SLOTHO Day 8: cycling from Edmundbyers to Newcastle

[@CarolineSheppard-cx7fr]

Loved watching this Sloth adventure, particularly enjoyed the music you chose making the experience even more serene and peaceful ❤

[@RAsadventures-zr1ge]

Thank you! That's nice. I find that going on a bike ride, seeing and experiencing things on the way, is a mentally soothing experience - it would be nice if the videos have captured some of that. Thanks for your nice comment!

[@chriswalch-biketouringamat3566]

Thank you for sharing your adventure. I’ve watched them all and thoroughly enjoyed each one.

[@RAsadventures-zr1ge]

Thank you. I'm really glad you've enjoyed them. Thanks for letting me know - they did take a long time to edit so it's really nice to receive feedback like yours. Thanks!

[@MichaelHenderson1948]

Thank you, and well done. Very enjoyable videos.

[@RAsadventures-zr1ge]

Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed them. Thanks for the feedback - I appreciate it!

[@tfluffybunny]

What a fabulous adventure, I loved the SLOTHO tour and consider myself now thoroughly educated! Hope you have another cycle adventure soon, looking forward to watching it.

[@RAsadventures-zr1ge]

Thank you so much for that nice comment! I'll do my best to oblige before too long! Thank you for watching all the way through and for your supportive comments!

[@essextrails]

That was another great video. It got so busy along the cycle routes and you came close to a head on collision with the guy in blue who wasn't looking. A super series, thanks for sharing and I shall look out for future adventures and look back on past ones.All the best.

[@RAsadventures-zr1ge]

Thanks for all your supportive comments through this series. I hope I shall be able to bring you some more videos soon. In the meantime, happy cycling and walking!

[@jbenn43457]

Well done!

[@RAsadventures-zr1ge]

Thank you!

[@LanceWicks]

Thanks for sharing your journey. I rode the Hadrian's wall route last year so that part brought back lovely memories. I really like the hostel tour idea. Might try similar. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@RAsadventures-zr1ge]

The Hadrian's Way part of the route was really nice - especially considering how industrial the area used to be. I never got to the Wall this time but I've ridden and walked along it in the past and it's quite an experience! And I'm so glad I have rediscovered Hostelling - yes, do give it a go! On my first hostelling overnight this year I took my sheet sleeping bag, just in case, but things are much more luxurious and convenient now! But the YHA network has some big gaps because of the cut-backs.

[@glyn829]

Thats great 👍 i always fancied staying in a YH very nice tour Glyn

[@RAsadventures-zr1ge]

Thanks. I'm glad you liked it and thanks for commenting. One of my big takeaways from this trip was how enjoyable it is staying in Youth Hostels. And you don't have to be youthful and hardy these days which is good as I am no longer either of those things! I hope to be doing more Hostelling in future!

[@johnm-wv6bo]

Loved your SLOTHO journey wish the weather would pick up every time i go cycling it seems to rain, maybe i should buy a canoe instead.

[@RAsadventures-zr1ge]

"The good weather is just over the horizon", and there it has stayed for most of the winter and spring! We can but hope! I'm glad you liked the series. Thanks for commenting! Enjoy your cycling, or canoeing!

[@Trekon2]

Lovely video, music , scenery, great commentary. What make is your bike please and how long have you owned it ? Welldone for finally finishing your adventure and Thank you for sharing 👏 👋

[@RAsadventures-zr1ge]

Thank you for your nice comment! I am glad you liked the video - I can take no credit for the scenery but I enjoyed it at least as much as you did! My bike is a Thorn Nomad Mk2. I think it's quite an early one, around 2008 vintage but with very low mileage. I bought it early this year. It's heavy, but I think it would have been ideal for some of the tours I did last year, being strong, easy to service and able to carry a good load. I think SLOTHO was a good try out for us both on lots of different terrain, and we got on ok, albeit a bit slowly!

[@davidwalsh566]

Well done on completing the ride, particularly in view of the disruption caused by the weather. You've shown that it is still possible to plan a long-distance trip around YHA accommodation, despite the closures in recent years, and also that a bike is the perfect machine for exploring the countryside. 'The horse that needs no hay', as someone once referred to the bicycle! Apart from the near head-on with the chap in the blue jacket near the waggonway, I wonder whether you had any other close shaves on the trip? Also, how was the back by the time you got to Newcastle? I find that a bike ride usually irons out such aches and pains.

[@RAsadventures-zr1ge]

Alas, this time cycling didn't cure my back - but it doesn't seem to make it any worse either and time seems to be the best healer on this occasion. There weren't really any close shaves on the tour - apart from the blue-jacket guy and we just laughed about that. There were one or two ( and probably no more than that) close passes on roads (mainly when I was not riding far enough from the kerb to occupy my lane) but on the whole drivers were very considerate and seemed to be responding to the structures of the latest highway code, and I always try to make it easy for drivers who politely hang back to get past when the opportunity arises. Thanks for watching the series! I'm hoping to produce some more videos before too long, but first I need to go for a bike ride or two!

[@dooley-ch]

Congratulations on completing your journey and thanks for sharing. I'll be looking out for your next adventure.... I'd be very interested in seeing. a gear review from you. For instance are those Carradice Super C front panniers you are using? I live in Switzerland and am thinking of getting a pair, put I can only buy online, so I can't check then out from myself to know if they are good quality and who much you can actually get into them....

[@RAsadventures-zr1ge]

Thanks. I am not really much of a gear expert. I bought Carradice panniers for 2 reasons - the durability of the cotton duck and the rear pockets on the rear panniers which are great for milk/water etc which you buy for your evening camp (I bought them to replace 40 year old Karrimor ones which had similar pockets which I used a lot). But the Carradice rear panniers are huge which means easy to overload, and I really feel the windage! I have had more use recently from the front ones used on the rear of various bikes - but now I have nowhere for all those extra bottles to go (I've just bought some fabric bottle carriers from Decathlon to try this year). They are reasonably good at keeping out water but I pack a lot of my stuff in dry-bags because they aren't completely waterproof in hours-long rainstorms - unlike some Ortlieb models. I was amused last year when I was in France and another cyclist came up and without hesitation spoke to me in English - he could see my surprise and said "Carradice, so I knew you were British!" I also use saddlebags to keep waterproofs, lunch, tools etc in so I don't end up opening a pannier in a thunderstorm! My saddlebags are by Carradice too - I still have a synthetic one from 50 years ago! Size-wise, the front bags are perfect for hostelling or minimalist camping, but now I have a bike with a strong rear carrier I may start using the proper rear panniers on very long trips.

[@dooley-ch]

@@RAsadventures-zr1ge Thanks! That is exactly the kind of feedback I needed. At 60 I still tour on my Dawes Super Galaxy that I bought here in Switzerland over 30 years ago!!! I'm Irish by birth and Swiss by choice ;-)

[@ianseddon9347]

Super, peaceful film, beautifully filmed, edited & great soundtrack, looks like a great ride, how did you navigate? Paper or electric?

[@RAsadventures-zr1ge]

It was a great ride. For navigation I used a Garmin. My route planning tends to begin on the OS app, identifying the SUSTRANS routes, then a mix of Komoot (which is usually great for finding cycle routes in towns and others that OS doesn't show) and also OS which is good for identifying roads I want to keep off and paths I particularly want to follow, including rights of way. Sometimes I am lazy and only use Komoot, but I don't always agree with its choices and its maps are so unclear that I often don't realize what it's done! I like paper maps, but I would need a trailer to put them all in on a long tour! Thanks for your kind comment. It's nice to hear that you've enjoyed them.

[@ianseddon9347]

@@RAsadventures-zr1ge thank you , yes a lifetime of touring and I still feel happiest with paper maps, these days we don’t mail them home after we come to the end of the sheet …. Maps and post charges have certainly risen since 1970!

[@RAsadventures-zr1ge]

@@ianseddon9347 My inspiration usually comes from a paper map - even now they still have a place. You can see both a large area and a useful scale for routing on a paper map. Using a Garmin you can ride right past something you'd like to visit that's just one street away, because you see only your route and not your surroundings.