Garry McGivern’s September 2015 update. It’s been another busy month, and I’ve been away every weekend. Not very far, admittedly but we’ve had such a nice spell of weather it just seemed a shame to stay at home!
My first little jolly was up to Bridgwater in Somerset to get Passepartout serviced and to try out the new MSR tent that I brought. It turned out not to be the best of trips I’ve ever had! Firstly I didn’t like the tent, or rather I couldn’t get on with it. (read my review) secondly, Passepartout had a really annoying squeaky front brake after just being serviced. And to top it all, I ended up with some sort of blister or boil on my bum!
Minor Annoyances
Not being put off by all this. No sooner had I come home than I was off again once I’d swapped tents over, that was! This time, I went down to the New Forest for a few days. Although I didn’t do very many miles as that boil/blister was really painful now! I rode down to the New Forest on a Friday with the intention of possibly going further west. But I was just too uncomfortable in the saddle! And ended up just sitting in a pub on the Saturday before returning home on the Sunday by train! I did ask people to have a look at my bum to see what the problem was. But surprisingly, nobody wanted to. Not even Julie!
I spent the next week completely off all bikes. I didn’t even go out anywhere on my old Marin, which I tend to ride every day. In a bid to try and ease my bum!
It was the 75th anniversary of the battle of Britain’s victory on the 15th of September. And to mark this anniversary, there was a memorial flypast that had been organised up at the Goodwood aerodrome just ten miles from me. So I decided to go up there and watch all the old Spitfires fly over. I just love the noise that they make with their big old Merlin V12 engines such a distinctive sound! Watch my short YouTube video of some of the Spitfires that flew over me.
Back on the Bike
After staying off the bike for a week, I couldn’t resist the urge to go away again. The weather was just too nice, and soon, all the campsites would be closed for the winter. So off I went to the Isle of Wight and had a pleasant couple of days exploring different parts of the island that I’d never been to. Again not doing a huge amount of miles, which was down to the fact that I was exploring and not the fact that my bum was still sore. Spending the week out of the saddle seemed to have worked, as I no longer had any problems sitting down!
On the last Saturday of the month, the annual Hunston canoeing event was held. A canoeing event aimed at introducing people to canoeing. The day starts off with raft racing between local teams from various groups, pubs, clubs and shops. Basically, if you can get a team together of about eight people of any age. You could enter or even if there wasn’t enough for a team, there are always plenty of people on hand that would make up the numbers.
After the raft racing. It’s canoeing for all, which gives people again of any age or ability a chance to have a go and see how they get on canoeing. The day is finished off with a big pot of stew for everybody to enjoy. I didn’t stay for the stew as I just find all the standing around too uncomfortable and feel so awkward constantly having to find somewhere to sit or lean. So I made my excuses and rode off to Portsmouth for the weekend.
More Exploring
On Sunday I went exploring Portsmouth/Southsea and discovered some interesting history about the place that I never knew about. I also got caught up in a cycling event held along Southsea seafront, which was good fun.
I’ve also got a new site icon which you can download to your phone. Creating a shortcut to my website, but don’t ask me how to do it! I’ve managed to do it on my phone, which operates on the Android system. But I wasn’t able to do it on an iPhone! So, if you want it on your phone, good luck!
Away Again
For the past few days, I’ve been away camping in Salisbury with Julie. Again making the most of this lovely weather that we’re having. Although we had to come home yesterday for an appointment. But we’re hoping to go away later on today for the weekend.
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