Month: April 2018

Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 Adgestone Saturday 20th-April-2018. Bognor Regis to Langton Matravers. 49 miles. I never did make it to the Square and Compass pub at Worth Matravers. It’s a bit further on from the campsite, and it took me much longer to get here than I thought!

The day got off to a good start. I managed to get on an earlier train than expected, which was just as well, or I would have been arriving in Langton Matravers in the dark tonight!

After leaving the train at Southampton, I had a pleasant ride through the New Forest. It was nice to see the ponies once again. After the New Forest, I reached Christchurch (not the one in New Zealand!) There or just after at Boscombe, I picked up one of the national cycle routes, which runs along the seafront to Poole, and is about eight miles in length.

I was surprised at the number of people on the beach. It was heaving in places! Although, from the picture below, you wouldn’t think so.

Nearly There

After cycling along the seafront to Sandbanks, it was a short crossing on the chainlink ferry to the Isle of Purbeck, which isn’t actually an island, but hey ho. Once on Purbeck, it was a short but hilly ride to Tom’s Field at Langton Matravers, where I’m camping for the night.

Not too sure what or where I’m going tomorrow. I’ll decide overnight!

One slight problem tonight my eyes are really puffed up and won’t stop running. I think it may be the sun cream that I’m using. When I sweat, it runs into my eyes and irritates them!

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Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 is cycle touring in England on Thursday, 19th-April-2018. Bognor Regis to Bognor Regis! 51 miles. Seeing as it’s such nice weather at the moment, I’m heading off on the bike. With no destination and no plan! Well, that was the idea!

Off I set, heading West. My initial thought was to head to Swanage via the Isle of Wight. But after arriving in Portsmouth, where I would have caught the Isle of Wight ferry, I had a change of mind! And decided to stay on the mainland and go via Southampton to the New Forest. Then maybe stop in the New Forest tonight before continuing on to Swanage tomorrow. That way, I could visit one of my favourite pubs. The Square and Compass at Worth Matravers.

All was going well, and I caught my first ferry to Gosport. It was a lovely ride in the sunshine past Stokes Bay, Lee-on-Solent and onto Warsash and the little pink ferry.

The crossing from Warsash to Hamble only takes about five minutes, and it was good to see Ray, the old boy who operates the ferry.

Somethings Wrong

As I rode through Hamble, my seat felt different and slightly uncomfortable. I continued on for a few more miles. But no, something was definitely wrong with the saddle! It was no good; I had to stop and look.

The bolt that’s used to tension the saddle had gone! The leather of the saddle was now on the seat post directly below my bum; ouch! No wonder it was uncomfortable!

After weighing up my options, I decided it was probably best to get the train home from Southampton and swap the saddle over, then get the train back again tomorrow and continue on.

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You can also follow my progress and see where I stop each night by visiting the Where’s Garry web page; there, you’ll find a map of the route I’ve taken so far.