As the summer of ‘21 (such as it was) drew to a close I decided on a small break of routine to visit the Cotswolds. It was also a bit of a test to see how much recovery I’d made since the heart surgery and test out some new touring kit. With a glass-half-full mindset it proved I could still adventure, even if I’m still not as fit and strong as I’d hoped for.
The plan was to pitch at a campsite as a base, then with the unladen bike do some cycling around some of the picture-postcard villages. A new tent, camping stove and front mini-panniers were under test.
So a train down to Cheltenham Spa with all the usual stress of bikes on trains, and then a ride on the laden bike to the campsite. Objectively not far, but the intervening Cleave Hill which, as I painfully discovered, is the highest peak of the Cotswold Hills meant a lot of pushing uphill. Once arrived, setup the tent then flaked out. Tried the stove, did some reading and just enjoyed being.
Next day I decided to take it easy, so cycled back to Winchcombe and just mooched, checked out the very nice but very expensive Winchcombe pottery and had a pot of tea at the lovely steam railway at neighbouring Greet. For the late afternoon took a ramble up the Cotswold Way (which runs right past the campsite) to Cromwell’s Seat monument. Treated myself to a pizza from the campsite tearoom.
Feeling I’d recovered somewhat, the next morning I set off for the big cycle to the very picturesque and very touristy Bourton-on-the-water. Don’t think I’ve been anywhere with quite so many ice-cream outlets. I has ‘golden honeycomb’ if you were wondering. Some lunch then onto the curiously named Upper and Lower Slaughter. Again very idyllic. But by now it was getting to mid-afternoon, the legs felt very tired and I was weighing up if I could make it back in daylight. Decided that sometimes you’ve just got to push on. Plotted a route back that seemed fairly direct and low gradient and set off. Fortunately the legs found some second-wind and by keeping in very low gear and just trundling along made it back before losing the light.
But it did feel rather dispiriting that the cycling felt such hard work. The next full day I enjoyed a (rare for me) full English breakfast at the campsite farm teashop and took a leisurely walk along the Cotswold Way in the other direction towards to Winchcombe. After some tea and a fantastic cake at The Old Bakery Cafe noticed the Winchcombe museum was open and showcasing a fragment of the Winchcombe meteorite. Which once the curator and visitors understood they had a science know-it-all among them turned into a small lecture covering the origin of the solar system, the likelihood of life elsewhere, how to pronounce “Carbonaceous Chondrite” and what the symbols K, Ca and Fe stand for. Three years at Uni come in useful occasionally. Looked around the ruins [1] of Hailes Abbey on the way back.
On the final morning I’d set the alarm, but slept though and had a very rushed pack up and hard cycle back to Cheltenham. At least I’d plotted a slightly less direct but much flatter route, but even so still only managed to make it to the station with 15 minutes to spare which was rather stressful.
The campsite
Hayles fruit farm is east of Winchcombe, with the Cotswold Way adjacent. Quiet uncongested campsite with good toilet and shower facilities along with a farm shop and tearoom. Well recommended.
The kit
I’m envious of real bikepackers - a light bike, a tarp and not much else. Once you say ‘tent’ then it becomes a lot more kit even though I do try to limit everything. The kit totalled an extra 20Kg (~44lb) which is kind of astonishing when the heaviest individual item is the tent at only ~2.6Kg. The tent was a new Vango Scafell 200 which I’d practiced pitching in the local park before using for real [2] - and it does exactly what you’d expect a tent to do - at least in dry, sheltered conditions! My only gripe is it needs a lot more pockets on the inside and some loops along the top seam to hang a light from.
The folding stove was also a Vango; it’s an astonishingly compact but strong burner. Again wanting to test the thing out before heading off I’d tried to locate some of the required butane+propane gas cannisters but had been unexpectedly and repeatedly stumped, guess that’s what happens when all your decent chain shops are replaced with nail bars and vape shops. Eventually, the day before heading off I sourced some at the Range of all places.
I was also trying some strap-on front panniers (since my front suspension forks don’t have the appropriate eyelets) in an effort to spread some load from the back of the bike. Nice, they worked but were a real faff so on reflection I’ll not be using them again.
Food
Realistically, eating from passing cafes isn’t difficult but I wanted to see if I could manage some self-sufficiency. Mixed porridge oats, sultanas, powered milk and sugar as a dry mix for a just-add-water-and-heat solution for breakfast which worked well. Evening were some packet noodles and cup-a-soup powders. All very lightweight and easy to prepare. The 230g gas canister easily did 3 breakfast and 3 evening cooks - no idea how much is left.
Technology
Took the Kindle, but didn’t use it, instead reading an-actual-book. The phone and Garmin GPS only needed one recharge from the battery stick (totalling < 10000mAh). The Garmin is great for recording the ride and following a planned route, while the phone is good for longer-range locating and unplanned routing.
Reflections
While disappointingly hard work at times and occasionally stressful (I hate travelling by bike on trains), I’m glad to have seen some lovely countryside and encouraged I can still do stuff - I might just have to tailor the ‘stuff’ appropriately. One obvious way is to ditch the camping and just tour between B&B as I did when Cycling the ring of Kerry, ‘04 . Investing in an e-bike might be an option too. But putting more effort into the fitness and strength, and not just assuming I’ll be OK because I cycle locally, seems to be required. It’s also the kind of thing the doctors urge.
I’m also pleased that on returning, after a good nights sleep and I felt refreshed, a few aches but those recovered quickly which is a good sign.
- courtesy of Henry VIII
- camping rule #1