The GBR Project Ch. 6 Further Planning Needed!
Further planning needed
A little more preparation was necessary before setting off again.
1 - The route and the date of departure confirmed
2 – Book the accommodation at suitable intervals along the route
3 – Check and service the bike, purchase any necessary spares and panniers to carry the luggage
4 – Purchase and check all digital/media equipment. This included cameras, memory cards, recharging equipment and camera stands
5 – Make decisions as to what to take for 4 nights away including waterproofs (no galoches)
The great bath road project begins (at last!).
The date was set for the 5th July. My shooting schedule cleared for the week and once all above preparations were complete I would be ready to set off to London. On the great bath road. It just gave me a thrill to say the words! To recap the Mission Statement: I would retrace the route (as far as pleasantly possible) that the Georgians had taken 300 years ago. I would go in reverse ie from Bath to London and although I would stick to cycle lanes or quiet country roads and visit those towns and villages the Georgians would have passed through along the way. Now that the route was settled (see above) I researched the accommodation available on that route choosing, if at all possible, either old coaching inns or Georgian buildings converted into b&b’s or hotels. Long story short I booked a B&B in the heart of Avebury, a 17th century coaching inn at Aldermarston and a hotel in the centre of Windsor/Eton. They were all within the 45 miles range of each other so hopefully the battery could keep a charge long enough to prevent cycling unaided which would be very tiresome (literally as the bike is so heavy). So with the route and accommodation ticked off the list I now headed down the list to preparation number 3. The bike needed a service to ensure in particular that the brake pads were fresh. For most of my supplies I used two suppliers/shops: Take Charge Bikes, Lower Bristol Road and Cadence, Chelsea Road. They equipped me with paniers, water bottles, pump, small cross bar pouch for small things, a spare inner tube and a gismo for attaching the phone to the handlebars. I never used the small pouch, the second water bottle or the tricky looking security wire on the paniers. Fortunately I never needed the spare tyre or even the pump. The gismo thing was very useful especially after I had eventually mastered how to attach the phone for videoing. This looks easy in the shop but needed one of those special knacks that people in shops have that are unavailable to customers. Given that list of unnecessary items makes one wonder at the expense of the scouts motto ‘be forever prepared’. Still I never wanted to use the inner tube anyway; it would have required more knacks for sure, but I was fresh out.
The time had come to pack my bags!
Digital gear was next as this blog was always going to be the way of sharing my experience and maybe encouraging others to leave their nests and explore. I had to ensure the trip was well recorded. Inside fact: I hadn’t made a blog before. Not really. This would be a bit of a first. One thing I now realise is that to produce ‘content’ as they now call it, is a skilful and time consuming task. I not only had to have my ducks lined up but I had to make sure I could shoot them using the right media in the right way in the right format for the right length. So I shot a video on the phone attached to my gizmo thingy. This could only be in portrait format but I had been advised this would be okay. I also took a GoPro which I attached to my chest. Stills could be taken with the phone (Samsung S20 FE) in either format. These could be shared as the journey progressed. GoPro video could also be shared via the phone if I used a thing called ‘A Wotsit’. I took a new card for the GoPro, ensured that stills on the phone were being backed up to Google Photos somewhere euphemistically called the Cloud, but probably in Nabraska. I also took a phone tripod and a selfie stick both of which I did actually use. Finally I just needed to pack my bags and leave! So without wishing to air my clean washing in public, sufficed to say I went sartorially equipped and although it was July it was also the UK so boy scout pack drill applied with plenty of weatherproofing and warmth for those not so balmy nights or storms. Enough already. I am impatient to leave, I have talked enough. Goodbye fair world, I might be some time. Remember me. It’s not goodbye just au revoir etc etc. So on the 5th July with all preparations done, my bags packed and the excitement of the journey ahead I left. I appreciate that a short 4 day trip to London by bike is not such a big deal but to me at that time the feeling was similar to setting off on the world trip that I had done in October 1985. The journey and the potential perils were just as unknown. I had no real idea what it would be like. After all I’m not following anyone. There’s not a prescribed route with predetermined stops and I had no idea how hard it might be. I could get lost (sob), have my bike stolen (again), run out of battery or it might rain the whole way and be very unpleasant. But this was an adventure precisely for those reasons and as soon as I released the brakes and sped off down Gays hill opposite my house, I was on my way.