Another all tarmac (except for when I got into Bedgebury Forest) BAM this month, last Saturday. 30km-ish each way.
I decided not to bother taking cooking stuff with me, to try and get more used to the idea of not necessarily having a hot 'dinner' and instead just finding and eating anything with sufficient calories. Unexpectedly this somewhat backfired as I struggled to find enough ready to eat food that wasn't just crisps & sweets – cycling around Kent I expected much better resupply options. But it did prove that I wouldn't drop dead even if options were limited and don't always need to take the stove.
With sufficient calories eventually collected I rolled into Bedgebury Forest and was once again disorientated by coming in the 'back' way. A series of indirect fire roads got me to the visitor centre, where I sat to eat before heading back out among the trees to find a place to sleep.
I'd chosen to sleep at Bedgebury because I was volunteering at an event the next day, but it turned out the start/finish of the event was right next to my planned bivvy spot. I didn't fancy an early wake up if any staff turned up early to get stuff ready. So I continued on to find somewhere else.
The evening and night were chillier than expected and after reading for a bit I shuffled into my bivvy. A bit of stargazing and a 3am wake up for a wee were followed by a 6am wake up and packing away. I regretted forgetting dry socks to sleep in as I had the odd sensation throughout the night of being slightly over warm but with cold feet.
Something I hadn't expected to do that morning was to chase a truck through the forest to my marshal point – some of the other volunteers were in the truck being taken out into the forest to their marshal points (including my wife and daughter) but due to a combination of not enough seats and me being on a bike, I had to pedal behind.
The next couple of hours were spent handing out water to and cheering on runners, before returning to the visitor centre for some lunch, saying bye to my family and riding home.
No river crossings, mountains, high winds, or anything approaching 'extreme', but two rides and a sleep outside I wouldn't have done if not for BAM and that can only be a good thing, however tame.
