Another Bike Box in Another Hall

4 September 2022 by cycling in a skirt 13 Comments

Until recently I’ve never slept in so many different places. Over the past 3 months we’ve rarely spent more than one or 2 nights in the same place and only a handful of stops have been for longer. In fact, until now, I think I’ve only fully unpacked my panniers and hung up my clothes once.

It’s amazing how quickly you can get used to living out of a bag and to moving on every day or so. I’ve become very adept at being able to reach into my clothes bag and select by feel the item I want to wear. To be honest it’s not a massive choice, but it means I rarely need to unpack everything.

Until now.

For the last 10 days we’ve been in the same bed, in the same location and it’s a bit weird.

Moving back in with my long-suffering parents we now have access to both unchanging accommodation and an entire wardrobe of clothes.

It was a very strange feeling that first day back, climbing up into their attic to be confronted by (about a quarter of) our worldly possessions. Overwhelming. It’s hard to believe we own so much stuff, especially since we’ve happily made do with just a handful of clothes for the last few months.

Tempting though it was to just carry on wearing pannier-chic, I’ve been rediscovering other, non-cycle related garments whilst the bib-shorts have a well-earned break (and soak in detergent)!

The other area of confusion has been the bedroom! I’ve lost track of the number of different camping pitches and B&Bs we’ve slept in, each with its own unique foibles or positioning. There have been beds squeezed into rooms that are hardly any bigger so you have to climb over your companion to get out. There have also been camping spots that are decided slopey where you have to brace yourself at night to stop a slow slide sideways. What I’ve found this last week though is its equally weird sleeping normally.

I woke up in full-fledged panic recently being convinced M had pitched the tent on the edge of a cliff (to be fair it’s not unlikely). Flailing around with my arm out, all I could feel to the side of me was a great void of space. Convinced I’d roll off my sleeping mat and plummet to my doom, it took a significant chunk of time to realise I was just sleeping in a bed. On a mattress. In a normal bedroom.

Given the number of different places we’ve slept in it’s very easy to get confused, especially in the middle of the night when you’re half asleep. This was M’s excuse anyway when a few nights ago, in the wee small hours, he managed to take a wrong turn coming out of the bathroom and ended up in my parents’ bedroom, wondering why me and the bed had changed positions.

Fortunately realisation dawned before he climbed in under the covers with them. There was much amusement the next morning however as luckily they saw the funny side!

Night wanderings aside, it definitely feels like time to get going again. It’s been fantastic to have a little bit of time back in the UK, to catch up with family and with life. To stop and regroup. To breathe. The bikes have been given much love and attention too as well as a full service and some new parts by our wonderful mechanic Gary. Kit has been washed and mended and we have some exciting new additions which will hopefully make life a little more comfortable, or at least will add to the weight we’re carrying.

So, with less than 24 hours to go, here we are again, ready to move. Another bike box rests, in another hall; the taxi is booked and the bags packed and parcel-taped together in a way that can best be described as ‘badly wrapped Christmas present’.

Canada and the U.S. here we come, apologies in advance!

 

*******************************************************************************************************

If you enjoy reading about adventure, travel, cycling or all 3 why not check out my book: How To Cycle Canada the Wrong Way.

It’s the story of a forty-something woman with no clue in life and no cycle touring experience. What she does have is a sense of adventure, a second hand bicycle and a skirt and the idea of riding across Canada….the wrong way.

Available on Amazon in e-reader and paperback formats.