We have made lots of lovely memories on this short cycling trip here are some of the highlights
Emily: visiting the different campsites
Tom: cycling, swimming and camping
Hannah: crazy golf and swimming
Daddy: Carisbrooke castle, cycling
Mummy: Osbourne house, sunny weather
Take a look at the blog of our French family cycling adventure to see the kit we took and how we cycle as a family. I re-read the blog before leaving for the IOW to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything. We only changed a few things this time...
Chairs: I promised myself after France that I would research lightweight camping chairs as I'm getting too old now to sit on the floor for days at a time. We took adapters to France with us which changed our thermarests into a floor seat with a back, but it still wasn't the same. This time Adrian and I bought Helinox chairs - they were very comfy for their weight and fold up quite small - the kids were certainly jealous whenever we kicked them off back onto the picnic rug!
Sharp knife: Adrian was not happy with the blunt knife I took to France and the absence of scissors so we now have a small sharp knife in a sheath - it's a lovely purple colour!
Full waterproofs: we only took jackets to France - this time I packed waterproof legs for everyone too, but in fact we didn't wear them - however the English weather could have been so much worse - we were very lucky and it wasn't worth not packing them.
Cold weather clothes: I packed extra cold weather clothes - skins for the kids, extra sleeping clothes for me and a new downs jacket which packed up really small but was super warm (I even sneaked in a hot water bottle in my bags - a real weight luxury, but I NEVER camp in England without one)
Tarp: I did quite a bit of research for a tarp to protect us from the British weather and we went for a tunnel tarp to put over the tent in the end. After a bit of trial and error it was a useful addition to our kit.
So, our packing was actually a little heavier than in France for a shorter tour but we were having to be prepared for greater changes in weather. On the plus side, I had room as the twins were carrying all their own gear this time where as in France I had their stuff in each of my front panniers.
The fail of the trip:
Our vango tent leaked spectacularly!.... The first 5 days we had no rain, but every morning the dew / condensation had leaked puddles throughout the porch area and even dripped through into the bedroom area in a few places. Even waterproofing it didn't seem to make a huge difference. It has been used on two tours and the odd one nighter in two years so it is rather disappointing - I will contact Vango this week to see what they suggest - we will not be able to risk it in heavy downpours..
The family cycled 50 miles / 80km in total over the 6 days we were away.
I'm really glad we decided to keep up the momentum and do even a mini tour this year. Here's to planning another European tour sometime in the future.
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