Memoirous

from my trip diary originally posted at Crazy Guy on a Bike http://tinyurl.com/h6mf2fu Goodbye Penzance Sunday September 25, 2016 8:30 train pulling out of station, for a 6 hour ride to London Paddington.Wow. Overwhelmed with what I've accomplished--and not just the cycling. The constant negotiating with my fears and anxieties. The battle over stopping or going on. Willpower vs physical strength. Against the odds. A few things I forgot to mention. Yesterday when pulling into the hostel who do I see but the guy who wouldn't share the last room at the guest house in Liskeard. That's what I said. He looked sheepish, said I was tired. I responded: So was I. Also about that cream tea. I had no idea what it was. I watch the Bake Off and suspected it was a sweet treat. On this trip there was no way I was going to take in the necessary calories. Sounds great, right? But in actuality it was a pain. At times it wasn't convenient to eat. No stopping...

from my trip diary originally posted at Crazy Guy on a Bike http://tinyurl.com/h6mf2fu Day 20, St. Day to Penzance to the world's end, 19.5 miles Saturday September 24, 2016, 20 miles (31 km) - Total so far: 1,099 miles (1,768 km) Last night I slipped into my little tent, into my cozy sleeping bag. Everything was charged, I had directions, and in order. My plan was to whip down to Penzance and then to my goal. Just one more thing: check weather. Oh boy. Winds, 25 - 35, with gusts up to 40. And rain. But how can this be? It's been so nice; it's a nice evening. About midnight the wind started. Loud and blustery. My tent was somewhat protected by hedges, so no whipping around. In the a.m. it looked punishing. I have standards of what makes a trip--and this wasn't it. Going headway into headwinds and getting knocked about, soaked. So this is what I did: I hung out at the toilets and when someone said,looking at my loaded bike, You look ...

from my trip diary originally posted at Crazy Guy on a Bike http://tinyurl.com/h6mf2fu Day 19, Liskeard to St. Day, 59 miles Friday September 23, 2016, 59 miles (95 km) - Total so far: 1,079 miles (1,737 km) I knew it wasn't going to be easy. In fact last night I was feeling panicky. In fact it wasn't that hard. Yes and no.First off navigational issues. I load the phone with my planned route. This is no small matter. Then I listen to Google lady reel me along. Except if I make a wrong turn she quietly begins to re-route. So unknowingly, after checking multiple times to be sure, I left Liskeard on the completely wrong road. Which meant I went down a steep hill I only had to push the bike back up. This amounted to one hour. All together I probably wasted 5 miles on wrong turns that turned into bike pushes. This was on top of everyday navigational and round about confusion. And, on top of just in general steep climbs. Plus, I noticed that wind ...

from my trip diary originally posted at Crazy Guy on a Bike http://tinyurl.com/h6mf2fu Day 18, Crediton to Liskeard in Cornwall, 56 miles Thursday September 22, 2016, 56 miles (90 km) - Total so far: 1,020 miles (1,642 km) Last night after Nick got home we were talking. I said how beautiful I thought the town was. Really a gem tucked into the hills of Devon. He said, This was supposed to have been Exeter. I'll have to figure out later what he meant. He also said the hills in Devon go up, then up, then up. He's from London, rather flat like Chicago and he was amazed. So today I tried to mentally prepare myself. I set the bar low, and I exceeded the number of miles by 20 of what I thought I might do. But it wasn't easy, and yet it was also very pleasant. For one thing, I started out on back roads, deep into hedgerows, the road subsides into the earth, you feel sometimes like you're in a cave of foliage. Even the trees grow over the roa...

from my trip diary originally posted at Crazy Guy on a Bike http://tinyurl.com/h6mf2fu Day 17, Bridgwater to Crediton, 59 miles Wednesday September 21, 2016, 59 miles (95 km) - Total so far: 964 miles (1,552 km) When I woke up this a.m. I had a funny feeling, that I wasn't feeling it. To begin with the campground that wasn't a campground, more like a family's backyard had no amenities such as WiFi or charging station. I used up my battery in route planning and looking ahead. I was able to get the phone up to 70%. Not enough.I left early hoping to find a cafe. I swear I rode in circles trying to get somewhere out of Bridgwater. Not sure where I was, West Quay Road, ate a simple breakfast and the owner was very kind. He said just take the A38 to Taunton and I did. Arrived at a beautiful church, St. George. I think one thing I was planning on was taking the Grand Western Canal path from Taunton to Tiverton. Google sent me back onto the A38....

from my trip diary originally posted at Crazy Guy on a Bike http://tinyurl.com/h6mf2fu Day 16, Tintern Abbey to just outside Bridgwater, 70 miles Tuesday September 20, 2016, 70 miles (113 km) - Total so far: 905 miles (1,457 km) Quite a good day. I think this was the first day I got to experience the classic "English" countryside. Small narrow lanes, hedgerows, quaint houses and villages. AND NOT A LOT OF HILLS. They were out there, I could see rolling meadows and farm land, but they didn't negatively impact my ride.I'll later update this journal with the exact numbers. Suffice it to say I followed cycle paths and minor roads. I took a chance today and it paid off. Yesterday for instance at Craven Arms before Ludlow I thought I'd get off the A49. Anyway I rode for a mile, directions pulled me down a lane, and that baby was gut-wrenching. I turned right around and rode with the trucks to Hereford. After lunch in Yatton at the St...

Last Friday I wrote about poetry books sitting on my shelf, and how the titles themselves lend inspiration. I have a book titled Poems from Italy by R. H. Bowden. From what I can find online he was something of a literary dabbler. He wrote plays, poetry, fiction as well as nonfiction. He and his wife often traveled and loved to vacation in Italy where they often walked the hills of Tuscany and Umbria. He has one poem, “In the Umbrian Mountains Above Gubbio” an area I have also explored. Another poem is “To Italy at Fifty.” These poems are basically travel notes, observations, the kind of thing all of us (or at least think about) jot down. In the midst of a journey, when we are looking with fresh eyes, we are keen to make comparisons, contrasts—we leave the analytical for later. In retrospect we can make generalizations or judgments, but in the moment it is best just to get things down. Just like how we take pictures. We photograph something and think, Later I’ll get prints m...

from my trip diary originally posted at Crazy Guy on a Bike http://tinyurl.com/h6mf2fu Day 15, Church Stretton to Tintern Abbey, 73 miles Monday September 19, 2016, 73 miles (117 km) - Total so far: 835 miles (1,344 km) Left the All Stretton Bunkhose a little before 8 a.m. in drizzle. Stayed that way until noon. Took the A49 to Ludlow and bypassed Leominster. By noon 43 miles to Hereford. Took a minor road to Monmouth, another 12 miles. There was one long uphill, but definitely a big downhill into town. I had to push the bike up, and 3/4 of the way there were blackberries growing. So I'd walk the bike, snack, and keep going. I also noticed that somewhere along the uphill I must've entered Wales!Since it was only 3 pm I went on. I really wanted to make it to Tintern Abbey. I got there 10 minutes after it closed, but walk around and took pics. Since it was cloudy and felt like evening and I'd done 73 miles. I decided to wild camp. Right now...