So, it turns out that handing in my notice was the easy bit and, after a brief, heady interlude of celebration, the reality has now well and truly taken hold.
As have the practicalities.
I now have just 2 weeks left at work and around 6 until we head off into the sunset (or the local ferry port) on our bikes. It’s not long!
In fairness it’s a similar/greater length of time to other pre-adventure preparation but there’s nothing to kick your heart rate and bodily functions up a notch like having a deadline looming.
It’s just over 2 years now since I completed my first multi-day off road bike tour, the stunning beast that is theTrans-Cambrian Trail stretching across the mountainous heartland of Wales.
It was spectacular ride but, over the course of our three, 30-40 mile days, there were some pretty brutal hills involved and much technical riding. A huge, all-consuming challenge and one I was glad I’d completed, but vowed never to repeat. Nope, never again was I likely to go on an epic, off-road, multiday adventure. And if by some miracle I did, there was no way on earth I was hauling all my camping gear.
Memory, it seems however, is a selective thing. When the King Alfred’s Way circular, a new, 225 mile, long-haul bike packing route was launched not far from home last year a little devil appeared on my shoulder.
Cycling in a skirt 