, down to the reservoir one side and rocky outcrops on the other. I stopped and sat on a weather-worn rock, looking across the gorge to the high, sheer cliffs the other side of the lake. I had my lunch there, admiring the views. I was passed by more mountain bikers, ascending the trail I had been descending. I was also passed by two members of the Guardia Civil on mopeds! Good to know someone’s patrolling I suppose! Looking forwards to the right, was the main body of water, to the left the water narrowed to a river’s width. As I rode on, I passed over a bridge that crossed the narrow end of the Embalse, this was crossing the Rio Guadalentin, the river that flowed into the dammed lake.After the bridge the trail passed over more meadows and was the start of a long ascent. I thought I’d shortcut a long switchback, I wouldn’t recommend this, it was steep and tiresome! After the shortcut the singletrack passed over more meadows then becomes a rocky grassy doubletrack that lay in a plateau between two mountains, again I was passed by a few mountain bikers coming from the other direction. This ride was a real gem, although it had been ascending for a couple of hours, I was enjoying the remote feeling of the trail. It seems that there was no farming going on, there was a few ruins but no current inhabitants in the Sierra de Cazorla thus far. Just as I hit the descent, there was one large modern cortijo, although it looked like a holiday home as there didn’t seem to be anyone around. I was running low on water by now, I didn’t see any easily accessible water but luckily the descent on this grassy doubletrack was down to a river valley, with many river crossings, and easy access to the water if need be. The descent went on for a few kilometres, running through woodland and winding along-side the pretty mountain stream. I stopped and refilled my water bottles a couple of times, I’d rationed my water as I was getting a bit low, so drunk a whole load too.After descending, the trail continued along-side the river but started ascending. I was very tired by now. Although it had been sunny earlier, heavy clouds had started gathering, I wanted to keep going to avoid the rain I thought was on the way. On looking at my map I could see this ascent was at least a 300-metre climb. I realised I needed to rest, so climbed down the bank of the stream and sat on a rock eating my bocadillo. I watched a dragon fly bouncing up and down, in the silt under the water, I presumed laying eggs. The stream was so very pretty, tumbling over rocks and waterfalls, just the sound of it was soothing. As I ascended the trail, although still running along-side the river, I was getting higher and higher above it. I was finding this climb difficult as I was so tired, still tired from my overheating the day before. The ascending went on for an hour or so, still alongside but much higher than the river. When the trail steepened, it diverged away from the river, around another peak, on a chalky smooth camino. It was around half past five by now, I was struggling to get up the steep road and so happy when I got to the top, where I came to a Tee junction. The signpost at the junction indicated a Refugio to the left in 300 metres and one to the right in 11 kilometres. Obviously, I went for the one on the left! Unfortunately, it was uphill, but not as steep as the last kilometre. After a while the camino was gated by an iron girder, to stop motorised traffic, with a walk around for hikers and bikers. The Refugio was higher on a hill to my left, it was such a relief to get there, I was hoping it would be open and wasn’t disappointed. Although it didn’t matter, as I decided to put my tent up outside the building. The rain hadn’t materialised, although the clouds were still black, but moving fast. Refugio Fuente Acero, as it was called, was on a large piece of fenced off land, several acres. The righthand third of the building was falling into disrepair, the main room had bed platforms, seating and a table. It was colder inside the building but not damp or smelly, still I wanted to camp outside. I put everything I didn’t need that night, inside the refugio, including Bay, only keeping what I needed to sleep, my thinking that if it did rain, I could pull the tent pegs out and carry the tent into the building. I set-up my tent, then went off to find water. As it was called Refugio Fuente Acero, I was baffled as to why there wasn’t a Fuente. Eventually I saw the sign pointing across the rocky meadow to the Fuente. I thought before I use my water for cooking, that I’d go and check it out. It was 150 metres away, a pretty walk up the hill, passing a derelict building on the way. The Fuente had plenty of water, I didn’t need to refill at that time so I returned to the refugio and had some noodles and a cup of tea. It was only around 7pm by now, but still I wanted to sleep there and then. I managed to stay awake until around 9pm, by now the black clouds had gone and the sky was blue, with some cirrus clouds blowing over the mountains, high up. I could hear the wind, but not feel it. I slept well until around 2am, I usually wake between midnight and 2am and have a cup of tea, which I did. Apart from some deer ‘barking’ whilst I was getting to sleep at dusk-time, that is around 10pm this time of year, the only noise was from the birds. Earlier there had been a couple of cars driving on the camino, that un-nerved me a little as I didn’t want it known I was there in case they were weirdos! When I woke in the night, the view from my tent was just beautiful. A full moon was lighting the sierra, so I went out and took some photos, it was silent and quite serene, I loved this camping spot, no one else was around and it was a legal place to stay, that made it all that much more relaxed. I’d thought about staying here another night but had made a school-boy error with my food. I knew it would take at least two to three days to cross this range and only had three packs of noodles, some chocolate and about six slices of bread and some processed cheese. This allowed no contingency for a delay and I decided it would be foolish to stay another day in this spot, in case I ran out of food before reaching a village.

  • Chapter 24: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Baza to Campo Camara

    You can see my YouTube on the ride from Baza to Campo Camara here 15th June 2019 I’m having an internal fight! I know I should wear my helmet whilst riding, but often I forget to put it back on, or can’t be bothered to as I can see an ascent in a short while where I'll push my bike again and remove my helmet. So, I find myself riding without it, something I know is foolish. Because of the direct sunlight, without my Panama hat, my cheeks and nose get burnt. My helmet has a large peak, but it doesn’t protect my face from the sides, like the hat does. I spent some of the time this morning riding with my helmet over my Panama hat! It looked quite silly, and was very hot, so I didn’t do it for long, but it was an option! After a short ride through Zuhar, I started climbing back up on a dusty camino, it was quite a rough loose surface, through olive groves and small holdings, with a beautifully full and flowing acequia to my right. The view then opens out onto an undulating hillside camino. With mountains to my right and to my left, in the distance a plateau with mountains beyond. The loose camino, very steeply descending at times, eventually brings the sparkling turquoise waters of the Embalsa de Negratin into view, directly ahead. How beautiful this reservoir looked. The camino runs around the reservoir perimeter, a short way along there was a sign ‘Baños Thermales’ so I thought I’d take a look. The steep driveway descends to a pretty circular building that is perched on a cliff above the lake. This restaurant looks like a popular spot, with a small swimmingpool, that I guess is heated by the amazing core of our planet, hence Baños Thermales, heated baths. The swimming section seems to be part of the lake but is kind of walled off from the rest of it. I sat and had a Coke on the terrace that overlooks the lake. And ordered a cheese and tomato bocadillo to take away. The restaurant inside looked very inviting. Possibly there’s a Spa there too as people were sitting around in bath robes. The gardens were pretty, with a few friendly cats bathing in the sunshine. I didn’t hang around long, setting off back on the camino that soon starts to run alongside a sort of canal to my right. Possibly the canal is carrying water too, or from, the Embalse, perhaps a storm drain? Riding alongside the canal for a kilometer or so, it was by now very hot, with again, little shade. The Altravesur diverts away from the Embalse and the canal, it heads off across a very barren plateau. Everything is chalky white, somehow vast fields of crops are growing in this, what seems, under-nourished land. Strangely, a modern coach was parked up on the camino, it seemed to have brought people to this desolate area, to pick the crops, there was around thirty, all in rows picking some sort of crop. After the plateau there’s a few kilometres of undulating camino, surrounded by meadows and sparse woodland, then the long hot ride on a surfaced road began. The surrounding terrain was barren, arid, chalky hills, the road mostly up hill. It was hot work, while the sun was rising, at every turn I seemed to be riding into it. At 2pm I arrived at the pueblo of Benamaurel, it came just at the right time, the hottest part of the day. I stopped at the first bar I came to and took root on the covered terrace for a couple of hours. I had a cup of tea, which was a palaver as the grumpy bar man only half filled the glass with water, I asked him to put more water in, he put about 10mm more in, so had to ask again, by now he was really grumpy! I built up a bit of a rapport with the older lady serving at the bar, having a chat or two out on the terrace. I had a couple of Cokes too; with each drink they brought tapas, so I had food too. Strangely I kept falling asleep, I had a headache and really wasn’t sure why as I’d drunk plenty of water. At least I was in the shade through the hottest part of the day. Continuing on my way at 4pm. More undulating surfaced road riding, through mainly white arid hills, with no shade I got my umbrella out to shade myself whilst walking. Stopping to cool down under a tree, I remembered that I hadn’t lubed my chain for a while, so I did that whilst cooling down. I also found my Spanish fan in the same luggage compartment so got that out too, in case I needed it. Continuing on, the shade-free road went on and on, undulating through the desiccated hills, then alongside vast olive and almond groves, that disappeared off into the distance. After another 20 kilometres the scenery turned greener, which at least meant occasional shade. It was 6pm by now, I found myself riding into the sun again as it very slowly descended in the sky, so no relief from the heat. The distant views to my left became a mountain range, I’ve no idea which one it was, ahead I could see the Sierra de Cazorla. I was hoping to get to the first Refugio in the Cazorla range, failing that a campsite just outside it, alas I hadn’t made that good time in the heat, it had been around 30 deg C all day. I’d started looking for a wildcamp, but all the land was farmed or inaccessible except for a small pine forest that had a lot of litter in it, looking like it may have been used for camping by seasonal workers, which is not somewhere I’d feel safe. At around 8pm I hit the town of Campo Cámara, that is still 5km away from the campsite I was heading for. I was totally exhausted and suffering from mild heatstroke yet again, so decided to find a room in the town. There was an advertising sign for a hotel, so I phoned it, only to be told it was closed. I pushed up into the town and met an English kid, he told me where the Casa Pepe bar was, saying it was also a hotel. I ordered a Coke and asked if they had a room in their adjoining hotel, Rural Campo Cámara. He said no, it was closed, at which I looked totally despondent and said I was desperate. I then realised it was the hotel I’d phoned. The bar was busy, the locals were friendly, I had a brief chat with a few of them. Whilst sitting outside drinking my Coke, phoning around, trying to find a room, the barman came out and said that I could have a room but there would be no hot water, I was so happy he gave me this option as there was no other rooms around, and I didn’t have the energy to get to the campsite, besides it would have been dark by the time I arrived. I accepted his offer, who needs hot water! The reason they say it’s closed is because they only turn the water boiler on when they have bookings, I’m not sure why they don’t offer it to anyone who asks, with no hot water! That was the least of my problems, I was totally overheated, my face red from the sun, and feeling very weary. He let me put Bay in the hotel foyer, by 9pm I was in my room, I had a cold shower and went to bed early. This was day 88, Saturday the 15th June. Campo Cámara is a remote town, the nearest larger town is Baza, that is 40+ kilometres away on the road, the route I took was around 50+ kilometers. Most of the villagers, I learned, work on the land.

  • Chapter 23: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Sierra de Baza to Zujar

    13th-14th June 2019 I had a good night’s sleep, and again I wasn’t disturbed by anyone or anything. I wasn’t sure if it had rained a little in the night, it sounded as though it was raining lightly at one point. I woke up at my wildcamp at the Refugio Canaleha Alta, in the Sierra de Batha, at around 7am, the tent had got quite wet from what I think was condensation, although there may have been a little rain. The surrounding mountains were one minute cloudy, the next in sunshine, the clouds and mist blew in and out. It was quite chilly, but I was at 1500 metres so to be expected. After drying my tent, I needed to filter water for all my bottles, except the larger two litre one. I was close enough to Baza town not to need to. After filtering three litres of water I set off riding, continuing on the camino I rode in on, heading down hill towards the town of Baza. I’d only gone a few hundred metres when I had to stop and put on more clothes as it was so chilly. I still had no phone signal, so had no Altravesurr map. I can’t remember how I knew, but I knew I’d not have a phone signal quite a lot of the time on the Sierra de Baza, so I’d taken screen shots of the Altravesur route to help guide me. I realised I’d missed a turning not long after setting off again but saw that I could re-join the route in a few kilometres. No matter, this was going to be a fun downhill ride all the way into Baza, and still I had many kilometers of the sierra to ride, and it’s beauty never ceased to surprise me. The camino soon became a more natural surface, quite rocky and rarely used by motorised traffic. The surrounding land was woodland both sides, mostly downhill and a pleasure to ride, albeit a bit chilly on my legs as I still had shorts on. The woodland was beautiful, and I was now back on the GR7. I came across an abandoned farm, so stopped to have a nose around, it would make a great hostel as it’s right on the GR7. It looked like it was being prepared for sale, how great to live right out on this sierra. After the farm the route became the most fabulous piece of singletrack. It run along gorges, across dry riverbeds and through woodland. It was slightly rowdy but not silly gnarly, and it went on for many kilometres. I was trying to stay on the safe-side, but it was such a good trail I couldn’t resist the temptation of riding fast. This really was a topnotch piece of singletrack, that just went on and on, and almost all was downhill. I stopped for a rest at a dam, it was a strange structure, made of stone, it blocked off totally a wide and deep dry riverbed. I couldn’t work out why there was no outlet for the water?? I’d leaned Bay up against a rock wall, after having something to eat, I noticed just how interesting the wall was, it was layers of different types of rock, with a soil layer separating many of the layers. I wished I’d knew more about geology so I could identify the layers! Anyway the delight of the singletrack continued, it went on and on, until I reached a gate. I had the Altravesur route back on my phone, but it wasn’t clear where to go from here. I went through the gate, into an olive grove, after around 50 metres the trail led into a dry riverbed. I thought this can’t be right, so pushed back up and out the gate. I spent around twenty minutes trying to work out where I should go but couldn’t figure it out, so decided to go back through the gate and onto the dry riverbed. I only had to ride along it for around 200 metres, but I wasn’t too happy about being in there, it had very high banks and clearly when there was rain, a torrent of water ran along it, you could see this by the severe lateral erosion of the high banks. I took a camino out of the dry riverbed, that ran through olive groves on the right and rugged mountains to the left. Soon I came to a surfaced road, riding through the outskirts of Baza, with a few abandoned cave houses along the route. Once into a more built-up area, I stopped at Café Bar Urbano for a coffee and a Coke. Again, the staff and locals were so nice and friendly, I stopped here for a couple of hours, sitting on the terrace soaking up the laid back Spanish summer vibes, then rode farther into the town. I stopped at a hostel and booked a room for a couple of nights. Just my luck again, I’d be there whilst they had their closed day, which happened to be a Saturday but luckily it was the day I would be leaving, so I’d only have to find somewhere to get breakfast. Hostel Casa Grande was run by Miguel, he’s a mountain biker and was so very kind. He put Bay in his underground garage and gave me a great room with a good-sized terrace that overlooked the Sierra de Baza. And he made me feel so at home. Casa Grande also had a restaurant, which is where I ate on the Thursday, on Friday I ventured into the town centre of this large mountain town to do some shopping. Thursday night I was woken in the early hours of the morning by heavy rain, thunder and lightning. I got up and looked out, the rain was torrential, and it was centred over the Sierra de Batha. I now knew why the gorge was dammed up, it’s likely these intense storms were frequent, and it was part of a flood prevention scheme, protecting the town of Batha. The electrical storm went on for a couple of hours, how lucky was I that it hadn’t been the night before when I was camping in the mountains. Before I went into town, I had breakfast on the terrace at the Casa Grande. I asked a couple to look after my things whilst I went to order more coffee, when I returned, we got chatting. Pepe was Spanish, but spoke English, when he did, he spoke with a Glaswegian accent. I found it rather amusing. He had lived and worked in Glasgow for three years, that’s where he’d learnt English and gained the accent, well that’s what he told me anyway but probably he was a Scottish man living in Spain. His wife Encarna didn’t speak any English but we chatted a while with my little Spanish, and it turned out she came from where I was heading next, Cathorla. Baza sits at 844 metres altitude, it’s a large town, which made me forget that it was a mountain town. I didn’t see an awful lot of it but there’s some good bike shops and restaurants! I’d spent a bit of time in the Specialized bike shop, I was looking at bike navigation devices, after all the problems I have with missing my turnings, I really need a proper navigation device but it turns out a good one is very expensive, around 300 euros! So I decided against it. As the hostal and restaurant was going to be closed when I was to leave, I spoke to Miguel Friday night and we arranged that I could wake him early Saturday morning and he would get Bay out of the garage for me. He also gave me some info on the route I was to take, it was good to know what to expect. I’d managed to make and download a YouTube film whilst at Casa Grande, so I was bang up to date with that, which is satisfying. As I had done whilst in La Calahorra. Saturday morning Miguel got Bay out for me and we said our goodbyes. He really was a lovely man, he’s ridden in many mountain bike races, and has ridden to the peak of the Sierra Nevada mountain of Valeta, at just under 3400 metres! I rode to a café that Miguel had said was open, but it was rammed, with not an inch of space at the bar, I decided to find somewhere else. That was a little more difficult than I thought it would be, everywhere was shut. Luckily the Altravesur route itself was through the town centre, so I could make progress whilst searching for a café. I noticed a café owner putting his terrace furniture out, so rode over and had a tostada and café con leche there. Then headed off out of town onto the camino, passing the town cemetery as the road turned to gravel, it was quite beautiful with the sun rising behind the ‘Tarantinoesque’ high cemetery wall, with the contrast of the white crosses against the blue sky, I stopped to admire the view. I was heading for a pueblo named Zújar, not very far from Baza by surfaced road, many uphill kilometres via the camino. But that’s the Altravesur, it aims to keep off surfaced roads, sometimes, as in this case, it can be frustrating taking, what can be, a very long way around. But that was made up for with some inspiring views looking back across the plateau to Batha, with mountains all around. I’d no idea what ranges they were, and I’m happy to not know. One thing I realised on this tour is that I’m rarely knowledgeable about geographical features, historic events, cultural tradition etc. I have a passing thought that I should be able to commentate on what I see, but then ask myself why? Why do we, nowadays, have to know everything? After thinking about it, I realise I’m happy not to. If knowledge comes my way, fine. If not, I can just appreciate, photograph or film what I see and not feel guilty I don’t know what it is. When I tour again, I’ll make sure I’ve got a stand for my bike, in the meantime I’m using sticks to prop it up whilst I take a photo. After finding the perfect stick, and using it for a few days, I forgot to re-pack it so today I found another stick, and named it Pete Stick, in the hopes that humanising it, I wouldn’t leave it behind! And the tactic worked, I had Pete until my ride finished! The sun was punishing early, with little shade, by 9am it was a hot ride. Hot and dramatic, with the lone peak of Cerro de Jabalcón dominating the skyline. I stopped under the shade of an olive tree alongside this intriguing mountain. Having said I don’t need to ‘know’ about the areas I visit, I wanted to know more about this near 1500 metre high rock. It’s quite fascinating, it stands alone on this high plateau, the side I was riding by, an imposing shear rockface. Although not a volcano, there are thermal springs in Zújar and the Negratin valley. I was ascending on the camino only for around two hours or so, on hitting the surfaced, switch backed road, it’s all downhill to Zújar, where I stopped at the first bar for a Coke. It was one of those bars where the bar staff aren’t very friendly, but I’m used to it now! Still I wish I’d continued farther into the pueblo and stopped somewhere else! A quick drink and I was off.

  • Chapter 22: Bikepacking the Altravesur-La Calahorra to the Sierra de Baza

    You can see my YouTube on this ride here 12th June 2019 I left Bar Rosabel in La Calahorra early on Wednesday, around 7am, taking breakfast at the posher hostal, Hostal Labella, before I left town. It’s so funny, in Spain, the bar staff just can’t understand the English way of taking tea. I ask for Té Normal, Té Classic or Té Negro, once over this hurdle, I say I want a large glass, full of ‘agua caliente’, and separately, a little ‘leche fria’. They have always managed to do this, but they just won’t fill the glass with hot water, it will be anything from half full to three quarter full. I often ask for the water to be topped up and they look puzzled. This is across the board; they all do this!! I giggle to myself each time it happens! Next up, crossing the Marquesado Plateau between La Calahorra and the Sierra de Baza. I wasn’t looking forward to this leg, I’d thought it would be under the punishing sun with no shade but luckily a combination of starting out early, an overcast sky and cold wind, all added up to a cool ride. Albeit a bit chilly and into a head-wind! It was strange terrain, sandy and featureless. Much of it was planted with crops, with a few farms scattered about. Around a kilometre out of La Calahorra I came across a disused railway line. I stopped to take some photos and on looking back towards La Calahorra, I noticed just how beautiful the Sierra Nevada range looked from there. You could see the whole range, with snow still lying on some of the peaks. It was a beautiful sight, one which I stopped many times to gaze at. Some farm workers were busy watering their crops, kindly turning off the irrigation as I passed by, as the wind was so strong it was blowing the sprayed water across the camino, well that was the case for the first field anyway. For the next one I came across with the water on, there was no one there to shut it off, so I had to ride through the spray. It was biting cold, so different than I thought it would be. The high country of the Sierra Nevada was baking hot, such a contrast. At least I wouldn’t be cooking myself in the sun. There was a lot of scrub land and brush, very non-descript. I stopped to shelter from the wind for a while, in the ruin of an old mill, opposite was a sheep farm. My ride took me around the perimeter road of huge solar farm, I was surprised to learn that not all solar farms are voltaic panels, this one was large curved mirrors, with what I believe are water pipes along the centre line, that I presume gets heated by the mirrors reflecting the sun onto them. They wouldn’t have been much use this day, it was freezing!! Whilst riding past a farm, four dogs started chasing me, three backed off when I shouted loudly at them, the fourth just kept chasing me, luckily it was slightly downhill, so I raced away from it. But it did worry me, so I stopped when I saw a decent sized stick and strapped it onto my rear Rollpacker just in case I met more angry dogs! After around ten kilometres the crops eventually changed from small vegetables to olive and almond groves, the terrain also became more undulating as it approached the Sierra de Baza. Eventually the camino became very sandy, and not ride-able, then I turned onto a narrow dry riverbed. This was fine at first, if a bit sandy, later becoming difficult to even push the bike along due to large boulders and overgrown long brush. I couldn’t actually work out, from Google Maps, where I should be. The dry riverbed became more and more difficult so I really wasn’t sure this was the route, then it became impassable, so had to push up a very steep bank to get out of the dry riverbed. It was a struggled getting the heavy bike up the bank, I had to resort to getting to the top myself and dragging a laid down Bay through the rough bush, really not good for the bike, but it’s all I could do. Eventually I found the camino I should be on, but it was all a little flakey! I found in some areas, Google maps can be a few metres out, so knowing you are in the right place is sometimes difficult. The camino was sandy again but rideable, eventually I hit the surfaced road, that I pushed up to a pueblo named Charches. I stopped at the bar and ordered a Coke, whilst sitting outside, eating the tapas they had kindly brought me, I could hear kids and music. I walked up the road just up a little, and nearly opposite the bar, there was a class of 8-9 year old kids practising a choreographed dance to Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now, and Lou Bega’s Mambo No. 5. The teacher gave me permission to watch and film, which I did for a short while. It was so lovely to see, in fact it brought a tear to my eye, I don’t know why. It was quite funny too, some of the kids were half dancing, half messing around, and driving the two teachers nuts! I loved Charches, everyone, but everyone was friendly. Many people stopped to talk to me, so I stayed and had another Coke! It must have been around midday by the time I left the bar, a short ride out of the village, directly onto the steep camino. This was the Sierra de Baza proper, I wasn’t feeling the scenery at first, I think I was comparing it to the Sierra Nevada. There was an embankment to my left, up the mountain with sparse trees, and an embankment, down, to my right with sparse trees. I wasn’t very inspired! By now the sun had made an appearance, it was an uphill push on a well-maintained gravel camino, for a couple of hours. The views improved as I rode, it was very different from the Sierra Nevada, which is one mountain range with a defined ‘spine’, propped up by the humps! The Sierra de Baza was different, it was just as high in places but with many, what seemed randomly placed peaks. The distant views were beautiful, as was the woodland flanking the camino. A couple of hours into the ride, I came across a large stone building, it looked like a posh refuge, that had recently been built or reformed. Nicely fenced off, with seating, tables and fuentes in the grounds and some beautiful views across the hills. I took an early siesta under the large covered terrace; the building was locked. It appeared to be an ‘outdoors centre’ where perhaps scouts camped or something similar. I stayed for around an hour or so and took the time to remove all the dry foliage darts that were stuck in my jumper, socks and shoes, gained when pushing through the brush in the dry riverbed earlier. And I replenished my water, I believe this was the only water opportunity until I reached the Refugio. The views, from the camino, across the peaks of the Sierra de Baza got more and more beautiful. The camino surface was rougher than earlier, undulating gently, it was great to ride. My thoughts on this Sierra had changed totally now, I was enjoying it so much. This is the first sierra where I’d seen some small herds of deer, running out of the woodland, across the camino, into the woodland the other side. I didn’t see a human being the whole time I was on the sierra, which was over 24 hours, I think I had it all to myself. Even when I came across a flock of sheep, there was only a large dog guarding them. It was quite strange really, I was doing my usual thing of baaahing at the sheep, they scattered, and along saunters the dog towards me, passes me then laid down next to the sheep, in their new location. It was quite friendly but didn't want to engage in petting! It seemed to know its job was to protect the sheep and not get distracted. The Sierra de Baza was very well signposted. But still with my map reading skills I couldn’t find the first Refugio I was looking for, I thought I was on the right camino, possibly it was a very small one that I passed which was being rebuilt, there were no signs stating this, but it could have been it. I could see across to another peak, way in the distance, perhaps 5kms away as the crow flies but about 20 kilometres on the camino, a building. I was hoping that it wasn’t what I was looking for as time was getting on, around 6pm by now. I kept on riding for a couple of hours, then I made the mistake, my usual mistake, of missing my turning when I got overexcited at a fast and rocky descent, overshooting the turning by one and a half kilometres. Although it had set me back, this diversion was worth the fabulous views! Looking North, from this vantage point gave me my first view of Baza, and some beautiful mountain views. It was getting on for eight o’clock now, and I had to push-up for half an hour or so. Arriving at the turning I missed, it was a hidden gnarly singletrack to the left of the camino. You’d have to be looking at the map constantly to acknowledge this turn as it’s quite inconspicuous. I was getting a bit hot and overheated, I’d been going for over twelve hours now, I was tired and really didn’t have the energy to ride this very steep rocky singletrack with any style. It was one of the steepest singletracks of the Altravesur thus far, barring the drop into Albuñuelas and the Tello valley. With many rocky drops, tight switchbacks and trees or sheer drops to the side, it was going to need a lot of concentration. I was aware from my accident the few days before that I couldn’t afford a crash in such a remote area and this was remote. So I pushed-down some of the gnarliest sections and rode the parts that I had the energy and concentration to tackle. It was a shame I couldn’t ride it all, but I wasn’t going to take the risk with no phone signal and no one around, no farms or cortijos, nada. Still, I found a second wind and had a fast ride down that excellent singletrack. It was a good half hour ride down from around 2000 metres to 1500 metres. The singletrack exits onto a camino, very soon I came to a recreation area of Canaleja Alta. Here, under a dense tree canopy was picnic tables, chairs and barbecues, a couple of fuentes, opposite a couple of buildings one looked like it was toilets and a café, the other was a refugio, Refugio Canaleja Alta. All the buildings were locked, or I failed the initiative test to get into the refugio! I decided I didn’t want to camp in the recreation area as it was too heavily shaded by the dense pine trees, so I took a look around the refugio, I couldn’t work out how to get in it, it was either locked or I was being a dipstick but anyway I didn’t want to sleep in it, I was just being nosy. There was plenty of water here which is a good job as I only had enough water for tonight’s dinner. All the fuentes had non-pottable signs on them. I found it really strange to have non-pottable water fuentes in a picnic area. I’d travelled just over fifty kilometers this day, and what a fantastic fifty kilometer ride it was. So many beautiful views, total solitude and peace. Looking back at the Sierra Nevada from the Marquesado Plateau, the mature woodland, peaks in all directions, just so much to see. And so you know, Baza although spelt B A Z A, the Z is pronounced as a T H. Anyway It was starting to get dark by the time I’d pitched-up my tent behind the refugio, it was around half nine by now. I had some tea and some quick noodles, with a pretty moon to keep me company. I’d had a good nights sleep, and again I wasn’t disturbed by anyone or anything.

  • Chapter 21: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Bayarcal to La Calahorra

    10th June 2019 You can see my YouTube on Riding the Eastern end of the Sierra Nevada here On waking, the sun had risen and was lighting up the mountain to my right, but my camp was still in the shade. It was chilly, even with gloves on. I packed up camp quickly and returned to the route, taking the turning I’d missed the night before, which climbed higher up this hump. It felt very remote up here, the camino was chained off to motorised traffic, the only tracks on the mostly grassed over camino were those of mountain bike tyres, goats and cows. I wondered if any of the bike tracks were those of Robert and Meta, that had ridden the Altravesur a few weeks previous.There was woodland to both my left and right, right was down the mountain, left up it. Many trees had been blown down, a couple were across the camino, with the loud wind the night before, I wasn’t surprised. Being left to only walkers and cyclists, this camino had a very special feel to it, the flora and fauna were flourishing with many butterflies, moths and beautiful wildflowers. After a few kilometres there were many mountain springs, so plenty of water to filter as I was just about out after using a lot at camp. It seemed such a waste, many of the springs running down the camino and it was sodden in places. Such a shame no effort’s being put into harnessing it, as farther back on the camino there is no water. I was at around 1800 metres altitude by now, the amount of cow poo on the camino increased as I progressed on up, it made me wonder where the cows were, the poo was often quite recently deposited! I could only see one farm, way down the sierra, but no cows or goats. Eventually getting to what I believe is the highest point of the Altravesur, just over 2100 metres, where there was an ideal photo opportunity at a rocky outcrop at that point. I’d never been to the Mid-East End of the Sierra Nevada, only the West and middle mountains. I think this was my favourite, it was vast and less populated, with the feeling of wilderness that I like, to a degree. Way down below in the distance I could see a surfaced road, I think it was the mountain pass road that cuts through from the Southern Sierra Nevada to the North, it looked rarely used, I only saw one vehicle on it. Seeing that, I knew I was close to the crossing point myself. The camino rose up from that point perhaps another 50 metres or so, then came the descent taking me to Puerto de la Ragua, the mountain pass I was taking to cross the range, from the Southern slopes to the Northern slopes. The descent wasn’t as long or steep as I thought it would be, it made sense a little later why that was, there was more descent to come. The camino exits the Southern Sierra Nevada, hitting the mountain pass surfaced road, At the Puerto de la Ragua pass I found what looks like a cafe, it was closed. I turned left onto the road, downhill for a kilometre or so, then the route called for a sharp right turn. I couldn’t figure it out and overshot it by a short way. The surfaced road was high and steeply downhill, with barriers alongside. I walked back uphill a way and saw that the turning was a singletrack which was well hidden between the roadside Armco. Now was descent time! This singletrack was steep, rocky, twisty and overgrown, scary at times. Hard to follow too, a new firebreak was being cut by a digger, which threw me off the trail for a while. This ride down the Northern side of the Sierra Nevada was such fun, but hard on the bike as it was just so rocky, then it became overgrown. At first with long grasses and shrubs, then tunnels of brambles and stinging nettles. These brambly tunnels went on for some time, whilst riding one, I dodged some stinging nettles, got a bit of a wobble on, went to dab with my right foot, but nothing was there, it was a twenty foot drop down to a barranco. Me and Bay fell sideways down the brambly embankment, luckily stopped half way down by a sturdy tree. With all the weight on Bay, he fell hard, catching the tree with a hefty thud, between the forks and downtube. I landed heavily on my right hip and bashed my head quite hard. I don’t think I lost consciousness so wasn’t too worried about the head hit but was so glad I had my helmet on. I had quite a few scratches and was a bit shaken but no serious damage luckily. The worst part came when I tried to get Bay back up the embankment. The embankment was steep, but worse, it had a water spring at the top, so all the soil was sodden. I could barely stand on the embankment due to having no traction on the steep slippery mud, and as hard as I tried, I couldn’t get Bay upright. I was so worried, my phone had survived the fall but there was no signal, and by how overgrown the trail was, I knew it was unlikely than anyone would be around to help. I decided to remove the front and rear luggage; this was quite difficult. Getting the removed luggage up the embankment, onto the trail was worse! It was so slippery I just couldn’t get up, I found a branch of a small tree to pull myself up with. After four trips to the top I started pulling the much lighter Bay up. It was so difficult getting the traction to push him up, eventually I resorted to pulling him up through the brambles. It was such a relief when everything was back up onto the trail. There was nowhere to stand Bay on the bramble lined trail, so I pushed him around 30 metres down the trail and lent him against a wall. I reloaded Bay then went down to the barranco to wash the mud off me and to clean all the scratches. I realised after, if I’d have walked along the creek with Bay, I could have got up a less steep embankment. But still I would have had to remove all the luggage as I couldn’t extract him from around the tree. My legs stung where I’d got scratched up on the brambles and stung by the nettles. All this palaver took around an hour or so. Seriously I shouldn’t be allowed out alone. Then I set off on my way. Luckily Bay sustained no damage, I still had all my gears, the tyres were fine as were the brakes, how lucky. I had no serious damage, but did feel a little weird, which didn’t hinder my riding. Continuing on, it was around another half kilometer of brambles, then there was a decent camino which I sped down at top speed, leading into the sleepy pueblo of Ferreira, I still don’t know how to pronounce it! It was around 3pm, so siesta time, but I didn’t even see any cafés or restaurants, so I continued on through and headed into the dry hot plateau leading to La Calahorra. And it was hot, with the sun at its highest and zero shade. The terrain on this side of the Sierra Nevada was so very different to the other side, where it’s still green and lush mostly, this side was desert-like, dry and barren. It wasn’t a long ride on the surfaced road before I saw a beautiful castle upon a hill, this was situated in La Calahorra. I soon found a bar open, Bar Restaurant Rosabel, I stopped off for a coke at this rather trendy looking bar and asked if they did rooms, yay it was also a hostal I learnt. I wasn’t planning on stopping here, but after my accident, I wasn’t feeling a hundred percent, so I took a room for two nights, that would give me enough time to wash my muddy clothes. La Calahorra was another beautiful whitewash mountain town, but this one didn’t look as though it had been invaded by foreigners! There were many dilapidated houses in need of restoration, and it didn’t look as touristy or as ‘wealthy’ as say the villages in the Alpujarras. The Bar Rosabel had been remodelled by the current owners, Paula and Sam, a young married couple, expecting their first child in October. They had been running it a year. They’d made a fab job of the renovation, even making the furniture themselves, for the bar and restaurant, which was a designer twist on traditional Spanish, making a modern and airy space. They’ve not renovated the adjoining hostal yet, but it’s fine in its current form. I’m so excited for them, they are such nice people and were very welcoming and helpful to me. Sam connected the hosepipe out in the street for me, so I could wash the mud off Bay and the luggage. And they let me store him in the large hostal reception. From my room I could see the castle, the beautiful church and another building, just opposite, that I never found out its history, but it was beautiful. Perhaps an old monastery? I’ve no idea. I didn’t visit the castle, it’s not a ruin, so would have loved to but it’s only open on Wednesdays. I’d woken early Tuesday morning, and was happy that after my accident the day before, I only had a few aches and pains; shoulder, hip, wrist and ankle, but none were debilitating. I was so glad I had the sunburn-preventing wrist supports on! I spent Tuesday doing some shopping and looking around the town. I was looking at the outside of the impressive church and an old lady said I could go in with her to have a look, I didn’t stay long as a service was about to start. I was taken aback at just how ornate and richly decorated it was inside, and at how big it was, with a beautiful wooden ceiling, that I learned was lucky to survive the civil war, as many were burned down. It was a Monday I arrived there, so I was having Monday and Tuesday night in La Calahorra. I washed my clothes, gave Bay a good check over and rested. Bar Rosabel serves great food, alas, I often seem to be in a hostal on the day they close, in this case the Tuesday, not opening until midday Wednesday, the day I was leaving. I found another Restaurant to have my meals on Tuesday and breakfast Wednesday.

  • Chapter 20: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Alcutar to above Bayarcal in the Sierra Nevada

    You can see my YouTube of my ride from Alcutar here and a YouTube of my month in Alcutar here Being in Alcútar, I was located equidistant between two ways back onto the Altravesur route. One was to return to Juviles, where I’d left the route. The other was to ride to the next pueblo of Mecina Bombaron. I chose the latter. If I returned to Juviles, the climb up the sierra above Bérchules would have been too tough a day after four weeks off the bike. The climb from Mecina Bombaron was going to be slightly easier, and I would only miss out on a few kilometers of the route. During my last two weeks in Alcútar the pea picking was quite sporadic, giving me many free days to prep Bay ready for returning to the route; I repaired a slow puncture on the front tyre by removing many thorns, letting the tyre down and pumping in more sealant. A good wash, lube and spanner check, plus removal of the Gorilla cage mounts and refitting them with new tape and cable ties. They’d taken a good few hits riding through brush and had turned slightly on the fork. You may wonder why I don't go into all the repairs I have to do on my bike, well the reason for that is I don't have to do any except preventative maintenance. Specialized bikes although expensive, are made from high end components, and are well designed. The days off also gave me time to do shopping and prepare myself mentally for the return to being alone in the mountains. I was enjoying my time in Alcútar, life was easy and safe. The thought of returning to the Altravesur was quite daunting, especially as the weather was heating up, now in the high 20’s. But cabin fever was setting in, I was ready to go. Not that I was bored, I just couldn’t afford do anything very exciting. I didn’t have the hiking gear to tackle say a climb up Mulhacen and I didn’t want to ride Bay as the tyres had taken a good bashing on the route so far and I was keen not to have the expense of buying new tyres. Twelve years ago, I had met Di and Robin in the Alpujarras, they had renovated a lovely house in Alcútar. At some point they had returned to their hometown in Scotland, visiting their Alpujarran haven only occasionally. Luckily Di and her mother Edith had taken a short break in Alcútar whilst I was there, so we managed to fit in a quick catch-up, which was fab. I also arranged to meet up with Amanda and Andy, the couple I had stayed with the August prior, in the Alpujarras for two weeks, helping with their horses. We were to meet in Cadiar, a town lower down the mountains. I hiked down from Alcútar on a beautiful Saturday morning. A short way into the hike, I met a lady, Antonia, that was taking a morning stroll. With my little Spanish, we struck up a conversation and walked together. Antonia grew up in Cadiar, but now lives on the coast in El Ejido near Almeria. It is common for the Spanish to move away from their hometown but retain a residence there, returning to it for fiestas and the hot and busy coastal summer. Left to my own devices I would have hiked along-side the dry riverbed into Cadiar but Antonia, being a local, knew a much prettier route along the acequia. We had a lovely walk, chatting as best we could, teetering on the bank of the acequia, as we walked. Occasionally hopping over it at junctions, we passed by a beautifully restored mill, some pretty mountain scenery and Antonia’s husband, Geraldo, tending the land they still have. On reaching Cadiar, we stopped and had refreshments on the terrace of a café and chatted some more. Antonia loved the Gerald Brenan book South From Granada, a book that I managed to read whilst in Alcútar. She adores the Alpujarras, and this book is the reflections of Gerald Brenan, an Englishman, that lived in the Alpujarran village of Yegen after getting demobbed from the army in the 1920’s. After swapping Facebook contact details, we went our separate ways, both needing to do some shopping. I was keen to buy something to cover up the gap between my shirt sleeve and my gloves whilst riding, as my wrists had got quite sunburnt during the previous rides. I also needed some camp food and some more incense sticks. Things like this can be found in the Chinese bazar type shops, of which most pueblos have at least one.It was nice to be able to take my time shopping; Rich had taken me out shopping a few times but there wasn’t time to browse, which is what I needed to do. I managed to find some cheap wrist supports, not quite what I was looking for but as it turns out, very fortunate I did! And I found the other things I was looking for. I got a lovely surprise when I met up with Andy and Amanda for lunch, as they’d brought along Tina, another lady I’d met whilst working with Amanda. We had a chilled afternoon, eating and chatting, under the shade of umbrellas on the terrace. I had such a wonderful day, meeting friends and making a new one in Antonia, strolling home, uphill back to Alcútar, it was just perfect. Cortijo Cairo doesn’t have Wi-Fi, spending so much free time there, with no tekky distractions, gave me the opportunity to read some of the many books that are at the house. I again read Driving Over Lemons by Chris Stewart, and, for a first time, South From Granada by Gerard Brenan and Ghosts Of Spain by Giles Tremlett. The first two of these three books are wholly pertinent to the Alpujarras, the third touches on the Alpujarras as it was where the deposed Moslem leader of Granada was banished several hundred years ago. All such good reads if you’re interested in Spain. I also watched the film El Sud de Granada, the film based on the Gerald Brenan book. For me, it was so much better than the book, as the storyline includes his love affair with a Spanish lady, it didn’t really make him look very honourable to be honest, and it’s a sad tale. Many years ago, I had read The Motorcycle Diaries by Che Guevara. At Cortijo Cairo I read the book Travelling With Che Guevara; The Making of a Revolutionary, written by Alberto Granado, Che’s companion on the motorcycle ride. This book gave a good insight as to why Che became an activist, he was enraged at the treatment of the poorer people of South America, by foreign capitalists such as those of the US. It was such a shame that he chose to make change by force as I think he would have made a great statesman, being so charismatic. But I also understand that the foreign industrialists were foreign government supported and it would have been a dirty fight. Che, supposedly, desperately wanted to take the revolution to the rest of South America after conquering Cuba with Fidel Castro. My personal belief is that he was set-up by the US or Fidel Castro or Russia, or a combination of those, when he was sent to his death in Bolivia. This is my opinion on the matter, I really feel he was a humanitarian and my opinion is that it’s propaganda, trying to make us believe he was a brutal murderer, and moreover I believe he was set-up, with another contingent raping and murdering innocent civilians, whilst Che got the blame. He was an activist trying to get his fellow South Americans out of poverty, he wasn’t a murderer. Sadly the United States have done a great character assassination on Che, and sullied his memory forever. was getting itchy feet into the third week of being in Alcútar and wanted to get moving but I wanted to stay until Rich could manage the pea-picking on his own. It was a little awkward, as I didn’t know how to broach the subject, and I think he felt the same, I think he'd had enough of me! I was so glad, if a little surprised, when one evening Rich walked his dogs up to the cortijo and mentioned he didn’t think there was enough peas left to bother doing any more picks. I said I was happy to stay until he was sure and that I thought there was at least one more decent pick to do. So we agreed he'd think about it over-night, after checking the crop we agreed we would do one more pick, the next Monday, Day 76 of my tour, 3rd June. It’d been great helping Rich, in return for him helping me, now and in the past. I’d got my trainers and Rich had his crop picked. We had lots of heated political debates! Lots of lovely meals, cooked by Rich, and he took me out for a great lunch at El Cercado, his neighbours’ restaurant. He also gave me 60 euros, that were most welcome. And I got to know him a little. I think he was glad to see the back of me, I think I annoy him. After agreeing I was no longer needed to pea-pick, I kept an eye on the El Tiempo weather app, so I could decide when I should make a move. You have to take the forecasts with a pinch of salt in the mountains, there are so many variables, it is difficult to predict the weather. I could see that in a weeks’ time there was a three-day period of cloud predicted. I was keen to ride in the coolest weather possible, so decided upon leaving on the middle of the three days, Sunday the 9th June. I spent the Friday saying my goodbyes, the Saturday was spent cleaning Cortijo Cairo and packing as much onto Bay that I could. I was up at 5am Sunday, I finished off the cleaning and set off at 7am. The weather forecast was spot on, there was a heavy mist that morning, with the surrounding mountains swallowed by low cloud. Without the beautiful views, it was so much easier to leave Alcútar, still I felt sad, as I doubt I’ll afford to go back, so it was a final farewell. Once out of the narrow steep streets of Alcútar I turned downhill onto the surfaced road, joining the camino that would lead to the Altravesur after a couple of kilometres. A steep push to start with, the misty ride was so refreshing, no overheating or punishing sunshine, with surrounding mountains appearing and disappearing as the low cloud blew in and out. In 2015 I’d ridden up to Cerro Gordo on Stumpy, my blue Mountain bike, this ride was heading towards it but bypassing the peak itself and continuing up and East. Looking back and way down, I could see the town of Bérchules in the distance, this giving me an idea of how far I’d climbed. My ride was directly up the Sierra Nevada range, heading towards the ridgeline. Once at the top, I joined the Altravesur, the camino running East along the range. I don’t know why I was so worried about returning to the route, I’m a loner and was totally at home as soon as I got on the bike. Solitude. On joining the Altravesur there’s a Fuente, but it was dry, a little past it there was a spring dribbling water from the mountainside, so I replenished my water from that, only to find another Fuente a little farther along, that was flowing well. There was at times beautiful views as I rode along the mountain range, when the clouds separated I could see down the valleys with the distant whitewashed Alpuharra villages nestled on the hillsides. The route took me along and around each ‘hump’, riding along one hump then along the hump that had been opposite. I like it when I can see where I’ve been and where I’m going, makes more sense to me and I can see how the ride is progressing. When I say hump, if you imagine the spine of the Sierra Nevada runs East to West, all the way along the spine at 90 degrees to it, running North to South are the hills that I call humps. I am running along these humps towards the East, approximately two thirds the way up to the spine. The ascents and descents were mild, just bimbling along the side of the mountains was most enjoyable. I could see small farms on the slopes, now and again a village in the distance. The views were scenic, with many rocky outcrops and forested sections, not a lot of shade, but I hadn’t needed it thus far. On this section I experienced a lot of the strange optical illusion, where what looks like a descent, is actually uphill and vice versa. I think I understand it and it means I need to ‘test’ every section to see if I want to ride it or not! The dirt camino was in pretty good condition, sometimes where it had lacked traffic it would be grassy in the middle. I stopped for food and a rest at a waterfall around 1pm, a pretty little spot that had had some effort put in to pretty it up for tourists, with some seating surrounding the catchment pool. Mid afternoon I was feeling tired, mostly I hadn’t slept well in Alcútar, as I hadn’t the night before and I’d been up early, so I stopped by the camino and had a quick nap. Whilst in Alcútar I’d made a change to how I held my tent on my bike, adding a plastic surround to the tent bag that prevented it squashing down so much by the straps of my front luggage. This also enabled me to get my tarp out of my tent bag, without removing the bag from the bike. So I had my nap on the tarp, alas two different ant colonies had the same idea and pestered me all through my nap! Continuing on, the last two humps, high above the pueblos of Nechite, Mairena, Júbar and Laroles were slightly steeper ascents and descent than the previous humps. The area felt very remote, I’d seen perhaps three cars on the camino all day. And none in the past two hours. I could hear cow or goat bells, but not actually see the herd, it’s quite a soothing sound, knowing civilisation is close by but no humans to pester me! It was very scenic and a lovely ride. The sky was a mix of sunshine and cloud, staying cool when the sun was shrouded and very hot when not. One thing to note was that after the first couple of humps there wasn’t any water replenishment opportunities, all the acequias were dry. If desperate I could have taken some from a water deposit at the farms that were scattered here and there. I’d originally thought this leg of the journey would take me two days, but as I was making such good time, I was on target to get over to the Northern side of the Sierra Nevada range in one day. Alas, I missed a rather inconspicuous turning. I stopped to take stock, have a biscuit and a drink, and to try and establish exactly where I was. I thought I had understood how I needed to get back on the route, and that was by returning one and a half kilometers uphill. I got around half a kilometer into this return pushup, only to realise I wasn’t where I thought I was, this camino would be three kilometers until I was back on route. So stupidly I walked back down the hill to the point where I’d stopped earlier to try and work it out again. I then saw the camino that would be the shorter, one and half kilometer return to the route, but it was steep and very rocky. So I set off back on the three kilometer less steep uphill track again. It was around 7pm by now, the sun just wouldn’t stay behind the bloody big clouds, so it was very hot, and annoying! I eventually arrived at the turning I missed, which would have been a left fork originally. I had seen it, but as it was steeply uphill and chained off, I didn’t even consider it to be part of the route. No matter, I decided to camp for the night right there. There was a large ruin slightly higher up from the camino, I spent twenty minutes climbing up there, checking it out, but couldn’t see a decent flat area to pitch up on, so decided to pitch up in the runout of a rocky gulley that was a grassy little clearing. If it had rained, I’d have been in trouble, it was clearly where rain run down the gulley! It was reasonably flat, sheltered and quite a pretty spot, with woodland to my left and in front, and mountains to my right with the rocky gulley behind. I love it when I’ve decided upon my camp, looking forward to my first cup of tea of the day and something hot to eat. Unfortunately, there was a ridiculous number of mozzies and flies at this one, the little buggers bit my ankles so much they were bleeding. As soon as the tent was up, I lit a couple of Sandalwood incense sticks inside the vestibule of my tent and it cleared the bloody pests quickly. Still, there was no water available, which made me wonder where the mozzies had come from, there must have been some water around here. I’d passed a mountain river several kilometres back, before I got lost, but wasn’t going to back track, so would have to make do.I was on a slight incline, I thought I’d positioned the tent correctly, with my head at the top of the incline but on lying down I found I hadn’t, so had to sleep with my head at the narrow and junk end of the tent. This didn’t pose a problem, I slept from around 9pm to 2am, then had a cuppa and some biscuits, and slept until around 7am. I’m not sure of the altitude I was camping at, but I think it was somewhere around 1600 metres, so there was a lot of wind noise that night, luckily I was well sheltered and could only hear it.

  • Chapter 19: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Trevelez detouring to Alcutar

    11th May 2019 You can see my YouTube on this ride here I left Camping Trevelez around 10am, with no camp food left, as I’d eaten it all the night before, I needed to go into the town to resupply. Also, whilst in the town, I returned to the nice restaurant I’d eaten at on Wednesday, for some breakfast. Luckily this wasn’t a detour, the route rode through the town, then out over Rio Trevélez, where I took the opportunity to take a photo of Bay at the Rio Trevélez signpost, as I had done exactly four years before with my other bike, Stumpy, when I'd been holidaying there. It wasn’t far after the Rio Trevélez that I turned on to the camino, which immediately became evident it was another painful mule trail. Robert if you’re reading this, don’t do it to me again!!! He said that from Trevélez it was half an hour push-up then down to Juviles. Alas, this was not the case, it was a very very long mule trail! Not as steep as the Bubion mule trail, except in odd places, but very long, mostly uphill and at times, overgrown. The terrain varied from very rocky and steep, to meadow with grazing cattle, to mountain springs wetting the soil making it a slippery uphill push, to an overgrown tunnel of brambles! And cow shit. Lots of cow shit. Big pats in the middle of the narrow trail, so hard to avoid, this continued all along it! But always it was fantastic views across the sierra. Over two hours I was pushing up, interspersed with a few rideable sections. I wouldn’t have minded except that I was expecting it to be half an hour! So I was continually feeling it’ll be going downhill round the next bend, but it didn’t! Eventually I hit the camino, where there was a fantastic view to my right, over to the Contraviesa, basically the view from the Sierra Nevada, down towards the Mediterranean, as the crow flies around 20 miles away. It wasn’t immediately a downhill ride on the camino, perhaps a kilometre or two in it started to descend. I got so carried away with the fast descent, that I hadn’t realised that I’d passed a hidden turn onto a singletrack two kilometres back, that I should have taken. Argh there was no shade, the sun was blazing down on me and I needed to push back uphill for two kilometres. This took me an hour or so, I was pretty annoyed with myself, in fact it’s the first time I was really angry about my stupidity! I was again, overheating, there was no shade at all. Worst of all, I was on a deadline to meet someone. On reaching the singletrack, literally a random right turn off the camino, quite inconspicuous, I’m not surprised I missed it. Anyway that’s no excuse really, I must look at the map more. This was worth waiting for though, many kilometres of downhill, twisty, sometimes rocky, sometimes overgrown singletrack. A fabulous ride, I’d like to do it again please! The singletrack eventually hits a narrow camino that steeply runs down to the main mountain road. And on hitting this road is where I have deviated from the Altravesur. I’m desperately in need of new trainers, not only do they not have any tread left, my toes are hitting the front of the shoe, either my feet have grown, or the trainers have shrunk!! So the previous day I’d called my friend Richard, that lives a couple of villages on, to ask if it was possible he could give me a lift to a major town to buy some trainers. Richard’s from the UK, but has lived in Alcutar, on and off for over ten years. He was the kind gent that had given me a lift to or from the airport a few times over the years. He has a parcel of land and is growing a crop of peas currently. On the telephone he explained that he was very busy with his crop so couldn’t take a day out but said if I’d help with his pea crop he would see I get my shoes! So we agreed I’d make my way to his and we could discuss the details. It took me some time, as it was around 4pm with the sun still high, pushing up a shadeless surfaced mountain road under the relentless sun for perhaps an hour and a half. I made my way, riding and pushing, from Juviles to Bérchules, stopping off at Hotel Los Bérchules for a desperately needed coke, it had been a long, hot, hard day! And it was so great to see Wendy and Alejandro, that run the hotel, with Alejandro’s wife Csilla. It would have been an easy ride to Richard's from the hotel, it's all down hill, but we had spoken on the phone whilst I was at the hotel and agreed he would come up there. Again I was suffering from the affects of too much sun. He had an errand to run, high on the sierra, so I bundled my luggage into his Land Rover, leaving Bay at the hotel, and we set-off high up above Bérchules on the mountain. This will be the route I need to ride next. But for now I’m stopping in Alcutar! We agreed that for accommodation and food, I would help with the pea picking. Rich found a beautiful corteeco, Corteeco Cairo, for me to live in. It’s at the other end of the village to his small-holding, but only a fifteen minute walk away. Corteeco Cairo has been reformed, to a unique and high spec, by friends of Richard’s, Peter and Theresa. The large corteeco sits on an elevated outcrop on the outskirts of the pueblo, with fantastic views of the valley dropping to Caddy-ar, then further views to the Sierra de Loohar. Living in the UK, Peter and Theresa use it as their Alpuharras holiday retreat. Very kindly, they agreed to let me stay here. I find peoples kindness quite amazing, letting a complete stranger live in their beautifully renovated and furnished home, that they quite obviously love. So I thank them very much. One thing you get used to in the Alpujarras is stray cats. Last time I was here I ended up feeding around 12 - 15 of them. It's no different at Cortijo Cairo, within hours of being here the cats called around! Luckily, as funds are low, there's only five of them. Gold-digga, Anabelle, Mogadishu, Moon, and Stumpy. The cats are quite manageable, but there's a local farmers dog that waits at the cortijo door for me, night and day. She's lovely, but a complete pig and I'm having trouble feeding the cats as she just slithers along the ground and plants her head in every bowl, clearing them in seconds. I've named her Hoover, she really is such a kind mannered soul, but very stupid. She can't follow any instructions and just jumps up at me all the time, which I love except for the fact she is covered in ticks and god-knows what else. After Rich run his errand, we returned to his small-holding, where we chatted, then Rich cooked a most welcome dinner. I’m not sure Rich had realised how knackered I was that Saturday evening, I desperate to get to sleep but didn't get to the cortijo until nearly 11pm, so to bed around midnight. Worse still, he wanted me on the farm the next morning to start work. I arrived around 9am, and spent the day weeding around the peas, it seemed a bit of a pointless task as the peas were nearly ready for their first harvest, a little horse bolted/stable door jobby!! I think I was doing it wrong anyway, I was being far too conscientious, I realised later. Anyway, I was weeding that very hot day, until 8pm. It was tough, and I was totally knackered. Rich had said make myself at home in his house, so when I was tired, I made myself a cup of tea, perhaps two in the morning and one in the afternoon. With a two hour lunch break from 2pm to 4pm, when the sun is at its hottest, Rich cooks a fantastic lunch, I really enjoy that part of the day!The next day I arrived at 8am and worked, weeding again, until 6pm. This weeding is putting a strain on my right shoulder that I injured a few weeks before. I took to cutting the 3 feet high weeds down as they were too hard to pull up. At 6pm we took a ride out in the Land Rover to Ugijar to pick-up the pea crates from the market, as the next day, Tuesday, we would start picking. That was a tough day too, from 8am to 8pm, bent over, in the blazing sun, with around a total of 3 hours of breaks. It’s not as brainless as it seems, you need to make a judgement, is the pea ready to pick? Is it nearly ready to pick but will go over-ripe before the next pick? I found it a little stressful as I didn’t want to reduce the market value of his peas by doing it wrong! I was so happy when Rich gave me the day off Wednesday and Thursday, heaven! Time to recuperate, and finding time to catch-up with Jenny from Pure Mountains and Wendy, Alejandro and Csilla at the Hotel. And to chill TF out! Also you need two hands to pick the peas, each time I detached a pod it gave a little tug on my dodgy shoulder, so down days gave my shoulder a little rest. And so we got into a two days on, picking, then two days off, rhythm, which suited me well. In fact on day two of the pick, I’m pretty bloody useless, as I’m so tired! We’ve been averaging 100kg of peas picked per day, with I’d say Rich picking say 10-20 kg more than me. So that’s me for a few weeks. I’m writing this two weeks on from arriving, Day 67 of my tour, Saturday the 25th May and this day I’m on day three of four consecutive days off!! Love it! But back to picking Monday bleugh! I’m thinking I’ll probably do two more weeks, when the main pea harvest will be over, then get back on the Altravesur. It’s a shame I’m not riding now, as the last four days have been cloudy and cooler, you can bet by the time I’m on the mountain, it’ll be blazing sunshine! I had a wonderful month in Alcutar. I managed to meet up with Amanda, Andy and Tina, who I had worked with the previous summer. And I made a new friend, Antonia, who I met whilst hiking to Cadiar. There's no wifi at the cortijo, so I managed to read four books, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I was sad to say goodbye to Rich, but I think he'd had enough of me by then!! And I was sad to leave the cats and Hoover too, I got quite attached to Hoover, the little shit that she was! I have got my new trainers btw! Heaven to walk in, two sizes bigger than I usually take! Adios Amigos

  • Chapter 18: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Pampaneira to Trevelez

    9th May 2019 You can see my YouTube on this ride here I left Pampaneira around 8 or 9 Thursday morning, it seems the whole village closes on Thursday and I couldn’t get any breakfast. So I set-off looking for the camino to Boobión. After half an hour I was high above Pampaneira but I couldn’t find the camino. I decided I wasn't going to waste any more time looking for it, and started to descend through the village to take the surfaced road. On my way down I found the 'camino' which was in fact a narrow mule trail. I’d earlier asked a guy where the camino was but couldn’t follow his directions. He had said I shouldn’t take the camino with a bike, and that it was ‘moi complicado’. And he wasn’t kidding, the first few hundred metres are overgrown with huge thistles on one side, with a very narrow pathway that had a three metre sheer drop on the other. Once past the overgrown part it was clear this was going to be hard work, it was singletrack, steep and rocky. These mule and goat trails have stones set into the soil on their end, so they stick upwards, not flat like cobble stones. It was such hard work, it took every ounce of my energy to push my way forward. At one point I was ready to turn back, it was that difficult. So very steep. And the fact that my trainers had no tread left didn’t help with getting traction to push the bike up over large rocks. At one point I heard myself saying out loud, ‘you’ve got this fuck face’, willing myself on, it was just so very hard, especially with no calories inside me and the sun rising in the sky. On reaching the top boy was I relieved, did I mention it was hard work, perhaps not to walk it but to push a 40+ kilo bike up that mule trail it took everything I had. As I rested at the top of this trail, at the start of the pweblo of booby-on I noticed a large dog, that I thought was a Great Dane, laying on a dog bed in the pretty tended garden, I said hello to it. And from behind a rose bush in an upper class English accent a lady said Hello. The lady was Temahoa, Tem for short. She couldn’t believe I had pushed a bike up the mule trail, we got talking.. Tem offered to make me a coffee, first I said no, as I wanted to get on, but then changed my mind and said I’d like a coffee if it was still on offer. I wanted to stay and talk to her, she was very interesting. Born in Taihiti, Tem was an artist, specialising in prints that she displayed in a gallery in Maryland, USA. Tem had lived in Spain many many years ago, then spent 30 years living in the USA, returning to the Alpujarras around three years ago. She has a Pekingese dog and the big dog, that turns out to be a Boxer Doberman cross, not a Great Dane. It was big. As we were talking a group of mountain bikers headed down the Mule trail that I’d just come up. Tem wasn’t too impressed with them tearing around but the guy that runs the mountain bike holidays is her neighbour, and he stopped by to say hello. I could have spent days talking to Tem, she was great company. And it turns out I know of her daughter, Dallas Love, who is a famous horsewoman in the Alpujarras. She runs a horse-riding holiday business, not like pony trekking, this is for very experienced riders, to ride the Sierra Nevada mountains. Small world. Tem gave me her web address, alas I must have written it down incorrectly as I can’t get it to work. I shall investigate when I get some decent WiFi. I spent around an hour or so with Tem, then pushed up to the top of Bubión, heading towards Capileira. There was a camino between the two villages, but it was very short and I wanted some breakfast so I took the surfaced mountain road. I knew there was a bike shop in Bubión, so whilst having some breakfast in a bar, I gave them a call and arranged to pop in and have some new brake pads fitted to Bay. I’d been running out of brakes on steep descents, and also I think they’d been binding a bit. After breakfast I stopped at Alpujarra Bikes, where Brian tended to Bay, and me and his wife Lynne had a chat and drank tea! It was a useful chat, as she’d warned me that the camino from Capileira to Trevélez had a wash-out, where the camino had fallen down the mountainside, so there would be a difficult part to traverse. It’s a fab bike shop they’ve set-up in Bubión. Right on the main road and big signage, so not difficult to find. They carry-out repairs, hire out and sell bikes, and have a well-stocked shop with lots of exciting bike goodies to peruse! They’ve been going four years now, I hope they go from strength to strength. Brian changed my brake pads and let me have the part-worn ones in case of emergency, as they were only half to three quarters worn. He also cleaned and tinkered with my gears, informing me my derailleur bracket is bent, which I knew, as I had bent it back as best I could a few weeks before after bashing it in the mud at El Churro. I couldn’t afford a new bracket, so Brian did his best with the gears and lubed the chain. I said my goodbyes at Alpuharra Bikes, then made my way to Capileira, where I couldn’t resist stopping for a coca cola, which came with some delicious free tapas. I also ordered a bocadillo to take with me for later, which was a bit crappy, I’d asked for cheese and tomato but the tomato was some type of tomatoey paste, yuk. There was a large group of French hikers at the restaurant, I’d seen a lot of French holiday makers since Pampaneira, this area of Spain seems popular with the French. I rode through Capileira, onto the at first surfaced, camino. Of course, it was uphill, what else! I was heading for Trevélez, after all! It wasn’t too steep, I rode some, I pushed some. The terrain at times is olive grove then becomes forested mountainside, and the camino becomes gravel. With ever increasing scenic mountain views. Not to say it hasn’t been scenic since getting to the Sierra Nevada, as it is all beautiful. At this time of year, the wild flowers are in bloom, the gardens are in bloom and the mountains are green. If you’ve only visited the Costas or the cities of Spain, try and find time to visit the Sierra Nevada, to see a slower, more traditional way of life. So funny, I was taking a squat behind a bush, when who should come along? Dominic and Adam in the map scanning car, I could clearly see them, so I’m hoping I’ll be on Apple maps taking a squat, sometime soon!! I stopped around 2pm to eat my bocadillo and have a break, just after starting walking again a van drew up the side of me. It was Mike, that runs Switchback Mountain Bike holidays, he was shuttling his clients up the hill, for them to ride down. He just checked I was OK and waited at the top for me so he could point out the way to go as the road forked just after his drop-off point. His clients were having a fabulous time on their bikes and enjoying their holiday. Mike’s guys had some climbing to do before their downhill ride, and we all set-off together and it inspired me to get pedalling up the hill. I got way out in front, so I could stop and film them alas I did something I hadn’t done for a while, which is turn my GoPro off, instead of on! So I missed them!! The guys went on their way, and I pushed again, up the camino. Perhaps an hour or so later, just before the highest point of the camino I stopped by an acequia, the water tumbling down the mountain into this manmade catchment. It’s good to see that the Alpujarran land will be provided for! Flies! Flies had been a problem the last few days when travelling slowly. They would congregate around my sweaty head and face, eventually you stop shushing them away and just put up with it! But now the descent, the flies can’t stay on you when at speed. So double fun! Some forestry work had recently been done, with gigantic log piles lining the route. I savoured the wonderful aroma of fresh-sawn timber and pine. There were cattle grazing the land, so a couple of gates to open and close, one of which nearly had me fail the initiative test, I couldn’t, at first, see how to untie it! Riding on, I came to a pretty waterfall to my left, so I stopped to cool down and rest in the shade. I filtered some water too. This is when I noticed some cow poo in the mountain stream, which made me realise I should always filter my water, no matter where I’m getting it. Continuing on down the camino, the gravel starts to peter out and become grassy, then narrows. This leads to a washout, with a very dry and loose dusty steep descent down then a steep ascent up. Basically, the camino has fallen down the mountain, and you have to negotiate what is left. I teetered around the top, trying to get a good foothold on the rocky dusty surface, but kept sliding down. It was so steep I couldn’t keep the rear of the bike from rising up, trying to overtake the front. I hadn’t gone anywhere yet! I just kept sliding on the dust. The dust was the best part of the trail, with shale to one side and larger loose rocks to the other. I thought I’ll turn the bike sideways and put it in front of me, this may work. Before I attempted it, two hikers appeared, what luck, as Sofie, from Belgium, offered to help me down. We eased the bike down, still I couldn’t get a foothold with no tread, but having Sofie at the rear, supporting the bike, made it possible. Still it took us sometime. Sofie’s friend started making her way up the other side of the washout, so I said to Sofie that I’d be OK getting up on my own, so she went off with her friend. Little did I know, the ascent was just as difficult, if not more so, than the descent. Not being able to get traction meant I was struggling to push the weight of the bike over rocks, this side was rockier than the other. I was struggling. And bless her, Sofie returned to help me. It was so hard, even with two of us. And unfortunately, she broke her bracelet whilst pushing up. I hope she managed to repair it. I was so very thankful to her, what a super-kind lady. We walked together for a short while, then the ladies walked along the treeline so as to get out of the blazing sun, and I rode off. The camino ran for a while longer in the forested area, then it narrows slightly, winding its way onto the lower cultivated hills and small-holdings above Trevélez. It was around 6pm by now, the sun less fierce. I was so pleased to meet another bikepacker, Jack from London, coming from the Trevélez direction. We stopped to chat and for photos. Jack took a great one of me, it’s rarely I get a photo taken, I was so very pleased when he sent me this! Jack has been riding for five days, he’s riding the Transandalus route, starting in Granada, it circumnavigates the Sierra Nevada in a clockwise direction. Being in Trevélez, he’s done well as he’s three quarters of the way around. He’s young, and looks strong, oh how I wish I had the power and stamina to ride like him! It was a steep hill I was descending, he was riding up…..not pushing, like I would be! It’s good to meet people that have just ridden where you are going, like with Robert and Meta, as they can pass on information that is helpful to you. I warned Jack about the washout he was going to encounter a few kilometres up. And he informed me of the fork in the road to the upper, middle and lower barrio of Trevélez. Jack was to wildcamp on the sierra that night. After our meeting I soon found the road, making my way to Camping Trevélez, alas, this took around an hour simply because where Google maps says it is, is incorrect. I was up and down the road at least four times before I flagged a motorhome down, asking where the campsite was. It’s around another 100 – 200 metres farther than shown on the map! It was around half seven when I checked myself in. Camping Trevélez caters for tents, caravans, campervans and RVs. Built on the mountainside, looking down onto Trevélez to the left and directly across to the next mountain, that I knew I would have to climb over next! The lady in the office was helpful, I checked in for two nights and paid for electricity, it was around 30 euros all told. It was a steep climb up to the tent area, in fact everywhere was a steep climb! I bumped into the couple, from I think Germany, that I had flagged down earlier, a few times, they were also staying there. The man spoke some English, so we had a few little chats. There was only one other tent in the tent area, so I decided I’d give them space and pitch at the other end but after getting all my stuff up there, I decided they had chosen the better area, with no bushes obscuring the view of the mountain opposite. So, I decided to pitch nearer them, still 20 metres away, mind. They were a young German couple, we exchanged pleasantries and discussed our tours, they spoke excellent English. It always amazes me just how well non-native English speakers have such a good grasp of the language; I feel quite ignorant that I know no German! The campsite has the usual facilities; showers, toilets, drinking water, wash-up area, clothes washing area etc. Also, this site has a restaurant and bar which opens at half seven in the evening, the WiFi is in the area of the restaurant only. I absolutely love getting to a ‘proper’ campsite, I don’t dislike wildcamping and I’m not scared of it, but it’s very stressful selecting a spot where you won’t get moved on, harassed, disturbed, soaked, eaten by mozzies or blown away!! I’d soon set-up camp and had me some dinner and lots of tea! The sun hadn’t gone down yet, there was a few flies and mozzies around, so I lit a Myrrh incense stick inside my vestibule, this did seem to keep them away but I think it will only work in an enclosed area, unless you have a giant stick! Unfortunately, I burnt a small hole in my tent with it, when I forgot it was there. I really shouldn’t have gone to sleep so early, at 9pm, as I was awake again at around 1am, I decided to make a cup of tea and have some more food. When it’s a clear night, the Sierra Nevada has full on Milky Way night skies. It wasn’t such a night, but still there was more stars than I would see at home and it was quite beautiful. The sun rose over the mountain directly opposite, giving an early blanket of warmth, no waiting here! I love to have a lazy day at camp, it really is a treat, there’s nothing like it! I spent the first few hours washing my clothes, taking a shower and pottering around. And charging my electronics. Even though I’d paid for electricity, there isn’t actually any sockets in the tent area, so I was having to leave all my expensive gear down in the RV area, charging. It was beautifully sunny so I used my solar charger to charge my power packs. The site owner allowed me to sit in the restaurant and use the power socket so I could do some YouTube editing on my laptop, I ended up being there from around 11am until 18:30. When I left I checked with him that the restaurant opened at half seven, he confirmed so I took my gear back to my tent, on the way I got way-laid for three quarters of an hour, chatting to a lady that had been working at the site. Her name was Gazala, from London, widely travelled and very interesting, I’m guessing in her late twenties. She had been working at Camping Trevélez for two and a half weeks, placed with WorkAway, similar to HelpX, where you work for your accommodation and food. The next day she was leaving for another job, this one on a farm in the Tabernas desert, north-east of Trevélez. We had a fabulous chat, she needed to get her gear packed up, ready for an early morning leave at half six. It would take her many bus rides to get to the Tabernas, over a days travelling, staying overnight, I think in Granada. I needed to get down to the restaurant for dinner, I was so looking forward to some proper non-camp food. I returned my laptop to my tent and had a quick cup of tea. So sweet of her, Gazala walked all the way up to my tent, with the food she couldn’t take with her. Sadly it was no use to me either, since I couldn’t be carrying heavy vegetables on my bike and I didn’t want to be cooking at camp…..as I was going to the restaurant for food, or so I thought. Unfortunately, when I got down to the restaurant, it was packed! There was a table of 15 rock-climbers and three other tables of two occupied too. I sat at the only spare table, and waited half an hour or so, but realised, with the fifteen only just having starters, that I wouldn’t get food until around 10pm. Gazala had been called on to waitress, as was the owner, with a chef, possibly his wife, in the kitchen. I needed to pay for a bocadillo I’d had earlier in the day, so Gazala sorted that out for me and I returned to my tent with my tail between my legs, having two packets of noodles for dinner instead! I was pretty pissed that the owner hadn’t warned me to get down there early, as he had a table of fifteen in, but hey shit happens doesn’t it! It was another starry night sky, this, Day 52 of my tour, Friday the 10th of May. On the Saturday morning both me and the Germans were packing up our tents, them flying back to Germany later that day, me on to Juviles. I hope the Germans got a ride; they were hitching a ride to catch the bus in Orgiva.

  • Chapter 17: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Niguelas to Pampaneira

    6th-7th May 2019 You can see my YouTube on this ride here El Secreto de Olivo hotel in Nigϋelas price includes breakfast, I only had a couple of slices of toast, so thought it would be OK to nick a couple of pieces of fruit for later! At breakfast there was a group of around eight guys from the UK that were on a road-cycling holiday, based at the hotel, going for different rides each day. There was more in their group, 17 in total, the others staying at a rented villa, a pretty big group! It was my earliest start riding to date, well except for my forced early start after the El Burgo fiasco! 8am and there was no problems with getting lost it was a steep ride down out of town, across the riverbed, then steeply up onto the camino. I could see the mountain I needed to cross, it looked quite daunting, and I knew this was the lower of the two I’d need to cross to get to my destination of Pampaneira. The camino was at first surfaced, it was much steeper than other caminos for the first two kilometres or so, then it became a little easier, but was always up. The road was not only steep but switch-backed as well, so it seemed lots of pushing but I soon had climbed much higher than Nigϋelas and I started checking the altitude on my map to try and encourage myself or will myself up to the 1900 metres. I’d decided I needed to control my hydration and nutrition better, to stop this continual cycle of dehydration and sunstroke. I vowed to stop every hour for ten minutes to re-fuel and cool down, this lasted once, at quarter past nine, where I stopped at what would have been the most fabulous wild-camping spot. The next stop was half eleven and then God knows when, that didn’t last long did it! The scenery was pretty, rugged and green with trees, shrubs and flowers, interspersed with rocky outcrops. And soon mountains in all directions, with a large plain beyond Nigϋelas and some distance to the mountains in that direction. Pushing, pushing, pushing. At 1500 metres someone had claimed a parcel of land and had built a cortijo and fenced his parcel off meticulously! It was a beautiful location, looking down over the towns on the valley floor, and up at the higher mountains. Strangely his house had a pitched roof, usually they are of flat roofs. At 1700 metres I came across a welcome Fuente, where I replenished my water, not bothering to filter it at this altitude. Although really I should as later I’d stop at a waterfall where there was cow poo in the stream, and this was around the same altitude, so it’s not always safe. In fact, I drink out of the town fuentes without filtering, and realise I probably shouldn’t. So I’d ridden/pushed-up the mountain visible from Nigϋelas, to 1200 metres then along the ridgeline of the higher peak behind it to around 1400 metres, Then down a 100 metres, upto 1700. This dirt camino runs around the edge of the Sierra Nevada, on the map it looks like it goes up and down, when in fact, because each hill or hump of the mountain sticks out, you are running quite level, perhaps falling and rising a couple of hundred metres in elevation once you’ve done the big push up to it. It’s a nice ride, very hot in the sun with little shade, but it has some fabulous views. I’m not sure I went the right way at a junction, it kind of forks off, I took the left fork but think I should have taken the right. They end up in the same place though. The route goes down to a river valley, the gravel camino gives way to a grassy, little-used camino that is quite steep and good fun. I was running out of brakes on this section, it was pretty fast. The camino suddenly ends and becomes a grassy meadow, I had obviously missed my turning. I had lost my Google maps and hence the Altravesur route, so I had no idea where to go. I had started to go down through the meadow and realised this isn’t a trail! I decided to retrace my steps, coming to a steep, rocky, switch-backed singletrack on my right. The signpost indicated it wasn’t suitable for bikes. This was some sort of walking route and it seemed to incorporate, what I thought was a cycling route, named Circuit de Tello. All a bit confusing. I notice on the map that there is a refugio down in this river valley, what a shame I didn’t find that. I seriously need to get better at looking at the map and planning. I made my way down this trail to the fast running mountain river, Rio Lanjaron I believe, where I replenished my water again. There are signposts to Tello, which I think must have been a smattering of random houses over quite a large area. Pushing back up from the ravine I found some signposts, but none were listing the direction I thought I needed to go, I kept going the way I thought and found a GR7 post, which after some time led to a camino. This camino continues up to 1900 metres, then runs along the side of the mountain, sometimes on the level, sometimes uphill but never a good downhill. I was exhausted, it was getting on for 7pm by now. Water wasn't a problem, there was access to many acequias. I’d met a couple of young German hikers in Nigϋelas the night before, and met them again on this camino, they were setting up camp in, what they thought was the garden of an empty forester’s house. They invited me to camp there too, but I didn’t fancy it, it didn’t look abandoned and I didn’t want waking up in the night to get thrown off the landI can’t find it on the map, so still have no idea what the building was, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a refuge. I continued on, stopping four kilometres farther on, at a recreation area but the trees were so thick and tall that no light was getting through. There were some abandoned buildings there, a café and toilets in fact. I continued on about a kilometre or so and saw, off-camino, down a turning to my right, what looked like an abandoned nave. The grass was grown up around it, and around the doors. I deliberated as to whether I should camp there, it was half seven by now and I was exhausted. So I decided, Yes! There was water close-by which was a bonus. I had a great night’s sleep, and wasn’t disturbed at all, I didn’t hear or see a human being or a car the whole time. On Tuesday morning, after some breakfast, I packed up and set off. From here it was all downhill on a gravel camino. I rode the camino, fast downhill, all the way to the main mountain road. I love these camino downhills, they’re bumpy and twisty, and usually running along the side of the mountain with a huge drop down to one side. When I got to the road, I checked my map and I realised I should have turned off around half a kilometre back, dammit! So I spent half an hour pushing back up, now in the hot sunshine, and took the turning I missed. It was chained off, but loose enough to lift the chain over the bike.Meta and Robert who had ridden through here the week previous, had said there was a turning not to take, of course I forgot about this! I continued along the track, there was a shack on the right with a lot of litter, and around six cats which scarpered as I rode near. Eventually the double track peters out to single track, then just grass. That’s when I remembered what Robert had said, this was what he was talking about. He had said take the main road as this was just grassland and difficult to traverse! Dammit again! No matter, it had been all uphill from the road to the camino, and from the camino to this track, so it didn’t take long to whizz back down and was a good ride! I turned left onto the mountain road, heading for Pampaneira that I could see high up to my right across a ravine, so I knew it would be quite a climb. On arriving in the town, I saw an inviting looking restaurant, as I drank my coke I noticed that it was also a hostal. Although only around midday I decided to enquire if I could stay there as I needed to re-stock my camping provisions. It was a little more expensive than I wanted, nevertheless I booked the room which was immediately vacant. I set about doing my washing, hanging my clothes from my bungees across the window shutters. I went off to explore the town and get my shopping, only to discover there wasn’t a supermarket of any sort in Pampaneira, the most they had was a Panaderia that had some essentials alas no camp friendly foods. I decided I needed to protect myself from the blazing sun better, so went looking for a more suitable hat than a baseball cap, eventually settling on a Panama hat, that actually fitted me. I have terrible problems with hats, I have a stupidly small head! But this was perfect. I also bought some Myrrh incense sticks to use in my tent as Robert and Meta had said there was quite a lot of mozzies in the Sierra Nevada. So, I’d have to get the bus to the higher villages of Capileira or Trevélez to get my shopping but the daily bus had already gone, so I decided to book the room for the next night too, which would give me all day tomorrow to get the bus. Bay was only allowed in the Restaurant, not my room, so I locked him to the radiator and hoped for the best. Pampaneira, along with Bubión, Capileira and Trevélez are popular towns for tourists. Coach-loads of them are dropped off in the pueblos each day. These tourists are the main source of income here, with many shops selling souvenirs, trinkets and local produce, along with many café bars and restaurants. These are also popular towns in which to base a Hiking or Biking holiday. I had an embarrassing moment, when I returned to my room after my attempt at shopping, I noticed my spongebob cycling pants had fallen off my bungee. Being on the first floor I couldn’t retrieve them, so I went outside to see if I could get them but they had fallen into a narrow drainage alleyway that was fenced off. I told the grumpy waiter what had happened, and he was less grumpy at sorting this out, he got a man from the bar to climb over the high railings to retrieve my sopping wet pants! When I say grumpy waiter, I mean the one that waits the tables a little later in the day. The man that’s there early is really friendly and kind. This other guy just seems bad tempered, and not just with me! I had a rough idea where the bus-stop was, but on getting there a man told me the bus stopped way up the hill, I thought damn I’m going to miss it at this rate, so rushed up the hill, only to be told it was where I thought it was in the first place. I was getting hot and bothered by now but made it back to the bus-stop in time. Opposite the bus-stop was a coach park, yes a coach park in this tiny pueblo, and four coaches were parked up after dropping off the tourists, some Spanish and some French. You can imagine how busy the town gets! It’s impossible to take a nice photo, there’s too many people around! Whilst at the bus-stop a young guy came riding by with luggage on his bike, so I stopped him and asked him about his route. He was from Dublin, I forget where he flew into, but he was heading for Almeria airport where he had a flight booked. His riding was on the road, not on the caminos, so a different route to me. I should have just got the bus to the next village of Bubión as they have all that I need, but I decided that I may as well go to Trevélez as it was bigger and assumed therefore it would be better! This was a mistake. The road to the other villages climbs steeply out of Pampaneira, but in no time we was in Bubión. Then onto Capileira, once in Capileira the bus turns around and goes all the way back as Capileira is up a dead end! Then it goes on to Trevélez, reputed to be the highest town in mainland Spain at nearly 1500 metres, and famous for its cured ham. Everywhere you go around these parts you find a pig’s hind quarters hanging up, pretty gruesome! Anyway the bus takes nearly an hour to get to Trevélez, and waits there until 4pm, when it returns to Granada, passing through Pampaneira. Trevélez has lower, middle and upper areas, the bus drops you in the lower area, all I could find there, shopwise, was tourist shops, ham shops and breadshops. On asking if there was any supermarkets I was told no! Dammit, should have researched better! And time was moving on, it was around one o’clock by now and shops shut at 2pm for siesta. I decided to walk higher, and in the middle barrio, there was a couple of supermarkets and ferreterias. The supermarkets weren’t greatly stocked, so I improvised with my camping provisions. The first ferreteria didn’t have any butane, it was more building materials. On asking in the one opposite, the woman said no we don’t have butane. Argh. So I went looking for another ferreteria, to no avail. I’d gone high up by now, and was hot and bothered. On my way down I went back into the second ferreteria and hunted around a bit and found they did have butane, I was happy and annoyed at the same time, all the rushing around I’d done and they had it all the time. The sales assistant should learn her products, dumbass. Anyway, shops were shutting, so I found a lovely little restaurant terrace and parked myself down for some lunch. Whilst I was there two guys stopped for lunch, they were driving one of those cars that map the roads for Google and Apple. We got chatting, Dominic is from Ireland, and Adam is from Spain, he drives and Dominic is the technical wizard, I think. Very interesting job me thinks! I’d like to do that! I had a lazy lunch as I had time to kill until the bus left at 4pm. I wanted a map of the Sierra Nevada, a proper hiking map, the cheapest of exactly the same map I found was twelve euros, in one shop it was eighteen euros!! What a ripoff! One thing I noticed on the bus, was that I was feeling a little queasy, which ceased once I’d gotten off the bus. That’s the first time I’d experienced travel sickness, yuk not nice. It was the same on the way back! On Wednesday evening, when I was back from Trevélez, the waiter reminded me that the Hostal, Restaurant and Bar were closed on Thursday and that I needed to pay for my room and move my bike out of the restaurant. I’m not sure why they didn’t let me put my bike in my room in the first place! As that’s where I put it for Wednesday night! Hasta luego mis amigos

  • Chapter 16: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Albunuelas to Niguelas

    5th May 2019 You can see my YouTube on this ride here After spending four nights at Ken’s BnB in Albuñuelas, I felt slightly rested but could have stayed longer, for more rest and the fact that I enjoyed Ken’s company and Lena’s of course! As it turns out I nearly added another night on, the reasons you’ll learn later. **UPDATE 2021** Sadly I have recently learnt that both Lena and Ken have passed away. I was so very sad to learn this. Lena had a wonderful life with Ken, who apparently passed away one month after Lena. Rest easy my friends **UPDATE 2021** So Sunday morning it was, Ken was busying himself getting ready for church. After saying my goodbyes to beautiful Lena and Ken, I set off on my way, Day 47 of my trip, the 5th of May, at around 9am, as I rode out of the pueblo, I decided to stop at the local bar, where I’d been having my evening meals, for a café con leche. Sometimes I would walk to the bar in the evening, then Lena would turn up, or catch up with me, such a sweetheart. For some reason the bar was buzzing this morning, around 10 people were there, all men, I wondered what the occasion was? It took me a little time to find the camino out of Albuñuelas, through the steep narrow streets. It was a beautiful ride, the narrow camino was surfaced with concrete, running along the left hand side of the ravine with orange trees lining the route. It’s a big orange growing area, there were so many windfalls on the ground, it seems such a waste but to the farmers it’s probably no pasa nada, as they would say! The camino was heading east, with the sun rising over the misty mountains in my field of view. Mostly downhill too, heading towards the pueblo of Salares. As usual I missed a turning and continued for a couple of kilometres in the wrong direction, uphill too. When I realised and turned around, I lost my bearings again and couldn’t find my way back to the correct camino. Whilst lost on the camino, I noticed an old man and his dog in the campo, so I asked him if this was the way to Salares. He walked over to me, and he was sort of gurning with his lips, he only had one tooth, so I thought he just did that. He started getting a little too close to me, but I thought he must be deaf. Then he grabbed my crotch, and rubbed himself, and pulled me closer to him. I backed off and shouted ‘nooooo’. It wasn’t scary, he was at least a thousand years old, and quite frail. But it reminded me that I’d let my guard down and that I should never let anyone into my personal space, and also that not everyone has good intentions. Anyway I wasted half an hour completely lost, coming to dead end after dead end! Eventually I found where I should have turned off and continued towards Salares. As I entered the village I suddenly realised I had left my insulated food bag and iced water bottle in the fridge freezer at Kens. Dammit! Do I go back, which will be uphill all the way or should I leave it and buy new? Well based solely on the fact it was full of food I decided to return to Albuñuelas. By now it was a quarter past ten. I knew Ken was leaving to go to church in Durcal at 11am, so I would have to hurry. By now the sun was blazing, I decided to take the road not the camino, as there was less chance of getting lost. It was tough, very hot with little shade and I was rushing too. I constantly tried to phone Ken, as he would pass this road on his way to church, he could have brought my stuff with little effort expended by both of us. Unfortunately, little did I know I was dialing the wrong number. I was dialing the last Spanish number on my call history, little did I know I’d received a cold call from some random number. And that’s what I dialed, twenty times in fact! I was at this point thinking when I get to Ken’s, I’ll ask if I can stay another night, but the thought of unpacking and re-packing my bike was too painful to contemplate, as I find it annoying! Anyway, exhausted and overheated, I arrived at Ken’s at five to eleven! Ken reminded me then that it was Sunday and all the shops would be shut, so it was a good job I returned! I retrieved my food, said my goodbyes again and decided to ride back to Salares on the main road, sadly forgetting my food wasn’t the end of my mistakes. I got around 300 metres uphill out of the town only to realise I didn’t have my gloves. I returned to where I’d stopped, at the mirador, to have a drink and a rest, only to find my gloves on the road! Will I get anywhere today I wondered! But wait, there’s more! I’d left my GoPro camera on since Salares, which resulted in the S D card being full and the battery flat, so four major mistakes in the first two hours of the day, what else could go wrong! At least the ride to Salares on was all downhill once out of Albuñuelas. But wait, there’s more! I’d left my GoPro camera on since Salares, which resulted in the SD card being full and the battery flat, so four major mistakes in the first two hours of the day, what else could go wrong! The day had started so well on that orange-tree lined camino. By the time I got back to the camino in Salares I was already tired and over-heated, all that resting I’d done had been spent on this morning farce energy sapping fiasco. After the next pueblo on from Salares, Restabal, the camino is all uphill, this went on for hours, around four or five in fact! I passed through or around a few pueblos; Restabal, Melegis, Lecrin, Acequias, stopping at a nice restaurant in Melegis for a nice cold Coke, with free tapas thrown in, I had two! I knew by now, that although I'd only be going for around 3 hours, I had totally overdone it in the sun already. And not just in the sun, I had exerted myself in that heat, and was totally cooked. It was a hot day, a tiring day and an uphill day! The views weren’t particularly exciting either until I neared Nigϋelas. The camino from Lecrin to Acequias was along side a dry-riverbed/storm drain, slowly rising uphill, at one point passing under a mountain to mountain highway bridge, it was a long way up, and you can’t help but marvel at modern engineering, but also wonder how much maintenance such a construction requires. It must be monitored for structural defects I would think, these are the types of conversations I have with myself whilst riding or pushing! Sometimes I sing, in fact a lot of the time I sing! and in fact a strange thing happened, which I think was to do with cooking my brain in the sun. I would get a song stuck in my head, and I couldn’t stop singing it, not just earworm stylie, much more of an uncontrollable urge to sing a specific song aloud. I’d sing it a hundred times over, the songs included Country Roads, Gordon is a Moron, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Oliver's Army Just after the motorway crossing the camino winds through an old road with derelict houses, perhaps the dereliction caused by compulsory purchase when the highway was built? The push-up to Acequias starts, it's on the surfaced mountain road, I was hoping there would be a Coke with my name on it in the sleepy pueblo, alas not! A steep switchback is the final push up into the pueblo of Acequias, there was little shade, so when I came across a bus shelter, I took the opportunity to have a little lie down and a drink. I’d had to change the SD card and battery in my GoPro in Albuñuelas, but still, somehow I lost all the footage and photos from Salares to Nigϋelas. I’ve no idea how I made this mistake, as I’m usually very careful to transfer everything to hard drive. Anyway I did lose it. I can’t remember what the journey was like from Acequias to Nigϋelas except one snippet, I was on a narrow camino, I was very overheated so sat on a wall in the shade, across the way I could see the beautiful cottage garden of a nearby cortijo, the household was entertaining out in the garden, I could hear chatter and laughter, on the table I could see pitchers of what looked like iced lemonade. I so desperately needed some of that ice cool drink, I thought about going to ask! But I resisted the urge, what a cheek that would have been, and shameful really. I arrived in Nigϋelas around half four in the afternoon. Nigϋelas is perched on the very edge of a ravine, literally right on the edge! It looks like some of the houses will fall off one day! The views had improved, with mountains all around. It’s a steep downhill, then steep uphill from the camino into Nigϋelas, and then farther uphill climbing to get into the town proper. I didn’t need to go into the town, and deliberated for sometime as to whether to continue on the route or find a bed for the night. I had planned on wild-camping, but by now after around six hours of hot uphill pushing I was exhausted and suffering from mild heatstroke again. The next section was on a steep camino rising from 900 metres to nearly 1900 metres. I knew I couldn’t push-up that with my lack of energy so took the decision to find a hostal, and took the steep down/up into Nigϋelas. In Nigϋelas town I couldn’t find a hostal or B&B on the map, and eventually asked a guy if there was a hostal around here and he said follow me! He was going that way in his car, luckily this was at the top of town, so I was following him downhill! He stopped outside El Secreto de Olivo, a hotel. I’d seen it on the map, but it was far too expensive, I think the owner, whose name I have ashamedly forgotten and didn’t write it down but I think it was Louis-Miguel. He said it’s the only place there is, so I went in and secured the last room for fifty euros, twice as much as I want to pay, he pointed out that it usually costs more to stay there! El Secreto de Olivo has been beautifully designed, on entering there’s a large indoor courtyard/atrium, tastefully decorated, which serves as a dining room and bar with a gallery above leading to the first floor guest rooms. Luckily my large room was on the ground floor and I was allowed to take Bay in my room with me. The owners cat, Randolfo took a shine to me and followed me into my room and settled down on my bed alas after a shower I needed to go out and get some food so turned him out. I took a walk into the town square, these are always easy to find and they often where the church is, which usually has a tall tower. Nigϋelas was another pretty whitewash pueblo, the church had a quite impressive array of bells ringing on that Sunday evening. I sat for a while in the evening sun, on the wall of a large ornate water fountain in the square. I chose the nearest bar to get some food, the lady was very grumpy especially when I asked if she could cut up my bocadillo and wrap it, so I could eat it the next day!

  • Chapter 15: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Jayena to Albunuelas

    1st May 2019 You can see my YouTube on this ride here I woke in a much better frame of mind the next morning, I hadn't felt well the night before and I felt quite grumpy. I had a decent night's sleep in the tent and woke quite early with the sun just starting to filter through the trees. I really wanted to get my shoes dry, so spent a lot of time tracking sunny spots with my trainers, to keep them in the rising sun, I did the same with my solar charger, as I needed to charge my power supplies. I had some toast and jam washed down with some coffee for breakfast, packed up then set off on this red-soiled plateau, through a beautiful peaceful woodland.Immediately I took a wrong turn and had to back-track, but no matter it was a nice flat ride on the plateau. I was expecting a downhill ride into the close-by pueblo of Hay-enna. But no the landscape changed and there was lots and lots of climbing to do.Suddenly the trail ended when I hit a 30 metre wide strip bulldozed through the mountain, where the recently cut fire-breaks had trashed the beautiful sierra.All trails had disappeared with this mess too, and it was difficult to find the route I spent a load of time hunting for the right way to go, riding right to the top of the hill to try and find the route, but I just couldn’t find the trail at all. I rode back down a ways and found a lone GR7 post, but it was impossible for me to know where to go because it was a couple of metres into this roughcut firebreak, but I guessed it was down an embankment, which I was please to find that was correct. Down the embankment I found a wooden signpost, a little ambiguous, two trails nearly in the same direction but to different places, it could have been either of the trails one slightly higher than the other, to Jayena I decided to take the one I thought it wasn’t, as I was usually wrong! Alas this took me higher and higher, I could see the pueblo, and knew I should be going down. I’d ended up in the brush on the mountain side. It was a trail, just the wrong one. The trail faded out, it became quite precarious, there was long grasses, prickly bushes, rocks and shale. Holding a bike to your side, stopping it falling down the mountain, as well as keeping your footing is quite difficult. I felt a bit at a loss as to what to do, and I was getting a little overheated too. I’d gone too far down the brush by now to back-track, eventually I saw below me the trail I should be on. So I had to tentatively drop down the side of the mountain around 10 metres without dropping Bay or falling myself. It tested me! And this sort of thing bashes the hell out of the bike, the derailleur constantly getting tangled in the brush, the chainring hitting rocks, with sticks and grass getting caught in the chain and wheel spokes. But make it down I did, I was so relieved to get onto the trail, it was a mountain edge downhill single-track, and was so fabulous. Mostly downhill, sometimes steep, sometimes rocky eventually becoming a very steep gnarly eroded double track, a good ride down into Jayena nonetheless, via another pretty river crossing, this time managing to use the stepping stones without getting my already wet shoes wet again. I stopped in this sleepy pueblo for a second breakfast, this time of tostada and a coffee, I’d burnt all the calories eaten at breakfast getting down that mountain. In case you’re wondering a tostada is a 12 inch baguette cut in half and toasted, eaten with butter and jam. The town seemed a little weird, I didn’t know until the next day that it was a public holiday, that’s why nearly everything was closed, and why so many people were sitting in the street, and people gawping at me!! I took a look around, there was a travelling market in town so I checked out the wares on offer, then I set off on the road out of town which then becomes an un-surfaced doubletrack camino, through the hilly woodland of the North Eastern side of the Sierra de Tejeda. The general direction was up, for hours, at least there were pockets of shade from the trees. . My phone battery was running low, so I stopped to connect it to my power supply, but couldn’t get it to charge. I was flapping about, looked up, and there before me were two mountain bikers, with luggage! It was Robert and Meta from Slovenia! They too were riding the Altravesur! They had only started on the Friday before, less than a week ago, although they started from Jerez, going straight to Ronda. What a fab weather window they had chosen, they missed all the wind and rain! Meta and Robert are riding this to a deadline, they have a flight booked on the 18th May, it was now the 1st of May, so they pedalled most of the route, whereas I push a lot of the uphill. They both looked very fit, their bikes and luggage looked pretty cool too. We had a chat, they fixed my non-charging phone, realising my power pack couldn't be charged and charge at the same time, every day's a school day! Then they set off. Seeing these two had encouraged me to get my arse into gear, and I rode more of the uphill sections, which went on for a couple more kilometres and upto over 1200 metres. Then a chalky downhill in open meadowland out of the Natural Park. At the end of the park sits a rather fancy tapas bar Meson Los Prados. I clambered up the slope only to find Robert and Meta there. They were sitting in the shade, quite sensible as the ride had been in blazing sunshine, but it got pretty cold quite quickly with your sweat drying on you! The waiter was around 70 years old, and very grumpy, I found him to be hilarious, quite comical, everything you asked for, he kind of semi-acknowledged but gruffed and shrugged and stomped off. You couldn’t help but laugh at him. We all ate, and as Meta and Robert were leaving, I asked the waiter if he had Te Negro, and his only answer was NO! The guys rode off, giving me an indication of where we were going next before leaving! I went inside and ordered a tea classico from the barman. He gave it to me in a huge lager glass, but it was very nice and most welcome. The waiter just stared! Leaving the tapas bar was on a surfaced road for a short while, then back onto the GR7 camino. Little did I know at the time this was the Sierra de loss Gwahares, a place I’d get to know very well a year later. It’s one of the more spectacular sierras I’ve travelled, this rugged mountain woodland sadly getting vandalised by selfish greedy Spaniards, ripping out trees to plant lucrative avocado trees, draining the rivers of their water and depriving the villages of their water source. Don’t get me started, it infuriates me, if Spain doesn’t deal with what is in my opinion the endemic corruption this absolutely stunningly beautiful mountain sierra will be lost forever very soon. I was expecting a descent, but it didn’t come for a couple of kilometres, we were at nearly 1300 metres by now. When the descent did come, it came in style and made up for the past two days of pushing up and down! The scenery was dramatic, a deep dry-river bed littered with large boulders, probably deposited through large flood events which the sierra is known for. To my right, rugged mountains both sides, this dusty twin-track switchbacked camino went on and on, for around an hour. I was enjoying it so much I over-shot a couple of turnings, but still it was heavenly! Downhill, twisty, dramatic, rugged, just beautiful. You had to keep an eye on the route, I over-shot a couple of turnings, but still it was heavenly! Downhill, twisty, dramatic, rugged, just beautiful. The pueblo of Albuñuelas was where I was heading, charging down this fabulous trail, I missed the hidden turning onto a barely-there singletrack down to the town. So had to push back up the hill, luckily nearby was the one cortijo on this rugged mountain, a lady was tending her land, I stopped to ask if she knew where the turning was, she didn’t understand what I was looking for so her husband came out. He pointed me in the direction I needed to go, but told me it is 'muy peligroso', very dangerous and that I shouldn’t go down it! He was right, it was a completely crazy, rocky, overgrown single-track. Just mad, I only rode one section, I didn’t have the energy to attempt any other sections, and some I wouldn’t even attempt on my downhill bike. It was very steep, some sections were rocky steps twisting downwards, I struggled to get Bay down these, it was so steep the back of the bike kept lifting and nearly somersaulting over the handlebars. On reaching the outskirts of the pueblo, as usual, it starts very steeply uphill. It was around half seven in the evening by now, and I was exhausted. Whilst on this pushup, I checked Google maps for accommodation and found ‘Casa Azul English B&B’. I called! Ken answered. He had a room for me, I was overjoyed, and this spurred me on to get up the hill that was scattered with fallen and squashed oranges! Riding down the narrow streets of this whitewash pueblo, I found Ken’s Casa Azul very easily from his directions, he ushered me and Bay in, with Bay to sit in an internal courtyard. I wasn’t only greeted by Ken, there was his oh so lovely dog Lina too. She was just the sweetest girl ever, who took a liking to me and from that night on, she slept on my single bed with me each night. My room was self-contained with a bathroom and a kettle, so I could make tea when I wanted. Really there would have been plenty of wild-camping in the Sierra de los Guajares, and I should have done that but at twenty euros a night, and with the chance to get to know Ken and Lina, I didn’t regret it at all. I ended up staying fooure nights, really I should have stayed five, for a reason you’ll learn later but basically I’m a nincompoop! I filled my days walking to the mirador in the village, a mirador is what the Spanish call a lookout. This landscaped mirador overlooked the gorge on which Albuñuelas is nestled. It was hard to capture just how stunning the views were with a camera. I’d take Lina with me, occasionally we’d meet a local in the mirador courtyard and have a chat. The pueblo only had one small supermarket, a bread shop and a pharmacy, which was enough for me to resupply. Luckily I didn’t need any gas, which I could have got when I went out in the car with Ken one day. I needed to buy a new baseball cap, from the start I’d been wearing an olive drab peaked military cap, with earflaps, it was just about perfect albeit a little bit big for my unfeasibly small head. I’d left it somewhere, I’m pretty sure I’d left if when I’d stopped for a rest after leaving Riogordo, under the shade of a big tree that lined the camino. It’s now Saturday afternoon, I’ve been here since Wednesday night! Ken has been the best host ever, he’s such a nice gent, his house is lovely, so is his dog Leena and cat Fred! To be honest, I could have lived at Ken’s for weeks, everything about my time there was perfect. Ken’s been in Albuñuelas for fifteen years, he and his wife bought Casa Azul as two ruined houses, they completely reformed them into what it is today. It’s a big townhouse, complete with internal courtyard, roof terrace and plunge pool! Sadly, Ken’s wife MaryAnn passed away four years ago, Ken, 80 next birthday wants to retire, so is selling Casa Azul. Such a shame as they'd built it together. He wants to stay in the area as Mary-Ann is laid to rest in the Albuñuelas cemetery. I’ve loved listening to Ken’s life story, he’s lived a really interesting life, and he and Maryann have been life’s risk-takers, with various successful business ventures over the years. He, with a friend, was the founder of Heyford Fisheries, a popular angling spot near my home town! Originally from London, Ken and Maryann moved to Daventry in the 1980’s, Daventry is just 20 miles from Banbury, where I have lived for the last sixteen years! Lena, the doggy, that I have re-named Lady Magdalena de Albuñuelas, was a rescue pooch, she is of the most beautiful character. I love her, she sleeps with me, we go for walks and generally I love being around her. Fred, the pusscat, well he’s a little aloof, wants to know you when he wants something only!! Although I got plenty of rest, after my four nights at Ken’s I can’t say I was yet feeling on top form. I think I have stacked up so many heat exhaustion days, that I really wasn’t well. On reflection I should have stayed at Ken’s for another week, but I planned to get going tomorrow, Sunday. Adios **UPDATE 2021** Sadly I have recently learnt that both Lena and Ken have passed away. I was so very sad to learn this. Lena had a wonderful life with Ken, who apparently passed away one month after Lena. Rest easy my friends.

  • Chapter 14: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Valdeiglesias to Jayena

    30th April 2019 You can see my YouTube on this ride here Los Caños de la Alcaiceria was the full name of the hotel. Running along side it is the Park Natural de Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama, which is the way forward for the Altravesur route. So perfectly positioned. There was what seemed to be a restaurant opposite, that I didn’t ever see open, also there was some sort of building, it looked like a mini bullring. Nothing seemed to be going on there. Other than that it was just farmland in the direction from which I came, and forested hills in the direction I’d be going, towards Alhama de Granada. From my balcony I could see across a meadow, towards woodland, and in the meadow was a small chapel, that I believe the Spanish call an Ermita, it was very pretty, like something out of Kill Bill! The grounds of the hotel had an outbuilding in it, I’m not sure what it was but it was made from stone, and circular, I wondered if its some sort of produce preparation or storage building. I seemed to be the only guest in the hotel, although during the day from what I’m guessing, the local farmers would come in for meals. The room was big with a balcony. After some food, I washed my clothes, they were covered in dust! I was just hoping they’d be dry by morning. Alas they weren’t, so I decided to stay a second night. I’m easily swayed and was looking forward to some rest and time to publish another video. It’s hard to say how I occupy my time when I’m staying in hostels and hotels, without spending any additional money, but the time flies by. There’s always my clothes to wash, Bay to check over and sometimes wash, video footage to download, devices to charge and the all important task of taking care of my feet. At the end of a day that consists of mainly pushing uphill my feet can feel very sore, so I make sure my toenails are trimmed and give my feet a massage. The hotel was 10kms outside of Alhama de Granada. The staff were so kind and accommodating, the hotel modern and comfortable. So a big thumbs up for Los Caños de la Alcaiceria. They even let me use the hosepipe to give Bay a good wash. On the Tuesday morning I was to set-off riding again I had a nice breakfast of tostada and coffee in the restaurant. Before I went back to my room to bring everything down I asked the lovely cook to make me a bocadillo, that I could take with me. I set-off back on the road with my bag of food from the hotel, and not forgetting the frozen bottle of water for my insulated food bag. The riding was for several kilometres along an extremely dusty camino, through hilly farmland. Luckily I’d brought with me a dust mask that Cassie had given me on my Everest Base Camp trek, it came in handy on that dusty trail, as a few cars sped by me each kicking up a huge dust cloud. Eventually the views became woodland along the Natural Park of Tajeda to my right and rolling hills and farmland to my left. The dusty trail ends at a junction with a surfaced road. Left takes you to Alhama de GranadaThey guy mapping the route must have stayed at a hostel there as the route went into the town then out again. It was going to be another hot uphill day, I’d have loved to go and checkout the historic town of Alamma de Granada, but didn’t want to have myself over. The fortress town has hot springs said to have been used by the Romans, it has also been the site of a significant battle between the Moslems and the Catholics, with the Catholics gaining control in the late fourteen hundreds. Spain and its people, like most countries, has been through much turmoil and brutality, with battles, wars and governments overthrown. Spanish history is worth a read if you have a lot of time to spare! This town was mostly destroyed by the earthquake that flattened Ventas de Zafaraya. In 1884. I turned right to cut out that loop, over the Rio Alhama, which has a pretty weir and lake. There’s a while on the surfaced road then a left turn onto a red-soil camino, through olive grove after olive grove! I had a bit of an incident, I’d rested for lunch, and walked into the bush to do a wee but there was a cloud of mozzies so I moved forward a little, not realising I was now in view of the camino, when the only car I’d seen for hours came along. In my panic I pulled up my shorts while still weeing…..it was a bit messy, and soggy for a while!! Lesson learned, stop weeing, don’t panic! I passed through a small pueblo, Arena del Rey, stopping at a very run down supermarket to buy an ice-cream. There obviously wasn’t much trade here, the lady had no lights on, no refrigerated drinks and just a chest freezer with opened multi-packs of two different ice-creams, I took a Cornetto type one, but found it to be stale so gave it to a stray dog, who quite enjoyed it! Back onto the camino, there was a lot of uphill with very little downhill at all. The land is punctuated with small farms, then come the horrid gigantic plastic tents, where our out-of-season vegetables are grown. I was struggling in this area, no phone signal and my phone lost the Altravesur route, so when I got to a five way junction I had no idea of where to go. It was another day of blazing sunshine, I was hot and bothered, and couldn’t determine the right way to go. I spent around an hour and a half riding up and down the various options. Eventually I went back the way I came until I got a phone signal and the Altravesur route came back. I could see that the first option I’d decided upon, a river crossing, was in fact the right way to go. I felt a bit silly as I’d been up and down this road around three times, and each time passing the same farmer!! I walked through the shallow river then sat in the shade and ate my bocadillo, I also found some oranges in the bag, how kind of the lovely cook at the hotel. I took the opportunity to cool down as well as to filter some water from the river I'd just crossed. Onwards, and kilometer after kilometer of what felt like mainly uphill with little shade. The camino runs through what is now a nicely manicured industrial tourist spot. It used to be the site of a Resinera, somewhere that processes the resin collected from pine trees. Unfortunately due to an act of arson, the industry was destroyed in the Sierra de Almihara in the mid 1970s. I crossed a couple more rivers, I hadn’t bothered taking my shoes off as it was so hot, I thought they’d act as a bit of a heatsink! The rivers seem to be fish preservation areas, well I'm guessing that's what the signs meant? I could occasionally see a snowcapped mountain in the distance, which quite excited me as it meant I was getting closer and closer to the Sierra Nevada now, and hadn’t really thought about the fact that that’s the high country which means the climbs will get so much bigger. The route went up and down up and down, it felt like I had been going uphill all day, but as I was at a thousand metres at the hotel, and now I hit a plateau at eleven hundred metres, it must have been nearly a down for every up, which I find much harder than an epic descent and an epic climb. There was a reasonably sized airplane landing strip, used when the resinera was active I guess, on this plateau to my left, and woodland to my right. This was the first day of riding I hadn’t enjoyed, perhaps it was the blazing sun combined with riding for tent hours, or perhaps the now boring olive groves, or even the many times I had been lost that day! I don’t know, perhaps I was just a little under the weather as it were, I was certainly tired and again suffering from mild sunstroke or heat exhaustion, whatever you want to call it. I decided to call it a day around 7pm’ish, I’d covered a distance of around 30 kilometers, but probably ridden 40, as I’d been so lost at the river crossing. I setup camp in the woodland to my right. It was a great spot, well hidden, and no wind! I was so glad there was no wind. The sun was going down but at times still filtering through the trees, I was trying to dry my sodden shoes and socks, as well as getting some solar power to charge my devices. With the sun moving so much I was constantly moving the stuff to get the best sunlight on them. I realise now, with hindsight, that again I was suffering from a heat related illness. I seem to suffer from this quite easily, and can say that I probably spent at least three quarters of my time on the route suffering from varying degrees of it. I was a little worried that there could be wild boar around, so I surrounded my tent with fallen dead branches, at least I’d hear it coming! As darkness fell, I nearly shit myself! Very close to my tent I could hear a noise, it was like a cross between a loud cough and a bark, this went on for some time. I’d no idea what it was, with a little 4G signal I Googled it, and found that deer make a coughing sound, that was a relief!

  • Chapter 13: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Villanueve de Cauche to Valdeiglesias

    You can see my YouTube on this ride here From the hamlet of Villanueva de Couche the Altravesur had a long ride on a surfaced road, first across agricultural plains with some escarpments and mountains beyond, then onto some steeper mountain roads. These went on for many kilometres. It was very hot, although the ambient isn’t too high, perhaps mid 20’s degrees Celcius, the blazing sun is hard to shelter from on a bike, especially on your face. At times, when there was wind, I could stay cool enough, but for the most part it was a pretty uncomfortable ride, especially when a five kilometre section of steeply uphill road started. Many motorbikes were using this road for a Saturday morning jaunt, perhaps 20 – 30 passing me by. I stopped in any shade I could, eventually stopping to eat the half of Phillipe’s bocadillo that I’d saved for lunch and to have a rest. Checking the GPS at this time, I noticed I’d gone slightly too far up this road, only by around 200metres, it was a downhill ride back to where I needed to turn onto the camino towards Riogordo. When I’m pushing my bike up a long uphill section I do like to eat sweets. I usually carry a bag or two with me in my rollpacker pocket so they’re easy to get to. I’m not really fussy over what type they are, often only Haribo types are available. It’s just something to keep me going. I don’t tend to snack on bars or nuts, I think perhaps I should do as I’m often very tired but have always put it down to the sun. Also it’s not great for my teeth either, as I’ve been quite sloppy with regards my toothbrushing routine so far. The camino was chalky and rocky, but mainly dry. After a couple of kilometres ascending, the camino became a steep, rocky, fabulous descent! It went on and on, the hours of pushing up the mountain road was worth this descent, which passed through mainly olive groves. I couldn’t believe my luck! The descent was very steep at times, but so very good, and so very welcome! I rode into the outskirts of the town of Riogordo, then as usual the steep push-up into the town centre itself. I asked around if there was a hostel, and an English couple that lived there pointed me to Hostal Méson, which was a restaurant, bar and very nice hostal. The barman, Antonio, was pretty gruff, but very nice. He sorted my room out and found a place in the back restaurant for Bay. The rooms were quite new and very comfortable. My face had got quite red from the sun, it wasn’t burnt and stinging, just red. After a shower and getting changed I took a walk down the supermarket to stock up on food, and stupidly forgot to put any sun-cream on. I had some dinner in the restaurant when it opened at 8pm, then got an early night. The next morning, I had some coffee and a tostada sitting at the outside tables in the sunshine. The town was busy already, directly opposite the hostal was the swimming pool, which was being used as a polling station. It was a general and local election. I have a small insulated bag that I put a frozen bottle of water in, to keep my perishable food fresh.It always causes a little confusion when I ask hostels if they can freeze the bottle for me, in this instance it had just been put in the fridge, not a freezer so it wasn’t frozen.I bought a couple of cans of coca cola to take with me. Leaving Hostal Méson at 9am was one of my earliest starts! It was an uphill ride to the top of town to the camino. The sun was blazing hot by 10am, I got lost many times, missing turnings. This always makes it a little harder, not only because I’m going farther, but I’m getting flustered by not knowing the way! On finding the camino outside of town, I bumped into a young man, Josef, that had a gorgeous Border Collie puppy named, what I think was, Toro. It was so very cute, and wanted lots of cuddles! Dogs are everywhere in Spain, luckily they are nearly always fenced in. If there's a cortijo on a camino, there is usually at least one dog barking at me. Sometimes, they are very noisy and very big dogs, so I'm pleased they can't get to me! But I think it's a case of their bark being worse than their bite. These two dogs were friendly enough, but you never know, so I'm quite wary of them. The views were beautiful, sometimes just olive groves but mostly green hills with the Mediterranean in the distance to my right and mountains to my left. On the dusty camino just as I approached a small hamlet, so small it doesn’t even have a name, I noticed a beautiful looking restaurant called La Casona de Guaro. It looked very inviting with a large flower-adorned carpark out front, and a pretty veranda leading from it. I stopped for a jolly spiffing cup of tea and an ice-cream, and took the opportunity to cool down, such a welcome rest in the shade. Back on the road, I’d get a surprise view at every turn, from hedgerows, tall aloe vera plants, meadows to distant mountains. How lucky I felt to be riding this camino, on this day, it was perfect. The route got a little rocky at one point, with one of the very few descents that day, it didn’t last long. A way after this I wasn’t quite sure where the track went as it seemed to be going onto someone’s property, someone that had a few very noisy dogs, it took me a while to realise the camino passes right in front of this remote cortijo, what a beautiful view they had, especially with a grazing horse in the green and flowery meadow opposite. I sang the horsey a song, took a few photos and carried on my way. It was such a hot day with no shade at all until the lane is flanked by some large trees planted in a row along side it. These trees gave some much welcome shade, so I stopped to have a rest. Still a dirt camino, a reddish dusty type of dirt, there was a lot of climbing and very few descents. On occasion there would be a huge puddle, most I could work my way around, but one was so big perhaps 10 metres or so, that I had to take my shoes and socks off and wade through it. The camino was getting more and more mountainous as I approached the town of Ventas de Zaffaraya, a town that was completely destroyed in 1884 by an earthquake. I was back up to just over nine hundred metres by now. It seems to be some sort of tourist spot, possibly because of the mountain pass on which it sits and the stunning scenery. The town was busy with families out enjoying the sunshine. I didn’t have time to investigate, but did make a short detour to at a restaurant for a cup of tea and a cool down. The restaurant was packed, I sat outside with Bay in the shade and had a little rest. As I left the town I was passed by five horses, all but one being ridden by men. It’s always looks so impressive when you see the Spanish ride, alas I’m not so sure the horses enjoy it, quite often they have very severe bits and the riders aren’t gentle at all. Back on route, just outside the town, the Altravesur takes a single-track trail that skirts around the side of a mountain. The trail was sometimes rocky, at times a shaley washout that made it difficult to keep the bike from slipping down the mountain. Further in it was more rideable, but still rocky. I’d gone perhaps 800 metres only to find I’d gone too far and had to ride back at least half the way I’d ridden. The turning I missed was a nearly non-existent trail down the slope! It was overgrown, rocky, difficult to determine and a complete pain in the arse! I think this had been added to the route as there was some private land at the start of the camino, that was not permitted to be used. So this singletrack was running parallel to the camino, then dropping down onto it, after it had by-passed the private section. Once onto the camino, it climbed and climbed. It was 5pm by now, I was tired, hot and bothered, and there was no chance of wild-camping in the area, with fences both sides, or cortijos in view. It was a tiring push-up, I was weary and had overheated again. An old farmer stopped for a chat, he said this is no place for a woman to be camping alone, and later I sensed what he meant, or was it that he had put worrying thoughts into my head? The land went from meadows to arable land, with many, what the Spanish call Navés, a sort of brick built shed, where farmers can rest or keep their equipment. It looked like an intensely farmed area, and with that would come seasonal labour, and with that would come less security. I don’t know if it was what the farmer said, or that I just didn’t like the area, but it really gave me the creeps! I was hoping that the village I was aiming for would have a hostel, I shouted across to a farmer who was ploughing his field, in Spanish, asking if there was a hostel nearby, and he shouted back No arblo Inglaise, translated into English he said he didn’t speak English! Even though I had asked him in Spanish, what a racist dick! This made me dislike the area even more! The natural park was to my right, it was woodland. A sign pointed 4kms to a Campsite, but not only didn’t I have the energy to push uphill for 4 more kilometres, I really didn’t like the area, so decided not to go there. What I thought was going to be a village, was just a few houses. At the end of the camino I went onto a long straight surfaced road, for no more than a kilometer or two, which is part of the route. By now it was 7:30pm and I was quite desperate to find a camping spot, but there was nothing that wasn’t fenced off. Just as I was starting to think that it would be dark before I found a campspot, I couldn’t believe my eyes, as though an unlikely occurrence like in a movie, I could see in the distance, letters standing tall on the top of the roof of a building. It can’t be, I was saying to myself, it can’t be a hotel, in the middle of nowhere! But it was. As I got closer the letters came into focus, they really did spell HOTEL. Rejoice!! I was so happy, and even happier when I found it was open and they had a room spare for me! After 35 hard kilometers, I was so happy at this unexpected turn of fortune. After checking in, I ordered some food then went outside to look at the amazing sunset, a big yellow sky with what looked like a whirlwind in the middle of it. I've never seen anything like it before. This was a perfect end to a hard uphill day. Los Caños de la Alcaiceria was the full name of the hotel, running by the side of it is the Parque Natural de Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara y Alhama, which is the way forward for the Altravesur route. Perfectly positioned.

  • Chapter 12: Bikepacking the Altravesur-Abdalajis to Villanueva de Cauche

    26th-27th April 2019 You can see my YouTube on this ride here Marie-Carmen and her husband Gabriel returned, Timo and Dah left on their motorbikes. The status quo was resumed. I wish Timo and Dah well, and hope they get in touch sometime! Marie-Carmen is a very calm and thoughtful lady, she has travelled the world, built Refugio de Alamut and run it for twenty years and now wants to retire. I hope she finds a buyer and gets her wish for a quieter life! If you are interested in buying Refugio de Alamut contact Marie-Carmen directly! My time at the hotel wasn’t productively spent! I couldn’t afford to do anything that meant paying, like going to walk the Caminito del Rey, which was only 10kms up the road. I’d have loved to have hiked the mountains above the Valle de Abdalajis, but I didn’t have the right footwear or any spare clothing that I could get dirty and wet. I was confined to the hotel, at most a walk into the village, except for one excursion, Michel had to deliver a van to Antequera, so I went along for the ride. Best wishes to all I met at Refugio de Alamut; Timo, Dah, Marie-Carmen, Gabriel, Jessica the cleaner, and regular customers Christopher, Jesus and Michel. And neighbours Alain and Helene. We’d had rain in Abdalajis for the week I was there, it was particularly heavy at times, and very much so on the Wednesday and Thursday before the Friday I was to leave. Which meant the clay surfaced caminos would be too sticky to cycle on. Some said they’d be OK, some said not. On the Friday morning I decided I’d bypass the mountains and town of Antequera and ride the surfaced road. I want to do as much of the Altravesur route as I can, but sometimes I’ll just have to make a diversion, and not worry about whether I’m ‘doing it right’. Although Antequera has many sites of geological interest, I was a bit miffed to have missed those. I wasn’t too bothered about riding far on that day, about 10kms in on this undulating surfaced road, I stopped at what appeared to be a campsite at Torcul, but it was more a shanty town with permanent huts and caravans, and only one free space between them to pitch a tent. There was a lot of people hanging about, it didn’t look very inviting, although there was a very nice restaurant on site. I decided no, this wasn’t for me and got back on the road. There was a random roadside restaurant which looked quite nice called Venta Gazpacho. I’d give it a miss if you can, the woman behind the bar was incredibly rude and generally pretty bloody horrible! Also along route was a Wolf park, I guess it’s a bit like a wildlife park but only with wolves. I stopped outside it and it brought to mind that one night a refugio de Alamut, I was outside at around midnight, standing in the brush, trying to get a phone signal, when I saw rushing by me what looked like a ghostly large dog, it was chasing something and snarling. On seeing this wolfpark, which is only 12 kilometers from the refugio, I was sure at that moment what I saw that night was a wolf. It was grey, large, too big to be any type of fox, and certainly wasn’t a domestic dog. That’s a slightly scary thought! It was our first day of sunshine that Friday. A hot ride, with little shade in the blazing sun, for many kilometres, up the mountain road. Standard; I went the wrong way, riding a particularly long steep hill, only to find I should have turned off just before it! At least it was a downhill ride back. The turning I’d missed was a camino, there was no choice but to ride this one as it’s the only way to stay on the Altravesur. As it turned out, although it was puddley and muddy in parts, it was traversable with care. This camino took me into some beautiful scenery, mountains one side, green hills the other. At around 6pm I started to look for a campsite and found a spot after a few aborted reccies. I setup camp, it felt a little exposed as it was at the side of a cliff-like mountain at around 900 metres, with nothing sheltering me in any direction. There was a slight breeze as I was setting up, perhaps stronger than a slight breeze, 5 – 10 knots, so I orientated the tent with the thin end towards the wind. I tend to drink coffee in the mornings, the one thing I look forward to all day is my first cup of tea in the evening, after setting up camp. The one luxury I carry, and a heavy luxury at that, is soya milk to enable me to have a decentish tea or coffee. My first cuppa in the evening is always so welcome after a days riding. In Spain I’ve been buying vacuum packed single servings of something like sauted vegetables, I had one of these this evening with some instant mashed potato, and a wonderful cup of tea even though it is served in a rubber collapsible cup, so doesn’t taste the best really. I don’t carry a lot of food and it’s something I need to get better at. Most of my meals so far on trail were really junky, like instant noodles and instant mashed potato. For breakfast I’ll have whichever muesli I’ve picked up from the shop, although in Spain the cereals are very sugar-laden so it’s quite hard to find anything suitable. I buy the small packets of bread, you can get ones with 4 or 6 slices, individually wrapped, so I can make toast and have a little single use pot of jam on it. The food needs to be lightweight and compact. I don’t carry any fruit and veg, it’s far too heavy, the same for canned goods. But there is a case that I have to carry the water to rehydrate the dried goods, so perhaps I should not worry about the food weight and carry less water. As I say I need to get better at the food situation. My tent is an Ultra-lightweight one, it’s lightweight because the material is very thin, so can’t survive winds that a more robust tent can. When the wind picked up, falling directly down from the mountain above me, at 8pm, from a slightly different direction, I started to get worried! It was too windy to turn the tent around and was getting battered, so I used around six rocks on each guy rope to hold it down. At 10pm I was so happy when the wind stopped, completely, not even a breeze, only for it to start again with a vengeance at 11pm. I’m guessing around 25 knots, this continued until around 4am. I managed to get some sleep but was woken every so often by the wind. At least the tent survived the night intact! Although a small hole had been rubbed in one of the vestibule doors, where it had flapped against the rocks I’d piled up to hold the tent down. The winds were due to kick-off again at around 10am, after a quick cup of coffee I was up ready to leave before then. It was a nice descent from my camping spot to the end of the camino that came out onto a main road, which led to the main highway from Malaga. I took a slight detour and rode into the hamlet of Villanueva de Cauche, although a hamlet, there was a very nice restaurant at the village entrance, Bar la Peña, run by Paco. Paco was very nice and chatty, as much as I can chat in Spanish. I ordered a cheese and tomato bocadillo, made by Fillipe, who did speak some English, and had a couple of cups of coffee. Before getting on my way Paco filled all my water bottles and bladders as I’d nearly ran out, which was very kind of him. **Update today, 23/03/2023, I learnt that the bar had closed in March 2022, hopefully it has re-opened, I hope Paco and Fillipe are well**

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