I’m unsure as to whether I’m going for an official BAM or not but as it’s January and I just have ticked off a cheeky bivi I’ll post here anyhow. The next 11 months will take care of themselves one way or another.
The overall aim for my cycling year is to do some long distance audax/road-packing, culminating in multi-day show stopper, route tbd. With this in mind I thought an after work bivi would be in order. Firstly as a way of increasing my weekly mileage up and secondly to get used to the bivi bag only ‘camping’ I intend to employ later.
Paying attention to the recent colder weather I packed my gear on Friday evening with a strict TLS protocol.
Taking only a set of woolly baselayer, socks and light gloves as extras over the riding clothes I was wearing. Synmat7 (short), Lamina Z, inflatable pillow, Tyvek groundsheet, Kloke bivi, toothpaste and 1/2 brush rounded out my packing list. This was crammed into the smallest bags I could manage, a single water bottle was added to the bike and I finished getting ready for work.
0630 on Saturday morning and I was on my way to work with the Garmin showing -2* and clear skies and wondering if the my sleeping gear was going to up to the job later tonight. Once at work I didn’t have much time to think about the coming night or even look outside the windows. Anyone saying Omicron is a mild disease should take a look inside an ICU and see what’s happening to the unvaccinated…. Fast forward.
2145 and I’m leaving the hospital not entirely full of enthusiasm when I feel the drizzle on my face as I get free from my mask.
Decision time. Head home or head off? Heading off won and I shortly found myself following the East bank of the River Exe towards the coast.
The riding is mostly flat and traffic free and I found myself feeling pretty pleased as I make good progress through the intermittent drizzle. As I passed the Commando Training Center at Lympstone there was of Troop of Nods being beasted on the Bottom Field, glad I wasn’t them I got my head down and turned the pedals that bit faster.
At Exmouth my route turned back inland and I climbed in earnest up onto Woodbury Common and swapped the road for a mixture of thick mud and hard pack gravel tracks.
I was rather impressed with the performance of my Schwalbe G-One Allround in the slop, the dimpled tread offering far more grip than I’d ever have thought.
I really enjoyed the 8km or so across the Pebbled Heaths, smiling to myself as the drizzle finally stopped and the skies cleared. 24km done and 6* C, nice.
Back on the road, I dropped my height and hooked up with the River Otter and pushed on into the night. It was getting cold down in the valley and with the clear sky, fog patches were building. Soon enough it was a full-on pea-souper. Visibility dropped and I needed to turn off my helmet light to be able to see. I was very glad that my main light was a StVZO compliant dynamo, the cut off beam made riding through the thick fog just about bearable. I was really enjoying it now.
Through Tipton St John and I left the river valley and began 6km of climbing up to the ridge of East Hill.
The climbing was made all the more bearable by the views unfolding over my left shoulder. As I gained altitude I left the fog behind and a nearly full moon highlighted a spectacular cloud inversion.
As I topped out I was rewarded with a section of pan flat road allowing me to get my average speed back up.
Descending towards the flat lands again I pulled on my windproof as I plummeted back into the fog.
What followed was the least interesting riding but it was familiar and relatively fast going. Drizzle started to fall again so I pushed on to keep warm.
It was after midnight as I road the cycle path towards Killerton House at the end of my ride. I entered the small Danes Wood having rode a respectable enough 60km/900m sac. My nights sleep was made that much better by the use of a pretty well made shelter. The sort you see in the woods all round the place - an A-frame of sticks made by kids.
By the time I was all tucked up it was just about 0100.
I felt pretty tied up, twisted and constrained in the bivi bag. I was however warm enough and the night passed fitfully for the first few hours before a good solid sleep later on.
0730 I was awake and the light was picking up. As I was in a local dog walking hot spot I didn’t waste any time getting up and away. This was where I regretted using the tiniest bags I could get away with. Getting the damp gear back into the bags with cold hands was a bit of a chore. Things certainly weren’t as neatly packed as the day before and the Tyvek was just shoved into the scraps of my bar harness. This was a learning opportunity though and I’ve learned my lesson and I’ll use a bigger dry bag next time.
I was out of the woods and in the road in less than 20minutes. Breakfast would wait till I got home a mere 4km away.
Greeted by the dog at the door, I returned a happy man and in time to open the chickens and pigs because everyone else had taken the opportunity for a lie in. I made the family pancakes and bacon with a sh1t eating grin having had a thoroughly good 12 hour nano-adventure
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