Summer camping again, Day 3 and trip summary

Only a few things to report today.    [Day 1  Day 2]

I arrived at Stokenchurch around 3pm.   Sunset was about 9pm.    So, dear reader, you might be wondering why I didn't decide to push on a bit further.    Well, partly because I've not yet developed the skill or confidence to find potential wild camping sites without access to OS maps, which show access land.   But, also, because I had an assignation.   I planned to drop in on my sister Ruth, the following morning, near High Wycombe.

Stokenchurch is quite a small place.    It has a few pubs, a few shops, and a big transmission tower which you can see from the M40.   I whiled away several hours doing not much, and was very pleased to see Ruth for a meal at one of said pubs, which was very enjoyable.    Then it was nearly sunset and I had to rush off back to my campsite in a nearby wooded nature reserve.  Lovely spot.   My main concern was the holly leaves on the ground, which stuck through the bivi bag, and risked puncturing the airbed, but in fact there was no problem and I slept extremely well, mostly without the sleeping bag as it was so warm.   But there's always a couple of hours before dawn when it seems to get colder, so I did get to use it.  50% chance of rain overnight 10x more than last night, so I put the tarp up, but in the event there was not a drop of rain! Very windy in the trees above, but at ground level I seemed to be very well sheltered.

I almost never see any wildlife while wild camping (if you don't count ants, midges or tiny beetles), but on Saturday night I did see a bat or two flitting around above my head.    And on yesterday's ride, I saw a mother and baby muntjack deer by the roadside, as well as a hare and several rabbits.   And many red kites of course.

Had a lie-in today, until 5.30am, but I was on the road by 6 and, after a few more hills, at Ruth's before 7.30 for a bit more chat and a lovely breakfast.  Thanks Ruth!  I was originally heading back to Amersham to get the train back, but decided to change my plans and ride back home via High Wycombe and Maidenhead - back to familiar territory.   It got very hot on the way home, so I was pleased to arrive home by 1pm.   

A successful trip, I think.   So what have I learned?  Well, with only one pannier, even biggish hills are not too much trouble.   It seems that alternative wild camping sites are not too difficult to find, at least in some places.   I need to do this more often to get confident at it.  And that summer camping really can be a lot more lightweight than winter camping, when you need to take so much to stay warm overnight.  Also, camping means early starts, so you can easily do long distances if your legs will allow you.   Yesterday, I did 80+ miles and a fair bit of ascent before 3pm, and that was after deliberately wasting time in Wallingford.   I could easily have done 100 miles with another decent tea stop.

Sorry, no photos today.  But here's a map showing the planned route (I cut south from around High Wycombe to ride home instead of returning to Amersham)

Mileages:

Day 1: home-Northwick Park & Amersham to Newbottle:  70.5 miles 905m ascent

Day 2: Newbottle-Stokenchurch: 82.3 miles 1010m ascent

Day 3: Stokenchurch-home: 48.3 miles 416m ascent

Summer camping again, day 2 - Oxfordshire

[Day 1]

Today it's misty and damp  very autumnal.  My plan is to head a bit further west, towards Banbury,  then south to about Didcot, then back east to Stokenchurch (big hill...) and find somewhere up there to camp. 

Summer cycling 

After a few lumpy bits, I joined NCN5 near Banbury, with typical mixed surfaces and nice roads (5 gates on a gated "road" through a farmland.  The mist lifted for some glorious cycling on a sort of plain, with huge views to the south west.  Rode past one of the UK's smallest airports, a strip mown in a cornfield,  with a gap in the hedge at the end of the runway.

Cornfield runway, with wind sock

Problems with starting early: it was only 7.30 and I was desperate for breakfast.  I stopped for a chicken tikka slice which had been warming in my bar bag most of yesterday,  but still wanted coffee.  Around 8.15, forlornly searching the streets of Eynsham, I discovered a coffee tuk-tuk, which was open.  Bliss!

Miles upon beautiful miles passed, and I came to Abingdon, brimming with people in the sunshine.  I'd only about 30 miles to my intended camping spot, so I was in the mood for wasting a bit of time. Extensive searches revealed the best coffee shop in town, overlooking the market place, and I enjoyed a two course elevenses, and almost as enjoyable, a proper wash.

Abingdon

Well supported bike repair event

Abingdon, Didcot and Wallingford, the three biggest places on my whole trip, are only separated by 12 miles.  After a delightful Riverside route out of Abingdon, 11.9 fairly boring miles on a cycle path that had the benefit of being flat and direct, and then on some faaverage roads roads.   I didn't  have the full Didcot city centre experience but I did enjoy the sights of the power station, now sans cooling towers, but with several large piles of concrete rubble that have appeared since my last visit.

Abingdon riverside

Abingdon riverside

Highlights of Didcot

Wallingford is a nice place to while away a couple of hours.  But not five hours, even on a bike.  Despite being on the Thames, it doesn't  really have a riverside area where you could sit with an ice cream or whatever.  I reckon the town is missing out on an opportunity  there.

Wallingford 

Just across the bridge at Crowmarsh Gifford

Eventually I ran out of things to do, so I had to tackle the hill up to Christmas Common, via Ewelme and Benson, if you know that area.  Nice road, very quiet, and rather hot and sticky, or perhaps that was just me.  I found a succession of excellent spots between Christmas Common and Stokenchurch, so I think I'm ok for tonight.

[Day 3]

Summer camping again

"Sitting on a corner in Winslow, Bucks,

Looking for a place to eat, 

When a passing guy in a flat-bed Ford

Says Oi!  You can't stop 'ere."

It's not yet quite as famous as the original, but I'll keep trying.

I decided to head for Oxfordshire this time.  It's warm, so a fairly lightweight  trip.  And no cooking stove, due to the fire risk, which saves quite a bit of space and weight.

Amersham train

Ride to Northwick Park and Metropolitan line to Amersham, about the 9th train to arrive after a long succession of Uxbridge trains.

Chiltern Cycleway 

Following part of the Chiltern Cycleway, typically lumpy and wooded.  Heading sort of north towards Tring.  11s was a half-brick of bread pudding at Aston Abbots,  and lunch was taken in the aforementioned Winslow.  Winslow is blessed by having not only HS2 building work, but also East-West Railway building work.  At least they will get a station on the EW railway.

Winslow, near HS2

Winslow, EW railway

Tea was at Tingewick, eating the remaining bread pudding on a bench, watching the ducks paddling in the nearly dry pond.  Crossed into Oxfordshire soon after, and the Cotswold stone buildings and walls were immediately apparent.  You knew you had changed county.

Only another ten miles to my planned camping area, some woods near King's Sutton.  Bad plan.  The woods were full of nettles and brambles, and surrounded by "no Cycling" signs.  You would need to be fully covered even to walk in there.

Newbottle woods: unsuitable for camping

So I'm a bit stuck.  I've found a couple of field with verges I can camp in, but they're right next to the road.  Not ideal.  All I can do is wait till near sunset, and hope for the best. 

This meant spending a couple of hours in the pub, which was a bit boring to be honest.  I could have ridden further, but I wasn't confident that I'd find somewhere, so I went back to camp on the grassy margin of a corn field, with amazing views south west.

A room with a view

A warm night, only 5% chance of rain.  I just had a bivi bag, and the sleeping bag liner, although I needed the sleeping bag later.  No tarp rain shelter either,  and it turned out I needed that too when the 5% rain arrived.  The bivi bag is not enclosed, so I scrambled to cinch up the opening around my face, and that seemed to work OK.

Woke at 5am after a good night's sleep, and discovered  I'd been sleeping on an ants' nest.  They weren't  happy.

[Day 2  Day 3]