Testing the new bike and my first experience of a compost toilet!

So my Touring bike for the Trans South America Trip arrived in August 2019, for my birthday. So we needed to test it out. Sportingly, our inspirational friends Claire and Pete agreed to join us on a weekend jaunt to Hay on Wye. I say inspirational, because I think their trip through France in 2018, with only what they could carry on their bikes, inspired David to think we could do the same in South America! I hope you as the reader, are getting an idea of what I am having to manage in my role as Mrs Stoyle!

We took the train to Worcester and then cycled to Hay on Wye. Pitched our tent at a campsite on the edge of town - a field with a shower in a shack and a compost toilet. A magnificent curry in Hay in the evening and a night under canvas. It didn't rain - much. I was pleased to find a more conventional sanitary block on the other side of the hedge in the morning! We rode home down the Wye valley - glorious.

Bike was lovely too!

After months of buying light and compact kit - it was time to test it. Home - through Brittany - and back.

David spent most of the winter 2019 researching lightweight and compact kit. A regular customer of https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk and Taunton Leisure. He had also got his touring bike in April but we had only managed a long weekend to friends in Leicestershire carrying a more decadent load of clothes, shoes and fizz! So a summer break to load the panniers properly, get camping and cover some distance was required. 

At this stage I didn't yet have my touring bike but that wasn't important because I won't be carrying much - and what I am could easily be attached to my summer bike. We set off from Bath and rode to the ferry terminal in Portsmouth for the overnight sailing to St Malo. After Pizza in Portsmouth and a couple go G&Ts it was to bed in our cabin. Rested we arrived in St Malo to glorious sunshine and set off for 130km cycling to our first camp site. Test erected and made homely within minutes followed by one pot haute cuisine (not sure this will be available on the Bolivian AltoPlano!). In total we spent 6 days in Brittany, cycling for 5 of them and arriving in Roscoff on Bastille day. We had cycled a fair way and were so tired we slept through the firework display. Next morning it was Roscoff to Plymouth, arriving early afternoon. We then cycled to the South Devon coast in time to see the final few overs of the New Zealand vs England World Cup Cricket Final. Needless to say not the relaxation required to prepare for the 100 miles home the next day! However, we made it. Glorious days of sunshine and cycling. Kit and bikes worked well. Humans were a little exhausted though. Need to keep the mileage to no more than 100km a riding day, with a rest one day out of three in South America - overdid it a little with over 900km in 8 days of cycling with only one rest day!

A holiday cycling in Chile and Argentina - March 2019

After some more challenging trips this was just a lovely cycling holiday. A chance to meet up with some old friends from our Colombia trip the year before and meet some new ones. Again this was a SaddleSkedaddle trip. No luggage to carry, no tents, no routes to plan - just cycle, eat, drink and sleep!

The lake District of Chile and Argentina proved to be beautiful. Good roads generally, amazing volcano views and some pretty strong winds!

Loved it, will look to go back.

A very long climb -Colombia, Feb 2018

We lived in Colombia in the 1990s. At the time, not such a safe place. But regardless of the insecurity, the people were extraordinary and the country unbeatable. We love Colombia! We have travelled back to Colombia a few times over the last few years and a chance to cycle from Bogota to Cartagena was irresistible. So we booked the Saddle Skedaddle Colombia trip. Routes planned, fully supported, only requirement to cycle. However, the requirement to cycle included cycling up the 80km Las Letras climb. For David, of course, it was totally feasible. For me, not necessarily. So for my 'holiday' I had to train for the previous 4 months, engaging a personal trainer, riding lots of miles on cold and wet winter days to make sure I made it! I did of course but the last 15km was desperate! Colombia though did not fail to delight again. They love cycling, bicycles and cyclists. Go if you can. 

Lands End to John O'Groats, September 2014, with another 800 crazy people. Cycling 100+ miles a day and camping together at night - why wouldn't you want to do it?

David says I agreed to accept this as a 50th birthday present in a moment of weakness - I would say not weakness but stupidity. I hadn't been listening to what I was saying yes to and was saying yes only in the hope of moving the conversation on. I have learnt to pay attention now - well mostly - obviously I am still faking attention when he is telling me how a cycle race went!

So at the time I was still a pretty novice cyclist. I had ridden the Cape Town Cycle Tour (65miles) but not more. It was an intimidating prospect. However, I was further encouraged by a Bath Cycling Club friend to whom I was explaining the challenge to, who famously told me 'no disrespect Julia but you'll never be able to do that'. So obviously from that moment I was!

It was a hard 9 days - particularly taxing on your knees and soft furnishings but what I learned was that I loved touring around on a bike, ending up somewhere new everyday and exploring places in a new way.