We're back - did you miss us?

[clarion]

277 miles of fully-laden tandemmage (well, four and a half of pottering about in Pickering et environs without all the camping kit, but otherwise...)

Cake & chocolate eaten: Lots

Sore bums: Two (briefly)

M.A.L. consumed: Lots

Fallings over: None (just)

Lessons learned: Several.

Firstly, I hate wind.  With a passion beyond what I can aim at any hill.  The fens were slow, and not much fun at all. 

Secondly, Lincolnshire is closed.

Thirdly, a week on a tandem can be make or break for a relationship.  Fortunately, it wasn't break in our case, even when the hills came on Friday and today, or when the rain began just outside York.

Fourthly, a tandem will flex under a full load, but that's not all problematic.

[little miss mac]

Only today I was thinking I hadn't seen you two around lately!

Tandem flexing 

Glad it was make and not break (both relationship and tandem) 

Welcome back.

[clarion]

Oh - fifthly:  The toll bridge across the Trent on the A57 is free for bikes*



* You just have to battle your way up a steep approach jostling with planetslayers.

[Polar Bear]

If you're worried about wind just think about your stoker ... 

[Charlotte]

I have great sympathy for mine

Good to hear you had such a positive time, Clarion.  Liz and I set off for our tour this week.  Almost a whole month onna tandem together!

[tiermat]

Have you been missing? Oh.

Glad to see you back in one piece and the NY Moors were sort of kind to you....

[alan]

When you were preparing to leave Mildenhall I noticed that attached to one of your guylines was an ALC pennant.
The irony of this,with regard to Butterfly's ability to fit the contents of a pantechnican into her panniers,did not occur to me at the time but has raised a smile once or twice since.
Glad it went well & you're back safe

[clarion]

We were camping with the Association of Lightweight Campers at Pickering.  We're more lightweight then most - and I think the only people to have arrived at the huuuuuge Camping & Caravanning Club meet by any non-motorised means!

We had to pare down the touring load a bit to fit everything for two into four panniers, a saddlebag & two barbags.  It's a lot less than you carry on two solos, we found.

But, for all that we had, we coped.

[tiermat]

We were camping with the Association of Lightweight Campers at Pickering.  We're more lightweight then most - and I think the only people to have arrived at the huuuuuge Camping & Caravanning Club meet by any non-motorised means!

We had to pare down the touring load a bit to fit everything for two into four panniers, a saddlebag & two barbags.  It's a lot less than you carry on two solos, we found.

But, for all that we had, we coped.

Ooooo, was that the one on the road out from Pickering to Flamingo Land? If so we passed you on Tuesday

If I'd have known we'd have popped in for a cuppa....

[clarion]

Have you been missing? Oh.

Git

Glad to see you back in one piece and the NY Moors were sort of kind to you....

We actually went to great lengths to avoid the NY Moors, as it happens.  No further North than Pickering, which is where life tips upwards.  We also skirted the Yorkshire & Lincolnshire Wolds, though we had a few rolling roads in S Lincs.

It was the Howardian Hills we had to face up to to get back to York.  Sudden, sharp & pretty steep, but not very long.  Highest we reached was approx 120m.  We actually managed a day's ride, albeit a short one, in Yorkshire - from Goole to Stamford Bridge - without crossing a contour line.

[clarion]

Ooooo, was that the one on the road out from Pickering to Flamingo Land? If so we passed you on Tuesday

If I'd have known we'd have popped in for a cuppa....

Yup - we were there.  You'd have been very welcome.  We were at the slightly odd Pickering Showground, on the Malton Road (A169).  We did go past Flamingo Land yesterday.  it seemed to attract a particularly poor sort of driver (not you, of course )...

[clarion]

I have great sympathy for mine

I am pleased* to report that I am not a gassy pilot.

Good to hear you had such a positive time, Clarion.  Liz and I set off for our tour this week.  Almost a whole month onna tandem together!

*dead jealous*  But I know you'll be riding faster and further than I could ever manage, so I'm quite grateful I'm over here, pottering.  Hope you have a wonderful time, and keep us posted on your progress.



* Not half as pleased as my stokers are, I guess.

[tiermat]

Ooooo, was that the one on the road out from Pickering to Flamingo Land? If so we passed you on Tuesday

If I'd have known we'd have popped in for a cuppa....

Yup - we were there.  You'd have been very welcome.  We were at the slightly odd Pickering Showground, on the Malton Road (A169).  We did go past Flamingo Land yesterday.  it seemed to attract a particularly poor sort of driver (not you, of course )...

Mrs T wondered what all the signs were about, and I managed to enlighten her (I think)

I agree about the drivers, we suffered with a driver who thought 6" was a safe enough distance to be from our back bumper, all the way from Helmsley to FL.

Oh and I discovered that FL is a shell suit magnet, I am sure the complete shell suit output of the Far East was on show the day we went....

Glad you enjoyed it, and glad you manged to keep up the good work of hill dodging

[bobajobrob]

Welcome back, Mr C. Glad you had a good time

[alan]

We were camping with the Association of Lightweight Campers at Pickering.  We're more lightweight then most - and I think the only people to have arrived at the huuuuuge Camping & Caravanning Club meet by any non-motorised means!

We had to pare down the touring load a bit to fit everything for two into four panniers, a saddlebag & two barbags.  It's a lot less than you carry on two solos, we found.

But, for all that we had, we coped.

I have concluded that Butterfly does not use panniers made by such as Carradice etc.They are a cycle-custom product made by Tardis Inc. to a Dr. Who specification.

[clarion]

I forgot to mention:  Huuuge thanks to Wobbly John for helping with the logistics of getting to Mildenhall, which made the trip possible

[clarion]

I have concluded that Butterfly does not use panniers made by such as Carradice etc.They are a cycle-custom product made by Tardis Inc. to a Dr. Who specification.

I think she has some kind of multi-dimensional packing skill.  Whenever we got far too much shopping to fit in the full panniers, or bought a sheet, pegs, the three flags etc, I gave them to her to fit in the bags.  She managed every time.

[clarion]

OK - tardy, I know, but here are some pix!

Loaded tandem pausing by a church in Lincolnshire



And sighing, waiting for the train home



How to use a tandem to its full, even if you're not riding it



And waiting for the stuff to dry...



Oh yes - interesting campsite that one - the old station at Fangfoss, and we camped in the old trackbed between the platforms, which remain.  Soils was deep enough, if not overgenerous.  Stationmaster's house is now the warden's, with a shop/office in the old waiting room (containing a piano, but there's a story to that)

[clarion]

Sorry about the slightly crummy pictures - I still haven't got my LCD screen repaired, so I don't have much creative control, and my pov is pretty much guessed