Dry Run Weekend

With six weeks till our departure date,  we decided to spend a weekend in the countryside just south of London with our bikes fully loaded to test out our equipment, bikes and leg muscles.  We also wanted to make sure we hadn’t overlooked any essentials when packing, and more importantly that we could fit all our stuff into the panniers!

For a dry run it ended up being rather wet! This was probably for the best, as we are going to no doubt be faced with some less than favourable weather in the coming months!

We set out from London around 7pm (this is when you are allowed on the train with bicycles) and travelled to East Grinstead. Luck was not with us as we narrowly managed to miss three connecting trains, with the doors closing right before our eyes at each of them.

It was dark by the time we arrived in the electric East Grinstead, however the scene we encountered when we got off the train was a familiar one. Train station, large Sainsbury’s; a quintessential modern day English town, we swiftly moved on. Whizzing through the suburban streets we got our first taste of riding up an incline with a fully loaded touring bike. It was a bit of a shock; (just as a note, we are both experienced and regular cyclists, we both ride our bikes to work, to get around town whenever possible and on the weekends when we can) This however, was unlike anything we have done in the past, even our previous tours where we were riding with rear panniers only, and far less gear. In addition to the shock of the weight of the bikes we were riding late at night in the pitch black, down narrow country roads. This made us feel particularly vulnerable to speeding vehicles and we agreed to get off the road as soon as we could. After pushing/dragging our bikes through a couple of fields we found a really nice camping spot in a little secluded wooded area.

The rain came down heavily that night and it was still raining in the morning, we stayed in the tent as long as possible. After emerging into the damp forest we discovered we had been camping amongst a woodland floor of bluebells – it was very beautiful. Unfortunately, in addition to all the bluebells there were also plenty of mosquitos, so we beat a hasty retreat and set off on our bikes. Luckily, the rain stopped and it turned into a pretty nice day to cycle.

We had a very nice day of cycling the Weald, it was sunny with just the right amount of cloud cover, and a tail wind which seemed to sneak up on us at just the right time, sometimes even helping to push us up the rolling hills of Kent. The day was broken up with a well timed pub lunch; as the rain had one last appearance of the day during this time, and we pottered on to find our next camp site.

We eventually found a nice secluded location among a patch of forest overlooking a reservoir. After making camp, we whipped up a nice pasta dinner, followed by a well deserved rest in our cozy little tent.

The next day was much the same, the weather was quite kind to us, and we cycled much of the day to reach Dartford.

The weekend was a great success, and a very welcome break from London, especially with all the prep leading up to our trip. Both of us were not prepared for the change in cycling style, technique and just general weight of our bikes! We both found that hitting an uphill slope, no matter how much speed you had picked up from a decent downhill, brought you to an immediate standstill. However, we are both excited to pedal our way across the world even if that does mean climbing a hill, or even a few mountains! (Perhaps I am more excited about this than Claire!)

All our gear performed perfectly well, but the test run did give us a chance to iron out some kinks in the set up of the bikes. Let’s just hope that there aren’t too many kinks that we missed!

Our next ride will be the beginning of our adventure, cycling out the door of our flat in London, without a key, a home, carrying only what we have on our bikes. From London to Japan!