Wild camping with company

I was running out of days in May to keep to my aim of camping every month.  I realised I could convert a train-assisted C&M ride to a camping-assisted ride.  Elevenses was in the Alice Holt Forest, near Farnham, and I found a few potential camping sites in the map.

Decision made in the morning, packed in about an hour, and on the train to Guildford at 6pm, timed to arrive discreetly just before sunset.  I thought I'd got the hang of this.  But on the train I realised I'd forgotten a spoon, without which it would be hard to eat my supper, instant noodles.  No matter, M&S food store at Guildford Station had disposable spoons, and also instant porridge.

My target camping area was on a big hill to the south.  Nice ride through familiar roads to Godalming and Elstead, then a steady climb before arriving to a deserted hilltop site with a nice grassy area near some trees for shelter.  It was lovely, except for hundreds of midges, who seemed to think they owned the place.  I had also forgotten my midge repellent!  But luckily I had a mosquito net, which I put on, a little too late.

Supper was rather rushed, due to the midges being hungrier than me, and me wanting to get into my sleeping bag ASAP.  As I finished up, the sun went down on a clear, warm and calm day.  I decided not to bother with a tarp as rain seemed unlikely, so just slept in a bivi bag.  And...relax.  Or not.  Every time I tried to go to sleep, I'd feel a bite, or feel tiny feet walking across my face in search of a meal.  I still had the mosquito net on, but I couldn't work out if the midges were inside or outside.  Possibly I was just imagining them by now.  Very annoying.

Eventually I did get to sleep, only to be woken just after eleven by two different sounds.  A few drops of rain, and, more alarming, the sound of voices.  Midnight walkers, with head torches flashing around my camp space.  I was well camouflaged, but my bright yellow panniers were just scattered nearby.   The walkers, three young men I think, stopped nearby, opened some cans and engaged in general chat and banter for about half an hour or more.  I couldn't make out what they were saying but football may have been mentioned.

It was very unsettling.  Several unlikely scenarios came to mind: would they try to make me pack up and move?  Would they steal my bike?  My panniers? (With all my day clothes, phone and wallet?)  None of this happened.  But there was a weird view to the north or north east of very many twinkling red lights on the horizon.  Could it be Guildford?  London?

Starry, starry night; crappy, crappy camera

Later on the sky cleared to a brilliant  starscape.  I cannot recommend highly enough the experience of lying beneath the stars, even if it is spotting very slightly with rain.  Everyone should try it.

It also got quite cold, so I put all my clothes on and pulled every drawstring up tight.  There were drawstrings for midges, for rain, and two for warmth - no chance of getting out quickly.

Sunrise over London

Woken by the dawn chorus, I was having breakfast when the sun rose, seeming to confirm that it was London I could see in the night.  Packed up and away by 5.30 with a three mile downhill in the cold morning, to Churt and Frensham Pond.  I was going to be early for elevenses...

Frensham Pond

Brittany

I should have entitled my previous post 'Normandy' because that's where I was. I am now in Brittany hence the title of this one. 

After leaving Mortain I crossed over, at some point, from being in Normandy to being in Brittany. The transition wasn't obvious but gradually the landscape and the architecture changed.

This was my third day in France. Ride with GPS told me that the terrain on this section would be fairly flat so I thought I would try to get some miles in the bag. I was aiming for the municipal campsite in La Ville es Nonais, about 110 Km.

Much of the route would be on the Voie Verte (disused railway transformed for non-motorised recreational use).

The route was dotted with old stations and signal boxes that have been converted to homes like this one. 

These Voie Verte are great for cycling. You can get from A to B without encountering any traffic, or other bicycles. It was very quiet. For the most part I had it to myself. However, I do have some issues with them. First, they are very dusty.

Dusty Bags

Secondly, by their very nature of being old railway lines, they tend to skirt round the edges of the towns and villages, I felt I was missing some of the life of the area. It was very scenic, but because there was so much of it, I found this leg to be quite a long grind despite it being quite flat. You can have too much of a good thing.

Thirdly, the roads around here are so free of traffic anyway, next time I would plan to do more on the tarmac. Although, parents on the school run are just as frazzled as they are at home I found.

I must have eaten the croissant already

I didn't come across a cafe on the Voie Verte at the appropriate time, so I made my own by a river, not far from Mont St Michel. Luckily there was a patisserie nearby, so I had a croissant to go with the coffee.

Talking of Mont St. Michel...

I arrived at the municipal campsite in Le Ville es Nonais, next to the River Rance, a few miles south of St Malo, around 4pm where I set up camp and had my final packet of Uncle Ben's Rice (Special Mushroom) for supper.

Still going okay on my own, but I did say good morning to a cow (her name was Madame le Bouef) and I did catch myself talking to myself at lunch. No one was sitting nearby. Would I have done it had there been?...

Over the next couple of days I stopped overnight in Pordic and then Louannec.

Camping at Louannec.
The beach was the other side of the hedge. 

Over the hedge

There was not much to report over these couple of days except, the further I got in to Brittany the more hilly it became. I was very grateful for my triple chain ring. The inner ring got a lot of use! 

But the hills were no problem. On the steep ones I just dropped down in to first gear and took my time, saving my legs for flatter sections. 

I was really starting to enjoy being on my own now. I could please myself: stop when I wanted to take a photo, admire a view, have lunch and so on. Having said that I did speak to my wife quite a lot on the phone. She reckons I spoke to her more than I do when I'm at home!

I went through some lovely little harbour towns and villages and there were some great coastal views too. Here are a few pictures:

Morlaix Viaduct

My final stop before Roscoff was to be Morlaix. As usual it was late afternoon and I was heading for the municipal campsite, only to discover when I got there that it was currently closed. A big red sign FERMEE on the gate. Fortunately someone was there doing some maintenance. They suggested I try the Auberge de Jeunesse (youth hostel) back down the hill in the centre of Morlaix. 

This turned out to be an excellent choice close to the centre of Morlaix. I was able to have a beer, watching the world go by, and an excellent dinner at the Le Grande Terrace. 

It was nice to sleep in a proper bed too.

After a good night's sleep and some breakfast at the Auberge, I set off on the short 30km ride to my final destination of Roscoff.

J'ai arrivé á Roscoff!

I arrived in time to have a pre-lunch beer and watch a boules match in progress.

Le jeu de boule

I had to share my peanuts with a local

Talking of lunch, one of the great benefits of cycling several hundred miles in a week is that you can eat whatever and as much as you want, in fact you have to. So, I will finish off with a few photos of food (personally, I like to see photos of food):

Brandade

Langoustine Galette

Flambee Crepe

Huitres

My new favourite pastry, Kouign-Amann

Moules Frites

A misty morning departure from Roscoff

Le Route

Stats: 

• Distance - 664 km (415 miles) including Guildford to Portsmouth
• Climbing - 6,595 metres (21,637 feet)
• Leg 1 Guildford to Portsmouth
• Leg 2 Caen to Bayeux
• Leg 3 Bayeux to Mortain
• Leg 4 Mortain to La Villee es Nonais
• Leg 5 La Ville es Nonais to Pordic
• Leg 6 Pordic to Louannec
• Leg 7 Louannec to Morlaix
• Leg 8 Morlaix to Roscoff

Normandy/Brittany

I am now 3 days in to my little solo adventure through Normandy and Brittany. 

The first day was getting down to Portsmouth Harbour to catch the ferry across to France. I started from Guildford, having got the train from Leatherhead. It was pretty hard work getting out of Guildford climbing up The Mount, but after that it was a very nice route.  I stopped at the pub in Sheet village for lunch.

Then, for the most part, I followed the Shipwrights Trail down to Portsmouth. I arrived well before the ferry departure time of 22:45 so went in to Portsmouth to have some supper.

After a lengthy wait in the check in queue and then the holding queue, in increasing cold, I finally cycled up the ramp on to the parking deck where the crew secured my bike. There were about 15 or so cyclists making the crossing. I got chatting to a couple of chaps who were cycling to Morocco!

It was well past bed time so I made my way to my cabin. 

Looks pretty cosy doesn't it? It's a pity I was only able to spend 5 hours in it! They started waking us up at 04:45. Bleary eyed I scrambled out of bed to get some breakfast before we docked in Caen. 

So it was an early and cold start to the first day in France. 

I suspected I might not get much sleep so I had only planned a short ride of about 50km to Bayeux for the first day. On the way I was taken aback by the number of D-Day war memorials to commemorate the dead and also to acknowledge the gratitude for the liberation from the Nazis. Amongst other sites, I visited the British War Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer. 

It's a very moving place and I would recommend a visit. 

I arrived in Bayeux just in time to have crab and chips for lunch...

before setting up camp at the excellent municipal campsite. 

I was feeling pretty exhausted due to the lack of sleep on the ferry, so turned in very early after making myself some Uncle Ben's spicy Mexican rice. It was very tasty and ready in 3 minutes - amazing.  

I started pretty early the next morning. My target was the town of Mortain, a little over 100km away. This was through a very rural part of France. There's not a lot here other than some scenic farmland. I was just about to resort to making my own coffee, due to the lack of civilization, when strangely I came upon a bungee jumping centre at a disused viaduct. They had a cafe and I had a very nice Tarte au pomme with my coffee, which provided me with just about enough fuel to get out of the valley on the other side. 

After escaping the valley I had a lot of this. 

This is the old Vire to Mortain railway which is now a Voie Vert. It has a very good surface and is fairly flat. Although there was a section of about 10 miles that was a constant 3% gradient. I thought it was never going to end. 

I arrived at the campsite in Mortain about 3pm. I couldn't find an office to check in but was told to go up to the tourist office in town. They were closed so I guess it's free tonight!  No restaurants were open either so I bought a can of cassoulet at a corner shop and had that at the campsite. 

I've been going much more slowly than I had thought. I think it's the panniers. It's not just the extra weight but I think also the wind drag. I can feel it's more effort once I get beyond a certain speed. I had planned for 4-5 hours cycling a day but it's going to be more like 6 hours. But that's ok.

As I mentioned earlier, this trip is a solo one. It's a bit of an experiment to see how I get on on my own. So far it's been okay but I did start talking to myself this afternoon...