One Night Only

[Pernig]

In anticipation of our planned camping trip in August, me and a friend decided to spend a night camping out on Monday. It was actually my first time camping, and we decided it would be a good opportunity to test our gear and find out first hand what we'll need to be taking with us in August. I rode my Yamaha and my mate Liam rode his Kymco Hipster 125.

After leaving the cinema in Lincoln at 4PM, we pressed on to my friend's house to pick up the sleeping bags and his overnight stuff. The campsite office was due to close at 5 and it took us a quarter of an hour to battle through the traffic to his house. By the time we left for the campsite it was a quarter to 5, so we had to press on.

The campsite we were headed to was the Willow Holt park in Woodhall Spa (about 20 miles). I wanted to go to Matlock Bath but my mate had an exam the next day, so we thought better to go somewhere closer to home. We arrived about 5.20, and the moment we pulled in the clutch cable on the Kymco snapped. We decided to check into the campsite and get the tent up before we sorted the bike out, so that's what we did.

The lady at the campsite was fine with us turning up after the office closed. She waited for us even though we didn't call ahead. It was very quiet, with a lot of tourers parked up with awnings but no one actually staying in them bar a one or two occupied ones. We were the only tent on the non-hookup tenting area. On the field with hookups there was one guy with a Subaru estate and a tent as big as a bungalow, with a TV and everything in it!

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The campsite entrance

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The bikes as we arrived, luggage still loaded up minus tent

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The tent

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I let Liam put the tent up while I took photos

With the tent put up and our belongings safely inside, we turned our attention to the matter of Liam's bike. With no clutch cable it was going to be quite difficult to ride it home, so I rang the AA (which I'm a member of) and pretended the bike was mine . I think the bloke knew that the bike was really my mate's as he kept looking at him when he was explaining things. Anyway, he made up a temporary clutch cable which got the bike mobile again, only for me to snap the back brake cable whilst fucking around fidgeting . The AA man didn't have enough cable or the right attachments in his van to make us up another cable. But the good thing was that Liam wasn't stranded at the site. Sorted.

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Waiting for the AA man

By the time the AA man had left it was gone 8 o' clock, and by this point we were STARVING. So, a cheeky two up no-helmet ride back to the tent later, we got cooking. Tea was a marvelous feast of Asda Smartprice pot noodles, lots of tea and coffee, then beef broth (in the pot noodle pots, as we forgot to take anything to eat out of) with lots of bread and butter. We finished off with jaffa cakes, penguins and chocolate fingers.

Whilst our feast was cooking, we had another hiccup. The tent had nowhere near enough tent pegs. We found an extra one near the entrance whilst waiting for the AA man which I duly snapped when it came to putting it in. We had enough for the tent, groundsheet and one guy rope, but there were four more ropes which needed deploying. It would most likely have stayed up without these four ropes, but I didn't trust the tent without, as if it rained the inner and outer layers didn't look like they would stay seperate. The solution was to park a bike on either side of the tent and wrap a bungee cord around the side opposite the tent and hook the guy ropes onto these. This worked very effectively, keeping the tent nicely in shape.

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My friend's stove was an excellent piece of equipment. I have no idea what make it is, but it's the sort that holds a gas cannister. This lasted through about 12 cups of tea/coffee, two tins of beans and two pot noodles, plus water for washing pans and utensils. It kicked off loads of heat, almost as much as a gas one in the house would. The only disadvantage is the size, but it is in quite a slim case, so we managed fine with the luggage split between two bikes. I forgot to bring a lighter, so I never got chance to try out my penny stove.

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We used an Argos Pro-Action 2 man tent. It was very sturdy and withstood some quite fierce winds later on in the night/early morning (apparently, I slept like a log). It packs up small enough and weighs only 3.5KG, and would make a comfortable, pretty spacious tent for solo expeditions. You can fit your helmet, boots and leathers in the porch no problem (but you'll have to put them in bags as the groundsheet doesn't cover the porch). For the two of us plus all the bike gear, we still managed, but it was a bit cosy.

In the morning, we had to leave earlyish (about 11) so that we could get back to Lincoln in time for Liam's exam. We arose about 9, had eaten and drank lots of tea at 10, and had the tent and all the luggage packed away at half past, with enough time for another cuppa before we left. Liam's bike wasn't affected too badly by the fierce wind with all the luggage on the back, we still managed a steady pace of about 60.

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My bike loaded up, I must get a better sleeping bag cover!

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Not sure why my expression is so bitter here

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Liam loading up

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Obligatory cheesy smiles shot

After crossing Kirkstead Bridge we decided to stop for fuel. All I can say is what a bloke (or what a mug, depending on your point of view). His pumps were REALLY old (they had gallon-litre price conversion tables that went up to 70p a litre on the side) and the meters were facing away from the garage and he just believed how much we told him we'd put in. I have this thing about going back to or at least keeping in mind people and businesses who do you a good turn or offer you really exceptional service, and this is one of the places I will keep in mind.

We had an enjoyable night of camping. It was wise to go on a short trip to decipher what gear we will need and what we won't when we all go on the week long trip in August, and I think we will do a couple more trips testing out the equipment we buy before we go on the big trip. Already I have decided that I will need to take a pair of shoes for walking around the camp site and going out without the bike, as putting on my bike boots just to walk and fetch some water proved to be a pain in the arse. I could also imagine them getting rather smelly over a whole week of nothing but . I think next time I will put more thought into my cooking and eating equipment, packing them into a small space but taking the things which will prove to be the most versatile. I am also now in the market for a wind-up lantern, anyone got any suggestions?

Well done if you got this far, and thanks for reading!
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H100 Breaking for spares

[stinkwheel]

Rubber sole deck shoes (like skateboarders wear) take up very little space in your luggage and are comfy enough to wear out and about.

Petzel "tikka" head torches are damned good if you need a torch. They go for something stupid like 1000 hours on three AAA batteries.

Czech army issue mess tins are excellent for camping. Two pots and a frying pan/plate/lid, all pack together. You can also fit a Heinz steamed pudding inside the nested tins which is a superb "emergency" camping food, loads of calories in a single tin. I always have one in my luggage when I go camping.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[warped one]

Now then matey, nice to see some preparation.

As regards to the torch thing. Tesco are doing them at the minute for about 2quid, well at my loacl one they were.

https://direct.tesco.com/q/R.204-2136.aspx

Also fancy a trip to yorkshire or something?

Cheers

Warped
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amnesia - Never in the history of usernames has one been more accurate. Warped indeed. You sir are a fecking oddball.

[Handsome]

One little piece of advice for you, get rid of the gas cooker and get a Coleman Petrol one, you have more space due to the lack of gas canisters and you've already got the petrol in the bike, just remember to pack a piece if tube in with the cooker to syphon the petrol from the tank...

Oh and stick your head round a Poundland door as they're doing exactly the same camping gear, mess tins, stools, bungies etc that Halfrauds are doing for five times the price...
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Previous Bikes...Honda NSR 125 RR...Kawasaki Zephyr 550...Suzuki SV 1000 S...Yamaha FZ8...Current Bike...Suzuki GSX-R 750...