Clarity

Get a look at this. I visited an old church at the weekend. The visit was partly to try and find a tap to wash my hands with as I had to unjam my front dérailleur early on in my trip and my hands were filthy and my water bottle needed a refill, and also because I am very partial to old buildings. Especially those made of stone.



Is it really that old do you think? If there are any old stained-glass experts out there, please could you comment on the style and whether you think it is authentic? Here's another:



I looked at this glass for ages, and at the lovely colours and patterns that it was casting on the black and white marble floor. Has light really been shining through these panes of glass for over 300 years? What a thought.

Let joy be unconfined. One rear mech, 2 gear cables and one stripped down and refitted bottom bracket later, and I'm back on the road with a full set of smooth gears, a very comfy re-fitted seat and a red face. Seems I put the seat bracket back on upside-down! It's a wonder it didn't come off really.

I have treated myself to Zinn and The Art of Mountainbike Maintenance - not a second too soon it appears....

I can't believe it. After my ride to Bramley and back early last week the crank started to wobble again.... and got worse..... and worse...... to the point where it's really interefering with the function of the front dérailleur. Not good.

I booked it into Beyond Mountain Bikes for a repair and general service, and really had no idea how horrible it was going to be not to be able to cycle out whenever I felt like it for so long. I've been off the road now since last Wednesday, and dropped the bike in today, and it won't be back with me for at least 3-4 working days depending on how the repair goes/whether parts need ordering ect.

So it's entirely possible that I might be off the road for 1.5-2 weeks or so. Waaaaaaaa.

In another scary blast-from-the-past type activity (this is starting to become a habit; where will it all end??!!) I went out for a long ride (well, long for me - nearly 13 miles) after work and took a picnic with me. The weather was stunning, the occasional company congenial (a few dedicated joggers, a couple of fellow solitary cyclists and a horde of rabbits!), and the sunset breathtaking.

I took along what used to be my favourite road-nibble, in the old days filched (officially or unofficially) from Auntie Rose's conservatory - ripe tomatoes. Wonderful for cycling with - they seem to stay cold for ages and combine eating and drinking in one tasty, zero-fat refreshing package!



They also have a the major benefit over fruit of not having sticky juice. I hate cycling with sticky hands. Give them a try!

I've been feeling a bit under the weather this weekend, and after a busy day on Saturday with Steve and Jean (who we haven't seen in literally, years) I thought I'd have a quiet relaxing day in.

We had been out this morning food shopping and also shopping for a new cycle helmet *cough* and I was happily dozing on the chair in the sun with a sleepy cat on my lap when my husband suggested I might like to pop out on the bike to see if the advertised benefits of the new helmet were all they are cracked up to be. My main issue with helmets are that they restrict movement and hearing and since 80% of body heat is exchanged through the head (!) then having it covered whilst exercising is not a good thing.

I chucked my book and camera into my bag, filled up the water bottle and left declaring that I would have a "short" ride due to my delicate health. A couple of hours later I fetched up on the edge of the field below, marvelling at the wonderful, stormy weather passing by just a few miles away.



There was definately a lot of rain, as there were small rainbows popping up every now and then and I could smell the rain in the air. The wind was quite strong, and I did wonder more than once if I was in for a soaking as this is some distance from my home, and if the wind had swung round, there would have been a lot of weather heading my way!



As it was, the sun went behind some clouds after a while and sitting on the grass became quite chilly and I headed off for home. I am very, very lucky indeed to live in such close proximity to this stunning countryside.

Oh, and the helmet is brilliant. I forgot that I had it on, and that's impressive.

"After all, the only thing you can do with money is to buy life. If the life you like costs you less, why bother to earn more by doing what you dislike?"

Quote from the letters of Colonel Bob Berridge during his three-and-a-half year imprisonment in a POW camp in Hong Kong.

Wise words from a wise man.

What a superb idea my lovely husband had this weekend. "Let's go on that boat trip that you enjoyed so much when you went with Marijke." he said, leaving me utterly dumbfounded. (He's shown some serious antipathy towards all forms of water-based recreation - until now!)

Without further ado I checked the running times for the boat, and shuffled the lovely one off into the car before he could change his mind.

We went on a nearly 2 hour trip, with an extremely amusing river-guide who pointed out things of interest such as the post below, which was apparently used to assist horse-drawn barges around corners.



What better way to recover after a nice trip than a sit-down, a little drinkie, and a bite to eat from the barbeque by the side of the river. The floor show was great - the boathouse loan out small rowing-boats by the hour - needless to say that people got bashful as they approached the waiting audience at the pub, and bank collisions, flailing oars and panicked squeals were frequent! The funniest thing though was the way the ducks climbed onto a small shelf at the waterline and then peered over the edge of the paving to see if there was any food on the floor!



I could have stayed for hours. What is it about a day by the river or sea that gives me such deep relaxation and contentment? Buried memories of my previous incarnation as a whale perhaps?

Thought I'd spend a bit of time looking into the causes of getting lost and accidentally trespassing ect when on the UK's highways and byways. I have they keys of most maps here which is very useful (wish I could remember them when out in the field!):



And some lesser-known symbols below:



So this seems quite clear to me. Anything in green is OK to walk on, bridleways or roads are OK to cycle on. Orange bits you need to check the terms of the right of way before using. Quite reasonable. Bridlepaths and public footpaths are signposted at the point where they meet a normal A or B road, and so are easy for me to spot, and should therefore be easy to follow. Why, then, is the area indicated below marked along its length with Private Property signs? To prevent people realising that it connects up with the Downs Link and a couple of other interesting-looking bridlepaths, do you think??



Hmm, that wasn't difficult to work out!!!!

My ride this evening was eventful - my chain came off for the first time as I unwisely went from top to bottom cog without passing go.... daft eh? I put it back on though without panicking and rode around gingerly for a few minutes in first gear before continuing on.

This event seemed to make me more adventurous for some reason (!) and I went further than I have before - finishing up at the bridge under the Downs Link. It started to rain at this point, so I waited it out whilst texting Jan (who has just put her new bike together and had a ride this evening - congratulations!) and Ian (in case he was worried about how long I was taking).

I had a nice Twix and a drink as well. It was deeply quiet - I could hear pheasants that sounded like they were miles away, and could hear no cars. If it hadn't been damp, I would have crashed out on the grass and stayed there a lot longer.