Bikepacking - Yeovil to Salisbury

Day #

74

State of Legs

:-)

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	Distance (miles)	Distance (km)	Ascent (feet)	Ascent (metres)	Punctures
Today	55 miles	km	2743 feet	metres	0
Trip Totals	2842 miles	km	130131 feet	metres	0

Today's Route

Route So Far

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Travelogue

I woke this morning to a fairly heavy mist and an even heavier dew. The outside of the tent was drenched and to my dismay, the floor of the tent under my sleeping mat was wet too. I have to conclude that the floor of the MSR Hubba Hubba tent is not sufficiently waterproof. I read a complaint about this the other day in a review of the product. I'd started to have suspicions about this issue in Picos de Europa and now I'm convinced. I shall have to look into how to remedy this when this trip is over. Never mind. The tent has done well in all other respects.

I packed everything away, including the very wet tent and was on the road by 7:30.

Today turned out to be a Tale of Three Counties. I said goodbye to lovely Somerset, cycled through Dorset and ended the ride in the county of Wiltshire, just outside the cathedral city of Salisbury.

I haven't mentioned "ear worms" on the blog before, but the fact is I've often found myself with a tune stuck in my head, sometimes for days. Illuminate by Orbital, featuring David Gray was one. The Words That Maketh Murder by P J Harvey was another (listen to that one - it's an incredible piece). But today, not particularly surprisingly, it was Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel. Yes, I know Solsbury and Salisbury are not the same, but try telling that to the department in my brain that selects ear worms!

Up to this point, much of the route I've followed has involved the National Cycle Network whose routes are generally numbered. Today, I followed parts of routes I'd never heard of before, starting with the South Somerset Cycleway, followed by the North Dorset Cycleway (which seems to be National Cycle Network route 253), and then the Wiltshire Cycleway. It worked very well, and I spent most of the day cycling on quiet country lanes.

I passed through a few towns, including Sherborne with its amazing abbey. There were numerous picturesque churches and thatched cottages along the way, of which only one or two were photographed. If I stopped to photograph everything I liked, I'd not get any cycling done at all!

Here are a few photos that did get taken:

English country lanes are often bordered by large hedgerows

A view, quite possibly of Dorset

NCN 26 made a contribution to the route today as well

Sherbourne Abbey - better than it looks in the photo

Milborne Wick, one of many very nice villages

Handsome!

The hedges here were great - look at the curve!

See?

Buzzards!

Salisbury! Home to that famous hill that Peter Gabriel sings about!

I passed a rather odd sight and stopped quickly to take a photo. Look what these people have created in their front garden and then ask yourself this important question...... WHY????!!!

Today's campsite is on a farm which grows fruit and also has an impressive set of solar panels in a field. It did make me wonder, given their evident knowledge of solar energy here, why they couldn't put that knowledge to good use and provide HOT SHOWERS!!!! Yes, all water provided in the simple toilet and shower wooden cabins is cold. My shower certainly "refreshed" me, anyway!

I'm the only person camping here at the moment, so I have the place to myself. It's peaceful (apart from traffic noise from the nearest road) and the view is very pleasant.

I arranged all the bits of the tent and left them to dry in the breeze before putting the tent up properly. It did the job and the tent dried out quite quickly.

The nearest food is a couple of hilly miles away so I rode The Mule without bags and got myself food for now, later and tomorrow morning. Sorted.

Two more days of cycling and I'll be home!