Dad's lost his bottle!

Upgrade, upgrade!

The last week has seen me moving forward in equipping and training. The weather has permitted the padded shorts and lycra tops to be worn without flourescent weatherproof coverings. A slimmer Michael is revealed!

The panniers have seen the light of day, and the backpack has been relegated to the garage. A front pannier was purchased from Evanscycles in Milton Keynes, but they didn' t include the fixing kit to secure it to the handlebars. Hopefully the package will fit through our letterbox on a first class delivery. It is cooler cycling without the extra layer and the backpack. So that was a 40 mile round trip to MK. Some of their cycle tracks were great (the red route to town centre), but the others had lost their signposts to vandals and graffiti, which doesn't help the visitor to get around. Cyclepaths can be short cuts, but they can also be the long way round too! I went up on the A5, and returned through Woburn Sands and Hockliffe. I try to do cyclical routes for variety and experience of navigation.

SPD pedals fitted on very easily, the shoes are comfortable, and i have managed to engage and disengage from the foot clips with relative ease. I need to remember that action when I am tired. Ivinghoe and Tring were my first jaunt with the pedals and my hamstrings ached a bit more than usual afterwards. Yesterday we travelled to Swanage from Bransgore. Sue drove 58 miles in the car, but my routes amounted to 50 miles, going via Wareham, and returning over the Studland Sandbanks ferry. A beautiful sunny day to wait on the sea-shore for Sue looking at Old Harry's rocks and the Needles. I feel great after burning off 3500 calories on some pleasant roads and paths.

So we had a fish dinner at the Cliffhanger in Highcliffe at the end of the day after soup in Swanage. I also had a spinach and feta cheese pasty there which had a high salt intake; Sue showed me that feta is made as a brine cheese. We both leant something!

The weather today is not so inviting. Cool and blustery. Sue mentioned the tandem, but I'm not sure it's a good day for that. Exbury gardens appeals, but I haven't looked at a map.

Men's breakfast at Bransgore Community Church this morning was a full English with all the trimmings. A good speaker too. So now to see what the day holds as I adjust to retirement. That happened last Tuesday, and 30 of the department came to a wonderful send-off meal at the Cafe Masala in Eaton Bray on the Wednesday night.

And the lost bottle? I have two clips for water bottles on the bike frame, and on the bumpy Christchurch causeway to Burton, the water bottle jumped off and went for its own burton. So Dad lost his bottle. I do have another down here, and spares back home in Eaton Bray.

Here's to cycling and safety.