Chlo Nicklin

A tough week

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Week 3 of our adventure and we explore the Basque country.

This week we look back on what has been a pretty tough week, although if you look at the videos, it’s hard to tell. Just shows how easy it is to not see the whole picture online! There were definitely some amazing moments though, so it’s not all doom and gloom.

Watch as we cycle up, up, up and cruise on down, through the Basque hills and mountains.

Save up, Sell on, Go Travel

Happy new year! Wow, 2020 sounds like a big deal doesn’t it? It feels as though this year should hold some big, life-changing events. That isn’t the plan for this year but who knows, maybe it will?

Before we move on let’s take a moment. 2019 was a great year for me, I spent most of it training to be a teacher. I then got a job and worked a whole term as a proper-full-time-real-life teacher, woah.
I spent the longest time on my bike ever, riding through Normandy at a relaxed and enjoyable pace for 10 glorious days. It really gave me a taste of what bike-packing is, and can be. I went back to France for the Further rally and then again at Christmas. France played a big part in the fun of 2019, but next year we’re thinking of going further afield.

We have a dream, C and me. We want to save up, sell our things, then travel the world by bike.

This is something that I had never planned on doing, it was never a dream of mine as a teen, I hadn’t even thought it a possibility, until it became a possibility. We have the ideas, the kit, the drive and the wanderlust. All we need now is the money. We have big plans, so that calls for some big changes. C and I love eating out and going on nice trips, but in order for this big dream to come true we need some rules. Keep reading to see how we’re planning on saving up for this trip of a lifetime…

Don’t Eat Out

As I said previously, we LOVE to eat out. We eat out for all occasions, birthdays, anniversaries, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays. We don’t need an excuse to eat out, it has become an expected part of our weekends. But no more! For us to completely cut eating out would be really difficult, it’s a major part of our relationship, we bond over new food experiences and thinking about our next exciting meal can get us through the week. That is why we agreed to eating out once a month. This is still going to save us a butt load of money, and means we don’t have to go completely cold turkey.

No Take-aways

This is another huge outgoing for us (as you are starting to see we spend a lot of our wages on food!) Living in the city with apps such as Deliveroo and Just Eat has changed the whole take-away experience. There are unlimited options, depending on what you fancy, with wait times of as little as 20 minutes sometimes. Why would you cook?! Well, because it is cheaper. Take-aways are hassle free, but they’re not cheap. The meals are often more expensive than when you eat in the restaurants and there’s a delivery charge too – it all adds up! That’s why we are saying goodbye to take-aways completely. Instead we’re stocking up on easy meals, batch cooking and freezing, as well as tons of ramen noodles for those days where we can’t be bothered to cook. I also discovered I could buy 50 frozen spring rolls from the local Chinese Supermarket for only £3. These are a huge weakness of mine and often the reason “I need a chinese!” would be said. 

Veggie at Home

We already cook mainly vegetarian at home purely because we get such a great local veg box. We have some brilliant cook books, that show interesting, seasonal recipes which we are enjoying working our way through. This being said, we would also buy the odd bit of meat to cook up. This is an expensive luxury, especially as we prefer to buy local and organic. So we have decided to not buy any more meat this year. This way we save money, cut down our meat intake, but also get to enjoy the roast dinner Mum has spent hours making. For us, this makes sense and will save us a little bit of money. 

We don’t need Coffee

This is something that may take a while to sink in. We really enjoy going round to our local cafe for a good cup of coffee. It is sociable, gets us up and out early on a weekend and also, it tastes blooming good. We often meet up with friends for a coffee and this is how we prefer to start our weekends. But, coffee out is not a necessity. We can make good coffee at home, and invite friends over to ours to be sociable. This is an easy change that should help us save, little by little. 

Make Lunches

C is really good for this, he will spend hours in the kitchen on a Sunday making a feast to box up and eat for the week at work. I, on the other hand, am a little more lazy. Lunches aren’t exciting for me, and as a teacher I don’t have a load of time to make my way through a delicious meal. Grab and go is my motto. That being said, it is much tastier, and cheaper for me to make my meals at home. Now, all I need is some inspiration! 

No unnecessary Luxuries

This can count as anything. Getting my nails done, buying new gadgets, getting your car washed. Whatever it is, we need to stop and think, do I need this? Could I be spending this money somewhere more exciting? (For example, in whichever country we travel to) 9 times out of 10 the answer will probably be, no I don’t need this. This is a conversation I will be having with myself a lot over the next year. I like to get my nails done, especially since I stopped biting them, but I have a whole box of nail varnish that I can do myself. So I’m going to be saving the £25 I spend monthly!

Stay In

C and I don’t really ‘go out’ – except for food as you can gather.  So staying in activities already include cooking, watching films/series, listening to audio books, reading, listening to music, learning languages, drawing, yoga, doing crosswords etc. We are just going to do these things even more. 

Cycling to Work

A big outgoing could be the morning commute. Luckily C and I both work close enough to cycle so that will stay our main method of transport. Some days, when it’s dark and wet the bus could be tempting but I will wrap up and push those peddles. It’ll be worth it in the end. 

Sell Things

My last point is to sell things. This doesn’t mean go completely minimalist, we’re still going to want belongings when we return from our trip. We will look through our things and have another long hard think, do I actually use/need/want this? Would someone else appreciate it more? I know Depop is a great platform to sell things, as well as Ebay and Facebook marketplace, among others and selling things is super easy these days so we will make the most of it.

The biggest thing for us to work on is our relationship with food. We need to go back to how food was looked at when we were kids. Eating out was for celebrations, or it was seen as a treat. Take-aways were rare and for big events and celebrations also. We are going to be having more dinner parties and breakfast mornings at our house so come on over friends and family, we’re looking forward to seeing you.

C xoxo

Rides: Glastonbury to Brighton

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DAY 1

We started in a very hectic Brighton station, it was Pride and the town was full to the brim with colourful and glittery people (around 400,000 people were at the Pride parade this year!) Luckily for us they had barriers so that people leaving the city didn’t get crushed by the immense amount of people getting off the trains (although I do feel sorry for everyone that had horrible experiences when trying to leave the city that evening)
The next 4 hours were spent mainly standing up, squeezing our bikes in to spaces that allowed others to walk by and getting scolded for not having booked a bike space – even though all the bike spaces were already taken up when we got on the train but whatever.

We arrived at Castle Cary after a very pleasant journey with a really sweet, retired train conductor being an absolute hero, and had a fabulous evening with some wonderful friends and then took ourselves off to bed at midnight. I wanted to get a decent nights sleep before riding the next day but that didn’t happen, who knew people still partied all night/morning long.

The music never actually stopped but I managed to grab about 4 hours before giving up and going to find breakfast. This was another experience I’d never had before, as I sort of forgot how many people were there and didn’t really think anyone else would have been awake (again, who knew people still did all-nighters?!) I ventured out in my sports bra and bib shorts… The other party goers didn’t expect to see that after a night of dancing! I stood awkwardly for a little while before realising I was going to be wearing that same outfit for the next couple of days so I quickly got over it and enjoyed a sausage bap before sorting out the last few bits on the bike and getting ready to make a move.

And then we were off! Everything started off well, I felt super comfortable on my bike and loved whizzing fast down the twisty roads and hills, it was exhilarating and I felt like I was flying. C was keeping me updated with how long until the next hill which helped as I’d read somewhere that being prepared for them made them easier (liars). I also read that pushing back in the saddle and breathing deeply will make you more comfortable and trick your mind into thinking you’ve totally got this (this actually did help) We got to a point on the Garmin that showed only one more hill, and when we turned the corner we saw it and gasped! IT WAS VERTICAL. I didn’t even attempt it, no amount of deep breathing would work on this giant monster (obviously C smashed it) After the slog up the mountainous hill we decided we’d stop soon for a drink.

We ended up at Hauser and Wirth Somerset, it was beautiful and exciting as I’d seen it on TV and always wanted to go! After a couple of lemonades and a coffee we were off again. By now my shoulder and neck were starting to hurt, this was from a previous problem but I was still going strong. We rode along for quite a while, taking in the gorgeous Somerset and then Dorset countryside before stopping off at a pub that had, just that day, started serving wood fired pizza, coincidence? I think not.

C let me know there was one more hill before it was “all” downhill to the campsite. This hill nearly broke me, I think I stopped about 10 times but I refused to get off and push, I was determined to ride the whole way up, no matter how long it took me. It was really nice to reach an obstacle that felt impossible and push myself to complete it and it felt SO good when I got to the top. I felt powerful and able to tackle the next hill that came along with a bit more oomph

Perseverance, a series.

After riding off road (on a road bike) and eventually having a little break down, due to exhaustion, pain and the inability to actually get back onto my bike (thank you C for pushing it along the trail for a little while, I really needed that) we finished the journey and finally we reached the campsite, a cute field in the New Forest with toilets, showers and sinks (because we’re fancy.) We had spent some time riding around the local villages looking for a shop to buy dinner and at last found an open Tesco where we grabbed a couple of ready meals to heat up and OJ.

The campsite had a little tuck shop, which I obviously took advantage of, and we were able to charge our phones too! The tent was super easy to put up and it was really nice being able to shower and change out of our bike gear (although next time I must remember to pack a dress) We had a chilly night but slept ok, and started the next day full of excitement and drive, even though my hands, neck and butt felt like I’d been beaten up a bit (hands from holding my brakes too hard when going downhill, on rocks, too blooming fast, neck from my already existent shoulder pain spreading upwards and butt, well, that’s obvious) We thought about maybe staying an extra night there and exploring a bit of the New Forest but I’m really glad we decided to carry on our journey instead (the decision was partly based on the shoddy quality eggs at the campsite – we always expect them to be local and free range but were sad to see they were cheap, caged eggs. Something we rarely see in campsites we’ve been to and it was a big shame.)

It was such a good feeling, being on a bike, riding for hours, getting to a campsite and setting up, eating, washing, sleeping, knowing that I completed a whole day of riding and that I am totally capable to doing it all again. I didn’t even question getting back on that bike, even through the soreness and tiredness, it was something I just wanted to do and I felt extremely powerful.

DAY 2

Day 2 started off well, we were really glad we didn’t decide to stay in the New Forest and after going through the trees for a little while we whizzed out on to a long, flat road, which was great fun. But it didn’t take long for the hills to start again and after a cold nights sleep, and my shoulder already being sore I struggled quite a lot. We had a good system though, as we were riding through really lovely, quiet villages for a lot of the way we would just pull over and C would give my shoulder a quick rub, after that I could ride for another hour before it started aching again, and it meant that we had some sweet stop spots where we were able to take in our surroundings for a moment before moving on again. One massage stop was outside an adorable little church and another was outside an incredible, giant house, it was like something out of a Disney movie.

We decided to take a detour into Winchester to pick up another blanket as we were really cold the night before. It wasn’t hard to find our way around and other than the people being a bit snooty and looking at us like we were aliens, the town was very pretty and we managed to find a nice cafe where we got a load of drinks and a sandwich in the sun. We grabbed a new blanket and then headed out of Winchester towards our campsite for the night, an easy 10 mile ride over a lovely viaduct and through some more cute villages. Or so we thought!

After riding pretty fast down some really gorgeous, twisty, tree lined roads, and tackling another mammoth hill my neck and shoulders were not happy at all, I was counting down the miles and was determined to make it to the campsite as quick as I could. We had forgotten to fill up our water bottles in Winchester so I suggested we stopped off at a pub and fill them up there. C’s face dropped as soon as we rolled our bikes into the beer garden and he turned to me and said

“I’ve got something to tell you…”

I was so tired I couldn’t even think what it could have been and just stared at him blankly until he said

“we’ve been going the wrong way.”

I continued to stare at him, then I slumped into a seat and rested my head on the table. I wasn’t angry, I actually don’t think I felt anything, I was just gearing myself up for the extended journey we had ahead of us. I didn’t think for a second that there would be a way for us to get to the campsite without having to ride the now 20 mile journey. C went into the bar and they gave him a number for a local taxi service, we were quoted £50 before they even knew we had bikes too and then we were turned down as they didn’t have a vehicle big enough. I was even more certain now that we were going to have to ride so I was concentrating on preserving my energy. BUT THEN an incredible thing happened, the barmaid came out and asked if we’d had any luck with the taxi, when we told her no she wasn’t surprised, saying that the taxi service around there was rubbish, but she also told us that a guy at the bar had offered to take us to our campsite for £20! I suddenly perked up a little and looked up at the barmaid with the biggest smile I could muster.

The guy had a flat bed truck with sides so we plonked our bikes in the back whilst we rode up front. The journey was over an hour round trip and the guy – Matt – lived in the village the pub was in, so it was purely a gesture of kindness. He was really lovely and meeting him was worth going in the wrong direction. We cycled the same distance we had planned to that day and had our faith restored in the British public, so it was all in all an incredible experience.

The campsite we stayed in was basically just a field, it had a shower block and recycling area and was lovely and simple. In the field next to us they had an old double decker bus that was used as a shop, it was really sweet, but almost empty after the weekend, we managed to get some bread though that we ate in the morning. After setting up our tent we took all of our packs off of the bikes and flew down to the local village pub for dinner. It was soo delicious and a really great end to the day. We ate a load , had the best blackberries ever, and then zoomed back up the hills to the campsite (riding without packs made me feel super speedy!) At the top of the hill we snuck into a field to watch the sun set, the sky was alive and it really made me feel in the moment. I was so lucky to have been there, having eaten great food, with my best friend, flying on our bikes together. It was special.

We slept well, although a little upside down. And then made ourselves a breakfast of coffee, eggs and bread (after an animal had helped themselves in the night – check out the bread in the picture at the top!)  The thought of riding another day was hard, I was sore, not only from my shoulder pain but also my legs, my butt, my hands. We decided that a lot of the riding we were planning to do would be in places we’d already been before, and as we didn’t want to have to camp again so close to home we chose to ride to a station 40k away and hop on a train home instead.

Although it was a shame that we ended our trip on the train I am so glad we did. I am able to look back on the trip with only positive thoughts, I didn’t break myself that last day just to make a point, I listened to my body and stopped when I needed to stop. And after the most incredible 180k trip I cannot wait to get back on the bike again.

It seems that this is a recurring thought I have at the end of bike trips, as soon as it ends I want to start again. I love the freedom bike packing has given me, the time it gives C and I as a couple, the experience of pure peace and the gratitude of beauty. We get to see places we wouldn’t see by car or foot, and we get to spend time outside, in the elements, with nothing but our own power getting us from place to place.

It is an experience I am so glad I have discovered the joy of. In this next chapter of my life I believe it will keep me sane, keep me determined and keep me happy.

I can’t wait to see where it takes me, or better yet, where I take me.

Introducing: Princess Creaky

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The first ride on my wonderful new bike was certainly an interesting one. We decided to ride from Brighton to Seaford and I insisted I didn’t want to ride on the road (so really this adventure was all down to me!) It started off relatively normal, a lovely bimble along the seafront, the sound of the sea, a strange distant creaking coming from my bike (She is now called Princess Creaky, and we still haven’t figured out where the noise is coming from, sort of scary when you’re riding an amateur built bike, but it’s all part of the fun!) and repeated gasps of “Wow! We live here!” as our soundtrack.

It was an absolutely beautiful day and I am very proud to announce that I have started my cyclist’s tan(!) We had looked at the route online the night before and I had a bit of a sulk because I didn’t want to ride up a hill, please bare in mind that this hill was one I’d seen many cyclists struggling up throughout my life, and I had sworn I’d never be one of them. In the end we had no choice but to go up said hill and I actually really surprised myself with how easy I found it. I was so proud when we reached the top that I couldn’t stop beaming and I am defo putting it down to me being an amazing cyclist, totally ignoring the fact that the many cyclists I’d seen before had perhaps been incredibly unfit or at the end of a very long ride. Once up the GIGANTIC hill that I totally crushed (apparently I’m still proud) we had the option of continuing on the road or heading towards the clifftop, I, being stubborn and really not wanting to get beeped at by another taxi, (that’s a different story) decided that we should go along the clifftop. And oh boy! That was where the adventure truly started! 


I had always said that I’m too much of a scared-y-cat to go mountain biking, the speed and obstacles are terrifying and I was convinced I’d break a bone if I ever tried, and I’m not saying that we ended up on a trail like that, BUT… we basically ended up on a trail like that. After riding along the under cliff for a while, realising we’d reached a dead end and then turning back and lugging our bikes up a huge flight of stairs (to help you imagine this I’ll put a picture of them here) we ended up on a part of the clifftop I’d never seen before. Here was where I had to learn very quickly about which brake to pull when you’re going downhill, along the edge of a cliff with rocks and ruts underneath you (it’s the back one FYI) Meanwhile I was trying to take in the incredible view, failing at taking in the view and instead just screaming to myself. Luckily C was far enough ahead of me that he couldn’t hear my wailing, or the sound of Princess Creaky going absolutely mental, she was equally as scared as me I think, but instead he was busy taking pictures that make me look like I might actually know what I’m doing. After the far-too-fast downhill, rocky ordeal was over we found ourselves a little bit stuck. We both had to get off of our bikes and push them over uneven ground, up steep rocks and along grooves where the cliff had fallen down (that wasn’t terrifying at all) before we eventually found ourselves out of the wilderness and onto a road again. This time I was actually happy about riding on the road and we zoomed along the delightfully flat surface almost all the way to Seaford. We ended the ride with fish and chips with my Mum and a dip in the sea and quite honestly I couldn’t have been happier. 


Although I joke about it being terrifying and tiring, I couldn’t stop smiling the whole time I was on my bike. Negotiating rocks and cliff tops was exhilarating and incredible, and I felt strong and able. I cannot wait to continue my cycling journey and really hope that there are many many more rides like this in my future. Apparently terrifying yourself is the way to go, who knew? 
C xoxo

Building a Frankenbike

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We spent a long hot saturday in a beautiful barn building my very own franken-bike, and it was totally marvellous. The frame was the original Mason Bokeh prototype, and the parts were leftovers and spares. This bike is not only amazing for me, but it is, and will always be the only one like it in the world. The experience of actually building a bike was not something I’d ever think I’d have, but I am so glad that I did. To see how a bike fits together, and truly graft for something makes it all the more special and I can’t wait to get out on it, adventuring all over the country, continent and … well lets not get ahead of ourselves. At the moment we only have one trip planned but I can’t wait to see how this bike moves, how I feel on it and how far I can go now. Let’s hope we’re a match made in heaven, because I think this bike and I are going places. 
C xoxo

The raw frame. Prototypes are usually left unpainted as they’re meant for checking geometry and technical specs where paint isn’t always important.
C working on a fiddly bit.
Getting the knack for fitting tyres and learning the tyre-well trick. Fitting tyres without levers: goal accomplished.
Frame prepped, parts fitted, gears set-up, brakes bled, wheelset assembled, contact points finished and bars wrapped! Did it myself!!

Brighton – Arundel, the first adventure.

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This was my first proper padded-bum-whole-shabang bike ride. We cycled along the sea, through the countryside and ended up in the quaint little town of Arundel, the round trip was about 50 miles. I actually surprised myself with how well I could ride, although I do feel that will be a whole different story once I try out cleats. We stopped only once on the way there for a pizza break, naturally, but all in all I felt good and was really happy with my performance.

Once we’d arrived we parked up our bikes in a padlocked shed at the entrance of Arundel Castle and then spent some time wondering around with the sound of C’s cleats tap dancing as we went. The Castle was very pretty but we needed to grab some food and head back so we didn’t stay long. This was when the “fun” started…

Now, sitting on a drop bar bike for a long period of time isn’t natural, or at least it certainly didn’t feel that way for me, the ride there was absolutely fine, although I have to admit I was pleased to be off the bike whilst we were exploring the castle. Getting back on was not so fine. My neck felt like it was going to break. I hadn’t ever considered that to be something worth thinking about, yet here I was, my neck being the only thing holding me back from a pretty smooth bike ride, I was surprised at first, but very quickly became irritated and impatient. All I could concentrate on was how heavy my head was feeling and no matter how much water I was drinking or different positions I was trying (or at least trying to try) nothing was relieving the pain. I was suddenly very jealous of anyone that can ride with no hands, and very annoyed at the fact I had never tried to master the “look mum no hands” during my years of riding up and down the street as a kid.

The pain was actually the most surprising discovery from this ride. Generally I felt good on the bike, my legs felt strong and I didn’t feel completely out of breath which I had expected to, it was other parts of my body, that I had never even thought about, that really hurt. Neck, hands, shoulders, arms. Why this surprised me, I don’t know, it makes total sense that these body parts will ache after being held in a position they weren’t used to, but I was completely dumbfounded at the pain I was feeling. The only pain I was expecting was my legs to be dead, and even after waiting a couple of days for DOMS to set in, the pain never came. Instead the palms of my hands felt like they’d been punched, the top of my back and my shoulders felt stiff and bruised and I couldn’t even squeeze toothpaste because my forearms were so weak. I’m not entirely sure how to stop any of these things from not hurting again, I guess just practise and allowing my body to get used to the position I ride in will help, but I’m determined for bike rides to not be made more difficult because of my heavy head/weak neck.

I know that one big change that can help ease the pain will be riding a bike that fits me and is mine and this is something I am very excited to say has happened! I spent the day yesterday building my very own, sort of franken-bike, and I could not be more thrilled.

I will post all about the build soon! So until then, see ya!

C xoxo