Too tired for words!
Up hill ride in the sun
Riding the bubble
Shadowplay
No need for sun cream!
Relaxing now with a beer – heading for home in the morning.
Bourg Saint Maurice (part 2)
Bourg Saint Maurice
Spent a week here last year mountain biking, liked it so much and with plenty more to do decided to return this year for 2 weeks.
Weather not quite as expected when we arrived more Wales than Alps ! On the first lift up couldn’t see the chair in front due to fog and rain.
Clean start
It could be Wales
The fog did clear and once on the trails the rain was forgotten. Trails amazingly quiet mainly UK riders who all thought just like home.
The climbs are hard!
It maybe wet but still fun
Sustenance
Lunch with a view
Easter in Scotland
Managed to get away to Scotland at Easter to meet up with friends for a tour of some of the 7 Stanes (Mabie, Kirroughtree and Dalbeattie).
Whilst the weather was variable! we managed to dodge most of the showers and had a great time. Good to be back riding some more.
Mabie
Dalbeattie
Kirroughtree
It’s been a good start to the year. 19 nights in the van so far.
On tour again …
It seems like we haven’t been using the van that much this year but when we added it up before we came away on this trip we had managed 18 nights, not as many as we would have hoped but more than we thought!
We have headed down to the Alps for a week of mountain biking and walking after a great week down here last year. This time electing to stay at Les Arcs after a random email from one of the campsite chains we had spent a night with during our “trip”, which now seems a longtime ago.
We are actually camping in Bourg Saint Maurice but there is a funicular up to Arc 1600 which is only a 2 minute ride from the site and once up the mountain there’s an extensive lift system all kitted out for bikes so it is easy to get around the mountain and link up various mtb routes. The camp site is open all year which gives me another idea!
The mountain biking is a good mix of enduro / cross country and downhill and with a lift system that lends itself to cruising around the mountain and which allows you to get up to 2600m which makes a great run down to the campsite at 840m.
Sharon swears that the announcer on the funicular has a Lancashire twang for the English announcements and sure enough if you listen hard you can detect an undertone of Lisa Stansfield!
Could get used to uplifts all day and endless downhill ….
Not Tasmania!
Well we we didn’t end up where we planned to be over the past couple of weeks but did manage to get away for a couple of short breaks to Southwold and North Norfolk. Not quite the same but fun anyway.
Free entertainment Southwold Campsite
Benefits of storm Kate off Southwold
Blue sky day Holkham
Holkham Beach
Wet & windy in Cornwall
Headed off to Cornwall for first proper week away of 2016, as always a bit of a gamble with the weather in February and this time combined with storm Imogen! although we and our van survived unscathed unlike our house which we found is minus a couple of slates! on our return.
Anyway a few images below:-
Big surf @ Padstow (aftermath of Imogen)
Padstow Fishing Boat
Great view from campsite in St Ives
Cornish Coastal Path (rare moment with hood down!)
First trip of 2016
First trip of the year in the van at Rutland Water, quick ride around the reservoir, timing slightly off as missed last order for chips at the cafe!
Followed by snowy night at local campsite
Frosted bikes
Northumbrian Coast
Just back from a long weekend away in the North East. Not an area we have spent much time in before but had the opportunity to stay with friends a month or so ago and decided to re-visit.
Dunstanburgh Castle
Picked campsite at Beadnell right next to the beach. Arrived in the pouring rain which cleared overnight. The plan was to walk and ride, so decided to walk on the first day to give the ground a chance to dry out before heading off on the bridleways on our bikes. However given our planned route took us across Wandylaw Bog I guess the extra day had little impact!
On the first day we got the bus from our campsite to Craster, collecting products of the region as we went.
These sounded good
Products of the region – They tasted as good as they sounded
We walked back along the beach via The Ship Inn at Low Newton by the Sea (we had been tipped off about this) – I recommend the Sea Coal dark wheat beer.
Lobster Pots – Craster
The Ship
Headed out on the bikes on day two. The bridleways had held up particularly well except for the aforesaid Wandylaw Bog which as predicted was boggy! Don’t think I have been on a ride where we have been chased by so many dogs, 3 in total. We had to stop for one Jack Russell (Suzie) to allow the poor farmer to catch up and retrieve her. The Ship came around again with the Sea Coal calling …
Following our walk along the beach the previous day and judging the sand to be reasonably firm we decided a beach ride back to Beadnell would be a good idea! The reality was the sand was not quite as firm as anticipated which made it a bit of a slog riding in and out of the water line trying to find the firm sand -we made it, but not to be repeated.
Gateway to the beach
Not as easy as envisaged!
Finished off on the third day by heading north via bus to Budle Bay and walking back via Bamburgh and Seahouse (complete with obligatory chips).
Bamburgh Castle – Through the mist
A Day at the races
Just back from a great day at the races at Great Yarmouth courtesy of Sharon’s former colleagues.
We decided to make a weekend of it and found a campsite in the centre of the racecourse.
A day at the races
Great Yarmouth Racecourse
We spent a day in the sun strolling around Great Yarmouth
Away from the amusements
Great Yarmouth
Before spending Sunday at the races with the intention of winning our fortune – good intentions oh well
We didn’t win here!
Ours were the last to see this!
And we didn’t win here!
Oh well back to work ….
A week in the Orkneys
Just returning from a week in the Orkneys in what now has seemed to become a quest to visit the islands around the UK – Shetland next!
We seemed to drop lucky weather wise or so the locals told us – “haven’t had weather as good as this since October last year” greeted the slightly overcast sky with the odd sunny day! And ” there’s not much wind” for the constant wind that made cycling great in one direction and not so great in the other.
The Italian Church – Built by Italian POW’s
Italian Church – constructed from Nissan hut
As always in Scotland some great camping locations right next to the sea.
Wheems Organic Campsite
We stayed in three locations St Margaret’s Hope, Kirkwall and Stromness.
Calm before the storm – Stromness
t5ontour 