Weekend
Hilly riding, not swordfighting, watching Ashes to Ashes with a girlfriend who is an acknowledged lover of all things eighties (with the possible exception of the the all pervading threat of nuclear obliteration) and would, if given access to a time machine, be heading back then to live out her Duranie fantasies. I would be going back with a sniper rifle to take out Mrs T. "I ain't getting on no eighties revival head-trip fool".
On Saturday I managed to get out for an organised CTC ride in the Surrey hills. This was more of the traditional 'reliability ride' than a sportive, although the route would make the core of a cracking longer sportive around the lumpier bits of Surrey.
It started at 10am at Rykas Cafe at the foot of Box Hill - this is a 24 hour cafe that is a traditional biker haunt. It being just over 13 miles from where I live, it's one of the few official events I can ride to the start of, rather than having to take a convoluted train journey and ridiculously early start to get to in time. As it was, I got up at the relatively leisurely time of 7.30 and had breakfast before riding out. I got there in time to have a second breakfast of a bacon bap, then wolfed down some free malt loaf at the ride sign on table.
I met up with some people I know from the cycling forum I inhabit (ACF), which included no less than three tandem owners (do you call them tandem teams, crews or what?).
Setting off just after 10am, the ride proved to be quite a tough 50km - there were numerous hills, of the fairly steep variety - having been out last weekend to preview a few of them helped, although the next to last one with it's 18% slope was just as difficult as the week before, I managed to get up without stopping though which was good. Along the way I met up with various people that I only know online, (it's embarrassing enough to introduce yourself to people as Wascally Weasel, doubly so when you're puffing and panting up a hill). On the first hill I met one forum member towing his son on a tagalong bike, no mean feat in itself - the cold proved their undoing as the son suffered badly in the very chilly air (just not possible to keep warm enough) so they had to pack at Dorking.
I met another rider who dips in and out of the forum, he seemed to quite enjoy it "I do have trouble keeping up with all your interests though. Curry and beer the night before a ride...I don't know"
"That was me!" I said proudly. Although I was quite slow, about 11.5 mph average for the ride - there was very little flat though, was mostly only uphill or downhill.
(He did say he read my blog, I wasn't sure if he meant this thing or the cycling forum in general, I was puff-panting up hill at the time I think so was a bear of little brain - if you did mean here, hello, thanks for reading and it was nice riding with you!)
I went back and forth with some of the other ACF riders as I went along, I kept being overtaken by Charlotte and the tandem ridden by the Pikes (fechtbuch might remember Charlotte and this couple from ITLAPD), I think I eventually finished before them but I also think I started before them by a few minutes.
There was a fait bit of ice on the climb towards Coldharbour, which was fortunately well over to the left and not too much of a hazard, then the right turn after that back towards Westcott was as rubbish as I remembered from the week before (muddy, narrow and poorly surfaced). I'm thinking of riding round that way more often but I'll cut that turn out and ride over Leith Hill via Coldharbour instead (there's also a great pub in Coldharbour). My DIY GPS seemed to work quite well (map clipped to the brake cables and handlebar with a bulldog clip and a watchstrap compass on the other side of the handlebar)
The rest of the ride wasn't too bad, apart from the aforementioned steep climb up White Down and the finish up on Box Hill wasn't too bad (although a bit chilly if out of the sun). I had restorative tea and treacle tart while waiting for other riders to finish, then several of us decamped to a pub in Leatherhead (where I ended up drinking with all of the tandemists).
My ride back was ok, slightly scary in two bits though - coming off the M25 roundabout just after Leatherhead, a suicidal squirrel leapt out from the verge under my front wheel, jumping sideways to safety with an "eeeek!" at the last millisecond. Then, almost home, a vehicle transporter (off the wheelclamper kind) jumped a red light and almost took me out. Grrr, mumble, chiz chiz etc. Drivers on the Surrey backroads by contrast were very polite and patient earlier in the day, especially the ones waiting very, very patiently while we puff-panted up White Down hill.
Sunday I had a lie in, getting out of bed after 10am, which is rare these days (I was back in bed just over 12 hours later, so caught up on a lot of sleep I think).
Due to public transport woes, fechtbuch wasn't able to make it over for our planned sword practice, so Bryony and I headed over by bike for the Wetlands Centre (having an animated 'discussion' about bike gearing along the way). The light at the centre was fantastic and made for some good photographs (I think, will have to review them later). The Bewick's swans were doing their neck-bobbing and calling coupling thing, while the Corcoroba Swans have laid five eggs (a first for the WWT I think, they are due to hatch around March 10th). There were some new ducks in the collection too of various kinds, including some Red Crested Pochards, whose colouring was amazing in the low winter sun.
We watched the first episode of Ashes to Ashes which I'll admit I have some reservations about. They do need to explain better the fact that an entire serious crime team has moved from Manchester to the Met police force. AFAIK this sort of thing is extremely rare and quite unlikely (if Jake Arnott isn't lying to us, the Met refer to outsiders as 'Swedes', don't like them, don't support them and certainly wouldn't give them a plum role like they seem to have landed in A2A) - so a decent explanation would be nice (even if it's clearly part of the explaining of the fantasy world).
Overall the first episode was ok but it's currently just more of the same, and since the last series of Life on Mars was a big dip in quality from the first, if it doesn't go somewhere different it will be pointless for my taste. Was interesting to get confirmation of the confused ending to Life on Mars though, if somewhat depressing. I hope they just do one series of this one and finish it well.
On Saturday I managed to get out for an organised CTC ride in the Surrey hills. This was more of the traditional 'reliability ride' than a sportive, although the route would make the core of a cracking longer sportive around the lumpier bits of Surrey.
It started at 10am at Rykas Cafe at the foot of Box Hill - this is a 24 hour cafe that is a traditional biker haunt. It being just over 13 miles from where I live, it's one of the few official events I can ride to the start of, rather than having to take a convoluted train journey and ridiculously early start to get to in time. As it was, I got up at the relatively leisurely time of 7.30 and had breakfast before riding out. I got there in time to have a second breakfast of a bacon bap, then wolfed down some free malt loaf at the ride sign on table.
I met up with some people I know from the cycling forum I inhabit (ACF), which included no less than three tandem owners (do you call them tandem teams, crews or what?).
Setting off just after 10am, the ride proved to be quite a tough 50km - there were numerous hills, of the fairly steep variety - having been out last weekend to preview a few of them helped, although the next to last one with it's 18% slope was just as difficult as the week before, I managed to get up without stopping though which was good. Along the way I met up with various people that I only know online, (it's embarrassing enough to introduce yourself to people as Wascally Weasel, doubly so when you're puffing and panting up a hill). On the first hill I met one forum member towing his son on a tagalong bike, no mean feat in itself - the cold proved their undoing as the son suffered badly in the very chilly air (just not possible to keep warm enough) so they had to pack at Dorking.
I met another rider who dips in and out of the forum, he seemed to quite enjoy it "I do have trouble keeping up with all your interests though. Curry and beer the night before a ride...I don't know"
"That was me!" I said proudly. Although I was quite slow, about 11.5 mph average for the ride - there was very little flat though, was mostly only uphill or downhill.
(He did say he read my blog, I wasn't sure if he meant this thing or the cycling forum in general, I was puff-panting up hill at the time I think so was a bear of little brain - if you did mean here, hello, thanks for reading and it was nice riding with you!)
I went back and forth with some of the other ACF riders as I went along, I kept being overtaken by Charlotte and the tandem ridden by the Pikes (fechtbuch might remember Charlotte and this couple from ITLAPD), I think I eventually finished before them but I also think I started before them by a few minutes.
There was a fait bit of ice on the climb towards Coldharbour, which was fortunately well over to the left and not too much of a hazard, then the right turn after that back towards Westcott was as rubbish as I remembered from the week before (muddy, narrow and poorly surfaced). I'm thinking of riding round that way more often but I'll cut that turn out and ride over Leith Hill via Coldharbour instead (there's also a great pub in Coldharbour). My DIY GPS seemed to work quite well (map clipped to the brake cables and handlebar with a bulldog clip and a watchstrap compass on the other side of the handlebar)
The rest of the ride wasn't too bad, apart from the aforementioned steep climb up White Down and the finish up on Box Hill wasn't too bad (although a bit chilly if out of the sun). I had restorative tea and treacle tart while waiting for other riders to finish, then several of us decamped to a pub in Leatherhead (where I ended up drinking with all of the tandemists).
My ride back was ok, slightly scary in two bits though - coming off the M25 roundabout just after Leatherhead, a suicidal squirrel leapt out from the verge under my front wheel, jumping sideways to safety with an "eeeek!" at the last millisecond. Then, almost home, a vehicle transporter (off the wheelclamper kind) jumped a red light and almost took me out. Grrr, mumble, chiz chiz etc. Drivers on the Surrey backroads by contrast were very polite and patient earlier in the day, especially the ones waiting very, very patiently while we puff-panted up White Down hill.
Sunday I had a lie in, getting out of bed after 10am, which is rare these days (I was back in bed just over 12 hours later, so caught up on a lot of sleep I think).
Due to public transport woes, fechtbuch wasn't able to make it over for our planned sword practice, so Bryony and I headed over by bike for the Wetlands Centre (having an animated 'discussion' about bike gearing along the way). The light at the centre was fantastic and made for some good photographs (I think, will have to review them later). The Bewick's swans were doing their neck-bobbing and calling coupling thing, while the Corcoroba Swans have laid five eggs (a first for the WWT I think, they are due to hatch around March 10th). There were some new ducks in the collection too of various kinds, including some Red Crested Pochards, whose colouring was amazing in the low winter sun.
We watched the first episode of Ashes to Ashes which I'll admit I have some reservations about. They do need to explain better the fact that an entire serious crime team has moved from Manchester to the Met police force. AFAIK this sort of thing is extremely rare and quite unlikely (if Jake Arnott isn't lying to us, the Met refer to outsiders as 'Swedes', don't like them, don't support them and certainly wouldn't give them a plum role like they seem to have landed in A2A) - so a decent explanation would be nice (even if it's clearly part of the explaining of the fantasy world).
Overall the first episode was ok but it's currently just more of the same, and since the last series of Life on Mars was a big dip in quality from the first, if it doesn't go somewhere different it will be pointless for my taste. Was interesting to get confirmation of the confused ending to Life on Mars though, if somewhat depressing. I hope they just do one series of this one and finish it well.