Bike Collection
Jumped on the train to Newbury to pick up the bike.
Reading Ride
32k river-ish route, off road and side roads, to Reading. Much nicer than the bus, even if it was warm.
H's electrolytes for a rapid recovery.
60k loop
Section 1: Wallingford to Oxford off-road, along the old Roman Road that linked Dorchester with Alchester.
Section 2: Along the Thames Path to Abingdon.
Section 3: Cycle highway 5 to Brightwell via Didcot and Long Wittenham.
Sun. Rain. And two flats (one white).
Almost that loop again
I really do enjoy this loop. Except this was slightly different because last weekend the bridleway along the river was flooded and I decided I liked the idea of dry feet for a change.
Very muddy. Feet didn't stay dry, but did stay warm. Enough.
Probably far from a fair test of Homethings washing up liquid. But hey, why not? It did a pretty good job too...
2024 Floods Three
January blues beating idea: let's ride a loop along the river and see what's happening. First stop Shillingford.
Spring Rolls
An early morning cross-country ride to Oxford (yes, it was freezing) to seek out rice paper for the Thai-style spring rolls. Jing Jing on the Cowley road FTW.
Practice may be necessary.
Excuse me, I have a train to catch
The Camel Trail back to Bodmin was a tad busier than on the way down. Note to self: if you want the trail to yourself in August, ride at night.
The train was on time. But the bike spot GWR booked was, again, in a carriage that isn't accessible at Bodmin Parkway.
But that didn't matter, because when I got to the "you must book a bike to travel" place it was already kinda occupied.
Joined. Up. Thinking.
Cornwall By Train & Bike
Wallingord - Cholsey - Reading - Bodmin - Padstow by bike and train. Three attempts and this was the second success¹.
Getting to Bodmin after 10pm meant I had the Camel trail all to myself for the ride to Padstow. Spooky.
Footnotes
¹ But it was almost a repeat of the first run choas. I got on the connection at Reading not realizing that it was actually the previous train, delayed by an hour, by doors that wouldn't open. We then sat at Plymouth for a while to let the train behind us overtake. I guess that looks better on the statistics. Corinne Stockheath would be impressed.
Saturday Ride
Saturday morning, up onto Langdon Hill and Cholsey Downs.
I learnt that 'byways' aren't great for gravel riding, because heavy vehicles create deep ruts, which mean peddle strikes.
Oh, and some of the ruts are deep.
And full of water.
Muddy water.
Fun ride 🤩
First Ride of April
Wow. Without thinking this turned into a thing. The flat, the climbs, and anything tarmac was much faster on the gravel bike, but the bumpy downhills were sloooooooow. But maybe that's no bad thing at my age ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Gravel loop ride
The diverge managed an awesome south Oxfordshire loop. It was nicely muddy, with only just enough grip from the hybrid tyres. A slip-sliding backend of a ride.
Wellness Day 3
Up early this morning, trying to beat the weather.
The plan was to head up the river Camel, heading to Wenfordbridge and the closed Snail's Pace cafe (open until the end of October in case you're wondering).
The sky looked promising as I passed the sailing club.
Wadebridge, where the sun was trying hard to break through.
The trail winds itself through woodland along the edge of the river.
Occasionally leaving clues about its history.
Before long (well, a while or two), Wenfordbridge arrives. The cafe looks like it'll be a lovely stop come March.
The way back was gloomy as the clouds settled and drained away all the autumnal colour.
Except the the occasional reminder of better times past.
On the way back a lovely coffee at Relish in Wadebridge - possibly the best coffee since Coffee Works Leadenhall.
And back home, just before the heavy rain hit (this is becoming a pattern).
Muddy bike and muddy gear = never a bad day to ride.
Oh, a tad over 55km in case you were curious.
Wellness Day 1
We've been here before, but this time what came next was more successfull.
Bike is ready to board the ten thirty-ish to Penzance.
And I'm ready too, with caffeine drink in a slightly leaky mug.
Taunton arrived - almost as quickly as the snack cart.
It was slower after Exeter, but the views are something special.
And the reading was just as good.
Too soon, Bodmin Parkway arrived. Luckily mine was the only bike, so I was able to wrangle it out of the rack with only 5 minutes of hassle (oh to be a fly-on-the-wall for the user research that never happened when this wasn't designed)
The route from Parkway station into Bodmin is a wonderful ride through the woodland around Lanhydroc. There's lots of trails here to explore, and on reflection, this might have been a tad over ambitious on a single-speed.
After the woods is a dog-leg to get across the A30 Bodmin Bypass and then down into Bodmin to pick up the Camel Trail.
The trail was almost deserted, a big change from the summer when it's packed wheel-to-wheel. Unlike the summer there was plenty of places in the Wadebridge bike racks... but the coffee place I'd found last time was shut.
I made it just before the rain, but managed to get soaked picking up some supplies. But at least I managed a selfie to prove to F that I'd made it ;-)
Going back might take a little longer...
Ride
First ride of April. With sun and snow! Strava reckons it was 27.9km with 272m of elevation gain. But then Strava also claims a top speed of 75.2kmh so YMMV (or in this case YKMMV).
Route: Braziers Common Loop
The Clumps in the Distance
A glimpse of The Clumps from the bridleway in Dorchester. Taken on yesterday's ride just before I remembered the river was flooded.
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