My cycling holiday, summer 1996

This summer I wanted to get back to nature a bit and spend some time alone to think. I have quite a few friends in the south-east of England, but it's always been expensive to visit them by train, so I decided I would visit them by bike this time, camping along the way...

I took a hammock, inflatable pillow and sleeping bag so I could sleep between the nearest two trees to where I found myself at the end of the day. In case of rain I took two tarpaulins that could hang over a string tied above the hammock. I also took clothes, food and Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings". I wrapped everything up in plastic bags to keep out the rain.

On the first day I didn't leave my home in Hedge End (near Southampton) until 3pm. I cycled east and I was just starting on the South Downs Way when it got dark. It also started to rain heavily. I lifted my bike over the gate into the nearest field and put on my mackintosh and strap-on-head torch. Two hours later I had constructed a dodgy hammock-tarpaulin arrangement, at which point the rain stopped. Feeling miserable but proud to still be alive, I trudged 1/2 a mile to the nearest pub to buy a beer and to phone my mum before trudging back and going to sleep.

I was woken the next day by the residents of the field I'd camped in: 20 sheep who came and grazed around my camp site shortly after sunrise. I joined them for breakfast with my very nutritional muesli in water. One mile after setting off down the South Downs Way my pannier rack (that's the rack that clamps on the back of the bike and holds bags - in my case a couple of rucksacks tied on with string and a sleeping bag held on with bungees) broke due to rust and age, forcing me to shakily cycle a few more miles to Midhurst to get a replacement.

This unexpected detour resulted in a strange coincidence (fated perhaps) because I ran into an old school friend, Chris, who I had thought lived further away, and had intended to visit at the end of my cycle tour. Chris had recently been cycling all over Europe on his own, so we went to his house and dropped off a lot of my less needed stuff there to lighten my load. I had to change my tactics however: the tarpaulins were too heavy to lug all around Surrey and Sussex, so if it was going to rain, I would have to make it to shelter by that evening. This proved not to be too difficult, and made the journey a lot easier.

That night, Chris and I got drunk, climbed the Downs, cooked over a soggy campfire and slept in his tent. The second day of my journey had gone well and my adventure looked promising...

In the morning, Chris and I parted, and I started heading for Worthing. I stayed north of the Downs, since with my load roads were preferable to tracks. I passed through a beautiful forest of very tall trees with long bare trunks and leaves only at the very top. They looked like inverted mops! I had lunch in the shade of a tree on top of a hill and revelled in the beautiful weather and my freedom from all responsibilities. This was a real change from the mental strain of university in the city!

That afternoon I had to cross over the South Downs to reach Worthing. I wrongly interpreted from my map that it would be as simple as cycling up one side and down the other. When I did reach the top all I could see southwards were fields. Eager to get down into Worthing, I plunged into them.

Three hours later I was still on the Downs and thoroughly lost. Fortunately I could see the sun so, although I didn't know the time, I could aim vaguely southwards. I'd run out of water and hadn't seen another person for hours, and for the first time felt lonely and vulnerable, stuck in the middle of nowhere on my own. I cycled into a wood and suddenly came across civilisation. It was one of the few times I have been glad to see a road full of cars. I discovered I had followed the late afternoon sun too far to the west, requiring me to cycle for a few more hours before reaching my friend Neb's house in Worthing. It had been a hard days cycling but I had survived, and I was pleased with the distance I'd travelled.

I stayed with Neb for two nights, and then I set off again, this time north towards Horsham. I had to cross the Downs again but this time I did not get quite so lost. On the top I stopped at Cissbury (?) Ring to climb a tree and eat an apple. I had lunch in Partridge Green, and made it to Horsham that evening where I met some friends in a pub. When the pub shut, I cycled drunkenly to a friends house where we got stoned, resulting in me spending two hours putting up a very dodgy hammock.

And so my travels continued... When I visited Leo in Dunsfold we went sailing in a two-man laser, camped out with his little brother and friend, and the next day tried to hitch-hike to Scotland. We only made it to Guildford, but we intend to try again sometime.

In Crawley I sat on a bench to recharge with a Mars bar. I had been whistling De La Soul's "Peas Porridge" and was amazed when a bird in the tree above me whistled it right back! We whistled a couple of bars in relay before he gave up and flew off.

In Royal Tunbridge Wells I spent a few hours lying in my hammock waiting for a friend. I met some drunk kids who were celebrating their GCSE results, and we made a little bonfire in the park. We had a cool little gathering when my friends arrived - a mutual harmony grew between the two groups and friendly arguments were held.

On the last night I returned to Chris' house to collect my extra gear, but the family was away at a wedding so I slept in their woodshed and picked up my stuff in the morning. I had been fortunate with the weather, and had not been caught in the rain again since the first night, but within a few miles of my home it started tipping it down and I arrived home soggy and dripping. I didn't mind though, you don't get cold when you're cycling in the rain, and my clothes certainly needed washing anyway!

It was a great two weeks. Good weather and the freedom, simplicity and independence of my adventure meant I could relax and enjoy myself wherever I was. Although at first the going was tough, after a few days I could cover a reasonable distance each day, and looking back I realise I could have got by with less stuff than I had taken. The holiday was also very cheap, and could have been more so if I hadn't drunk so much! I will definitely do something similar again, but probably with a lightweight tent to make me totally independent in all weather. I now know that, given enough time, I can cheaply get to anywhere in England under my own steam, and without polluting the environment. I would encourage anyone who might want to try something similar to go for it!