A watershed moment

Yesterday's return route was a little different...via Burton Green, down Red Lane and past Kenilworth Castle.

Of course, Burton Green is on the Avon/Blythe watershed (pretty interesting in itself...) which probably accounts for the situation of a water tower there.

En passant I spotted that the aforementioned tower is being converted into a private dwelling.

Different, certainly - and what views!

Boy, you're gonna carry that weight

It dawned on me a while ago that Isaac Newton could not have been a cyclist. The effort of climbing a hill is in no way matched by the benefit of the descent. So in cycling, lightness is a virtue, be it in bike or rider.

Today the unnervingly precise Villelroy & Boch (Achtung Fattie!) scales pronounced 14.97 stone. That may sound gargantuan, but it's a significant improvement on the 16 stone of six months ago.

Or, in the words of Herren Villeroy & Boch "Von at a time on ze scales, plis!".

Ideally I'd like to be lugging 14 stone or less 1,050 miles on a bike, but the cruel irony is that after several hours in the saddle, what you really need is a couple of pints of Old Speckled Hen.


During my squash playing years my idea of an 'energy drink' was a pint of lager and line after a game. Indeed, it came as a shock recently to learn that some people drink lager for pleasure, not simply to replace fluid.

In other words, they actually prefer lager to beer.

Astonishing.

A change is as good as a rest

Today I varied my route, going from Saxon Mill to Chesford Grange, towards Stoneleigh, then Gibbet Hill and past University of Warwick to Westwood Park.

You'd have thought that a university would have a dedicated cycleway, but apparently not.

Soaked on the return journey, but that's life - the trade-off for keeping dry is lost time, which is gone for ever.

And the rain will be good for the spuds.

Hi-ho - it's off to work I go...

Cycled to work for the first time today!

Got to be done, to rack up the miles, and to get accustomed to riding every day. About an hour each way, 13 miles (Barford-Warwick-Kenilworth-Westwood Park).

Best bit - the smell of the bluebells in Crackley woods. Worst bit - potholes and generally crappy road surfaces, courtesy of Warwickshire CC. You don't really notice this in a car, but on a bike you feel every wrinkle.

I suspect this is not the last you'll be hearing on this subject...

Blogging on...

This blog gives updates on a cycle journey that's happening this summer. Preparation, the ride itself, and maybe the aftermath.

From Land's End to John O' Groats...

1050 miles, give or take, over ten-and-a-half days.

Why do it?

• Because it's there
• To raise cash for Cancer Research UK
• Mid-life crisis
  
• In memory of fellow Barfordian and cyclist Graham Lees

Not necessarily in that order.

That's my first post . Ever. A bit like a first edition, eventually to become a collector's item?

Whatever, more riveting posts to follow....