Clarity

On this first day of my mammoth ten day xmas break, I decided to start as I mean to go on and go out for a nice ride first thing. Yule Fever seemed to grab me though and I invented my newest tradition whilst getting ready to go out.

I packed a big bag of peanuts which I'd bashed and broken up with my marble rolling pin, a flask of coffee and two mince pies along with the usual survival kit I pack into my pannier for each ride.

Getting through the Xmas-Eve-Madness traffic as quickly as possible, I hopped onto the Downs Link and headed out towards Bramley. At strategic points along the way I put a handful of crushed peanuts on top of posts or in piles of leaves that blackbirds were showing an interest in. The day really brightened up from its dull, cloudy beginning quite quickly.



So I rode on to Bramley scattering food as I went. I stopped a number of times for a while where there was a convenient bench, scattering food and then sitting extremely still for some minutes until the local small wildlife had forgotten I was there, and started going about their business again.

Once I eventually got to Bramley I sat in the station and relaxed in the sunshine whilst Jackdaw basked outside (!).



And had my coffee and mince pie.



I then then rode back the same way replenishing the peanut supply where I had left food on the way. I stopped off at the local church for a rest and some water and had a good chinwag with the local vicar about bikes, windproofs and the South Downs Way. The sunshine was still making everything very warm and comfortable. I rode back home in a stress-free contemplative mood.

So there you have it - the new tradition - The Christmas Eve Mince Pie Run!

Compliments of the season to all!

After having been introduced to The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster by the venerables at ACF, I find myself seeing signs and portents of this important new movement in our consumerist society.

I particularly like to consume copious amounts of chocolate, as anyone who knows me will testify, and was awestruck to see an image of His Divine Noodlyness (cunningly disguised as a button) on the following packet:

So let's give them some! If you have an issue with the growing trend of cycles being banned from trains during peak times (7am-10am and 4pm-7pm) let them know about it.

Southern Trains Survey

It's the start of a really worrying development as per one of my previous scribblings on here - even outside of "peak" hours they specify that they will only carry a "limited" number when space is available. Several train operators have now brought in very similarly-worded policies. It needs to be stopped.

Let's have a policy for once that enables the issues of single-occupancy car commuting, low population fitness and rising obesity levels to be dealt with all in one go. Are the Government serious about these issues or not??

After a lot of looking I have noticed that there does not seem to be any cycling club or organisation that covers the Cranleigh area. (Please correct me if I'm wrong!)

Being a young-to-middle-aged absolute beginner it would be nice to find some other ladies who would like to have company on some gentle loops in the Surrey Hills area on weekends throughout the year. I also do short (10 mile or less) night rides at the moment to try to keep fitness up despite the winter.

So if anyone in Cranleigh/Ewhurst/Godalming or surrounding areas would like to form up to make a beginner's cycling group with no pressure or risk of being mocked/left behind, please drop me a line!

For this purpose, an idea I've had for a while is now being developed. Have a look at Velowenches and see if there's anything there that interests you. Comments, suggestions, all welcome!

First I rant, then I look for answers. Here's a recently-formed information/pressure group concerned with the growing issue with cycles on public transport in the South, Cycle Train Commuter Group. They are focussing only on Southern Trains at the moment, but if a formula is found that produces success, it could be adopted by others.

Time for me to get letter-writing and prevent the erosion of useful and accessible public transport.