Dad and Dais do the New Forest (July 2024)

It's hot.  Like, holiday hot. Like step off the plane and it hits you like a fish in the face hot.  Cycling in the heat can be fun, but also hard work. Luckily our routes are mostly flat and there is always something to look at; birds, tractors, sheep, cows, witches (OK maybe not), fields, and other cyclists. And the smells too, you always miss this in a car, the smells are amazing even when they aren't great.  Drivers have been patient, giving us lots of room and we've thanked everyone for giving us lots of room.  We set off for breakfast at a place near us. The AirBandB we are staying at doesn't offer breakfast, so Daisy joked it should be called an AirBand. Genius 🤣 Once refueled we headed for Christchurch, not far away but enough to warrant a couple of short stops.  We then decided that beach was what we needed and luckily Christchurch has, I believe, six to choose from. So we headed for Avon, with lots of sand. We headed for Waitrose for milkshakes (and ai...

After what seemed like a long train journey, having to swap carriages was a pain in the butt, we arrived at Hilton Admiral right on time and got our bikes ready.  Using Google Maps (what else?!) we easily found out way to our AirBandB and met Joy, who is our host for the next few days. She made us very welcome and let us use her shed for our bikes.  For our eats, we went to Burley, which is famous for its witches ! Whilst we were having dinner, watching the cars go past, we saw about half a dozen cows walk passed, in the middle of the road, zero hoots given.  On the way home we stopped to see a handful of horses and used our bright bike lights to guide us home.  In the night it rained twice, heavily and loudly. Daisy shouted over to me "Daddy what's that noise?!".  She also said "Daddy, what way did she go?!", half dreaming and half awake. She's so lovely 😍  Today we're cycling to Bransgore for brekkers and then onto Christchurch for the day. There is a...

This morning we left and as we got there we realised me (Daisy)😂 had left my zip card which is what I need to get one the train! Dad said we had to turn around and go home to get it but I said we would miss our train plus the hill we had just cycled down is nearly impossible to cycle up so we made the decision to just pay to get in. Once we were on we sorted some things out with are bags etc. Then soon we were at Waterloo station where we got off to get on our main line train to the New Forest.  We had some time to kill, so we had a quick toilet break then we boarded our train. As we had our bikes we needed to find the special carriage that had a bike rack. We got on the first one with a bike rack but it already had to bikes on it so we ran to the next bike rack and clipped them in then we found out seats and sat down.  But once we were on the train, the guy said over the speaky thing to let us know that at one of the train stations the train will split in two and go two diff...

Tyre pressures. Or is there air in them? That'll do.  Seats? You can never be too comfortable you know.  Helmets. Oh yes.  Nails?!

The big day.  We got up early for a dog walk, to meet Cooper and Finnegan. But leaving the house at 0700 was a bit much for Daisy Bee, who moved from bed to sofa to another bed, then another bed and finally resting back on her bed.  There was no moving this cyclist. So there she stayed 😀 Successful walk done, back to the 'hurst to make the final checks and think about packing. Should probably do that soon.  Train from Waterloo is 1500, so will cycle down to Elmstead Woods about 1330, onto the train and up to Waterloo. Then get on train, secure bikes, find good seats and ready ourselves for the train journey. So much better than a car journey in some ways, we're hoping for good scenery and good chats.  😎

Actually no, apparently. This very brilliant idea was vitoed by Daisy, but based on the assumption that it might feel a bit like school, I'm going ahead anyway. This will no doubt irritate her, but I'm also confident she'll get involved at some point, possible including never.  Tomorrow we set off from Elmstead Woods to Waterloo, then onto to Hatfield Perivale or something less Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe sounding. No cars, just trains and bikes.  Hinton Admiral, that's it.  Today is the hottest day of the year, I just wanted to add that tension to the blog early on, making this mission seriously dangerous in my view.  Both our bikes have now been serviced, mine very last minute, and we're not yet packed, but that can wait. Maybe not for long though. What we have done is sort some bike lights and walkie talkies, way more important. Next - snack discussions .  Then maybe pack.