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I think these above 2 images really sum it all up! unexpected sunshine, expected tea and general quaintness, and a fantastic hang with my Norwegian domestique, Trygve of Amundsen.

I was here specifically to fill out the Brooks booth at Bespoke with my bikes. one built for me, and the closer one with black tires was build by the Woods Cyclery in Lindenhurst. Was cool to be able to hang out and chat with a bunch of really nice “blokes” while still being able to get out and explore the surrounding neighborhoods, as the weather was so dang unexpectedly nice!

I also got to meet the floating bike shop! even more impressive in real life. We had a moment whilst meeting one another for the first time. internet real life! thats bikes for ya.

I got to introduce Watson to this sort of 2 wheeled sensuality, and he was INNNN. We are lucky to have out autographed calendars. okay, lets move onto the countryside!

So my Norwegian friends at Amundsen along with Brooks brought me out here to do 7 days of filming me riding around the countryside searching, or “questing” for quaintness. We went all over the UK, including to a waxed canvas factory in Scotland. I will have a separate post on that though. the above photos were ones I took of our first evening riding in Wales. turns out, my family is from up here, so it did feel like a bit of a home coming, albeit several hundred years later.

The Welsh countryside was dramatic, but in a soft and fuzzy sort of way. so damn cute. so many sheep. I don’t seem to have any photos of sheep though. too busy oohing and ahhhing I suppose.

Trygve and i meandered down a number of canal paths and passed through well kept hedged sheep fields while our support car with the primary film crew popped out and surprised us in places. it was a nice pace, and our crew was already pretty tightly knit after only a day. the social aspect of this project really made the trip!

so dreamy. this canal is like 40 miles long and gets slightly technical at times, but for the most part just blasts through an incredible span of countryside with more cuteness than you can wrap your head around. I was skeptical of the food we would find out here, but even the smallest little village pubs in the UK all seemed to have dedicated vegetarian menus! and the Indian food was out of this world.

found some old trees. maybe my ancestors saw this tree as a sapling before getting on a 3 month boat ride to New England? crazy pilgrims.

then we were onto the Cotswolds. Very quaint. we stayed in a cute place, and had an authentic pub experience. I even drank half a Guinness! We met some older guys at the pub named “Magic”, “Smudge”, and “Beast”. they gave us some tips on our next stop along the southern coast and into the New Forest. im glad the bar tender took this picture of us. This was our last night with Gregorio (right), and wow what a guy. I think we were all just bursting with camaraderie at this moment.

annnnnd finally the Jurassic coast. no live dinosaurs, but plenty of chalky cliffs full o’ fossils. this path went along the coast up and down and led us from our village to a hole in the rock.

another middle of nowhere off season seaside place with several vegetarian menus. I was so well taken care of by the UK in general.

under a rising full moon, Trygve and I made our expensive clothes offerings to the Druids.

then it was time to visit the Woods Cyclery in the New Forest. I had seen photos of this place for years on the internet, so cool to finally get a chance to ride this place!

Tom, the owner of the shop, took us out on some of his local jaunt haunts. felt so much like home! in all the good ways.

okay we are winding down to the end of this trip and blog post. thanks for getting this far!

I had the perfect bike for this trip. I packed it down and built it back up several times, and it kept on riding great and looking equally great. the mini chest was the perfect day trip bag.

and time to go! traveling light. here I am on the way back to the airport to come home after an absolute whirlwind of a trip. Can’t wait to see the video Amundsen puts together! should be out in a month.

XO RR