A slight case of overblogging

We went on a holiday. There are maps (day one, day two, day three, day four). We went up and down hills, visited Beeston Castle and a lake, ate lots of big breakfasts and nice dinners and very little in the way of lunch and also before cycling had a nice explore of Chester which has walls all the way round and roman ruins and a cathedral and weird shopping streets where there's a second level of shops as a gallery above the first. It didn't rain and it wasn't too hot and we had no injuries and only one puncture. Very much a success. There will be photos of some of it at some point.

We went to see our solicitor, and signed things and made a couple of decisions, then we checked with the vendor and now we have an exchange date (12th September) and a completion date (23rd September) and I'm busy getting removal and insurance quotes and it's all very exciting. Eek! (in a good way).

Last night it absolutely tipped it down. We were very impressed and stopped the DVD we were watching to open the back door and look at it properly, then we went upstairs to listen to it on the roof and coming through the skylights into the bathroom, and then we thought sod it and put on swimming costumes and went outside and splashed about in it in the dark. It was *brilliant*, if completely mad. Ace.

Last Sunday's weather was nice, so Mike and I planned a short bike ride. Out to Girton and Oakington, along a road that's closed currently to motor traffic to Cottenham, then through Landbeach to Waterbeach and back along the river. Much of it we've done before, except the Oakington to Cottenham stretch, and it's only 20 miles, but it was a very pleasant ride. With a rather unexpected long break in the middle, as it turns out Cottenham were having some sort of fete, and we waited with the expectant crowds for the parade of floats. It was rather nice.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/2007-10-14-Oakington-and-Cottenham-loop

Yesterday being lovely weather again, and having woken early enough, we got ourselves on the 10:14 train to Brandon, and headed into Thetford Forest to cycle some woodland trails. We started with an 11 mile or so loop which combined parts of the Green (easy) and Blue (moderate) trails, which was pleasant but not terribly challenging - though the Blue trail managed one slightly tough bit of hill. It's much harder climbing when you're doing it on grass and earth and flint pebbles. We stopped for a bit of lunch, and to get the bike hire place to replace the two bolts holding my rear pannier carrier on - it was rattling like anything!

Then we decided to give the Red route a go. It's a one-way figure of 8 route, though you can decide to cut it short and just do one of the loops of the 8, and it's intended for "aspiring cyclists who want a bit of a challenge" which sounded interesting. It started out much like the blue route really, but then after some broad paths it headed off into a bit of dense pine wood, winding through the trees, and with deliberate banking on the corners to let you go faster round them, and some obstacles built of earth and logs. I skipped most of the obstacles, but the ones I did have a go at were brilliant fun, although I'm not sure it was wise with a bike I already knew had a slightly bent rear wheel (it's booked in for a service already, but I fear I may have made it worse - bad me. I shall walk to work the rest of this week until I get it fixed).

Anyway after a slightly more restful bit we were once again in dense pine wood, and here the deliberate dips in the path started to turn into puddles, and then we found ourselves on a downhill slope with about 10 big puddles in a row. I took it really slowly and didn't really enjoy this bit much, and found myself sliding a little and unexpectedly stopping leant on a tree partway down, which handily let the guy behind us who knew what he was doing go past. Mike was ahead of me and actually came off about 2 puddles from the end, getting somewhat muddy in the process but no damage done, and miraculously missed dunking the pannier. After this experience we decided we'd take the shorter version of the route, in case anything else equally hard turned up. We still had a few more puddles to deal with, and some fun sections of windy bumpy path, and we had to make a stop to get the mud unjammed from my front mudguard, but we made it back to the lodge just before 3 for a well deserved piece of cake each before heading back to Brandon along a now very familiar route for the train home.

We did 26.5 miles in all, about 18 of which were off-road. And although it wasn't much further than the previous week's ride it was *much* harder work. And despite my fears and the fact I usually hate surfaces which make my rear wheel slide about I had a really really good time. I think if we go back we might want to make sure it isn't in a week when it's recently rained for 18 hours solid though. And it'll be a while before I'm confident enough to try the black route! More info on these trails at: forestry.gov.uk.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/2007-10-20-Thetford-Forest

I've been having a very lazy week, since I was tired out after a full weekend. But actually I've done quite a few things.

On Monday I didn't go to see Bearsuit at the new Barfly (upstairs at the Graduate). Tom may now call me names lots, but honest I really was too tired.

On Tuesday lunchtime I went to the dentist, and had one filling done, and while it was numb the teeth in that quadrant de-scaled. The filling was necessary because part of one broke away when I chomped on a bit of crab shell in an otherwise lovely sandwich in Norfolk. However while some say I should be cross with the chef I am in fact quite pleased that it got me to get round to going back after 5 years. I was *very* glad I was numbed while the cleaning was going on - scale so bad it shows up on the x-rays. I have another 3 quadrants to de-scale yet, and another filling in one of my wisdom teeth. To be honest I've got off lightly. It's still horrible, and I am a bad girl and must also get better at cleaning my teeth.

On Wednesday we bought dinner from M&S and ate it while watching the football. England v Russia and it was an excellent match to watch. Obviously England winning helps.

And today (Thursday) I went for a bike ride at lunchtime, because the weather was nice and people had been talking about cycling on irc. Notably we'd been talked about fixies and singlespeeds. I'm pretty sure the former wouldn't suit me, but as an experiment I simulated the latter by staying in the same gear all the way round my 12.6 mile loop. On balance I think I'd want a higher gear. I made it up the one hill with a bit of oomph to spare (albeit rather red in the face) but was struggling to keep up on even the smallest of downwards inclines. Still, it was fun. Route on Bikely as usual.

Tomorrow Tesco are coming to bring us lots of nice food, and then it is the weekend again. And on Monday we will have to go out to celebrate having survived 6 months of living together, happier than ever.

There's some non-bike stuff at the bottom for those of you who are bored of the bike-blog :-)

In April I went out cycling for the day with Tom, we took a route out through Royston and then encountered some hills. The high point was roughly at Great Chishill, where we stopped for lunch at the Pheasant. From there we swept down to Audley End where I got the train home. Tom got a bit sunburned. It was about 28 miles.

On Saturday I went out cycling for the day with Mike, we took the NCN 11 south, intending to head west once we hit Shelford, but following it some more to see where it went. Then we struck off from Hinxton towards Duxford (taking the bridge at the official ford, but splashing though the big puddle the other side of the railway line), where we saw a grass snake crossing the road. Then we took Grange Road since it seemed to be going in vaguely the right direction, heading to Heydon and intending to lunch at the King William the IV. Sadly it stops serving food at 2 and we arrived at 2:15, so we headed on to the Pheasant at Great Chishill, roughly the high point of our journey, where in lieu of lunch we had pickled eggs and crisps and pork scratchings. From there we swept down to Audley End where we got the train home. We both got a bit sunburned. It was about 25.5 miles.

Having done two rides so similar in length and destination, with the last section in each case being identical, I was curious to compare the elevation profiles of the routes. The latter definitely felt a lot less hilly, despite having the same high point, and I think the graphs below confirm this. Though I now feel more justified for how hard work the ride up to Heydon was. Shame we didn't get our nice pub lunch!

Cambridge to Audley end via Great Chishill Route 1: via Chapel Hill and Royston

Cambridge to Audley end via Great Chishill Route 2: via Hinxton and Heydon

In other non-cycling news I took Thursday and Friday off as well as Monday, making this an extra long weekend. A couple of lazy days reading was definitely a nice plan. Sunday was also a very lazy day, with a walk down to riverside and Green Dragon bridge where we sat on the bank and watched the ducks for a bit. Monday in a nod to bank holidays we did some gardening, and our back lawn now has many holes where the used to be weeds, but hopefully it will grow back to fill them. It's been nice.

This week involves driving lessons (Weds/Fri), a visit to the dentist (Tue) and a visit from the washing machine repair person (Thu) as well as of course some work. I fear I am going to finish my re-read of books 1-6 of Harry Potter (in French) this week, about 2 months before the next one is due out. I obviously started them too soon. Will have to find some other way of distracting myself from reading Mike's English copy of book 7 til then.

Stage 0: Rectory Road to Waltham Abbey

We set off from Si and Nesta's house near Rectory Road station at 7:15am and reached the official start at Waltham Abbey at around 8:30, somewhat later than intended, having cycled along towpaths up the lea valley to get there. The last little stage was full of puddles so we were rather muddy.

Stats for stage 0

Stage 1: Waltham Abbey to Widford

Here we met Clare, David and Naath and faffed for 10 minutes before heading over to the starting line. The first stage is across the park and along towpaths, but when you come out onto the roads it's straight up a small hill. This is harder than it looks partly because there are so many cyclists so you can't just pick your own pace. And when I tried to stick it in bottom gear on the rear the chain fell off, leaving me stopped and with very oily hands before we got moving again. Still, Clare and David kindly waited for us at the top. After that we continued at a pace which was determined by how fast Naath and I could manage sensibly as far as Nazeing, where we had a rest and a drink at the top of the hill, then on to Roydon. Mike and I were in the lead at this point, and sailed past the first official rest point here, thinking it was too soon since the last rest, and accidentally leaving the others behind. It was interesting doing the Nazing to Roydon stretch, since this was the bit we did in the van last year. Anyway we carried on as far as the next rest stop in Widford. This was probably the nicest of the rest stops. Being in a playing field there's lots of space, and they'd provided some tables and chairs which made the rest more comfortable, and had the poshest trailer-loos I've ever seen: clean, carpeted, nicely painted, wooden doors on the cubicles, paintings on the wall, and posh soap and moisturiser at the big sinks - a nice little touch of unexpected luxury. Here Mike and I sat and had our first meal of cream cheese bagels and chocolate brownies, and waited for the others to catch us up.

Stage 2: Widford to Langley

After Widford we managed a few more miles en masse before Mike and I unintentionally pulled ahead. This section was all pretty straightforward, none of the hills are very big, and it's all on nice country lanes. We got a short unexpected break when my sister called to tell me some news, and we had a chat while standing by the side of the road in the shade. Once again we weren't ready for a stop at the next official resting place in Furneaux Pelham, so continued on as far as Langley and the grass outside the Red Bull, where we collapsed in the shade of a tree and lay down for 10 minutes before tackling more bagels and jaffa cake rolls. We stayed here quite a while really. Checking my phone I saw that the others had stopped at the previous rest stop, so we figured we were still ahead, and vaguely kept an eye out for them. I suspect now that they may have passed us while we were lying down and stopped further along the rest stop, and then left before we did. This is the only explanation we have for them getting ahead!

Stage 3: Langley to Cambridge

Anyway after Langley you begin to get towards the section with the real hills. There are two that are a real slog, quite close after each other. The first one is less steep but longer, and you get a nice fast bit of downhill after it before you hit the second hill. In our case we were still going 20 mph when the hill arrived, changed quickly down several gears, then dropped into the bottom chain ring, and slowly pedalled up, and then were somehow at the top without having run out of either breath or gears. I was rather surprused, as I'd been struggling with some of the other hills and had been expecting this one to be more difficult! Still, we didn't stop for a rest but sailed down the other side. This is in some ways the most fun stretch of the ride, with a long long long sweeping downhill. I'm still too much of a wuss to let myself freewheel the whole way, but the curves are mostly gentle enough that even I didn't feel the need to slow right down for them. Sadly here I picked up a flat from something sharp which had vanished by the time we came to inspect the tyre, so we had to stop for repairs 3/4 of the way down towards Ickleton. This was hampered slightly by me putting my bags down on an invisible ants nest, and then Mike's pump giving up the ghost so we had to flag down someone with a better one, but eventually we got going again. Not sure what I did but my indexing was a bit squiff from here on in, which was a bit frustrating, but I wasn't sure how to sort it out and just carried on, occasionally having to change up a gear and back down again to stop the one I was in from rattling. At Ickleton we again skipped the rest stop, and that's where the pretty bit of the ride ends. Up to there it's been country lanes, but here you soon hit Hinxton and are quite pointedly directed to join the cyclepath on the pavement along the main road. Once round the roundabout you're back on the road again but it's big and not very pleasant as far as Shelford. Then it's right and over a gentle hill and then in past Addenbrookes and along Hills Road, St Andrews St, Short St and Maids Causeway to the finish at midsummer common. The traffic definitely gets stroppier and less patient as you get back into town too. But still, we reached the finish with enough energy left for a little sprint over the line at about 3:30, tired but happy.

Stats for the official route

The end

And that's it for another year. We rang David to see where they'd got to, not having seen them overtake, and discovered they were already in the Carlton. Apparently they finished about half an hour befor we did. They asked us to join them but we decided to go home, shower and nap and then curl up with some KFC in front of a DVD before bedtime. Looking at last year's account we weren't very significantly slower in the actual cycling time, which rather surprised me since I feel a lot less fit than last year. But actually I suspect the fitness was still only building up from there, and I'm thinking too much of how fit we were by September and the Oxford to Cambridge. I don't know if we'll do that again this year, but we've got a few days cycling in Norfolk planned for the week after next, which should be nice. And we're definitely up for this again next year.

Route map, drawn very roughly but to give you an idea, at bikely.

Stats for total distance

Life's pretty quiet mostly at the moment. Work's ticking along nicely enough, though with a few frustrations. We're still watching lots of DVDs (finished season 6 of Buffy now, plus several films. I really don't recommend the Famous Five musical we watched though). We've been to see the latest Die Hard film, and the new Harry Potter. And of course I'm learning to drive, and I've had several lessons, most of which have featured some practice at driving in queues in the pouring rain. We even managed to come to a standstill in the A14 on Wednesday evening. In amongst the day to day stuff we've had a couple of nice weekends.

Weekend before last was the Big Weekend on Parker's Piece. We avoided the music and the fairground rides but wandered along on the Saturday to potter through the French market. This yielded tartiflette and spicy sausages for lunch, plus some nice bread, ripe nectarines, shallots, chorizo and duck sausage. Then we headed south and spent the rest of the afternoon pottering around the Botanic Gardens, which was lovely. I've only been in about once before, and didn't really have a proper look around then, but we spent a couple of hours just wandering around and didn't manage to see all of it. Managed to slightly sunburn myself in the process, but sitting with a cold damp towel wrapped round them for an hour before bedtime took the heat right out of it, and by the next morning I was barely pink at all. The Sunday we invited Naath, Richard, Pete and Laura around to watch films: cake followed by Shaun of the Dead followed by Chinese followed by Hot Fuzz followed by key lime pie, all accompanied with rather too much booze for a Sunday night. It was fun.

This weekend has been quieter, but we had a very satisfactorily useful Saturday getting the shopping and gardening done, and then going out to dinner at CB2 in the evening. They've updated the Bistro Specials bit of the menu, which means sadly no more Lamb Shiraz, but I had mussels and a lovely thing made with tenderloin pork wrapped around bacon and spinach and a sauce I'd normally have had with red meat, and Mike had the black pudding and chorizo salad then the rib eye steak, with a sauce very strongly flavoured with rosemary which was yummy. Sunday was a very very very lazy day even by our standards. Breakfast around 10:30, skipped lunch in favour of a nap, lots of reading (I'm working my way through Harry Potter in French again) and geeking, a piece of cake mid afternoon, then a latish salad and quiche tea with the last of the duck sausage, followed by vegging in front of the telly until bedtime.

Not much happening this week other than driving lessons tonight and Wednesday, but next Sunday is our bike ride from London. We've got our crash space confirmed with Si and Nesta, and we'll be going out for dinner with them the night before - there's an excellent kebab restaurant just round the corner from them. Then we've got a weekend free before my mum and dad come to visit at the beginning of August. It's a quiet life, but a nice one.

Friday night we stayed in and had a night so quiet I can't remember it.

Saturday we got up and pottered over to Parkers Piece for a wander round the county fair. We saw re-enacters, steam engines, sheep, pigs, harris hawks and cute collies (including excitable puppy), ate sausage-inna-bun, and pottered through the craft and food stalls. We came home with game pie, a joint of beef, some posh burgers, a bottle of concentrated sarsparilla and some expensive Italian chocolate. We'd considered going out cycling afterwards, but it was far too hot, so we spent the rest of the day quietly and watched The Bourne Identity on DVD in the evening, with our nice burgers in ciabatta buns.

Sunday we woke early, and were out the house by 9:30 on a little 11 mile loop to Waterbeach and back along the river, taking in Tesco to drop off our carrier bag mountain. (Bikely route map). It was getting fairly hot again by the time we got back (around 11) and Mike was suffering rather badly from the pollen. We had another quiet rest of day, with me bravely managing to stay awake until lunch of ham sandwiches, game pie and pickled eggs. Then Mike stuck the oven on, I gave in and had a nap, and eventually it was tea time with roast beef and roast potatoes and lovely red wine sauce, very nice indeed. We finished the evening off watching Walk The Line which we've had out on DVD for nearly a fortnight, but somehow never seemed to be in the mood for. It was most excellent anyway, and was a nice finish to the weekend.

Week so far has been fairly normal, with work and geeking and not quite enough sleep and going to finally register at my local doctor's surgery today. They were very helpful anyway. Though when I made an appointment for an hour later I made the mistake of leaving my keys at home when I came out of the house again. The doctor I saw was lovely, and took my blood pressure with a fancy new automatic machine, which really did feel like it was trying to squeeze my arm off. 135/92 - the latter figure being a little worrying, but not too much so given overweight people often have raised blood pressure, so it's probably that and not the pills. It also took my pulse as 78, which is pretty much what I'd measured it as myself the previous day. We talked a bit about the weight, and I embarrassed myself thoroughly by getting teary about it. She said I could try their nurse led clinic if I liked, but I decided to leave it for now. Perhaps there's still the hope I can get hold of this myself, but when I've already regained half of what I painstakingly lost over lent I've no confidence I can keep off any weight I lose. I have too many bad habits that I honestly don't really *want* to break.

On which cheery note I've eaten mostly sensibly today, and had two nice brisk 1 mile walks to work and back, since without my keys I couldn't get my bike out of the shed! Oops, silly me. Perhaps the exercise is more important anyway.

Weight:
In Lent: lost 13 pounds in 6.5 weeks, from 17 stone 2 to 16 stone 3
Since then: gained 7 pounds in 9 weeks, back to 16 stone 10

Out of the department, out along Trumpington Road, left onto Long Road, right onto Hills Road. Past Addenbrookes, Hills Road turns into Babraham Road, then right (with a big lorry very kindly while I made the turn) onto Granham's Road. Over the hill and back down the otherside for a rest at the level crossing in Great Shelford. Look at the shiny new bike path but it's not going where I want to go.

Right onto Cambridge Road, which turns into Shelford Road, and takes you back towards town. Right onto Trumpington Road and immediately left into Maris Lane then left onto Grantchester Road and wind through the pretty lane into Grantchester itself. Take a sharp right at the High Street onto the bike path down the back of the Green Man and then across the meadows to come out in Newnham. Stop at the co-op to buy greek salad, more tomatoes, a banana, a yoghurt and some water. Finish off along Newnham Road and Fen Causeway, and re-enter the dept from the other side.

About 9.5 miles and took just over an hour, so a very slow average speed. But you can't go fast along the meadows or you'd shake to bits and run people over. And the hill on Granham's Road was a headwind.

[gmap]

Note from David Howarth's press secretary to Cycling Campaign committee yesterday:

I just wanted to let you know what a great response we've had from the
Cycling Campaign on the petition. We now have 330 signatures to hand in
tomorrow, which is just amazing. Thank you so much! I hope that the
Government starts to take note

There'll probably be more arriving this morning too.

And there's also hints that something might be happening in the Lords as well as the Commons.

Update: Can I just say Well Done to everyone who sent in a petition, or encouraged someone else to do so. Thanks.

So there haven't been many yet, but we're hoping the weather is up to it next weekend. I'll continue adding as the year goes on. Here's last year's: ([2006])

RSS feed of all routes by me is syndicated as bikely_lnr, all routes based in Cambridge are syndicated as bikely_cam.