Managed to celebrate my 50th birthday with a trip to Sennan Cove and ride outs to Porthcurno and St Ives, stunning winter weather, more like a spring day than the grip of winter here in the UK. 
Category Archives: Planning
I disagreed with something that ate me
Family and friends were worried I would be eaten by a bear or savaged by wolves and having taken every precaution to avoid ticks when camping in the forests in Norway and Sweden I think I have survived tick-borne encephalitis, swimming in the lakes proved interesting and having seen the biggest leeches on the lake edges I have restricted my swimming to rivers, but yet today I have two parallel fang marks in my foot – to be fair the culprit must have been an expert as I did not feel a thing just noticed the blood, so good luck to it!
On reflection, I’ll take the sun
There is a delicious masochism about riding in the rain. It starts with the ritual of donning equipment that is designed to keep you dry for a casual ride but in 10 hour monsoons even the best can be overcome. Gortex topped with one piece rain suit works best for me – but forget waterproof boots and gloves they simply don’t exist in torrential rain conditions. Days end allows for drip drying and repeated hot drinks – snuggling into a dry sleeping bag on a wooden platform yesterday covered by a tin roof was a extraordinary feeling – so in touch with the elements yet thankfully dry and warm – the spectacle of viscous lighting bolts and the soundtrack of thunderclaps and bouncing rain… best nights sleep yet.
Biblical Storms
The last two days have been rough in south central Norway. Last night I got caught in the remains of the tropical storms at Lillehammer which lies at an elevation of around 250m but with much higher elevations to the west the rain storms get funnelled into this site of the 1994 winter Olympics. Today’s riding was challenging as the estimated 20% extra rain per year fell in one day all on the E6 and all of it on me.
Truckers know best
On any long distance ride when I need a place to rest or eat I just follow the truckers, most of the best truck stops I have seen are hidden from view or behind trailer parking but the opportunity to take a rest break, shower and get some hot food is never to be passed up.
