Minirolls Musings

Snowdon Preparation

Oh god what have I agreed to…

Steve has been pushing me to come mountain bike down Snowdon for a while and finally I had relented.

One of the major costs in converting the van has turned out to be getting seat swivel bases. These have to be very strong components to hold the weight of the passenger and seat, not only during normal driving, but also so they don’t move in crashes. Last thing you need in a crash is your seat becoming detached and throwing you around the cab.

Home Sweet Home

We had spent the night in a Brecon car park with a Victorian river garden adjacent. We walked the promenade and around the quaint village and enjoyed a rare, warm and dry evening in Wales. Just because we were in a van in a carpark doesn’t mean it was all stodgy pasta and plasticky water. Oh no no!

Twisted Comfort

I know transit vans are not luxury vehicles, they are purposely built for lugging. Tools, TV’s, machinery, pipes, sand, builders, parcels, bikes. You name it and I’m sure there is a transit out there that has lugged it, or is even lugging it right now! I’m no different, I’m using the transit to lug all the things that make up my campervan, along with my lazy ass.

And, you’d be forgiven for thinking that for a vehicle with a primary purpose of lugging, it would be able to do this day in, day out, better than any other…. Right? And yes, the vehicle is happy to go as long as you need it to. But, as with most other technology, it is let down by the soft, sweaty, organic bit behind the wheel. I guarantee, your mechanical lugger can go all day, but your ass can’t.

No Lunch Lazy

We woke with a triangular view out into the fields beyond our quirky AirBnb. The bed was on a raised sleeping platform in the eves. This allowed us a view directly out the window opposite where some huge horses were starting the days graze. From here we could look over the edge, past the beams, and down into the minimal living space.

Castle Cache Splash

Today we were solid tourists, with a bit of nerdy-ness thrown in.

Monster Mountain Bike Mooch

After scoffing some chocolate croissants (the most suitable of all breakfast foods for an impending exertion of effort) I set off on the mountain bike. My goal was firmly set in my mind, despite the sat-nav saying it was going to be a 29 mile round trip…. I wasn’t committing myself to the whole loop, just one peak and the subsequent descent that looked to be good (read: steep)

John’O’Groats Again

I’ve been up here several times before…

Birthday Taskmaster Zoom Zoom

I must have got some weird looks today, as I struggled with the mattress. Its not every day you are asked to put “Something Impressive” on your head without using your hands. So as the cars zoomed past the layby, I was headbutting and shoulder barging the crap out of my mattress trying to accomplish the task.

Applecross Sunset

I was recommended to visit Applecross by someone before coming to Scotland one of the first times. I now make it a point to visit every time I come because it’s just an amazing view from the top.

Category: Van