Just Another Stone In The Wall (July 23rd)

Yesterday’s somewhat long ride of 117 km meant today was likely to be a very short ride. Not because of fatigue or anything like that but I figured today would be more of a touristy day where I would actually stop and see things along the way. Well, one thing anyway.

Working under that assumption meant I had another rather leisurely morning and didn’t get on the road until shortly after 10:00. The goal for the day was to visit Hadrian’s Wall. I won’t go into a full historical account of said wall because, well … I’m far from an expert (besides, that’s what Wikipedia is for). In all honesty, when the day began I didn’t know much about Hadrian’s Wall at all other than what Gary had told me when I first arrived in Glasgow a month ago. And I’ve forgotten much of those details – I have a terrible memory when it comes to history. That said, Hadrian’s Wall is almost 2,000 years old, was about 117 km (73 miles) long and, as per the tourism brochure, “defended the northern frontier of Roman Britain for over 250 years”.

There are many possible sites one can visit along the wall and a plethora of walking paths that follow the wall and beyond. I wasn’t really sure where I would stop along the way but I suspected it would be Housesteads Roman Fort. Spoiler Alert: It was.

The ride to Housesteads Roman Fort was about 28 km. Well, it was supposed to be 28 km. I kind of got caught up enjoying a particularly long and fast descent and missed a turn. Fortunately, the result only added a few kilometres to my ride. Unfortunately, enjoying that big descent meant there was a separate ascent waiting for me when I got back on course. That’s just the way it goes.

I arrived at Housesteads Roman Fort shortly after noon. After a short break for lunch, I paid my entrance fee and began the 750 metre hike up to the fort.

As per the brochure, “Housesteads is the most complete Roman fort in Britain”. Considering it was begun almost 1,900 years ago, it’s remarkable that anything resembling a fort still remains. And yet it does. As for the wall which extends from the fort in both directions, well … it too is rather impressive. Given the hilly and challenging terrain, building the wall must have been more than a little bit of a challenge.

I explored the fort for a while and then decided to walk along the wall for a bit. I mean, how could I not? The section of the wall that leads directly from the ruined fort is one of the few areas where you can actually walk on top of the wall. If you didn’t know better you’d think you were just walking on a footpath but if you look closely at the edge you can see the sides of the wall beneath you.

As you might expect, the path along the wall is very hilly, steep, and yes, scenic. I’m not sure how far I walked but it was all very impressive. Despite my preference to cycling, I can certainly see why I saw so many people who were clearly going for extended hikes following the path of the wall. I’m not going to lie, that could be fun. But that would be a completely different trip. Maybe next time.

After a couple of hours (and more than a few photos), I made my way back down to the Visitor’s Centre. From there I saddled up and hit the road again. My attempts to arrange a Warm Showers stay for tonight didn’t work out so I decided to stay at a campground not far from the Visitor’s Centre. It meant it would be a very short riding day but I’m somewhat ahead of schedule at the moment so there was no real need to cover a lot of distance today. Or tomorrow for that matter.

The campground in question ended up costing more than I had expected but at that point I had essentially decided to stay there so I just took it for what it was. At least they had a decent WiFi connection. And a covered cooking area complete with a picnic table and a dual burner stove. Although, I ended up having to use my alcohol stove anyway because I didn’t have a lighter to ignite the dual burner stove and there was no one in the office by that time. In case you’re wondering, “If he doesn’t have a lighter, how did he ignite the alcohol stove?” Well, I actually just use a flint striker for that.

The downside to the campground was that I didn’t have anywhere to plug in my laptop so I spent the evening racing to get some blog entries posted before my battery died. I managed to get two updates finished. Fewer than I had hoped but better than nothing. Fortunately, my phone still has power so I can at least spend the rest of the evening working on a plan for tomorrow. But more on that tomorrow.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 41.03 km
Ride time: 2:17:08
Average speed: 17.95
Maximum speed: 50.29