Adult Swim, extended session

Updated list stands at:

Cua Dai Beach, South China Sea, Hoi An, Vietnam - 4 December 2008
Finnhamn, Stockholm archipelago, Sweden, 3 September 2008
Kalgardson, Stockholm archipelago, Sweden, 2 September 2008
Aurlandsfjorden, Norway, 17 August 2008
Liverpool Bay/River Mersey, Wirral, 27 July 2008
Brockwell Lido, London, 23 July 2008
West Mersea, Essex, 20 July 2008 (ok, only waded)
Grange Chine, Brightstone Bay, Isle of Wight, 15 July 2008
Whitecliff Bay, Isle of Wight, 14 July 2008
Hampstead Heath, mixed pond, London, 6 July 2008
Fraserburgh Bay, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 7 June 2008
Boulmer Haven, Boulmer, Northumberland, 20 May 2008
Loch Tay, Fearnan by Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Scotland - 13 May 2008
The West Sands, St Andrews, Scotland - 1 January 2008
London Fields Lido, Hackney, London - Sept 2007
Lake Bala, Bala, Wales - Aug 2007
River Usk (Afon Wysg), Crickhowell, Wales - Aug 2007
Cuckmere Haven, East Sussex - Aug 2007
Hampstead Heath, mixed pond, London - Aug 2007
Dunwich, Suffolk - July 2007
Westcliff-on-sea, Essex - July 2007
Druridge Bay, Northumberland - June 2007
St Bees, Cumbria - June 2007
River Cocker, Cockermouth, Cumbria - June 2007
Lake Bala, Wales - Aug 2006
Pett Level, East Sussex - Aug 2006
Winchelsea, East Sussex - Aug 2006
Hastings, East Sussex - July 2006
Dunwich, Suffolk - July 2006
Naples, Florida - June 2006

Castles made of sand - Lochs 'n' Trossachs Tour, Seahouses to London - Day 11, 20 May 2008

Pictures

Today, nothing really is planned except where we need to end up. We have a late afternoon train to catch from Alnmouth to London, but nothing except about 16 miles between here and there. In a rush, we could make that in an hour and a half. We end up going about 38 miles today instead, which includes about 6 miles from Kings Cross in London, so we do a lot more than that.

Still, it is a leisurely and nice day. It is sad to think we will be back in London that night, back to reality, back to the last month of my job before it gets sent to India. But that's in the future (and in the past as of this writing), today we have to fill up a few hours before the train. It was another full English breakfast at the B&B and they included all the fried things even though I asked them not to. Oh well.

We head back down to the harbor to take a last look and then decide what to do from there. There still isn't a plan. Maybe how about go north a little bit, get a better view of Bamburgh and after a while turn around and head south to the train. It is out of the way, but there is time.

A little bit up the road, we get distracted by a little pond by the side of the road. So, here we are, the side of a fairly busy road, binoculars out looking at the birds. After getting our fill, well, we are almost there, we might as well head the rest of the way to Bamburgh, although we cut out a little before we get there. Right on the outskirts of town, there is a path that leads off road through just barely blooming poppies and grassy sand dunes leading to the beach.

It is a slightly challenging way, through undergrowth and a few nettles, a little hilly and having to push heavily loaded bikes through this. Far enough in, we stash the bikes, lock them together and wander off. What a great vantage point for the castle here. A different side than you normally get from the road and it is a pretty backdrop to the grassy sand dunes. It is nice to see the ocean again before we head back to the bikes and continue on our way.

In Bamburgh, we pass up and around the castle and turn off through down and double back on a quiet country lane, back onto the national cycle route. After the busy traffic on the main road, it is really nice back here. There is also a nice view of the castle from yet another vantage point, this time the backdrop for green fields. I'm still not sure what crop it was, at that point it looked like very broad leafed grass, I presume that eventually it turned into some sort of grain.

A few turns and we pass a few roadside stands to tempt us, you know, bags of potatoes or different fruits or vegetables set out there to tempt you to put even more into already heavy panniers for only a pound. There are mostly quiet roads then to the turn off to Low Newton-by-the-sea. Low Newton is also sort of out of the way, but when I was there last year, it was such a lovely little village and such a charming pub, I had to share that. There was also a steep hill down to the village and the sea, so I was hoping that wouldn't be too much to add in there.

But all is well though, it was still a charming village, pretty beach by the sea, and the pub was serving smoked kippers and a nice pate. A person at the next table over was sniffing at the kippers they got, calling them overcooked but I found them really nice. Admittedly I haven't had many kippers in my life, so I'm no expert but they tasted really good. He might have been right though, the kippers we later got in Craster and took home, those were just really excellent. But I'm getting ahead of myself here, I should still be eating kippers and pate in Low Newton.

After this, we have to backtrack, head back up the hill back to the main road again. It is a little frustrating going over the same roads again, especially if it is just an hour or so later, but it wasn't that far and wasn't that painful. The worst instance of this was the 2006 Wild Wales Challenge, where the last 1/3 of it had a whole mad 10 mile or so diversion, down a hill to a checkpoint. It was all the more painful that every second you were coasting downhill (and as the rain started coming down and settling in for the duration), you knew you had to turn around and come back up that a little bit later, grrr.

Again, I'm off track again, we are still in Low Newton, or just were, we are a bit further down the road now. There is another diversion, an off road section to Dunstaburgh. But this one I know is totally worth it, this is probably my favorite castle in Britain. It is about a mile of off road, narrow gravel track and some grass, then other mile or so over pasture on the other side to get to Craster. Most of it is ridable, except for a little section right before the castle, and there is one gate which is impassible to bikes with panniers. You have to take them off and pass them over the fence and then you can squeeze the bike through the gate.

The path heads along a golf course by the sea and then by the sea itself. The approach to the castle doesn't quite hint at the whole thing. There are some amazing cliffs which the castle grounds sit on but all that is visible from this side is a few pillars and ruined towers, looking a little ghostly.

We are a bit distracted by the cliffs and the birds though before we make it to the castle. They are covered with kittiwakes, circling around, dropping down to their perches. The razorbills were especially entertaining, their strategies for getting up onto their perches. They would have to circle way out to sea and then use the distance to get their speed and elevation up, struggle to get up to the right height, and hit the cliff at just the right angle and speed and drop onto their perch. Although most of them would miss it or decide they weren't quite in the right position and they would have to abort and head back out to sea and make the approach all over again. It is amazing how long that can be entertaining to watch.

After watching this and having some snacks, we press on, around the hill and to the front door of the castle. We don't actually have loads of time and I've already seen the castle, so we have to decide whether to see it or not. It is pretty great, but getting to Craster in time to get some kippers seems more important, so we head off. The rollercoaster pasture just past the castle is lots of fun to ride down, up and down until you get to the more difficult part of the pasture. But it isn't far and we quickly make it to the gate and pass into Craster and back onto the main roads.

In Craster, the pub is no longer serving food, so we are a little out of luck there, but the fish shop is still open and has plenty of stock. After discussing the various grades of kippers with the guy, it seems that the 2nd class ones are just fine. They might have been ripped a little bit during the smoking process but they should taste exactly the same. We purchase a few and stash them in the bags to take home and enjoy later. (And they were fantastic.)

However, lunch still looms. We snacked a little bit but a little bit more would be a good idea, especially since we also have a long train journey ahead. Turning inland, we soon come across a tourist information center with a lunch cart out back. We look around the information center and then enjoy some tea and scones, and feeling a bit better, onward again.

We are nearly there now. I've been keen for a swim for the last few days, but it hasn't quite been the right place yet, or the right time. When we make the turn again at the coast and come to Boulmer, the spot that Caroline recommended yesterday, it does look nice and I would enjoy it. Come on, let's swim, this looks good. Yep, the water is cold but it is really nice. Nothing quite like swimming in the sea, even if it is really cold.

All missions accomplished now, all is left is rushing to the station. Alnmouth is right on the coast, the mouth of the River Aln empties there, the station then is not exactly in town but is close by. We head down to the harbor, look at the mouth of the river for a minute or two and head back into town, make a quick stop at a grocery store to pick up some food supplies for the train and then slowly ride the last mile to the station. Over the funny bridge with the weird supports and up the last hill and there, done. 20 minutes or so to spare, for a day with lots of time to fill, this has been a pretty successful job of that.

We get a text from Owen, saying he is on the train heading our way, look for him in first class. Wow, how posh. It is a small station and they want to make it a quick stop, so they rush us a bit getting the bikes loaded. Get them in fast, strapped in and then get in the very first car and walk to our coach on the train instead of doing it on the platform. They don't seem to be serving food or drinks yet, I'm totally thirsty and had been out of water for the last section of the ride, so I grab a few ice cubes out of the bucket on the counter and try to rehydrate that way the best I can.

We then see Owen and sit down and chat for a little bit. A short rest and then we have to make our way through the rest of the coaches to find our seats for the rest of the journey. The train is a little crowded and we witness a bit of ticket rage, conflict over seating and the conductor has to be called to move the unreserved person off somewhere else. I was vaguely sympathetic with him until he starts turning into a jerk, I totally need the table seat because I'm using my computer and blah blah blah. He grumpily moves to another seat, making a big show out of the sheer inconvenience then 20 minutes later or so he wanders off and finds a new seat somewhere else on the train. Bye bye, I won't miss you, not sad to see you go. That bit of amusement done, the rest of the journey passes peacefully. Owen shows up with his laptop and shows us some of the pictures he took of the tour and some of the others that have already been posted while we have been goofing around on the Farne Islands.

Well, it had to come to an end eventually. Even adding on a few days, it still had to. Coming out of Kings Cross and dealing with London traffic again is always a huge adjustment. So this one ends, when I get home, there are 330 miles on my new odometer. So I guess there would have been 456 miles on the old one if I hadn't lost it a few days into the tour. It feels like a good accomplishment and was a great week (or slightly more). I might not get to do another Scotland tour, but I do look forward to the next tour, wherever that might be in my future.

Island of the misfit toyboys or Notes from a small island - Lochs 'n' Trossachs Tour, Seahouses and the Farne Islands - Day 10, 19 May 2008

Pictures

Ok, I know this isn't actually part of the bike tour, zero miles on the bike today, they didn't even come out of the B&B garage, but it was a really cool day. Breakfast in the Seahouses B&B is pretty standard full English breakfast. I have to be careful again, there isn't massive amounts of riding going on anymore. And I'm a little jealous, it sounds like Caroline's breakfast was really posh and fancy. However, I'm still totally full from all the meat at dinner last night.

We head through town to find some supplies for the day on our way to the harbor. The full day boat trip is supposed to leave around nine, so we need to rush and get food for the day and get there in time. We pick up a few things in the grocery store and then lots of nice things in the bakery. They have good looking pasties and we take a few of those, if they are good enough for Cornish shepherds, they should work for us on a boat headed to islands covered with loads of birds.

The weather seems fairly nice but is slightly windy. Maybe that won't be so good. That is confirmed when we get to the harbor. The booths seem slightly emptier than they should be, lots of people already gotten the bad news and have wandered off. On last years tour, we made a trip to Seahouses to try to get to the islands but the weather was just way too horrible for the boats even go to out, so we gave ourselves two days this time to see if we could get out there. They tell us that the seas are too rough to go out this morning, but that they will turn the all day tour into a single landing, the Inner Farnes will be too rough even this afternoon, and just give us longer on the island. I guess that sounds fine, you can't really argue with the sea. But come back at noon and we will go there. That gives a few hours to kill then.

We are on the coast, have binoculars, see lots of birds out there, so the logical thing is just to wander up the coast a bit and see what is there. On a boat ramp, just up the way, there is a very tame pack of eider ducks, walking up and down, coming quite close to all the people, and making their funny cooing noises. A few people, looking like dedicated photographers, they have really big lenses on their camera, start taking lots of pictures of them. We are just quite excited to see them this close. They are such funny creatures, the triangle face just seems so elegant.

Continuing up the coast, various boats sit stranded in the mud, in the low tide. We walk towards a stone hut on the rocky outcrops. I wonder what it is for, maybe if you get stranded on the rocks when the tide comes in, you have somewhere safe to sit and wait it out. I can imagine, with the waves the way they can really come in, it would be a bit uncomfortable sitting out exposed on a rocky outcrop.

After a little more bird watching from the sea wall and a bit of tea from a sandwich cart, it is just about time to start lining up for the cruise. The tide has come in much more now, the boats that were stranded in the mud are now just about floating again and the harbor is filling up. The tour operators keep shouting out confusing information, if you are going on the all day tour, this side of the wall, if you are on this one, over here. We have to ask to make sure we get on the right one.

Loading in, which seat is going to give us the best view? Some are on the edge, some you have to sit towards the middle. I guess the ones on the edge might be closer at some times but the ones in the middle will probably always be far away from things, no matter what side of the boat things are happening on. It takes about 20 minutes of cruising to come to the first island, the inner one. We were supposed to land on this island, but with the heavy surf, it isn't all that safe, so we just have to cruise around it.

The sea was a little rough but it seems fine. I am vaguely worried about seasickness, but I generally don't seem to get it, just once on a pretty rough ferry crossing from Liverpool to Dublin, but then everybody around me was sick too. I am mostly curious because I'll be going back to Scotland in a few weeks to do whale and dolphin counting on little RIB boats, so I want to make sure I won't have trouble with that. (Of course, that wasn't a problem either, the bumpy rough sea days were some of my favorite there.)

You know we are getting close, the cliffs are stained white and there is a lot of movement on them. The seas up to there have had a fair amount of movement too, mostly guillemots floating around and then flapping off when we get too close, or would do a synchronized dive. And even a few puffins which makes everybody happy. The guillemots are perched up high on the cliffs and every so often one would launch itself off. Around the next corner, we come across a number of shags (or cormorants, I can never tell the difference) nested on their own rocks, their great profiles against the sky. Then around the next corner, is a colony of seals, gigantic and huge lying on the rocks and then a funny contrast when you see them in the water and it is just a little bit of their nose sticking out. We circle around again to give the other side of the boat a chance to see them. It would have been nice to have been closer to all of those but it was still pretty amazing to see all of those.

Another 15 minutes of cruising takes us out to the outer island, the lighthouse coming up, a few minutes cruising around the back and coming in for a landing. The most distinctive thing I remember from coming in was the swarming. It looked like a cloud of flies from that distance, swarming over the buildings as we approached. But the flies of course where the Arctic terns, the birds that can be a bit scary and the reason you are advised to wear a hat on the island. Luckily for us, it was a bit early in the season and they didn't have young to protect, so they weren't quite as aggressive as they can be. I don't think anybody got hit, just a little bit of dive bombing.

Getting off the boat, they gave us a time to be back, a few hours later, and said they would be back. We offload and they take off again and we are alone on the island, ok there are lots of other people and there are a ton of birds, but yeah basically we are alone then. After running the gauntlet of the terns up to the little chapel and visitor center, the first order of business is some lunch. There are the pasties and oatcakes and other things to eat. After a bit of time at sea and in the sun, it is really nice and tasty.

What an amazing island though. I would totally recommend the place, even if you are not all that into birds. It is beautiful there. But really though, the birds do own this island, each section has their own special territories. The landing area is pretty much dominated by the terns. The puffins seem to be mostly burrowed in the center of the island (although sadly the last survey said they have declined by 1/3 since the last survey 5 years ago, the first time that figure has dropped since they started surveying them). There were not a whole lot of puffins there, a lot of them were still out to sea, and then according to the survey, they just didn't end up making it back this year. Eider ducks then fill a lot of the center section too, the females totally blending in with the surroundings and it is hard to spot them sitting on their nests, while the males are very white and very distinctive.

The cliff areas surrounding the island are dominated by lots and lots of guillemots, a few puffins, and number of razorbills, and a good number of shags. The shags are quite funny, they are rather stubborn about their nests, coming back to the same one year after year, even nests that are just a few inches from the sides of the paths that lots of people like us walk on during these tours. They sit there, seemingly oblivious of the people, occasionally standing up and checking their eggs, turning them over and sitting back down.

There is so much to take in, we have like 2 1/2 hours there, the island doesn't take long to walk around, but every corner of it is crammed with birds to see. One of the nicest parts is sitting on the grassy part by the lighthouse, lying back, closing my eyes, half sleeping, and listening to the sounds, the sounds of the sea and the different types of bird calls. It is just an amazing symphony.

On the way back to the landing spot, I peek around the chapel, which I didn't look in on the way into the island. It is quite small and apparently much of the stuff in it had been looted by soldiers stationed on the island years back, but it is still a nice place, it is a bit rustic, lots of it is carved wood.

Our boat should be back in a few minutes, so we head back down to the dock to get on. A few terns say goodbye, practising their technique, which I have to say is rather effective, I felt a bit jumpy around them. We then cruise straight back to the harbor and disembark. Wow, that really was pretty great, sad we didn't get there last year but it was worth the diversion this year to see it.

We head back towards the B&Bs and Caroline has a train shortly after this in Alnmouth, so she has to gather her things and zoom off to catch that. It was nice having her along for this part and she seems quite happy for having seen the islands too. She then makes pretty good time getting back there and we get some texts back later saying she made it and recommending a nice swimming spot for us tomorrow on our way out.

We rest a bit in the B&B and clean up and then head out again to find some dinner. There was the Links place from last night, it was nice but it would be nice to find something different, if only for variety sake. The only other place in town that serves anything (besides fish and chips and takeaway) is the other hotel which has a pub and serves food. We look at the menu, waver a bit, I don't know, do you want this one, and decide to go back to the Links. It is busy but they find us a place, we look at the menu for a bit and then decide, no, really want to go to the other one, the seafood stew sounded too nice to skip and this one was just so meaty. Sorry, as we sneak out. Well, they seemed to be kind of short staffed too tonight and it seemed a bit annoying being there.

The other one seats us in a sort of lounge room where we order drinks and then realizing that we are not guests at the hotel, they move us into the main dining room. I'm still not quite sure of the logic there, but it doesn't matter. I could have either in either room and I'm sure it would have tasted the same. The stew was really nice too, just right with a beer and after a day at sea. We also spy the Farne Island wardens coming in the back door, I guess sneaking off the island for a few pints and a bit of food.

The day has been long and a bit exhausting, but for our last night, we have to see the ocean again. As much as I liked the Scotland tour, one thing that was strange about it is that we never ended up at the sea at any point. This part to Northumberland was a personal diversion and I'm not sure that the part where we went over the Forth Bridge really counts. It seems a bit strange going on a cycle tour without being at the sea for at least some part of it, hopping onto different islands, doing a coast to coast ride, or whatever.

The sun is just starting to set and a walk on the beach is called for. The tide is out again and the setting sun on the vast stretches of damp sand is quite pretty. The Farne Islands don't seem that far out there, except we know better now. The funny thing is how the lighthouses look, they seem like they are right next to each other although we know one of them is kind of quite a bit behind the other one, the islands look like a big long island instead of ones quite far back from each other. We then make our way back in the growing darkness, trying to avoid the large group of school kids who have been running around the beach off in the distance and diving off the cliffs onto the sand. They make their way back to their coach waiting to take them away somewhere and we head back to our B&B and call it a day. 0 miles today on the bike, but I've already said that. There were quite a few miles of walking though.

The end is the beginning is the end - Lochs 'n' Trossachs Tour, Sterling to Edinburgh and Seahouses, Day 9, 18 May 2008

Pictures

The tour is officially over but we still have quite a ways to go. There is most of the group left and they all have various plans about leaving and when and how. We still don't know exactly what we intend to do, but riding to Edinburgh is probably the best choice today. There are lots of options, take the train, ride part way, ride the whole way, etc. But Dave A has a train in Edinburgh (he has to go back to work tomorrow) a little before ours, we intend to take the train with Caroline to Seahouses in Northumberland so that we can go to the Farne Islands. It is all about the birds, you know.

In the hostel, things have quieted down a little. The girls hockey team seems to be clearing out pretty quickly and leaves us the kitchen in peace. There is a last batch of porridge to make and then some final packing (and of course a last morning check of the tires to see if they are still inflated).

All of that works out, so we are ready to start heading out. Linda leaves, Gary follows a little bit after. We say goodbye to them and the rest of us take a short walk around town. At least I haven't really seen that much in Stirling yet, just the parts we have ridden through on the way to somewhere else. The castle it the obvious place to go, and it is just a short walk up and down some hills.

It is in a pretty spectacular location, on top of a hill and is pretty spectacular looking in of itself. There is a good view of the city from up there, even with a slight fog. There is a cemetery next door, the gigantic pyramid seems fascinating (and based on how many in the group took a picture of it, it seems to be universal). It looks like a grand cemetery, but we don't really have time for it or the castle. A few then decide to go see the castle, but five of us have to head out now.

Well, Owen (corrected, Dave T) has a later train from Stirling but wants to ride with us at least part of the way and will turn around and come back after a few miles. We take the Sustrans route out of town, part of it is pretty clear, there are a few turns which aren't exactly marked but just seem sort of where it would go, head into a cul-de-sac and there will be some path starting at the end of that.

The weather is like it has been all week, a little misty and atmospheric, slightly cold but otherwise nice weather for riding. At a large roundabout, Owen (corrected, Dave T) decides it is time for him to turn back and that leaves four of us. The pace is much quicker today than it has been for the last few days, less people and deadlines for trains to catch at the other end.

Onto a rail track, which will be a quick straight line for like 10 miles of the journey. It is slightly windy against us and it is slightly uphill most of the way, but it is still fast. Or at least Dave is fast, wow, he can move. I do what I can to try and keep up, occasionally catching up for a few bits of conversation then dropping back for a little bit. The landscape is that mix of suburban urban and farm land. I'm still obsessed with trying to get the perfect picture of a field of rapeseed, that shock of yellow filling the entire frame, but I don't think I do, I'll have to keep trying.

By the time we get to Dunferlane, it isn't that far to Edinburgh, but we should probably eat something soon. We seem ok on time for the trains, so we have a little bit of time. We find a nice cafe, organic and everything. There is lots of different types of cafes, ranging from the basic hole in the wall greasy spoon ones to the hip trendy ones that serve much more exotic things than beans on toast.

This one is more of a trendy hip one. The message board features lots of ads for local practitioners of reiki and tarot and things like that. They also have nice quiches and tarts. The food is quite nice and I'm feeling better about the coming miles.

Our next highlight is the bridge. There had been a little bit of debate that day, how are we on time and how ambitious are we feeling, do we take the train part of the way or do we ride all the way. So, we are going to ride the whole thing and that includes going across the Forth Bridge, which is quite cool. It is a bit of a winding road getting to it, since bridge approaches usually have to go a little out of the way to get up to the start, and we have to circle around a bit to miss the main motorway.

It is a Sunday and there loads of people out on it too. The shared pedestrian/cycle lane on the side is fairly busy. What an amazing view, high over the water, boats passing under, just all the cool things about a really excellent bridge. We stop a few times on the way over to look and watch a train pulling across the bridge across the way.

The rest of the way into Edinburgh is that stuff through suburbs, lots of strange paths through back alleys and strangely constructed paths by the edge of busy roads. One stretch has an annoying bouncy surface which makes me feel slightly queasy. We have a mad cyclists nearly take out two of us as she bombs by as we are trying to get on the path from the road. Then annoyingly, we keep passing her a few times. She is just on a mountain bike and goes really fast down hill but slows down a lot on hills and even fully loaded with baggage, we make nice steady progress up hills and pass by her. But then stop and rest and sit around every so often and she zooms by again.

The last part of Edinburgh goes through park land for a few miles, quite busy with walkers and weekend cyclists. Then in Edinburgh proper, I really like how the cycle routes can end up taking you past most of the big highlights in towns. It was like that in Aberdeen too, it was annoying that it took you through the cobblestones in Old Aberdeen, but then it was nice that you went through Old Aberdeen and saw that. So, Edinburgh is sort of the same, you go past most of the big highlights and we end up down in the valley in front of the castle and sit there and regroup.

Dave and Caroline dash off to get Dave on his train and the two of us wander around in the park in the valley, struggling wheeling two heavy bikes up and down the steep paths, seeing what there is to see there, and eventually end up in the train station. We say goodbye to Dave and go and look for our train to Alnmouth.

We don't particularly have a deadline at this point, just catch the train to Alnmouth and then ride the 16 miles or so to Seahouses, but it feels like a bit of pressure. It will get dark maybe at some point there and we have to find dinner and get to the B&B at a reasonable time. Calling the B&B, we promise a time and learn that the only restaurant in town open by the time we get there, well, will be closing shortly after our planned arrival time, so we can't really dawdle then on the way.

We are off the train and in riding formation and we make time. We barely stop, rush rush rush, and take a moment to take a call from the B&B about our arrival time, just 7 miles away now, won't be long. And then rush on again and do make it to Seahouses just fine. Our B&Bs turn out to be just a block away from each other and we drop our stuff off and head right to the restaurant, the Links one.

The food is nice but incredibly meaty. I order some pork thing which is just a huge hunk of meat, the lamb chops are also similar. I know I rode a lot today but it is even a bit too much for me. But the pressure is off now, a relaxing dinner and then back to the B&B for bed. 57 miles today, bed time is nice.

Always look on the bright side of life - Lochs 'n' Trossachs Tour, Aberfoyle to Sterling, Day 8, 17 May 2008

Pictures

Morning at the Rob Roy Motel, it was fairly quiet, a little noise from outside from the biker gang. I guess I expected a little, but maybe more from the sheer number of them. To be fair, they weren't really the Hells Angels type, more accountants from Glasgow on a weekend ride. So, I already mentioned the motel was tacky. The beds were totally comfy and the shower was excellent high pressure. Although the door was a bit wonky and it soaked the floor a bit.

I read through their notebook of local information and now am completely versed in the Rob Roy legend/history. Looking outside, it had rained a bit during the night. The bikes were locked right outside the window and were a little wet, but the seats had been covered, so that was the only important bit. It was a little hazy now, but it was clearing.

Where the biker gang was really going to do some damage was at breakfast. The room came with a buffet breakfast, laid out in the restaurant, 20-30 tables laid out on either side of the restaurant ballroom. There was a small stage there and glittery lights, perhaps it had been a disco the night before, or karaoke. The split in the room was immediately recognizable. The bikers, mostly guys and their woman, dressed in black t-shirts (must have been quite a run on them at the Glasgow Harley store) and black trousers, and us, some lycra there but mostly more colorful practical quick drying, waterproof, suitable for riding things. But the most immediate difference (or similarity) was in the food and bulk. We probably ate about the same amount of breakfast (vaguely eatable greasy breakfast things), while we would end up burning most of that off riding 30-40 miles, theirs didn't really have anywhere to go except their waist. If you put the two sides of the room on a see-saw, our side would have trouble getting off the ground.

Some of us set off a little early to see the osprey cam. In Achray Forest, the RSPB center has a webcam watching an osprey nest. The actual location of the camera is secret (so people don't go tramping around and disturb them), but Crispin says he knows where it is. He tells us the real location, Port of Menheith, or something like that. I've forgotten by now so the secret is safe with me then. So we set out on the steep hill right out of town, climbing into Achray and towards Dukes Pass. But dammit, so do the stupid motorcyclists, a few minutes behind us. It is a beautiful climb up out of town, slightly misty, forests and mountains in the distance, and 40 motorcycles roaring by every few seconds and waving as they do. Grrr.

Eventually they are gone and peace returns to the world. Just concentrate on the steep hill and the prettiness around. A few more switchbacks and we make it to the RSPB reserve, which is just opening for the day. We pass the milk delivery, about 20 bottles of milk cleverly hidden behind the parking lot sign. Unfortunately, the camera isn't on yet. It won't be on for another 45 minutes or so. We foiled ourselves by getting there early. Oh well, no point in waiting around for that. I saw loads of osprey in Florida a few years ago, so I'm ok with that.

We continue up to Dukes Pass. Ahh, built by the Duke of Montrose, maybe that's the same one from the Rob Roy stuff, must be. It is beautiful at the top, a bit desolate in that way I like, rugged and wild. And it is a nice smooth descent down, slightly winding, one of those nice ones where you don't really need to use your brakes all that much. It is a bit windy though, so there is a bit of balancing and hanging on.

It isn't long to the bottom and we turn east and head along Loch Venachar again. This is the same road now from yesterday, where we headed up to Loch Katerine and I saw the Post Bus. It is a woody road, covered in lots of places and slightly undulating, but a pretty quick road. Through Brig o' Turk again (which I believe means bridge of the boar), but is a pretty cool name. But then, I'm a fan of any town name which throws in an "o'". And we return to the cafe we spotted yesterday by Coilantogle. See, I told you we would be back, there is apple pie waiting there.

It is a pretty new cafe, about two years old, light wood panel on the outside, looking a bit like a newly converted basement from the 70s, just needs a bit of ugly yellow shag carpeting and it could be my parents' basement. But no, it isn't a basement and it looks ok by the loch. Slightly out place but maybe after it weathers a bit it will fit in better. Inside, it has a really good view of the loch behind, huge windows back the building and give a nice vista. Apparently there are ospreys on the other side of the loch, but I'm not able to see them.

Ahh, the pies then. Yes, normal tea (black, really black, no milk. It always seems to confuse them a little bit) and a slice of apple pie. Well, maybe it is more of a tart or something, there isn't much crust on it and no crust on the top. It was really nice though (considering I have such a good memory of it writing about it much later). Che must have agreed too since she had hers and then went back for a second one. The rest of the group is arriving around now and our group is about ready to head on. I take a quick look through the shop upstairs, but it mostly seems geared towards fishing and isn't really my thing.

Back then through Callander, where we go again through the back roads outside of town and pass by the bunkhouse from yesterday and carry on to the Braes of Doune. Or almost. Just past town, Che says she has a puncture and we stop to work on that. I'm still suffering a slight amount of post traumatic stress from all my punctures from a few days ago but I can manage to be composed and helpful when it isn't my tire. One person gets the tube off and a new one on while the other works on finding the hole and patching it, as well as a check to see if you can find the bit of glass (or other evil thing) which caused it. Although this one, we probably didn't find it at this point and it would come back to bite us, or maybe a snakebite, pinching the tube while you put it back on, causing it to puncture in that place soon after.

The rest of the group is coming by now, doing the normal, are you ok, I hope so so that I can keep going. But more then two working on a puncture isn't really helpful. We are ok on the tire, but we have altered the intended route for today and neither of us know exactly where we are going, so Crispin leaves his map with me, pointing out the turns and heads on. This tour, I was rather lazy with maps. I just brought the large scale Scotland map with me and printouts of the little bits for each day but not my normal pack of OS maps. So, much of the tour was just following the leader and some vague directions to go that way, lunch is over in that town, or go over that pass and we will see you at the bottom.

This next bit though, with the OS map, it can become slightly obsessive. The Landranger ones (1:50,000), they are just on the edge for that. They have lots of detail, although not to the completely obsessive amount the 1:25,000 have. But over a few miles, at a bike pace, it is quite easy to watch every turn, junction, radio mask, and every other bit of detail they throw on there. As nice as it can be to just ride in some direction and occasionally think about where you are going as you watch the landscape go by, the opposite can be rather obsessive with almost a GPS precision on where you are and where you are going.

We should be making some pretty decent time and starting to catch up with the rest of them, especially since I'm a little fuzzy on where we are going once we get to the town. OS maps fail a little bit in bigger villages and especially in cities. A few phone calls establish that they are just a few minutes ahead and waiting at the turn into town. When we catch up with them, I'm a little sad to learn we missed a bit of spectacular cycling, or at least cycling equipment failure, where a rack launched itself off the back and acted like an anchor thrown off a boat into the ocean.

We are a little confused in town there, where is the cafe, which one, and there are small groups wandering off on their own, one of them being a sneaky group to pick up some chocolate and gifts for those who organized the tour. The cafe though is really nice and I order all sorts of things, a sandwich and soup. Mmm, nice yellow split pea soup, just perfect. We linger a bit, we don't have all that much further to go, but Crispin also seems a bit anxious to get home, to see the wife and kids, not that far away now.

But one last bit of sightseeing first in Doune, that is of Doune Castle, more commonly known as the castle from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. And by castle, I mean all of them, different angles played the part of different castles in the film. The front face of the castle was the French one, and it is very niize. This castle picked because it was close to Sterling and was the only privately owned castle that would give them permission. Scottish Heritage wouldn't give them permission to use any of their castles, although ironically, Doune is now owned by Scottish Heritage and they are only too happy to exploit the notoriety, even having a set of coconut shells in the gift shop so that visitors can reenact their own favorite scenes.

Of course, we have to do it too. Rob and Gary prance out of the castle entrance with their coconut, although Gary's bike was having none of that and launched itself down the slope in order to get a bit of attention. Sigh, show business, you know. Nobody likes acting across from children and animals.

We are on the final stretch now. Out from the castle and onto some quiet country lanes for our last ride to Bridge of Allan. But ahh, Che's tire goes again and we have to stop and fix that again. Crispin is a bit fidgety so he takes most everybody on and we will catch up with them after we fix it. They are all headed to the brewery, so they should be easy to find and they won't be going anywhere for a while then.

The brewery is then hidden behind some buildings and it takes us a few false starts to find it. By the time we get there, everybody else is already on their second pint. Apparently there is some sort of tour there or something, but our main part of the tour is looking at the taps and figure out which one to try. We have to sample little bits of each one to find the best one. Although I make the mistake of really liking the dark one, but after half a pint, it just gets to be too much. I'm much happier on my next pint when I switch to something more blonde. The barkeeper has been there all day, nobody to relieve him all day and he is dying for a pee. Dave W graciously volunteers to man the taps while he runs off. Dave settles in behind the bar and looks very much at home, what will you have gents?

We linger here for quite a while, that tour ending happy/sad thing. Lots of hard work, tired and maybe ready to go home but also sad to have it all be ending and not quite ready for that to happen. Crispin is going to head home from here so we have the speeches and awards and thank everybody. A little tipsier then, we get back on the bikes and head out for the last mile or two into Sterling and back to the hostel, where we started the whole thing about a week earlier.

Now that we are getting to bigger cities, the Sustrans route is the normal mixed bag, nice off road, country lanes, and a bit of weaving to avoid the bigger roads. The country lanes have a little more traffic with some impatient cars trying to pass. In a lot of cases, passing doesn't get them that much, they have to stop for cars coming the other way and the roads are narrow and windy which can be pretty fast on a bike. I'm amused when Owen starts racing after a car that just passed, stretching out his legs, following it for quite a while.

Back in Sterling, oh my it is steep. I had forgotten about that. But this time through town, my tire holds up and I can get up and down all of them. We settle back in the hostel and start considering dinner. We make a reservation at an Indian place, a special buffet just for us. It is a bit strange though, since they do it by courses, they set up a few trays and come, eat, it is ready. And then repeat for the next course. They are also incredibly attentive, constantly hovering.

Back on the streets, and on the way over too, Stirling was in high gear. Not quite as hopping as Newcastle on a Saturday night during the height of stag/hen party season, but there was still a bit of commotion on the streets. And there were lots of women with chunky legs and really short skirts, that seemed to be the theme of the evening. Back at the hostel, time for bed. A respectable 34 miles for me today.

Read all about it, read all about it, news of the world

Wow, it is quite exhausting being unemployed. Too many things to do. Just back from a lovely swim at the lido, nice that I can do the early cheap swim too, barely anybody there too. But a little cold, the ocean a few days ago didn't see all that much colder.

I continue to be exasperated at HR for screwing up my severance package and then being only vaguely interested in trying to correct the problem. I need to start yelling soon. And hey, I nearly thought about EdSched today too for a few seconds. Nah, not really.

Sold my spare bike yesterday. Took about 5 minutes of work, that was way easier than I thought it might be. A little sad, that bike had been lots of places with me, the Hebrides and more. Although the frame had recently been completely replaced. What's the spiritual limit of a bike? If you replace the frame, is it the same bike What part of you can be slightly sad and which part already mourned the passing when the bike broke a year ago? Although, the poor dear had to deal with being second best after I got my lovely Condor. At least now it can be loved again as it should be.

Anyways, planning is coming along. I might have found my perfect backpack, which will be my home for about 4 months or so while travelling. Certainly the emerald green one. It was fun wandering around the store, wearing lots of different packs, 10 kg of sand in there to give a simulation of life on the road. Funny how seeing your luggage can make the whole journey a little more real.

Nearly have the Russia and Mongolia trains booked, just waiting for one last quote and change. C went off to the Mongolian embassy today to get her visa, I don't need one, US citizens get in free.

Hmm, now off to plan China, how do the trains and buses go through Gullin, what to do in Kumming for a week, and so much more to look into.
The intended journey so far

Funky Jam

Pictures

Congratulations to those who did the Dunwich Dynamo, but to some of the other of us who went to the jam factory instead, well, the cream tea was fantastic, I tell you, huge scones and of course there was the jam. James Bond used to name drop Little Scarlet (strawberry) jam, along with all the other loads of product placements. Ian Flemming must have gotten cases of it for years.

There was a quick wade around in the ocean at West Mersea with the jellyfish, as well as a cafe that serves 2 egg sandwiches (a welcome technological innovation from the normal 1 egg ones) and huge helpings of chips.

We didn't get trapped on the Mersea Island after all, but maybe if we had, the Essex boys zipping around on their jetskis could have rescued us if we had. Tollesbury was quaint with the flooded road. And we got 2 minutes of rain and were forced to hide out under a boat. Somebody needs to organize a ride back to try out the pool. It is posted that they have a very strict limit of 1000 people in the pool, we need to try and get 1001 in there to see what happens. Personally, I don't think you can fit more than 960 people in there.

And the jam factory, having taken home the rhubarb ginger jam, I can recommend it. I'm still trying to figure out how that strange tricycle in the museum works. For a factory, it was a pretty decent museum. Of course, I was probably totally on a sugar and cream high at that point from the cream tea.

Thanks to all that I pumped for information about travel across Russia, China, etc. All has been assimilated and incorporated into the round the world travel plan.

And thanks for Dave and Caroline for putting it together.

Eat Y'self Fitter - Lochs 'n' Trossachs Tour, Callander to Aberfoyle, Day 7, 16 May 2008

Pictures

A quiet room, not really any snoring last night and the bunks were fine and the room temperature was alright. Maybe small things but things that can make a huge difference in hostels and bunkhouses. And this even with 7 people in our room.

Off to breakfast then, no porridge today, a change of pace. They had an entire refrigerator filled with milk and a huge stack of those mini boxes of cereal and then other food that can be heated in microwaves. Maybe not exactly what I wanted but I can adapt. But today is a banner cake day, so no worries then. While everybody packs and organizes and gets ready to go, we all take another look through the bike shop, seeing what sort of discount they can wring out of the owner. Everybody seems pretty happy with the results.

The dogs that were resident at the bunkhouse are quite cute and entertaining. Now I know Gary likes it when I write about him and all the funny things he does. Today he might have thought he was playing with the dog, but it was totally playing with him. Gary would throw a stick and the dog would look and wait until Gary went and fetched it and threw it again. Or it would pick it up and hide it under a car and then watch Gary try to retrieve it. This game went on for quite a while until it was time to leave and amused us all.

We set off down the north side of Loch Venachar. The weather again is pretty nice. It is all a bit freaky. It is slightly cold in the mornings but the afternoons are fairly warm and still no rain in sight. It is pretty and not terribly hilly and we make good time. We note a new cafe just down the road, very wood panel-y, one Crispin hadn't known about before. Don't worry, we will be back, and the apple pies will be yummy. But the tea stop we were supposed to go to down the road (that new one was only a few miles past the start, no point in going there) so we have to keep going onto the next one, which is at the beginning of Loch Katrine.

Just before there, I see the fabled Post Bus. In rural Scotland, where there isn't really a regular bus service, you can catch a ride with the post office. It makes frequent stops at every B&B and hotel along the way, a bit like a bee gathers pollen.

We arrive at Loch Katrine though a car park. Not the most scenic way to approach it. It is filled with coaches and lots of cars, lots of people who are there for the boat cruises of the loch. We are on the eastern side of the loch, famous for Sir Walter Scott, later today we will be on the western side, the Rob Roy end. Scott wrote Lady of the Lake set here, so basically everything we see for the next few minutes is completely about Scott, the cruise ship, the cafe is filled with stuff, signs, just everything.

Ahh, but the tea stop, food, finally. I get a bit greedy and order both a bacon roll and a salmon roll. Although I do save the salmon roll for later. It is a rough world out there, maybe there won't be a next tea stop for miles and miles. And lunch was possibly a picnic on the far side of the loch. The cafe is nice. Well, the food is ok but the deck outside is really nice. Perched up over the loch and has a nice view. The loch is surrounded by mountains and looks fantastic stuck in the middle of that. We also have a friendly chaffinch who sings songs for us.

The road on the north side of the loch is a limited use road. There is a small amount of traffic on it but mostly only for local access to a few houses along the way. It is nice to be away from busy roads for a while, although at one point, just starting down a 15% grade section, I'm surprised by a large truck coming up pretty fast. But besides that one not so great incident, the rest of the way is quiet and nice. The loch is pretty amazing too, I can see how it inspired poems. It feels like a perfect mountain lake to me.

About half way around, we stop on a high ridge and enjoy the view and snack a bit before carrying on around the tip of the loch. I'm fascinated by the old dyke which has now flooded over. There are a line of trees growing across it, it feels a bit eerie, ghost town-ish.

Stronachlachar is just a short distance on and now we are deep in Rob Roy country. Factor's Island sits slightly off shore, a very small circular pointy island completely covered with trees. It is supposed to be the island where Rob Roy imprisoned the debt collector, one of the first incidents in his conflict with the Duke of Montrose, and propelling him into history as a thief/freedom fighter/hero or however you stand on the Rob Roy question. I saw the film years ago but still really don't have much of an opinion on the issue.

We sit lined up on the pier (the destination for the boats cruising from the other side of the loch) and dig through our bags for lunch things, oat cakes, hummus (ok, I swap my plain hummus for a pesto hummus, since somebody else was so wild about the idea of pesto), some tinned mackerel, and other nice things. The weather has gotten fairly hot although is slightly windy by the loch. After lunch then, we move onto the cafe, just on the other side of the pier, and order tea and cake for desert. Well, you can't pass up good cake, you know.

At this point, we split into two groups. Those who want a shorter day head off back around the loch towards Aberfoyle, the rest of us head along Loch Arklet to visit Loch Lomond. It is a nice quiet road along the loch, fairly flat and has a lovely mountain range surrounding us. I do start to get slightly concerned when we head downhill a lot. And then get even more concerned when we go down a few rather steep hills. Don't get me wrong, I love going down hills, it is a great pleasure going down them, but these I know at the end we will turn around and come back up the exact same road. We might enjoy going down now but we will pay for it later on. But you have to do it despite the costs.

The last really big hill into Loch Lomond was a few switchbacks and really steep coming into the little village. I was a little tempted to leave the bike towards the top and walk down but well too late now. It is a great loch down here though. It reminds me a lot of Lake Dillon in the Colorado mountains, a huge lake surrounded by mountains on all sides. This one has more of those water pipes heading up out of it. I think a lot of the water around here goes to Glasgow and is also used in various hydroelectric schemes.

We linger here for 10 minutes or so. There isn't much to do, take a few pictures, look at the loch and rest for a bit. But we have to head back up where we just came and I'm dreading it a little bit. It is funny how you can psych yourself out. It turns out to be not as bad as I thought. It was a few minutes of hard climbing but once we are past the last few hills, the rest of it is just a easy gradual uphill until we get back to the where we started in Stronachlachar. We even had the wind behind us pushing us up. The only real unpleasant part was the traffic jam on that first big hill, a bit of a conflict between a huge lorry coming down and a car going up and lots of backing up on very steep and tight corners.

And then it happens, what I had been waiting for all week. I feel a little sprinkle of rain and figure this is it, I've been waiting all week to get soaked in Scotland, I mean it has to happen. I pick up the pace and hope to maybe outrun it or minimize the amount of time in the downpour. Judging by the clouds off in the distance and the wind direction, we have a few minutes. But that was it, that little sprinkle. I'm almost disappointed.

I do make up for it with the next section though.Dave is feeling speedy on his bike and I'm still zipping along pretty well after the sprint from the rain. The road is fairly flat and fast, well, lots of small ups and downs and curves, but it is fantastic zooming along. I'm way out in front for a while and then Dave goes by and zooms along. What fun, roller coaster hills and great turns.

I nearly overrun the tea stop though. Kinlochard has a small post office and grocery store and then a cafe hidden behind it by the loch. The cake selection is amazing, a whole bookshelf on a wall full of different cakes. It is tough picking just one to have. I think mine has a bit of whiskey in it, it has a bit of a bite and is really yummy.

Just a few miles on then to Aberfoyle. The motel was supposed to be the first big junction once we get into town. We head through town and second guess ourselves and head back a bit before we realize it is on the far side of town and that intersection there. So not really in the main part of town at all. It is a bit of an eye opening experience once we get there. First of all, it is a motel, yes motor-hotel, so a classic motel I'm so used to off of highways in the US. And it is the Rob Roy Motel, so trying hard to draw on that name. And the biggest surprise, we got there in the middle of a motorcycle rally, a hundred or so motorcycles around and all their supporting humans, most rather largish, the physique of somebody who spends a lot of time eating greasy food at motorcycle rallies and sitting on motorcycles.

We had totally outsmarted ourselves today. In giving Linda spare baggage, nobody had stuff they needed for the evening. We could check into our rooms, take showers and all that, but nobody really had clean clothes to change into. So mostly we sat in the somewhat grim bar of the motel and had mediocre beers and waited. I mentioned the Rob Roy part, right? The bar had lots of loud bagpipe music playing too to really add to the atmosphere.

We see Linda pull up and we all rush out to get our stuff and off to take showers and rest a bit before dinner. The motel restaurant looked a bit bleak so we decided on a restaurant in town, the Fourth Inn, I think. There was a back path to it along the river, Sustrans and everything, so we head out, lovely bluebells in the woods across the river. The restaurant was a bit tacky too, very kind of theme restaurant with large oak tables and lots of things on the wall so that it looks like an olde time banqueting hall, sword in the stone and all that. The food was nice but fairly expensive. Some nice beer though, a nice change after the bad stuff at the motel. We ride back to the motel in the dark (oh, actual rain now, so I guess that kind of counts as rain on the trip) and head to bed. 45 miles for me today.

Whatever happened to my Transylvania Twist? - Graveyards of northern London, 6 July 2008

Pictures

Arriving at Green Bridge at 9 on Sunday, I was pleased to see a few people waiting. The weather seemed threatening today and there had already been two brief showers on the way over, but it was good to see a few wouldn't be deterred by a little bit of rain. There are 9 of us today, a pretty good size for a group, enough to be nice, but not enough to be unmanageable.

It is a short trip (more like a short detour) to Tower Hamlets Cemetery. It is a bit silly considering it was only a few hundred feet from the starting point, but it really is a wonderful place, a nice little wildlife reserve, and people should know what they have just off their front door step.

Peter had done lots of research about it all, so I turn that part over to him, introductions, history lessons and then being fully briefed, we walk around. Nobody all that famous here, the guy who owned the Cutty Sark, some former mayor of Poplar, and a memorial to all those people who died in the Bethnal Green incident during the war. It is a wonderful overgrown forest though. Try going back in the winter sometime, it is really nice then and a little more eerie.

Next stop then is Stoke Newington. We get onto the Regents Canal and leisurely cycle along. I must say, there has been a whole lot of debate on the Wheelers email list about all the new chicanes British Waterways have put in, I don't quite see the fuss. A slow relaxed ride on the canal is a nice Sunday morning thing to do. But we have to head north eventually, so we get off the canal and after hiding under a tree, waiting out a few minutes of rain, we make our way through the less busy roads up to Stoke Newington. Say what I might about Hackney, they have done a pretty nice job of creating a route of quieter bike routes through the borough.

As we learn later in the day, all of the seven Victorian cemeteries are in different states of repair and ownership. Abney Park is owned by the Council and they haven't done much to minimize or prevent vandalism, so there are lots of broken memorials. Poor William Booth (founder of the Salvation Army) has to suffer some indignity frequently. The cemetery (unlike Tower Hamlets) is still a working cemetery, so there are a few new graves, some of them with that horrible colored aquarium gravel on them. What's up with that, who is there that thinks that's attractive? But much of it is overgrown and there are still a bunch of magnificent monuments. We peek a sneak at the children's garden at the front entrance, but since none of us have kids along (immature adults don't count), we are not allowed in.

On our way out, we find a lovely gravestone. Right in the shadow of Isaac Watts, apparently wrote lots of hymns or something, there is a small gravestone with a bicycle on it, Tommy Hall. The inscription is a tribute from his cycling friends. I look up some things today about him, world record holder in 1903 of the motor paced racing (those funny guernsey races they do at Herne Hill). I become a card carrying member of Web 2.0 and make my first contribution to Wikipedia.

But more important things, off to find some food then. We head over to Clissold Park. The cafe isn't super trendy like the rest of them in nearby Stoke Newington but the tea is fine as well as the bacon rolls. We sit out another short rain shower and then head off to our last cemetery. I'm getting out of familiar territory and I really should recky my rides better, sorry, so there is a bit of a misstep getting to Finsbury Park and the Parkland Walk but luckily there is some local knowledge along in the group and those mistakes get righted.

A bit of a hide in Finsbury Park to wait out another short shower and then onto the old rail line. It is a little bumpy but a nice way to get most of the way to Highgate. Slightly uphill the whole way but we also do miss out on some of the huge steep hills we would have to take otherwise. We are making great time and get to Highgate in time to fix two punctures before the 1 pm tour starts. A drawing pin has been particularly prolific and has put 5 holes in an inner tube.

Highgate is probably the most renowned of the Magnificent 7 and is the only one that charges admission. They tell us about 800 times that it costs £1000 a day to keep the gates open, so the admission charge is important to them. The tour is pretty nice and does seem worth what they are charging. I've been to the eastern side the year before on last year's ride, the side without the guided tour, so I'm quite interested to see the western side this time.

We spend about an hour walking around, hearing about the history, about the rise and decline of the cemetery and the eventual rescue from possibly just being bulldozed and becoming what it is today. Many of the monuments are quite amazing and the trees are wonderful. I do get scolded for accidently stepping on one of the landscape borders. We get caught in a few more rain showers, one of them pretty hard, but walking around and being under the trees, they are actually quite pleasant. But instead of going on about Highgate, just go see it, it is nice.

Lunch now looms high on the agenda. Highgate village is only a short distance away, although there is a large hill in between. We settle into a restaurant and have an enjoyable lunch. But if you guys are reading this, if you hadn't left us sitting for such a long time after handing out the menus again for desert before you finally came back, we would have ordered more instead of just asking for the bill, but oh well.

And them my favorite part of the day, the swim. It does stop raining during lunch and it is vaguely sunny. So, I have to carry through on my threat to make everybody swim. I admit, I wavered slightly, especially earlier when it was raining so hard, but Hampstead Heath is only a mile or so away and most everybody seems agreeable to trying a swim. When we get there, rain seems to be threatening again, but all but one of us is up to going for a swim. And why was I worried? It was so nice. Yes, it was slightly cold and it started raining again while we were swimming, but what a great thing to do, swimming in the pond, having moor hens swimming by, herons to look at, and the rest of it. So, yeah, go see Highgate and then go for a swim. If you want to wait a day or two, that's fine.

Ok, this last bit wasn't really planned much at all and was a bit disorganized. I sort of anticipated heading back from Highgate and not Hampstead, but plans change. So, feeling lazy, we just take big straight roads and head for Kings Cross. Somehow I acquire the aura to change all the traffic lights red right as I go through them (as opposed to my normal one to make them turn red a few seconds before I get there) and I have to stop and wait numerous times for everybody to catch up. At Kings Cross we all part ways, we head south and the rest of the group heads east back to Tower Hamlets. I think I did about 30 miles and a bit of walking. Everybody else probably did a somewhat similar amount. Thanks for coming, it was nice to indulge my cemetery interest and especially my love of swimming outdoors.