Equipment

14
Sep
2022

Best ever & Continuing Journey Back

Buy a campervan, dig your tent out of the loft, or stay in one of their trendy cabins but get yourself down to the Camping Bled site for the best shower you will have anywhere. 16eu a night for my out-of-season, no electricity, single person stay in this gorgeous quiet location despite its proximity to hustle and bustle. Gushing ๐Ÿคฃ

Top shower
Toilet Block
Trendy cabins

I came on this trip for Croatia and feel that justice has not been done to it given the limited time I was there, very much overshadowed by the impending practicalities of working.

But on this trip, Slovenia, and the return journeying is stealing it. All the countries’ motorways have been quiet enough to be able to take in the so impressive countryside of Austria, Slovenia, and Croatia. I hope I can return before too long to all three to do more exploring.

Yesterday afternoon and night was spent on the Stellplatz (motorhome dedicated parking places) of another lovely town in southern Germany on the edge of the Alps called Prien am Chiemsee. One of the great things about driving my van on the continent is the confidence I have from feeling that my stay is welcomed in little places along the way, due to their extensive provision, and therefore you can get to see so much more. Motorhomes/campervans are everywhere, taking for granted their right to be there, and the equally-impressive well-maintained, pretty-much litter-free roads accommodate them.

Vikings also here

Today I am typing this from a McDonalds at a service station just outside the town of Ulm so that I can get decent wifi to upload photos. My companions on the road have been the many, many truckers pounding the concrete at the same speed, annoyingly disrupting my cruise-controlling. We are on our way across southern Germany to Baden-Baden, in contrast with the travelling down on a lorry-absent Sunday. And the radio station Bayern1 providing me such classics as Kylie Minogue’s ‘The Locomotion’, the Carpenters ‘Mr Postman’, and the track which I have on my ‘About Me’ page.

The weather and I continue to smile.

Posted by admin in Equipment, Musings
14
Sep
2022

Excelled Myself Today

I’m looking forward to just sitting in one place for at least half of tomorrow, whilst driving the van across Austria and into south Germany. Today has seen an extraordinary hive of activity reminiscent of my brother-in-law.

Encouraged by my now-long-gone neighbours from Grimsargh – Gill and Greg – with whom I spent an enjoyable couple of hours last night chatting about the Longridge Aldi and the like, I did indeed get the SUP board out this morning.

That plus the 20 minutes pumping it up could be seen as exercise enough, but I then got on the lake under the blue sky and sun – all perfect for the activity – well before 10:00am. As I gracefully stood up and paddled up to the island, I realised that I was still listening to the R4 Today programme. I suddenly became aware of the incongruity of my happy – in beautiful surroundings, peace and quiet on the lake -pootling, whilst snorting at Nick Robinson’s interview with the latest Russian media mouthpiece, as he danced on a pin re the latest news of significant defeat. Now he insisted that the Russians would potentially need to step up their activity to liberate the Ukrainians from the US & UK occupation – or words/sentiments to that effect.

My age must tell, in that I am always incredulous at the “up is down”, “black is white” varieties of ‘truth’ out there, and how people can be so invested in their conspiracy beliefs, that they prefer not to apply their own brain power but hand it over to those who claim omnipotence. That’s Group a) anyway. Group b) know exactly what they are doing in their support of the omnipotent naked emperors. But how do they live with themselves suspending their consciences, as they continue to peddle lies to Group a), that can and are leading literally to tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths. And while all this fiddling goes on, Rome burns.

I switched it off. My mission was to be actively immersed in the surroundings above the board and take a selfie to prove that the prowess happened. This however is no easy task given that I also have to swap my sunglasses for my reading glasses to be able to operate the camera; the phone has to come out of its protective case and risk being lost to the deep, which would be a catastrophe. The photos below do show some limited evidence of me standing up on the board, and then reverting to kayaking position photos as my left knee had had enough by then. I did kayak over to the other side of the lake and back again, and Google timeline calls that 2.9 miles walking.

Revived by a coffee back at the van and having re-packed the sup board, i set off on the bike for the nearby town of Radovljika. This was also recommended for its medieval centre, and it was worth the 15 mile ride still in sunshine under the blue sky.

  • This beautiful building contained the music school and scales by clarinet were drifting out through the windows.

Posted by admin in Cities-Towns, Equipment, Places, Slovenia
04
Sep
2022

Labadusa/Duga Beaches via SUP Board

I must recommend my new toy and the beaches and inlets round this spot are perfect for it. It is a 500m walk from my pitch which doesn’t seem far, but it is quite a load to carry. The model I selected is great – it has a kayak seat, paddle holders, bottle holder and waterproof bag for the mobile, and also a shoulder strap, and I have used all of these. In fact will be taking some ibuprofen shortly for overuse of my shoulders and arms. The only negative was the oar which came with the board, with a plastic joining piece snapping on the first use back in the UK. So got an easy refund from the supplier, and bought another, which is holding up so far, but will need some electrical taping for the standup handle to fit more tightly. The reviews indicated that this would be the case, but it seemed the best one for the price, so at least no surprise, and I think I will end up using it in kayaking mode more anyway which is fine. The board is fantastic for kayaking on these calm sea waters, and today I tried the stand-up bit, which will take abit more practice, but I did manage to get from kneeling to standing and paddle back to shore without falling in.

Two kayakers came paddling by today, and in our on-the-water conversation I found out that they were young British women, one of whom had cycled from the UK to Croatia with her boyfriend – took them 4 months – gauntlet there for my Folkestone to Rome cycling buddies – being visited by her friend, as the boyfriend had flown back to the UK for a wedding. They were doing a 4-day kayaking tour of the coasts and islands from Split, using the company ‘Red Adventures’, wild-camping along the way. I love such meetings. ๐Ÿ™‚

There they go into the distance, on their 17km day’s sailing

Tomorrow is back to work Monday, following the lovely beach day I’ve had today. It’s a very laid-back relaxed place here – only the campsite + some lovely beach bars and restaurant or two. Mostly German holiday-makers, but other nationalities and their languages come and go, including Belgian, Dutch, Slovenian, Polish, Italian, French. A variety of ages, with still a few German school-age children. Apologies if my subject intermingling annoys. I am aware I’m doing it, but quite like recording other bits and pieces through minor meanderings back to the main paragraph topic ……… The internet connection via the campsite’s wifi is enabling me to stream stuff to my firestick, and I’ve done a test with a Messenger video call, so fingers crossed and tonight’s activity is setting up my work desk with my large monitor etc.

But I must include my hunted-down dessert which it’s now time for – the Croatian equivalent of a custard slice/bienenstick/milles-feuilles, with a layer of marshmallow underneath the pastry. I found one in a Zagreb cafe, then saw 2-days worth in Lidl. It’s called a ‘Kremลกnite’.

The weather forecast is warm all week, with rain from Thursday, so after work activities will be paddling, and a cycle ride to Trogir which is about 7 kms – hilly, but not a problem on my e-bike.

Posted by admin in Croatia, Equipment, Meetings - the non-work sort
27
Sep
2021

More ‘non plain sailing’

I spent 3 nights with my old friend Carole and her constant companion Ted on a lovely site ‘L’Olivier in Junas, near the historic small town of Sommieres between Nimes & Montpellier. The good is of course the company and the location, and the fantastic 3m-wide voie verte which runs on an old railway line from Nimes. Sommieres is well worth a visit, and it was fun to happen upon market day on Saturday, 3 km brisk ride on the flat from Junas

However after a 3rd night being dive-bombed by mozzies, this after spending 2 hours before bed with lights on, zapping them, with the essential piece of kit to the left, desperately keeping all net screens in place, hardly wanting to risk opening the back doors to pack stuff up to my garage, enough was enough, time to move on.

I was feeling confident driving. I had this time decided on the route from the map in the old-fashioned way, and it worked a treat, going anti-clockwise on what seemed like a ring-road round Montpellier, to end up on the best road heading to a familiar destination. So on I mused about all the miles and routes I’d covered over the years with very few mishaps. In fact the only damage I caused to Monte 1 or 2 was causing the back door bike rack to be slightly bent on the latter as I reversed onto a pitch and against a tree very momentarily, no reversing camera, at Lake Como, Camping Lazy Sheep – I do like to recall the site’s name :). Actually just checked as I do like to be accurate – it’s ‘Golden Sheep’, only slightly less amusing to me., but lovely campsite.

Despite these driving feats, I had decided to downsize by 1 metre to Blue at 6m for the obvious benefits, not least the maneouvering, so it is with annoyance and a wry smile as I record here that I have caused damage to a wing-mirror and bodywork trying to get the van onto a campsite with very narrow approach road, the side wall of which I unfortunately caught by accident.

The glass of the essential (driving on the right) passenger wing mirror is holding together under sellotape, and the electronic movement controls are still working. The outside housing though has also been affected so this is being held in position with duct tape. I am determined to get it back to the UK for a spare part/fix, having failed to id the required mirror in a Halfords equivalent, and then being subjected to unbelievable sexist service which belongs out of the ark at Poitiers Citroen main dealer, to order the mirror for the sum of 105eu!!

Well-earned cup of tea later, read of my thriller, I beheld what I’ve driven down here for:

Yes it’s Marseillan Plage again – mediterranean sea at 23-24deg – just to make a certain individual very jealous. Good weather forecast until the end of the week, when I’ll start making my way north.

Posted by admin in Equipment, France, The Bad
19
Sep
2021

Two wheel ascent to the Causse

For yesterday’s activity, from across the valley I could see the road ascending to the top above Florac, so I decided that this would be a good test of new trusty. We managed to do it – about 4.5km of ascent of approx 500m upto around 1000m – using mostly the 2nd level of power and for the last stretch only the first level of power, low gear and moving between 6 – 7 mph ๐Ÿ˜€. Don’t forget the weight of the bike plus locks, about 24kg, as well as mine (not revealing)!. I used only around half the battery for that. What a fantastic bike.

The road was good, but I still have to feel the fear of heights and do it anyway. Worth the views and the challenge though and to see the difference in landscape on the plateau and looking to the east into the Cevennes, where the high green upland pastures can be seen. So beautiful and varied. As a french couple from Brittany I chatted to at a brief stop said – we are spoilt in France.

  • The road can just be made out across the valley
  • Road up – doesn’t quite do it justice!
  • Nearly there – looking back to campsite
  • Star of the show ๐Ÿ™‚
  • Up on a ‘Causse’

After 3 days stay at this lovely campsite, am off to the other side of the Cevennes – Courry & Mum’s house – for a few days re-visiting the Ardeche area.

Posted by admin in Equipment, France
14
Sep
2021

New Steed

I think it’s worth doing a post just on my new electric bike, but the wider context for the choice played a big part:

Transportation

With my new van not having a bike rack, the decision as to how to transport one or two bikes had to be made, with the options being

a) rack on a back door, as with my previous vans;
b) a towbar + bike rack;
c) a swing-out rack, leaving the back doors openable;
d) inside the van, with sub options being folding the bed up, laying the bike on the bed, taking the front wheel off and laying it under the bed.

Cost: options a) and b) outlay would be similar, c) alot more pricey, but all these would increase the length of the van and potential travelling costs – ferries etc; d) no financial cost but a time cost in faffing

Practicality: option a) – can be difficult to get the bikes up there, weight-wise; options b) and c) better; option d) is great from a security perspective, but if bike is on bed then when in transit, just doing a one-night stopover means having to either move the bike outside or elsewhere in the van – faff and security implications; similar faff if having to put the bed up and down each time

Bike Purpose

I use my bike to explore, to get from A to B while travelling, and to use locally instead of a vehicle, all of which give me exercise as a by-product, which I also love; regular commuting is not a requirement, but the ability to be able to get a bike into a car, bus, train, taxi certainly alleviates the fears from ‘going too far’!

So in conjunction with the consideration of the transportation options and costs, I was considering a non-electric fold-up – extremely portable like a Brompton, an electric Brompton or equivalent, or an electric hybrid.

In the end I made a decision for an electric fold-up, but more multi-purpose than the Brompton, due to being able to have it live under my van bed, and having the battery and motor to extend and improve my exploring, particularly up hills and distances. I went for an expensive one – the Tern Vektron S10:

400wh battery
Bosch Active Line Plus Mid Motor
Magura disc brakes
10 gears – Shimano Deore
20inch hybrid-width tyres

Review

I love my bike. It ticks all my boxes – have ridden it for a 59-mile ride, and a 50-mile one around Nidderdale and Ripon, and without the motor on, it rolls really well. On the flat I tend to have the motor off, unless coming back from a long ride against the wind ๐Ÿ™‚ The battery has more than enough life for my usage. It goes up hills like a mountain goat, and that puts the smile on my face, knowing I’ll enjoy a ride with more than one hill!!! But it doesn’t cheat on the exercise as far as I’m concerned, as the motor doesn’t have to be used, and only applies if selected, when pedalling.

One downside – the weight at 22kg incl battery – and for a 4th week, my right arm is still painful from having pulled its muscles, trying to determine how best to position the bike under the bed. Before it’s asked, the battery can easily be taken off the bike when lifting or for charging or for security, which I now do.

I know it’s on a prev post, but worth putting here again to see the bike ‘up’
Posted by admin in Equipment