Bicycle Touring in England

Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 is bicycle touring in England on Friday, the 22nd-November-2024. Devizes to Bognor Regis. 103 miles. Yes, I’ve come home. There are weather warnings for the next couple of days, with Storm Bert bringing strong winds and heavy rain. I don’t mind the cold, but wind and rain are a different matter.

It was a bitterly cold night last night, but I survived and managed to keep warm. It was getting out of my sleeping bag that was the problem. Knowing that I was going to camp last night and that the temperature was due to plummet. I got myself organised.

I brought an easy supper. A can of beef casserole that just needed heating. It doesn’t sound appetising, but if you add plenty of seasoning and a stock cube. It’s perfectly palatable and good for a quick warming supper. I also added some potatoes and had a small baguette to bulk it out.

I also gave some thought to my choice of beer for the evening. The last thing I needed was a cold beer to cool me down even more. It was already cold, and the sun hadn’t even gone down. No, I know what I’ll have: one of those small bottles of wine. That way, I can still have a drink and hopefully won’t have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the toilet either (it’s an age thing). The only trouble was that the wine was on offer: buy three, get one free. Well, I wasn’t going to let a bargain go to waste, so I brought four bottles! But I was very good and only drank two (equivalent to two glasses). And the plan worked; I didn’t have to get up in the night!

Fifteen Hours In The Saddle

It’s been a long day. I was up at 4 am, my usual time. It takes me so long to get going these days, especially when it’s cold, and was on the road for seven. But didn’t arrive home until 10 pm, fifteen hours later. It’s been a long time since that’s happened. My original plan was to cycle to Southampton and get a train home from there. But after reaching Southampton, it felt as though I was giving up by jumping on a train. So I decided to cycle, knowing I was heading home and didn’t need to do anything for a few days.

This will probably be my last ride this year, which makes having to cut the tour short even more annoying. I’ve got hospital and doctor’s appointments every week in December. And let’s face it: December is probably not an ideal month to go away cycling in the UK. I cycled 383 miles over the past week.

Follow Garry’s Bicycle Touring Adventures

Subscribe to my blog and follow me as I travel around on my bike. Plus, as a subscriber, you’ll be among the first to receive news and updates on future tours. And, of course, you can always follow me on social media: Facebook, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where I’ll publish the photos from this tour once I’m home. Pictures from all my tours and monthly photos can also be found on Flickr.

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.