| ponies! |
[Jul. 9th, 2006|11:55 pm] |
Dartmoor ponies are not wild (they belong to people), although they do roam at wild for most of the year, mate freely, etc. They are naturally quite hardy, but gentle.
These pictures were taken in a lay-by (rest area) in Dartmoor National Park. It's illegal for visitors to feed the ponies, but they can be pretty pushy in soliciting food. There was a group of German tourists who had to circle their campers to keep the ponies away from their lunch table.
( pix ) |
|
|
| auto-tourist |
[Jul. 9th, 2006|11:19 pm] |
Assorted pictures from the first couple days of car touring.
( pix )
One site that didn't photograph well, so no pix, was Carnglaze Caverns, a former slate mine that is now used for concerts and weddings. It has an underground lake (popular wedding site) that naturally had me thinking of Kubla Khan and The Silver Chair. |
|
|
| on packing |
[Jul. 5th, 2006|01:14 am] |
This is the system that I made up on the spot in the Kirkwall airport. (See, I hadn't previously packed the panniers; a lot of stuff transited in the bike carrier, and the rest was stuffed willy-nilly into the two rear panniers, which were lashed together, to be checked in as a single piece of luggage.) Surprisingly, I didn't have to make any significant changes to the system over the course of the trip, just moved the outerwear from the overpacked left rear to the underpacked right rear.
Left front pannier: electronics:
- Laptop: Sony Vaio PCG-SRX87P, a 2002 model, discontinued shortly before I bought it at the beginning of 2003. This is the laptop I took on the cross-country ride. It's small (10" screen) and light (about 3 pounds, including the charger), and more durable than anything with a plastic body can be expected to be.
- Camera: Canon PowerShot S410. A mere 4 megapixels, but again, small and light. Andy had one of these on the cross-country trip, and I coveted it. With case, spare battery, charger, and USB cable. The camera itself rode in the top pocket.
- GPS: Garmin eTrex Legend. Properly speaking, this was on the handlebar, but it merits discussion here. I got this in 2001 before the Boston-Philadelphia bike trip, also took it cross-country. It's served me admirably, nay indispensibly, but it's getting flaky (as has been discussed), and it's time to upgrade. With serial cable and serial-to-USB converter.
- Batteries: 4 pairs Duracell NiMH AA batteries for the GPS, with the smallest, lightest charger I could find. It's an overnight charger, rather than a "quick" charger, but that's the only drawback. And it's dual-voltage, so it can run on the 220V wall power in the UK. (I fried a charger on the last UK bike trip, because I didn't read the fine print carefully enough.)
- Mobile phone and charger. Actually 2 of them - the US one and the UK one. Discussed in the Kirkwall post.
- PDA: Sony Clie PEG-SJ22. This actually rode in the right front pannier, but the charger and USB cable rode with the other electronics.
Right front pannier: maps (lots of maps - 3 pounds just of maps):
- Sustrans National Cycle Network maps:
- Ordnance Survey 1:250,000 Travel Maps:
- Plus 4 detail bike maps that I got for free from OS, but I can't find on their website anymore (all unused, except to verify that the M48 bridge has a bike lane):
- South Gloucestershire
- Bath and North East Somerset
- North Somerset
- Bristol
- Scalex MapWheel map measurer (unused)
- Hostels U.K. I debated buying this, and then debated bringing it - it's a 350 page book, and I have most of the hostel listings on the laptop - but I ended up using it a lot, because I don't have to boot the laptop to look at it, and it has reviews.
- Top pocket: "pocket" stuff - wallet, change, PDA, phone, pens, nail clippers.
Left rear pannier: clothing:
- 2 biking jerseys. I never wore them once, shouldn't have bothered bringing them. If I ever wear a biking jersey again, it will be purely a matter of conscious choice, rather than "that's what you wear when you're biking."
- 2 polyester "exercise" t-shirts, one bright red, one even brighter yellow. They're looser, lighter, and look far less martian than biking jerseys.
- 1 long-sleeve polyester jersey. It looks a bit like a long-sleeve biking jersey, but it doesn't have the pockets in back. It's lightweight and surprisingly cool if there's any breeze, but it can also be layered for warmth. It's also the most wretched orange color ("tango"), and EMS had it on clearance for 40% off, but only in that color. Suits my wallet and my perverse aesthetic, and it's highly visible.
- 1 lightweight polyester sweater. Styled like a jersey, with a collar and quarter-zipper. Also on clearance at EMS, but in a really nice blue. Frequently layered over the orange jersey at the beginning of the trip.
- 2 cotton t-shirts for off-bike wear. Started with one, from the Major Taylor Velodrome in Indianapolis (a souvenir of the cross-country trip), joined by an attractively garish England shirt, in support of the World Cup soccer team.
- 1 pair jeans. These were a bit of a concession, being probably the heaviest item of clothing I had, but I live in jeans when not on the bike. This particular pair, however, is a bit loose, and I didn't pack a belt.
- 1 pair lightweight biking pants, from Rivendell. These originally came in a butterscotch color that clashed with absolutely everything else I own. 45 minutes in a RIT black dye bath, and they're not quite black, more of a Starbucks brown. They're comfy, and okay to ride in (they were designed for riding, after all), but I didn't wear them as much as I expected, and generally only as a layer over shorts or tights.
- 1 pair biking tights. Indispensible cool-weather layer, which means I only wore them for the first few days, but I'm glad I had them.
- 3 pairs biking shorts. Could have gotten away with 2, even with less than assiduous washing, given the number of other things I had to wear.
- 3 pairs underwear - 2 silk, 1 lightweight synthetic. Again, could have been 2, or even 1 with assiduous washing.
- 6 pairs socks - 3 cotton, 2 wool, 1 synthetic. I thought about throwing out the cotton socks, but I did end up wearing them when it got hot. But I could have lived without them - the wool and synthetic were cool enough in the heat, and far better in the rain.
- 1 lightweight wool beanie. I only wore it once, but it weighs negative nothing, and takes no space.
- Top pocket: snacks:
- 10 Clif Bars, of which I only managed to eat 5. I dunno, energy bars just don't do it for me anymore.
- 6 chewy granola bars, a $1 box from Walgreens.
- 6 cereal bars, likewise a $1 box from Walgreens. I ended up throwing out a couple of these. Really, I don't know what I was thinking, bringing so much food to a country that, after all, has the occasional store.
- Outside tear-off pocket: toiletries:
- Dr. Bronner's liquid soap. Dilute, dilute, okay!
- Shampoo & conditioner. These were in cheap little bottles from Target, and they both cracked at the neck before the end of a week. Fortunately, they were in a zip-lock bag, but even that got to be enough of a mess that I just threw them out and washed my hair with Dr Bronner's.
- Toothbrush, toothpaste, razor, etc.
- Antihistamines. This is discussed at some point. After Francie joined me, she convinced me to try a nasal spray (Flixonase). It galls me to have to take any medication, and it really galls to have to ratchet up to more serious medications, but the spray worked where the tablets failed miserably.
- Back pocket: third water bottle, replacement spokes.
Right rear pannier: bike stuff:
- 2 inner tubes. Used one for the old lady outside Lancaster. Could have gotten by with one tube and the patch kit, but they don't weigh that much.
- Rain suit. It's not Gore-Tex or even close. It's not even entirely waterproof, or it causes you to sweat so much that the effect is the same. But it's small and light and screamingly bright yellow. I only used it a couple of times, but it would be madness to bike in the UK without rain gear.
- Lightweight pull-over windbreaker. Light, not even close to waterproof, but good to have around for layering. At one point the first day, I was wearing the jersey, the sweater, the windbreaker, and the raincoat.
- Sandals for off-bike use.
- Top pocket: hankies, spare (full-finger neoprene cold-/wet-weather) gloves.
- Outside tear-away pocket: bike tools: tire irons, allen wrenches, dumbell wrench (with about 2' of duct tape wrapped around the shaft), black electrical tape, chain breaker, pedal/headset wrench, multi-tool.
- Outside tear-away pocket: first aid kit. This year's model of the pannier has a single tear-away fanny pack instead of the two pockets; this is a crying shame, because the two pockets are just exactly the right size for tools and first aid.
- Outside fixed pocket: patch kit, lithium grease, ProLink chain lube, rag, bike lock, assorted zip-ties.
The tires were brand new Michelin "TransWorld City" touring tires, 700x35 (nominal, though they looked more like 32). I had no flats, and I didn't even add air to the tires until just about the last day. |
|
|
| pix done |
[Jul. 5th, 2006|12:21 am] |
|
Through a couple marathon sessions, I've inpsected, selected, corrected, annotated, and posted the remainder of the pictures from the bike trip. There are still some post-bike pictures to post, such as the darling Dartmoor ponies, but those will have to wait. |
|
|
| pix and pictures |
[Jul. 3rd, 2006|01:14 am] |
You probably haven't noticed, but I've slowly been adding pictures (behind cuts labelled "pix"). I've up through June 7, and out of Scotland. Maps will follow in due course.
Also (not that anyone asked), a few words about the icon. I created this in the spring, for the Adobe Illustrator course. The assignment was to make a stamp that expressed something about yourself. The road and hills are from a photo of Mount Tamalpais in California (one place I haven't biked; got the photo from Google). The bike wheel and sun rays were fun to make, and a lot less work than you might think - mostly smoke and mirrors. If anyone's really interested, I can post a tutorial. "Miles to go" is of course a nod to Robert Frost, and also because it felt like it needed something in the corner. Altogether, it was a complete pain in the ass, and I'm fairly pleased with how it turned out. |
|
|
| done and done |
[Jun. 22nd, 2006|04:20 am] |
|
I'm home, in my own house, with my own cable modem & wireless connection. There's more, there's more, there's always more. There are photos and maps, and the gruesome saga of recovering the bike box from British Airways Cargo (hint: the phrase "storage" was never mentioned when I arranged to ship it from Kirkwall). But it's late - I just noticed that my laptop clock is still set to UK time (can't say GMT, because the UK is now on Summer Time, and so an hour off of GMT/UTC), and it's 4:25 in the morning there. |
|
|
| Thursday, June 15 : Penzance to Land's End : 14 miles |
[Jun. 22nd, 2006|04:18 am] |
10:45 am: Picked up the rental car at the train station. Drove it a mile out of town to the supermarket, then had Francie drive it back in, to get acclimated to driving a) standard transmission, b) on the left, c) on the narrow and congested roads. Then I loaded up the panniers, and I was on my way to Land's End , and they were on theirs.
12:15 pm: And here I am. I decided to follow the National Cycle Route for once. I may have mentioned that it favors the "safe" and/or picturesque over the straight or flat. Cornwall doesn't give up without a fight - there were stiff climbs out of Mousehole and Lavorna. I might have also mentioned that the cycle route is well sign-posted, except when it's not - even with the GPS and the printed map (not all of the cycle routes even have printed maps), I found myself at an intersection of two farm lanes with 10 foot hedgerows, wondering excactly which road led to Heart's Delight, and which led to Oblivion.
When I got to Land's End (the other Tea Shop at the End of the Universe), I found that the Official sign is privately operated; I wanted to take my own pictures, didn't want to pay $20 for someone else to take my picture, so I had to settle for propping the bike against the fence around the signpost.
Signed in to the logbook at the Land's End to John O'Groats Club. It was a thick book, going back to 2000, and almost full. I didn't think to ask them how far back their logs went.
Spent an hour disassembling the bike in the parking lot, in order to get it into the car along with all the luggage. Lunch (Cornish pasties, of course), postcards, and a bit of cliff-walking, and then we transition from the bike adventure to a more conventional form of touring, in a car, with the family.
( pix ) |
|
|
| Wednesday, June 14 : Tintagel to Penzance : 62 miles |
[Jun. 22nd, 2006|04:01 am] |
1:45 pm: This is the day of "I've never been so glad to see..." Coming out of Tintagel on these litle country lanes connecting little coastal villages, you never know what the road is going to do next. Coming round a turn in between 10 foot hedgerows, you see the road drop away precipitously. And you know that when you finally reach bottom, brakes smoking, it's going to climb right back up to the same elevation, at the same 20% grade. So I was never so glad to see the A39; it's fast and narrow and frankly dangerous, but it's relatively straight and relatively flat. Hills, aye, this is still Cornwall, but it smooths out some of the worst excesses.
Then after 3 hours on the A39 (A392, A3072), going through farmland with no services, I've never been so glad to see Burger King. Isn't that pathetic? But here I have my choice of Burger King, Little Chef (sit-down, kind of like Denny's), and the gas station convenience store. I've been eating a lot of packaged sandwiches from the gas station convenience stores, but that was breakfast today, and I wanted something different. I wanted Burger King. And here I am.
4:00 pm: I plot out my routes on the laptop, then I just do what the voices tell me. Sometimes the voices tell me to go on the A39. This time, the voices said to avoid the A30 route into Penzance, and go through to ancient market town of Marazion. This is right on the seaside, and goes right by St. Michael's Mount, named for and modelled on Mont St. Michel - a tidal island monestary. So here I am, eating local organic ice cream, and gawping at this natural/man-made wonder.
5:04 pm: Penzance. Arrived about half an hour ago, got checked in and freshened up, then down to the train station (steps away from the B&B). Train is expected 12 minutes late, so I'm relaxing with a coffee.
I made it. Tomorrow is the 10 mile vicory lap to Land's End itself, take the pictures, etc. But the hard work is done, and I'm here, my god, I'm here. Feels good.
( pix ) |
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
| |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=91.7){kind=small}
kirkbike's journal