Ecotopia Biketour 2019 - Part 2
The Bike Train to EF summer gathering (a.k.a. the "split off")
After a few more hours at the pub waiting for torrential rains to calm down, the four of us (abandoned by the group!) get moving, as a heard of scavenging jackals, through the city. Our attempts at dumpster-diving and table-diving are meagre, so we start cycling back eastwards when night is falling. After the first turn into a small road crossing a beautiful park, Katia’s tyre explodes. We’ll camp there for the night, straight on the beautiful lake of Castle Kennedy. Michal has a mini-rocket stove, so we prepare a delicious cous-cous and have some face time around the fire, while Angela tries to dry her sleeping bag.
On the next day, we set off quite late (biketour style) due to bike reparations from Katia and Angela trying to recover from a freezing wet night. Then it’s beautiful hills till the first picturesque village of New Luce, where we stop for a tourist break (and for emptying a very productive apple tree…planted for squirrels?).
We continue to a waterfall, where we take a bath in a deep and stormy part of a red river….(in a classic Deja-vu I hit my knee on a rock). Cycling on, we arrive at the camping place we stayed with the group 2 nights before, where I recover a beautiful piece of green plastic saying “Banco Central” left behind by fugitive Jorge. Then we cross a stretch of national park till newton Stewart to try some skipping, unlucky again. We end up buying lots of food. The evening is again dry, so we push on thru the stunning views of a national forest…short stop at a viewpoint where we cut off some “lovers locks” for practicing our lockpicking skills…then off to a big waterfall. We scout a suitable field for camping, manage to open a fence by brute force (pulling it up from the hinges on the opposite side of where a padlock was) and find ourselves in a fantastic (and invisible) spot. Time again for some ambitious cooking, this time involving at least 3 steps: veggies/cous cous/ fried mushrooms..and onions…and garlic (to be added later). We set off the following day in the cold and rain, cycle thru misty lands past a lake then down to the small (and posh) village of New Galloway. Lucks finally assists us: the bins of the local community shop are full of food. While we are looting the bins, the shopkeeper come out and ask us in utter surprise: what are you doing? Why? Don’t you have money? Yes, but we don’t want to spend it when there’s some perfectly edible food thrown away. On our principle-based reply, she understands and bring us more! We then move on to a nearby visitor centre, where we plug our phones (this will cause their wrath because we did not consume anything there), then go to a sheltered park to eat our bounty of food. What a brunch! Light rain all afternoon, we afford a stop in a church, where we find an open parish prefab house, but decide that’s not too wise (and too early) to stop there for the night. We move on to Crocketford village and find a very tolerant pub. We stay there from 4 to 10pm having a few beers and mostly eating our own food, while outside the tempest is raging. We finally find the courage to leave in utter darkness, heading to the town’s playground, where we had spotted some big tents. As expected, they are open and warm, so that we can pitch our own tents inside (with no concerns of getting rained on) and enjoy a fabulous night. A sunny morning follows, and we gaggle for hours in a happy breakfast and drying session. Angela feels relieved of having for the first time succeded in drying her sleeping bag.We leave after 1pm, but soon are in Dumfries. When leaving the city after an unsuccessful scavenging session, we see a SPAR shop along the way. The bins are locked but easily opened with a spanner (Mik doing some magic there). Next thing I see are bags full of food coming out. We each grab a big bag and disappear to the nearest park. It is our most rewarding and efficient operation. The bounty is consistent and involves (amongst others) several kilos of potatoes (which I’ll be carrying around for a while) and a virtually unlimited supply of muesli bars. The rain start annoying us again and we find ourselves in Annan – another big city. The day is running out and we are almost resigned to sleep in a squalid park, but our sixth sense tells us to move on. And we are right: after 5 miles we get to a tiny village with an ancient graveyard (some of the tombstones are from the mid 18th century). The perfect spot for a quiet and comfy night. Let the cooking start!
What an experience meditating on a tombstone looking at the horizon in the morning. We are all going to be just dirt in the ground, probably sooner than we expect. So what are we gonna do?
We leave late and stop in Gretna for recharging batteries and get some soup. Then Michal needs to find a Scotland fridge magnet for Sonam so we’re still stuck in the village till 15.30. We have done only 5 miles today. At a crossroads the sad moment of say goodbye to Angela happens. She’s going to Carlisle to catch a train for Glasgow. We move in the opposite direction. Keep losing people along….
We put on some hours of solid cycling interrupted by a (too) long break on a little bridge. We pay our laziness by having to cycle by night along the busy Hadrian Wall road. It’s an hilly motherfucking rollercoaster but the red moon and the open spaces make it more enjoyable. Our instinct tells us to take a small detour to reach a possible camping spot on a quarry at the feet of the Wall. It’s on private ground in a National park and there are cameras everywhere to spot parked cars. We plant our tents in the darkness and sleep the dreams of the justs, surrounded by beauty, despite the cold and humidity.
Michal decides at the last minute to have a walk to the Hadrian’s Wall, so we leave the place at 11am (late, again! 😊), but we have some hours of cruising full speed along the wall and its hilly surroundings. The clouds are beautifully dancing around us, but refrain from attacking. As they get more threatening, we stop in the big city of Hexham. Bru hass given us some leads for skipping in the area. And the Waitrose dumpster does not disappoint. If only we could have acted undisturbed. Workers intervene very promptly after our arrival and we have to leave much of the food untouched. At least we grabbed enough fancy delicacies to have a gorgeous lunch and dinner.
After lunch, we sneak into a leisure centre for phone charging and a hot shower. Refreshing (after 3 weeks where at best I would swim in cold rivers).
The spinning session thru hilly terrains continues till the evening. We finally spot a forested park where to set up camp in a spot protected from the winds. We are still 30 km from our final destination but accept the fate of arriving one day late. The food is unprecedented: noodles with asparagus and spring onions, a massive tortilla, and creamy dessert. The warmth of the forest means untroubled sleep for the 3 of us. Only a small ride to Durham and then on to the squatted field where the Earth First gathering happens separates us from 2 days of interesting workshops and discussion. For the first time, instead of losing someone, we found again Bru. Niiiice.
