Brenhden's TET

Where you've been and what you done
WillS
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Re: Brenhden's TET

Post by WillS »

Sounds like you are having fun on that CRF 250 Rally.
Enjoying the report and photos..
Brenhden
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Re: Brenhden's TET

Post by Brenhden »

Pre TET travel day - 18/04/19

Sue is busy this Easter and while my garden could easily keep me busy the hot forecast helped me decide to head back to the TET. This time trialling a different plan of using a basecamp. I set off at 1530 and headed South past Bristol and off at the M4 at Bath weighed down with my basecamp kit on board. I spent the next 30 minutes raging at the traffic system. I can only assume some rich bugger doesn’t want a dual carriage way on his land between the M4 and Bath as its desperately needed. By the time one does arrive its way too late as everyone is stuck at roundabouts upstream. After that instead of the road carrying on South you have to ride right into town and out again through more traffic.

Anyway the weather was hot and sunny and my audiobook was exciting and at about 1830 I pulled up at a Steeple Leaze Farm campsite. It’s a really casual place and just pull up and pitch and someone comes round and collects your money in the evening. I found a nice spot in the mostly empty field and unpacked my cherished 1992 Northface 3 man frog tent that has seen service on ten tours, D of E, 4 Glastonburys and countless other formative adventures.
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Camp

Jojo the South African camp warden pulled up in a Kawasaki Mule and sold me a pith and firewood and I made savoury rice whil shrieks of joy came from the feral camping kids in the nearby wood. My bottle of German white went down a treat as the bright moon rose and owls hooted.
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Fire moon

Today’s distance 175km
Last edited by Brenhden on Thu Apr 25, 2019 7:46 am, edited 2 times in total.
And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.

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Brenhden
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Re: Brenhden's TET

Post by Brenhden »

TET Day 9 – 19/04/19

Woke at 0530 feeling good and had a big tea in my new lidded mug (its sold as a soup cup) and some variety pack cereal I’d picked up at a petrol station. I was showered, laundered and on the road at 0730, it was a 76 mile blast North East to my start point and I stopped for more tea on the M27 where I got chatting to a pair of TETers on a Africa Twin and a KTM ADV heading north for a coast to coast event. I zoomed along in the sun having a loud singalong (does anyone else do this?) when I realised just how posh it is down here. In my bit of Glos you get a lot of old 4x4 towing cattle trailers, down here on the South Coast you're more likely to see Range Rovers towing Speed Boats!
I arrived happy and started trailriding at Medstead, the First Lane set the scene for the day: long, easy and dry, I immediately knew I’d made the right decision using a base camp and the bike was far easier to handle. Soon I was in Hampshire and the B-Road blasts were just as much fun as the trails, I was in woodland and alongside fields and starting to find puddles and ruts.
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First trail
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Next trail

At this point the TET does something I don’t like: it doubles back on itself: I like to always head in the direction of my destination! Soon I crossed the M3 and brilliantly got to the northern most tip of this trip. There was a seasonal closed lane at Kingsdown Wood (till May) so I diverted to Whitchurch for food and fuel. The sun was beating down but the local bakery had fresh hot sausage rolls and I couldn’t resist.
Last edited by Brenhden on Thu Apr 25, 2019 7:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.

Suzuki DR200 Djebel.
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Brenhden
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Re: Brenhden's TET

Post by Brenhden »

Back on the road and the TET jumps onto the A34 and then off again in a layby. There were two army cadet vans parked in front of the entrance and I chatted to the leaders while the lads (who were doing a D of E sat on the trail eating AB biscuits. Finally on the trail but a few yards on it went to deep bike ruts and a few seconds later I had a lay down with the kids still in view! Flushed with embarrassment and heat I heaved the bike up again and as I rode off I swore an oath to get better at ruts and start doing weights as the Rally weighs a fricken tonne. The next section through the Highclere Estate where Downton Abbey was filmed. It’s a forest trail and comes out by a lovely old building called Grotto Lodge.
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Grotto

Here I took a slight detour to visit one of the telecom towers my team works on and en route to it I hit pheasant that was sat in the road panicked and jumped into my path, my wheel clipped it and clattered into a tree headfirst but I think it survived.
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Tower
And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.

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Brenhden
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Re: Brenhden's TET

Post by Brenhden »

Back on the trail and it heads up onto a high ridge overlooking the land to the North, the trail has a lot of pedestrians walking and watching the Kites soaring on the thermals and a paraglider. I was riding responsibly along saying hello and thank you to the fellow road users when a pair of young brother saw me coming and got very excited to see a bike. Playing to the crowd I dropped a gear and gave it a handful and hit a couple of sudden bumps which put me in the air and almost had me off the bike! I just managed to style it out and ride away once again cursing my own idiocy.
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View

After the A338 I started on the Plain.
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Plain

Usually while riding Solo I stay below 30mph but the plain is so much fun I bombed across and within a few minutes and some big puddles I was at Bulford Barracks and stopped for a sandwich at a coop full of hotrods.
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Puddles
And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.

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Brenhden
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Re: Brenhden's TET

Post by Brenhden »

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Hotrod

I worked down the river and was soon at the head of the Old Shaftesbury Drove where I met a couple on brand new 701s riding off road for the first time and planning to be adventure riders. After a quick chat I set off on what I think is the most fun trail yet. Its so long and straight and whoopy, I definitely got air a few times. It was so much fun I missed the exit and had to back track a fair way to get back on the TET. Around this time I met three guys riding the TET on a SWM, a WR and a CRF and we chatted for a while, they were also on a practice before heading to France.
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Another view

A fair bit of road work later and passed Compton Abbas on a downhill trail so steep I had turn off my ABS I eventually met the A350 and headed back to camp via a tesco for cider and meat and fuel. At 1730 I pulled up knackered and happy and it was still 22C in April!
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Camp dusk

While sat at the fire that night a couple pulled up and the lady driver got out and pitched a tent while the guy sat in the front seat staring at his phone the whole time, he got out and didn’t even say thanks, W.T.F!

Total distance 348km
TET distance 957km
And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.

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Brenhden
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Re: Brenhden's TET

Post by Brenhden »

TET day 10 - 20/04/19

Woke through the night and gave up at 0530, tea and cereal and on the road at 0715 again with tunes for the 26miles to where I left off yesterday. Today I was a bit daydreamy and soon I’d trail ridden to Child Oakford where the village stores had tea and freshly baked sausages rolls again.
The next bit of excitement was a sign for a Ford, Always a bit of a nervy subject for a solo adventurer with bad boots (last year’s repair had been lost in yesterday’s fall). I rounded the corner and there it was, two inches deep. I went through it laughing and then went back parked in the middle for a photo.
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Ford

After that trail loops round and then goes up a stream which is splashy fun.
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Trail stream

The further West you go the wetter the TET is it seems.
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Trail
And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.

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Brenhden
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Re: Brenhden's TET

Post by Brenhden »

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Trail pond

Lots of super trails followed and a lot of fun and pretty roadwork past Cerne Abbas who I didn’t get to see which seemed to pleased Sue as we don’t want to attract the attention of any fertility gods.
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Viaduct

Again its really posh round here and there are thatched cottages all over the place with flint and red brick layered walls. Through Beaminster and down to Bridport which is fancy traffic chaos on market day. The next trail section was the best and the worst of the trip. At Symondsbury there was a road closed sign which had been moved aside which I took to mean it had not long reopened. Past the pedestrians and it was an awesome steep uphill steppy clay trail in rock walls called Shutes Lane it was terrific fun and a bit like a Crash Bandicoot level. At the top I took a wrong turn and had a very warm 9 point turn to get back to the junction. After that it went badly downhill… A pair of walkers were just coming out of where I was going in and one offered a jaunty “Good luck!” which I thought was nice but should on understood meant ‘you’re a nutter to go down there!’. As I entered Hell Lane (real name) it steeply turned downhill with a stream running through the clay floor. It was impossible, maybe full knobblies I could have ridden but on 50/50s (the front almost gone too) I just didn’t have the skill so I paddled for the next 20 mins often walking over my sunken bike, it was hot slippery work but at least I didn’t drop it. At the bottom there was a gate which due to my lack of thought caused a lot more problems.
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Last edited by Brenhden on Wed Apr 24, 2019 9:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.

Suzuki DR200 Djebel.
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Brenhden
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Re: Brenhden's TET

Post by Brenhden »

Alas I’d pulled my bike up inside the two gate four gateway complex well inside the sweep of the gate I needed to open, it was too steep and slippery for me to pull my bike back and by the time I’d worked that out I was soaked in sweat and panting. I stood there for a minute thinking of a solution and after a while realised what to do. I pushed open the side gate and rode the bike into the field, then opened the main gate, reversed the bike (now down hill) and the through the gate. I’d made it and sat and enjoyed a cola and cooled down. More wet but thankfully easy lanes followed and at 1220 I crossed into Devon which felt great, the next lane I remember because I passed a farm and three dogs came charging out and chased me down the lane for about half a mile with a Jack Russel biting my ankle all the way. When they finally buggered off I got another brilliantly wet lane to ride.
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Dogs

I little while later I got to the coast:
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Water shot

And at around 1400 I pulled into Beer now extremely warm. I parked stripped off and jumped in the sea to cool off, damn it was cold! Exceptionally refreshed I sat at the beach café eating cheesy chips with a shandy and checking the map decided it was time to head back to camp.
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Chips
And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.

Suzuki DR200 Djebel.
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Brenhden
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Re: Brenhden's TET

Post by Brenhden »

On the way back along the coast I started to hear a slight scraping noise on left side and on investigation found my chain was very loose. 20 hot minutes later and chain was sorted and I was back on the road.
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Layby
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View over camp

Quick pitstop for beers in Wareham (I blame whoever named the village of Beer) and I was back at camp and enjoyed a fantastic shrimp quesadilla at the café trailer on site. Tonight the camp was heaving with people so I called it my last night.
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Dinner
And now, Harry, let us step out into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.

Suzuki DR200 Djebel.
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