Friday 25th September - Last day of summer?

The last post was a bit wordy, so this ones in pictures;

Gatehouse at the back of Knebworth House converted to a home. Like the way the arch has been glazed in.


Deer in Knebworth Park


St Giles Church Codicote


The village pond at Woolmer Green was teeming with goldfish. (Wish I'd had a proper camera with a polarising rising filter!)


Even managed to fit in a bit of Geocaching! Didn't have anything to leave, so I just took a picture.

Friday night, Saturday morning

I was talking to Jane the other night and she made me feel guilty for not updating my blog regularly. So, this one's for you Jane...

Friday night, or afternoon really, was just intended to be a quick ride in case I didn't get another chance over the weekend. First stop was the BMX trial that some kids had set up in the woods - I was only exploring it, I wasn't riding it! I followed the track down through the woods and began to pick up some speed when I came to ... nothing! The ground just dropped away steeply to the ex-quarry floor about 60ft below. I thought about it, but bottled it - I'll give it a go one day though.

Just to give me a sense of purpose I like to pick somewhere or something to aim for, so I decided I'd head for the water tower at Tonwell (I didn't say it was going to be interesting!).


Next stop was Westmill of off the A602. This pretty little collection of houses obviously used to be on the main thoroughfare before the by-pass was built around Tonwell. Interesting to imagine what it must of been like and you can still see the old SLOW markings on the road as it disappears into a bush.

*%@t, puncture! and because it was only a 'little' ride I didn't bring a spare. Never mind only a 2.5 mile walk home.

Saturday morning was a much better ride. After fixing the flat I headed out for a blast around the Hertfordshire countryside. I deliberately didn't take a map which makes it a bit more interesting, as you tend to take turnings and tracks that you wouldn't normally take. (I did take the GPS though - I'm not that liberated.) The route was roughly; Tonwell (again), Sacombe, Wadesmill, High Cross, Cold Christmas, Wareside, Amwell, Stanstead Abbotts and home.

Points of interest were; the monument to Thomas Clarkson who was one of the driving forces behind the abolition of slavery (presumably no relation to Jeremy Clarkson). The monument makes the spot near Wadesmill where he had his Big Idea that slavery was, well, wrong. Wareside was nice - I've only seen the bit of it that's on the road to Much Hadham and didn't realise how big it was. The disused railway line between Stanstead Abbotts and Much Hadham following the river Ash.

A rather dull video clip - Through a ford on the River Ash

Well that's it - 22 miles in all. Only fell of once and that was outside the house whilst dismounting!

View from the saddle

Obviously I'm not going that fast because I'm holding a mobile phone and cycling with one hand!

First thoughts on the new bike

Following the 'shake down' trials on Friday, I can confirm this is a superb bike! Everything about is an improvement on my old GT (which is due to be retired to a good home).

At first it seemed a bit 'flighty', but pointing it at a few rutted paths and other obstacles proved any fears I had to be groundless. Suspension is great, it soaked up the bumps without being 'springy' and the rebound is definitely better than the GT. Gearing seems a bit lower than the GT with more overlap on the front cogs, but, again, pointing it at a fairly step (gravely) slope presented no problems. The most radical difference for me is the hydraulic disc brakes. At first you don't think they are doing anything, but this is because the lack the mechanical drama and noise of ordinary brakes! Perfect stopping with no problems.

All in all, after a fairly typical 14 mile ride, I'm suitably impressed and look forward to get out as much as I can (wife permitting!).

Country Pub

Never seen it open. Honest!

New bike!

Todays ride home is the 'shake down' trial for the new bike. It's a Specialized Hardrock Pro disc and it's next years model. Cool!

Doh!

I'd like to see the claims form for this one! Note the 'Road Closed Ahead' sign. Spotted in WGC on my cycle home on Friday.

Cycle Train-ing

Sorry, but Friday's ride home had a railway theme!

This is a strange structure to come across in the middle of the woods; A large concrete cylinder topped with fearsome metal spikes and barbed wire. Your imagination could run riot with you, but the sound of a passing train below gives the game away - it's an air shaft for the railway tunnel below.

This is Harmergreen wood, just north of Welwyn Garden City, which sits above the main railway line from Kings Cross to the north.

I imagine that it's a popular place for the local dog walkers, but on an afternoon like this it was very tranquil and I didn't see a soul. Which is probably a good thing because I found some interesting 'single track' and went bombing down it like a loony!

Next stop was Welwyn North station to get a shot of the tunnel entrance, which is actually two tunnels with a very short cutting in between them. The date above the tunnel says 1859.

I couldn't finish this without a picture of the viaduct at Digswell. Those crazy Victorians huh!

By the pond at Chapmore End

Hardly saw anyone out tonight - wimps!

The countryside this evening

Lovely.

View from Queen Hoo

On of my favourite views. From here I can see the water tower at Bengeo, Harlow and the transmitter at Brookmans Park. The track from here down is also a good place to fall off.

Ride home

Datchworth church in the distance. It's a bit windy today so it's heavy going on the bike. :$

The Untouchables at Woodson Park

Keith Parker and The Untouchables produce another fine performance at Woodson Park on 30th April 2009.

Day trip to Paris

Paris and back in a day

This is it the 8:00am flight from London City Airport. For the terminally nerdy amongst us (that'll be me then), it's a British Aerospace Avro RJ85 (formally a BAe 146). I love the take off from London City - It's not as manic as a lot of the bigger airports and you just know your plane is the only one on the runway! The ascent is very steep and on a lovely morning like this the views over London are spectacular. Which I've spectacularly failed to capture in the next photo...


As I said, it was a beautiful sunny morning and as we flew out over Kent there was a fantastic view of the mist rolling off the downs into the Medway valley. I didn't get a photo, but I don't think I could have done it justice anyway.

Many of the 'suits' on the plane at this time of the morning adopt a very nonchalant 'frequent flyer' pose, but I can't help having a schoolboy enthusiasm for flying when it's a day like this.

Before you know it you across 'La Manche' and descending into Orly airport where the weather was poorer than it was in England -Ha!


Then it's a short taxi ride to Le Plessis Robinson and and all day meeting in a windowless room. The highlight though is the canteen at lunch time which servers up some fantastic food - my favourite is the pastries.

The trip back is another taxi ride to Orly - the motorway was blocked so the driver took us on a tortuous route through the streets - where there was a short delay (only a matter of minutes) before we boarded for the flight home. By this time the the weather had deteriorated and the sky was black above Orly (Ha! again)...


Needless to say the trip home was a little bit bumpy, but by the time we landed in England the sun was out again.

Bluebells!

It's a bit girlie, but you've got to have Bluebell picture at this time of year.

If you go down to the woods today...

...you'll probably see a mad, fat bloke on a mountain bike bouncing off tree roots.

First ride home from work in 2009

Bike's been serviced, spring is here, the sun is out, must be time to ride home from work.


Out There.

New tyres

Now that's what you call a proper, Kevlar reinforced, knobbly, man type tyre!

St George & Dragon?

It's a day late, but I spotted this motif on a church in Woolmer Green. I thought it was St George and the dragon, but on closer inspection it turns out to be St Michael.

Wow! It's my blog on my blog.

Test shot from new mobile phone

Holy Trinity Hertford

Test shot

By the river Lea in Hertford

All aboard The Polar Express!

Snow encrusted train at Hertford North this morning.

Stevenage station

Platform 1 at 3 o'clock in the afternoon

Bicycle heaven

The bike park at the Grand Arcade shopping center in Cambridge. Complete with showers, changing facilities, lockers and it's own bike shop!