After getting back on my bike almost a week ago, last night I got back out there with my hammock. I keep saying I want to persist local camping as the seasons change and weather declines. With the clocks changing the early dark nights can put you off even leaving the house and I almost talked myself out of it. But I had a moment where I was certain I would go.
As quickly as I could I was packed and ready to go.
As soon as I left I was instantly glad. The main reason being it wasn’t actually that cold. I often assume it’s cold outside solely because it’s dark but that isn’t always true. Obviously. That and I suppose it is November so it really should be cold. But it was a pleasant 11°ᶜ and would actually hold that temperature throughout the night and the rain was forecast only for the hours I would be in my hammock and, more importantly, under my tarp. This would leave it dry to cycle both there and back in the morning. I should clarify by saying rain free rather than dry. Having rained through the night, the ride home reminded me I need to fit mudguards.
..a beautiful and pleasant break on my ride.
Once you cycle past Stretton and cross the M56 there is a distinct lack of street lighting. This made it easy to follow the source of fireworks when I saw them lighting the night sky. I quickly found myself in a pub car park enjoying a stunning fireworks display with around 200 other spectators . This made for a beautiful and pleasant break on my ride and a great chance to play with my camera. After finishing my ride and finding a place to camp, I setup my hammock and cooked up a Thai Green Chicken Curry. The rain started just as I was ready for bed.
During the night rain was heavy. I remember thinking that this rain would last all through the day meaning a miserable ride home. I was also convinced I could feel a steady water-drop on my hammock suspension and paranoid the water would travel to the hammock and cause a damp and cold night sleep. Such is the pessimistic sleeping mind. None of these things happened. In fact, the rain did stop and while it returned few times during my breakfast routine, it was completely gone for my ride back home… Perfect!
The farmer had quite clearly spotted me..
Typically, in the morning I realised I was nowhere near as hidden as thought the previous night. As the morning went on I saw a few cars and joggers and dog walkers pass me by, mostly unnoticed. There was one farmer who turned into a gated field opposite on his quad-bike who appeared again later on his way out as I was getting out of bed proper. I hid behind my tarp in case he didn’t want me there. I started to creep my head around a little to see if he might notice me and he had quite clearly spotted me already and shot his arm up with a friendly morning wave and a huge grin on his face before driving away. People generally really don’t care if you want to pitch a hammock in a small bit of woodland.
Thrilled to be camping in my hammock again 🙂
0 Comments