Garry McGivern Travelsonabike2 is cycle touring in the UK Sunday, 2nd-July-2023. Salisbury to Bathford. 45 miles. I was on the road nice and early at 6.30 this morning. Not that I needed to as I knew it wasn’t that far to Bathford. But I like to get going early before the painkillers wear off. Speaking of pain or rather painkillers. Things aren’t too bad at the moment. But then I have increased my pain relief quite considerably.
Things didn’t get off to the best of starts as I left the campsite. For some reason, one of my panniers came flying off. Well, there is a reason, I didn’t put it on properly. Bloody idiot.
Once I’d secured my pannier. And checked the rest were okay, I was on my way. I initially started on familiar roads, but then after a while, the phone told me to go a different way. I’m very lazy these days and don’t even bother to check what route I’m being taken on and a lot of the time I just follow it blindly. Maybe I should check as I was led over my first big hill of the day. To be honest I quite enjoyed it. It was a steady climb, it was first thing in the morning and it was somewhere I’d never been. A hill later in the day was a different story though. Whitehill in Bradford-on-Avon that I had to walk up. And that’s not exactly easy either.
It was my own fault for going over Whitehill, I could have cycled along the Kennet and Avon canal but being a Sunday it was too busy, and besides it’s not the smoothest of surfaces. So I got my phone out to plot a different route. And that’s how I ended up going up a ridiculously step hill.
I’ve reached where I want to be ready for our family reunion in Bath tomorrow. Although I nearly didn’t. I’d found this campsite and had emailed them earlier in the week to ask if they had space. But being the idiot I am I put the wrong month down I said June instead of July. Which had obviously already gone. So I got an email back asking if my dates were right. I looked, couldn’t see anything wrong and replied yes that’s correct. Well, I never heard anything after that. So yesterday I thought I’d better email them again. It was then I realised my mistake, I’d put down the 2nd of the 6 and the 3rd of the 6. Ha, maybe that’s why I hadn’t heard anything. And quickly fired off an email explaining.
I’d still not heard anything back this morning. So I sent another email and still didn’t get a reply. I was only about twelve miles from the campsite and decided to give it one more try. But this time I sent a text message to which I still didn’t hear anything. That was it, change of plan I’ll have to camp at Devizes and have further to cycle tomorrow.
I was just in the supermarket getting some supplies (beer) for tonight when I received a text back. The poor guy had only been in hospital and still is. Oops! But he gave me the code to get into the campsite and we’ll sort out the payment tomorrow.
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