Journeys by hiking, running, cycling and touring
Shiny golden circles adorned the forecast for today and it would have been criminal not to have taken advantage of the conditions to finish off the LOOP, especially as one opportunity had already been passed up last week. I made my way out to Sidcup to pick up the LOOP for the last time, but … Continue reading Endgame (London LOOP Part 12)
Cooped up at home for the last couple of weeks supervising builders, I was desperate to get out. I'd been lucky that my two weeks of being out of circulation had coincided with some miserable weather, but I could actually feel the modicum of hill fitness gained in my legs in the Lakes seeping away. … Continue reading Slaves, Outlaws and the Beast of Farnborough (London LOOP Part 11)
In a recent post, I mentioned that I'm giving up on my failed experiment with the Trailstar, and switching to a mid instead - specifically, the Luxe Hexpeak. The new shelter arrived on Tuesday and I had to wait a couple of days before the weather and the ground was dry enough to pitch and do … Continue reading Playing with the Hexpeak
As revealed in my last post, I really haven't got on all that well with the Trailstar, so I've decided to pass it on to someone who will and replace it with a shelter that's more to my liking - i.e. one with a bit more headroom and an actual attached door. I also don't … Continue reading Trailstar For Sale
Two or three years ago, I saw that several people seemed to be acquiring these funny pentagonal tarps, and always wanting to keep my finger on the pulse, had a look at the Mountain Laurel Designs website myself to see what all the fuss was about.  At the time, I was just moving up from a … Continue reading The Trouble with Trailstars…(or a brief history of my tents)
Back two days from the Lakes, and I felt I ought to capitalise on any fitness that had crept up on me while I was in hillier parts, so the next section of the LOOP beckoned. An uneventful journey back out to Coulsdon then saw me cross the railway and then the busy road to … Continue reading The Zombie Promenade (London LOOP Part 10)
I was halfway down a suspiciously unlimey lime and lemonade, when a large blue rucksack came bobbing along the lane in front of the pub. It turned into the "beer garden" and Cath emerged from underneath it, and muttered some words I took to be a greeting. A few minutes later with a pint of … Continue reading The Four Valleys Walk – Part 2: Eskdale, Wasdale & Borrowdale
I'd long dreamed of exploring this valley and camping somewhere remote in its upper reaches to enjoy the majesty of England's highest mountains surrounding me, but the reality was damper, mistier and more precarious than I'd imagined it would be.
I had a bad feeling about today when my apparently on time train was cancelled in the time that it took me to go from the ticket hall to the platform. I nearly turned around and went home, but struggled on although this delay now put me firmly in rush hour. I was glad I … Continue reading A Tale of Lavender and Conkers (London LOOP Part 9)
Planning the Walk Planning for this year's section really began whilst we were still on last year's walk - abandoning the last day gave the opportunity to start this year's walk with a two night stay in Falmouth. The sense of this approach was easy to see, and the difficulty of finding accommodation for the … Continue reading South West Coast Path 2014
Fulwell to Ewell West (12.6 miles) Just my luck that the track at Wimbledon broke during the morning rush hour this morning, causing cancellations and delays all over the place. Even when I did get my train back out to Fulwell, it missed out a load of stops and then when we got to Kingston … Continue reading The Militant Walker (London LOOP Part 8)
A few days family camping offered an opportunity to fill-in a long-standing gap in the South West Coast Path, and was well-timed as a warm-up walk for this year's main SWCP trip the following weekend. We headed down to Somerset, along a road we've travelled so many times that our car has its own special … Continue reading A Golden Cap and a Filled-in Gap
 West Drayton to Fulwell (14 miles) For once my pre-walk faff with various electronic walk tracking devices worked smoothly and all that delayed me getting straight onto the trail from the station was the cup of tea I bought in the station newsagent. Even that didn't take me long to get on the outside of, … Continue reading Planes, Cranes and Oxbow Lakes (London LOOP Part 7)
I've got some stuff for sale. Some of it I've had quite a while, but most of it has actually not been used much - not because it's crap, I've just been a very bad boy and bought lots of gear that I can't possibly all use. Further details and photos of each item are … Continue reading Outing Some Gear
Although slightly cheered by discourse with dormmates last night, the whole rigmarole of staying in the YHA seemed to have been an exercise in trying my patience, and I was glad that phase of the trip was over. Now I could look forward to simply dealing with whatever nature threw at me and any problems … Continue reading Finishing off the Eastern Fells – Part 2