England Part VI

England – Part VI

Wednesday, May 27th
Salisbury

Thursday, May 28, 2009
Salisbury to Pewesy

Wednesday: I was going to head out today, and then decided not to! Every time I woke up during the night it was raining, and it was still raining in the morning. Had breakfast at the Y and found out the group is from Brigham Young University in Utah. They had studied English Literature and were now going about visiting the author’s home towns. This is the second group I’ve run from the U.S. touring England after Authors. The last group were here going to the home towns of Poets. Chatted with Alex a little then headed over to Hafords for a new tube. Oh I didn’t have a flat so to speak, the patch I’d put on came off so doesn’t count.

After Hafords went to Millnets and purchase a camping table. Mark checked at REI and let me know that they wanted $39.00 for it. I purchased it for 9.99 pounds which is about $12.00 much better deal. Picked up a few thinks at Tesco’s then headed back to the Y to pack. I’m moving back to the campground today and this is a good time as the rain has let up. Tube changed, bike packed, I head across town to the campground in a drizzle. Have to figure out how to put the tent up in the rain, thinking while riding. At the site I’ll put down the ground cloth, the put up the poles, then cover with the rain fly, then put the tent in and set it up everything will be nice and dry; should work.

It does and once set up it is decision time! Pub or not to Pub that is the questions? Pub wins out and I’m off just in time to order dinner and get online. My friend Gary in now on Skype and we chat for awhile, then I try to call Mark and my daughter, no luck. Then my sister called and filled me on the happenings at home. So now it’s time to get some rest for the ride tomorrow.

Equipment check:

Used my new pots today, along with the new table, and three legged stool Mark and I found at Poundland. We have been looking all over to a stool/chair to use when camping now we each have one for a buck and half. Pots worked great, no sticking, heated evenly, and seemed to get things cooked quicker than my old titanium set. I have a new stove this year also, a Coleman with an igniter on it, no matches for me. It has a larger burner on in so the heath is spread out more for even cooking. I picked up a new set of utensils which are a fork/spoon combo nested in a spatial, but it does not work very well. The sptial is straight so hard to get under the edges of the eggs.

The tent is new also, has more room and less weight than the one I had last year, but I’ve yet to use the extra porch, which means I’m carrying around an extra 1 ½ pounds. The bike is holding up, mechanically, and here’s hoping I’m not plagued with flats like last year. Both sets of panniers are holding up and I have more pack room then I need. Although I have a netbook which only weight 3.9lbs the addition of a “camelback” type bladder keeps my backpack heavier then I’d like. I may bury the netbook in one of the panniers tomorrow. My new sleeping bag requires me to have two liners which bulk’s it up to the same weight as my original one so have to rethink that one. I do like my netbook, light, long lasting battery, finds and connects to hotspots without any problems. I’m use to the key board which is just a tad scrunched. This is one of the best computer purchases I’ve made in a long time.

I am now at the Barge Inn back on the canal not far from Wilcot. I’ve traveled 30 kilometers in 4 hours so I was done riding by 3pm. The campground is right next to the canal, were boats are tying up for the night. The bathroom is a one of everything, but clean. It is 8pm the sun is shining; the weather is not too hot, not too cool a beautiful riding day. I am in crop circle land and there is a great deal of talk about when they are going to start appearing. I hear the people at the bar having conversations about the way’s and wherefore’s of them. If you’ve not figured it out I’m in yet another Pub and every other customer has a dog lying patiently by their stool.

It is quite a busy place with the locals and boaters filing in and out. Jazz and 60’s music has been playing since I arrived. Several families are coming in so I’ll probably heed to vacate the four place table I’m now occupying. I’ll walk the canal for a bit then get some rest for my ride tomorrow.