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.
Boats surrounded.
A little bit of flow through the arches.
But if you look downstream it just looks, well, "full".
After a near miss heading to Benson the road through Crowmarsh Battle looked sketchy.
Wallingford was looking damp too.
In some spots the river is now several fields wide.
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.
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.
Riding home from Oxford
Up early doors for an MRI with the lovely folks at the Nuffield and then a ride home, cross-country style. It would have been more cross-country, but I forgot that the river was flooded at Dorchester. F said that was no excuse and I should have made it into a triathlon. He's probably right.
It's been a while since I came this way and 9 months of repeating lock-downs and stay-at-home government messaging mean that my cycling legs and cross-country arms aren't what they were. Tired now.
London. Again.
London. The third trip since March. Probably the last until next year.
A beautiful Autumn morning for a ride through the city, from Paddington to Shoreditch House. But things were very quiet. Whether the backstreets around the British Museum.
And yes, you can see where I used to work in that last picture. I nearly popped in to say 'Hello', but there was nobody there.
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