Clarity

I have been reading about how many landowners try their best to make bridlepaths and public rights of way either inaccessible or to disguise the route. I didn't really expect to encounter it so soon though!



I was cycling down this road which is marked on my Explorer map as a bridleway (the bridleway is also signposted before this piece of road, and again afterwards!), when I came across this:



Someone else has obviously taken exception to this sign too - see the hand-written note on the bottom left-hand side? I continued on my way in spite of this until the bridleway went offroad and became a bit too much for my solid forks and unfit muscles to handle! The road and roadside along that part are obviously considered part of someone's private estate - the verges were tended like a garden. Very nice.

I was having a water-and-breath-back rest whilst out riding last night, and remembering my vow not to go anywhere without my camera, took a couple of piccies - one of the track I was cycling on, and one of the field beyond the gate I was sitting at the base of.





Look what is there upon closer examination:







Look at that! Genuine light anomalies, however they might have been formed! I caught sight of the largest one on the camera whilst it was doing its 5 second preview... and I have to say I got a little freaked out! The trees creaking and the wind rushing through the leaves suddenly sounded very loud.... I got up slowly and put my camera and water bottle in my pack - and then pedalled very quickly along the rapidly darkening track towards the bright(ish) lights of home!!

Who says that cycling is boring!!!!

Well, not really, in actual fact it's a very good bike shop.... and there lies my problem! I went to Beyond Mountain Bikes only to get some spray lube and spoke key as per instructions.... and ended up with a new gel saddle and removable halogen front and rear lights, in addition!

Well, the way I look at it is that Ian has been worrying about me going out around dusk and not getting back until it's nearly dark, and I am much more likely to bike if it's not too painful.... The fact that my bike looks much nicer with a black saddle has nothing to do with it.

Absolutely nothing to do with it.

I can't imagine why I forgot to get the tyre irons - guess I'll have to make another visit for those.

Well, talk about running before you can walk....! I love my bike, but I can't help noticing that it seems to be more uncomfortable (well, in truth, probably quite painful) on the butt area than I remember. Even when I lift off the saddle over the bumps.

Having read an article about "fitting" your bike to your size to make position and seat ect more comfy, I decided to give it a go. I ferreted out the rubbish instructions leaflet which came with the bike and together, Ian and I read them confidently. It only served to confuse us, and we ended up undoing the wrong bits, and were not able to put them back together so that the handlebars were secure and would not twist. Result = 1 unridable bike.

Can you imagine the almighty tantrum I threw??! There were tears, gulping, recriminations, hasty decisions about the bike needing to go back in the garage so I wouldn't keep seeing it and wanting to ride when I couldn't.... it was a fearful sight. This was all because I can't afford to actually spend anything on the bike until my overdraft gets sorted out, and of course, I've just started to really enjoy it.... you can see where my train of thought was going.

Ian (who is, incidentally, the only person living in our house with anything resembling sanity or common sense) figured it would be a good idea to call Neil, the rodeo-canoeist, world-class plumber and avid mountain biker (I've yet to find an extreme sport that he hasn't done, and to hear the stories he tells, I now believe that plumbing is also an extreme sport) and see if any assistance could be forthcoming to prevent him having to strangle me in order to get a bit of peace and quiet.

Jan and Neil turned up trumps with a big box of tools. I was diverted with interesting and chirpy chat from Jan whilst Neil set to. A few minutes later I turned to watch; Neil already had the handlebars off and was working with nonchalant ease. I sighed with relief and relaxed - there was tea and strawberries-and-cream to organise.

To cut a long story short, my bike ended up functional and tuned, the instructions we were trying to work from truly are rubbish, we know where we went wrong and how to do it in future, and the rule now is: Allen Key and Screwdriver I can do myself, anything requiring a Spanner - call Neil!

I need to get a spoke key as I need to learn to spoke tune as I'm going off-road, and Neil has offered to take me through everything on the bike and has sternly ordered me to lube - visit to Beyond Mountain Bikes pending for plastic tyre irons, spoke key and spray-lube.

I think Ian's forgiven me - I gave him my wireless mouse, just to be sure....

It's a week in and so far I have been out for at least half an hour every day, including week days. I love it! Obviously, the weekday jaunts have been just a case of around the local streets, although this includes a number of (initially) exciting offroad, gravelled tracks.

This long weekend though (I booked Friday off), I re-visited the kind of trips described in my previous post. I found a scene so beautiful that I will never go out without my camera again. There was a country road, there was a walk through the woods up to a field full of clover above badger sets, there was a view of hills, there was wind through the trees...... there was also a bottle of water, a Mars Bar, and mobile signal so that I could smugly text my colleagues who were suffering at work.

Heaven.

Say hello to Custard. Yep, he's a bike! A small, very bright, and not at all flashy bike. I've not seriously cycled since I was about 15 (I'll spare myself by not revealing how many years ago that was!) and, recalling that swimming and cycling are really the only forms of exercise I ever enjoyed as a child, decided to give the cycling another go.

I realised, you see, that I've been looking back nostalgically for quite a few years now to the excellent days out I used to have with my bike, a bag of tomatoes and some sweets, a book, and a lot of very quiet Test Valley and New Forest countryside, hills and fields. I used to cycle, then stop at the edge of a field and have a munch whilst listening to the natural sounds and watching the birds, continue on, find some haybales in a field that were just begging to be dozed upon in the sunshine. After that, I would wake up and have another munch and probably a read for a while as well before having a speed trial with myself. Several more stops later on the same theme would take me towards dusk, at which point I was expected to be home.

Why did I stop spending time like that? I know of course that work and social life and boyfriends and later the move to London and cats ect ect ect intruded, but when did I get out of the habit of allowing time for me? For something that is good for me, reduces stress and improves my mood no end?