Author: Garry

World cyclist, middle aged, over weight, drinks too much, eats too much. But can ride a bike for miles.
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Marin Palisades Trail

Bicycle
Bicycle
Garry’s Marin in 2015

Garry started bicycle touring using his Marin Palisades Trail, mountain bike. Which he brought in 1992. Garry had always been a keen cyclist. But family life and work commitments, prevented Garry from cycling as much as he would have liked.

In 2002, Garry gave up smoking, after being a smoker for much of his life! And being a heavy smoker, smoking 40/60 cigarettes a day, it was a struggle!

Now Garry was riding his bike a lot more, he added a rear rack and some panniers. Making it more of a hybrid bike. After making these modifications, Garry went on his first long-distance cycle ride. An 80-mile bike ride, along the south coast of England.

After this first ride, Garry found he had a real taste for long-distance riding and cycle-touring. And soon added a front rack and panniers to his bike. Now Garry’s Marin was fully converted to a hybrid bike, he would get away as often as possible. Which wasn’t very often!

Bicycle
Garry’s Marin bike, a few years later on the Isle of Wight. Now with a front rack fitted

Unfortunately, in 2007 Garry lost his wife to breast cancer. After his sad lose, Garry decided to go on a long bicycle ride! From Spain to England! Unfortunately, Garry’s Marin Palisades Trail was now 17 years old, and bike technology had moved on. And as much as Garry would have loved to have ridden his Marin from Spain, back home. He decided it was probably better to get a new bike.

Although Garry doesn’t use his Marin for touring anymore, he still rides it every day.

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Hilleberg Nammatj 2 GT

July 2015

Garry’s current tent is the Hilleberg Nammatj 2 GT. Which he brought in January 2014 after his old MSR Velo wore out!

Garry spent a long time researching and searching the web for a new tent but couldn’t find anything that suited all his needs! Ideally, Garry wanted a tent with a large vestibule and freestanding, but there just didn’t seem to be anything available! You could get a free-standing tent, or you could get a tent with a large vestibule but not together!

Hilleberg Nammatj 2 GT
Hilleberg Nammatj 2 GT

One of the tents that kept coming up in Garry’s search was Hilleberg. They have a good range of tents to suit all needs! Unfortunately, they never had one that was perfect for Garry! They had freestanding tents and tents with big vestibules but once again, not together!

In the end, Garry decided that the large vestibule was more important to him. So he brought the Hilleberg Nammatj 2 GT.

The Tent

It’s a four-season two-person tunnel tent, which may be a little too large and heavy for some people. But Garry likes to have plenty of room to stretch out rather than being cramped up in some tiny one-man tent, especially when it’s blowing a gale and raining outside!

A two-man tent always means that there’s plenty of room inside, and with the vestibule, there’s plenty of room to store the panniers inside overnight.

Watch Garry’s Hilleberg video on YouTube.

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If you want to find out if Garry’s away touring at the moment and check his location, visit the Where’s Garry web page.

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Cooking Gear

Cooking stove

Any camping trip requires proper cooking gear. Whatever your cooking. Whether it’s a dehydrated ration pack, which only requires hot water. Or a full-blown meal, cooked from scratch! Garry tends to choose the latter, as he likes to cook. Which reflects in Garry’s choice of pots and cookers.

Garry has two canister cookers. The Primus Omnifuel, and the MSR WindPro. And depending on where in the world Garry is travelling, dictates to which one he takes.

Camping cook set
Garry’s cooking pots and a choice of cookers

The MSR Windpro is Garry’s stove of choice. A very sturdy stove, which is ideal when stirring meals. It’s easy to control the flow of gas, allowing easy simmering. Which is essential for Garry when he’s cooking up those camp meals, after a long day in the saddle. The stove also comes with a windscreen and heat reflector. Garry only uses this stove when touring in Europe, when he knows getting gas canisters isn’t a problem.

For trips further afield, when finding gas canisters could be a problem, Garry uses the Primus Omniful stove. A multi-fuel burner that works with almost any fuel you can think of! Even diesel! Again a very sturdy stove, although not as easy to control as the MSR. But still an excellent burner. Which also comes with a windscreen and heat reflector.

Campsite meals are cooked in the Vango 2 person cook set. Which unfortunately is no longer available to buy! The set consists of two polished stainless steel pans, with copper bottoms and lids. A copper-bottomed frying pan and two plastic cups. Which also double up as measuring jugs. Although Garry only carries the one cup. The whole set packs away neatly into one pot and has its own storage bag.

Cutlery is from an old cutlery set Garry had at home, and nothing special.

Watch Garry’s school of campsite cooking!

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Sleeping Gear

Sleeping Gear
Garry’s different sleeping bags and mats

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garry has a few different sets of sleeping gear and it very much depends on where he’s going, when he’s going and for how long as to which combination he takes.

Sleeping Gear List

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