Monday August 10th
– Decided to take the last week of August off and, weather permitting, will ride the South Downs Way.
– This would be my first fully off road bikepacking trip. On Sunday I did a circuit of Epping forest entirely on gravel as a way of prepping. It was incredibly fun and much needed endorphin boost.
– Also a reminder how nice it is to ride a bike without worrying about cars AT ALL. Quite a rare feeling close to London. I can’t believe it’s taken me until now to spend more time in the forest, less than an hour from my flat.
– Otherwise a kind of busy worky week, my productivity severely affected by the 36° heat outside. I have two fans which basically just circulate hot air. It feels so suffocating in these conditions in London. Breathing is like walking in thick mud.
– This podcast, “A Speck in the Sea”, about a fisherman lost (then found) overboard in the Atlantic, close to Montauk, is an incredible story.
– I watched two good films on Sunday evening – Wendy & Lucy (continuing my Kelly Reichardt streak) and Adaptation.
– Both very good. Adaption was one of those films I always weirdly judged because of the DVD cover which has Nicholas Cage’s face badly photoshopped onto a smashed plant pot. I don’t know. It just didn’t feel good.
– I got some photos back, taken mostly in Dungeness and in London over the course of July. Some hits, many misses. This shot of the sunset through my window, through my plant, is my favourite from these two rolls.
– I replaced the dead battery in my Yashica Electro 35 and have put some black and white film in it for a change to mix things up. But in general i’m enjoying shooting film again.
– I looked after Tom and Fionas new dog, Bonnie on Saturday and did my best not to sit on her by accident. She’s still so tiny.
– It was four years this week since I finished my ride across the US in 2016. I discovered this Strava feature – personal heatmaps – which shows the route I took.
– Looking at the thin blue line across the country it is more than a little surreal now. Especially with how much turmoil and division there currently is in the country. For some reason that makes the distance feel even harder to surmount.
– But this map also reminds me that this was a thing I actually did and I am still so proud of this achievement.
– I am thinking a lot about riding across the country again in 2026 – the 10 year anniversary of this trip. I am thinking much much less about the fact I would be 40 then.
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Photo: Early morning at some point in late July
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