Camping Revisited

Quite a few years ago, Husband declared himself "too old for camping" following a rather soggy experience where trenchfoot seemed a real risk. So I was surprised when he declared himself ready to try it again - but with conditions:

• Only in sunny weather
• Only one night at a time
• Adjourn to pub for eating

This weekend qualified on the weather front & I found a couple of appealing bike rides in Dorset that were a tad too far away for a day ride. Found a campsite at Osmington, rechecked forecast & packed the car with vast quantities of stuff.

Saturday's ride was 14.5miles, starting from Maiden Castle south of Dorchester with 490m of ascent. Real mix of terrain & scenery - loved a stretch along a chalk ridge at the beginning with sweeping views of the coast - and then Hardy's monument (that's kiss me not far from the madding crowd Hardy). Foresty bit, heathland and some fields, finishing up with a strtch of tarmac. It was surreal at the end seeing HRH's toytown of Poundbury on the left and the giant earthwork of Maiden Castle on the right.

We got the tent up fine, showered and headed for the beach where we watched the sunset. Pub - which did my favourite Badger ales - and Husband discovered their cider. As we walked back to the tent, we had one of our occaisional "wouldn't it be great to live somewhere where we could see the stars instead of an orange glow" conversations - kicked off by seeing the milky way.

Later, we discovered that we hadn't chosen the best orientation for the tent - our feet were above our heads and Husband got cramp. But apart from swivelling airbeds at midnight, a reasonable night's sleep. Bacon rolls for breakfast & successfully tried out my new expresso maker - thanks C & M!

This may be our only camping this year as I was struggling on the warmth front - duvet thing that's with my air bed, sleeping bag, fleece blanket & PJs and I was just about warm enough. But it's my first Top 40 big tick.

Sunday's ride was a bit longer (22 miles) and a bit higher (730m) starting from Ringstead. Loved the coastal views - and again, there was a real mix of tracks. We did have a few navigational glitches - guess where the bridleway moments across fields, and we managed to do a stretch of footpath by mistake. Guilty pleasure as it was good singletrack.

Back to car for malt loaf & the drive home.

Longer than usual commute today as it included a store visit. Running was good tonight - but my legs are feeling a little spent still after the 10 miler last week.