Journeys | David J. Lodwig

Lundy II

When we visited Lundy for our honeymoon in 2015, we didn't think we be returning to the island for quite a long time. But due to a logistics issue with a planned trip to Scotland, we found ourselves heading back, but this time with a tent. We had originally planned on touring the Scottish small isles on our tandem but that plan required a larger car to transport it, and as we had started to buy a house I had held off car purchases. So with a week of annual leave coming up we browsed the Landmark trust site and booked a trip to Lundy to stay at the campsite.

San Francisco

It took me a really long time (almost a year) to finish this post. I'm not sure why but because of that I'm sure i've missed off some of the details. However if you get the chance you should visit San Francisco it's a really beautiful place.

Lundy

Not long after we had gotten together Mary and I put together a bucket list of activities we’d like to do together, simple things like have a microadventure, more camping, and places to visit. One of the things we decided we wanted to do was to visit Lundy island, and when I asked Mary to marry me, we knew straight away where we wanted to go on honeymoon.

Lundy is a granite rock with the Bristol channel on one side and the Atlantic on the other about 11 miles off the coast of Devon, it’s been home to pirates, smugglers, wealthy landowners, lighthouse keepers, and more recently farmers,the National Trust and the Landmark Trust.

The Landmark Trust, have renovated 23 properties as self catering accommodation, as well as the tavern, the shop, and quarters for the staff and farmers. Transport to the island is either by boat or by helicopter and everything arrives or leaves by one of these two methods. We decided we’d very much like to spend a few days on the island where peak population is about 90 people,Â the power goes off at midnight, and mobile phone signal is unheard of.

Stroud to Cirencester (and back)

We had been planning on being staff at a @girlguiding event called Wellies and Wristbands for a long time however we realised we'd forgotten to send off our forms and camp fees and had therefore accidentally cancelled our booking. This news left us with a free bank holiday weekend in which to entertain ourselves.

Mary's mum had suggested she might like to visit and buy Mary's birthday present which required a trip to Cotswold outdoor in South Cerney. We figured we could cycle to Cirencester and after about 10 minutes googling we found a number of campsites, most of them very caravan park(ish). Except one, Abbey Home Farm an organic farm that runs a cafe, shop, and campsite (they also have a yurt, and shepherds hut).

So at 8.30 on Sunday morning we trundled off towards route 45 of the national cycle network, and ultimately our campsite. I should point out that route 45 is quite good, for a start the off road parts are mostly tarmaced wide and fast they are however littered with stupid barriers that mean you have to get off the bike and in once place carry it down stairs. But half an hour after we departed we were through Nailsworth and onto the country roads.

Dunwich Dynamo XXII

It started last year with a few tentative inquiries about borrowing a tandem, and then one came up on YACF and had been up for sale for a while, it seemed to me an omen. Yes I will own a green touring tandem and I will have a silly adventure(s) on it. With only a 40 mile day ride on the bike I was a bit worried about our capabilities as a tandem team but none the less this was something we wanted to do and so preparations began.

Spring Microadventure

It had been awhile since we'd trundled off with hammocks and bicycles for a single night micro adventure under the stars and given that the weather forecast was looking goodÂ and the fact my roof rack complete with large desktop had launched itself from the roof of the car (while driving down the M5...

Dunwich Dynamo XX

This was my first attempt at a mass participation ride, and my first completion of a long distance ride (the other attempt was a badly thought out attempt to ride to Aberystwyth from Birmingham on an overloaded Brompton overnight)

Having bought a lovely Thorn touring bike with the sole purpose of doing something very silly on it I decided that after failing to make time for this Dunwich ride I’d been hearing all about I probably could have a go. I mentioned this to my partner who before I had a chance to change my mind, booked accomodation and train tickets from said accomodation into London.

There was no backing out, I was flipping well doing it.