A good to be alive sort of a day

Although I've done several Verulam rides recently, today's ride stood out as an absolute corker.

I'm not quite sure why that was, perhaps the glorious winter sunshine or no wind, rain or ice, but something about today was extra special.

The planned ride was to Ivinghoe Café and back which should have been maybe 35 - 40 mile ride.  However, Bill didn't seem to want to go home today, it was so lovely, and he called today a "good to be alive sort of a day"!  He was right!  Even though we took a circuitous route home and ended up riding over 50 miles, I loved every minute of it!

Nice

A year ago Stuart and I had a weekend break in Nice.  A bit of November sunshine in order to get ready for a bleak winter.  We enjoyed the weekend so much we decided to do exactly the same this year!  However, we planned things a little better this year and chose a delightful hotel, Hotel Rivoli, just off Promenade Des Anglais which is located right opposite the bike hire shop!

However, not everything goes quite according to plan.  On the Thursday before we are due to fly, our amazing Autumn has translated into an amazing amount of Autumn wet leaves and Stuart comes off his bike and breaks a couple of fingers.   He is duly despatched to the minor injuries unit, bandaged up and our plans continue with some minor modifications.  One of which is that Stuart has to borrow my pink rain jacket.  We hadn't realised that his hand wouldn't fit through his rain jacket.  As he had brought a good quality rain jacket and I had brought a cheapy, my jacket was sacrificed!

Another change of plan was the type of bike that Stuart hired. Originally he was going to hire a road bike, but this had to be changed to a flat handle bar hybrid, so that he could operate the brakes!  I hired a carbon fibre road bike with DI2.  I was happy!

On the first day, we started with breakfast on the beach (as last year!). I think this could become a tradition!  However, this year although we had some lovely sunshine the temperature had dropped a few degrees.  I think I would plan to go slightly earlier next year to improve the chances of warmer weather!

We planned a really easy day to ensure Stuart was OK on his bike. Along mainly cycle paths and quiet roads from Nice to Cannes and back again.  The route is also flat as a pancake!  The only real difficulties are on the cycle paths close to Nice which become an obstacle course of roller bladers, dogs and pedestrians.  We were in no hurry, so this was not an issue.  A highlight of the journey was the coffee stop.  In Baie des Anges is a little cafe called Just Before.  Their coffee gourmand is so much more than coffee!

Day 2 we decide to head to Italy for lunch.  This coastal route is slightly hillier but so picturesque!

Our route takes us through Monaco, which we quickly realised last year is just full of rich shallow people, so we rode straight through.  Carefully avoiding said rich shallow people who don't seem to pay much attention to anything other than their own little worlds when driving their cars. Cyclists beware!

When we get to Menton, instead of going into one of the fancy tourist cafes on the beach, we stop at a little hole in the wall boulangerie,  just in sight of the border crossing.  Yesterday we were stung €8.40 for two tiny cups of tea. Today we had one of the finest apricot pastries ever and fresh coffee for €7.60.  Worth avoiding the tourist traps 

There are three tunnels just after crossing the Italian border, which have a reasonable shoulder to ride on, but I was still glad that I had brought decent lights for my bike.

Last year we made it as far as the tiny Italian village of Latte, where I was disappointed to find they did not serve Lattes!  This year we pushed on to Bordeghera, as we had read in Geraint Thomas's book that this village served the best coffee.  If you ever want a coffee recommendation ask a cyclist!

Once, we found a route that avoided the very busy road through the middle of Bordeghera we were pleased to be on a quaint pedestrianised sea front road.  Google maps did not direct us there because it is pedestrianised, but worth persevering to get onto this road.

We had a lovely lunch in a sea food cafe, followed by the famed marvellous coffee.

We had already planned to take the train back to Nice to avoid cycling into the setting sun, which makes visibility on the coast road very difficult.   On arrival in Nice we found that the train station drops us almost at the top of Rue Rivoli, making it a very easy ride back to the hotel.

Day 3 and we plan a shortish ride as we are catching a plane later in the day.  Today we decide to tackle a small climb, taking the road to the Observatory.  The views are beautiful, and the climb was very easy (although being overtaken by the postie, on his clunky old bike laden with parcels was a bit humiliating!

Next year I think we will attempt some bigger climbs, possibly Mont Chauve  and Col de Vence (a climb that has featured in the Tour de France).  Stuart looked like he was ready to give them a go this year, but fortunately we had to give it a miss or risk missing our plane!

Instead we headed off to the delightful Villefranche for a relaxing lunch, but only after a few wrong turns meant we had to walk quite a way on a sea path to get to our proper destination.

On our way back into Nice we decided to explore the town a bit to see if we could find the beginning of the routes up to the Cols for next year.  What we did find was that Nice main town is very busy and full of crazy traffic and that we need to do some serious research before we go.

However, I am very much looking forward to our next trip which will be more Cols than coffee!!

Autumn Loveliness

This Autumn has been one of the finest in the UK that l can remember.  For all of October and most of November the days have been mainly sunny, hardly any rain and very little wind. 

This has meant that the Autumn colours have been gorgeous this year, but I have hardly any photos!  Obviously this is due to the cycling, but the most noteable occasion was when I joined the VCC Intros group for the first time.

The route was beautiful, the colours of the leaves at their peak, the sun was shining and the sky bright blue.  It was painful to cycle past all the gorgeousness without taking a single snap.  At the coffee stop at Wilstone I asked Bob, our run leader, if we could have a photo stop.  He looked perturbed, as if a Sunday morning cycle run is actually about cycling! Fortunately, he agreed to a group photo! Unfortunately, it was in the car park of the farm shop! You'll just have to trust me this was one of the prettiest days ever!

I had inadvertently ended up in the intros group this Sunday, because Bill was away and only two sociables had turned up for the ride.  I thoroughly enjoyed riding in the group and was quite happy with the speed on the flat, but as ever my speed up the hills is an issue.

I resolved to do some extra hill training, and have set myself the Pedley Hill Challenge.

Pedley Hill is a reasonable climb that I seem to take several minutes longer than others to climb.  I plan to regularly attempt this hill over the winter to see what % improvement I can make on the Pedley Hill Pedal segment.  My best time when I first considered this idea was just over 9 minutes.  I then threw myself up the hill (to the point of nearly vomiting) and set a baseline time of 8 mins 6 secs.   Over the next month I haven't managed to get anywhere near my baseline time, I wish I had left my baseline as 9 minutes.  Oh well!

As well as several other VCC rides I have been out on a few Saturday mornings with some friends plus Stuart.  As the only male in the group I think Stuart rather enjoys his Saturday rides!

IOW weekend day 2

The weather forecast for Sunday has not been good.  I wake at 5am and listen to the lashing rain.  I check the weather forecast and watch as a monstrous rain cloud slowly moves across the map.  Our day is completely dependent on how quickly the storm passes over us.

We're not in a hurry to set off, so we meet for breakfast at 8.30, when we ask for the menu the waiter barks at us - Full English.  So it's Full English all round then.

Amazingly, after breakfast, we retrieve the bikes and find the storm has passed, the skies are clearing and the weather looks set fair!

Stuart is carrying ALL the luggage, but somehow I am still not keeping up on the hills.  I may have conquered a long distance challenge this year, but looks like I have to set myself a climbing challenge!

At the top of the first climb of the day, we stop for a group photo.  Unfortunately, the gentleman who kindly agreed to take the photo had his finger over the lens and didn't get everyone in shot, so instead here is a pano snap of me and Stuart!

The weather turns completely around from the original forecast and we now have beautiful blue skies to accompany us on our ride though the pretty lanes.

As beautiful as the lanes are, there is a lot of climbing.  We climbed more than 5,000 ft over the weekend, and although that is not much more than we would average for the same distance in Hertfordshire the hills are significantly steeper, with quite a few 10 - 11% gradients!

First (and fortunately only) puncture of the trip, is on Unnur's bike.  Steve attempts a roadside repair, but this is swiftly abandoned and the group heads into Bembridge to continue the repair effort.

It's probably fair to say the people making the effort to repair the puncture do not appear in this picture.

Cycling round the IOW is a great trip, and very well signposted, but all appreciated  that Steve and Michelle know the area so well and were brilliant tour guides.

We arrive back at East Cowes just in time to catch the 3.30 ferry back and here Michelle is looking very happy to be most improved rider from the Costa Rica trip!

As we say farewell in the car park a beautiful rainbow appears. (Steve is probably off photographing a bus somewhere).

The rainbow is a reflection of the fantastic sunny day we had, juxtaposed against the torrential rain that is about to turn up.

Stuart and I were lucky to be in the car when the storm hit.  Unfortunately, Unnur and Steve were riding the mountain bikes back to the final destination, I'm hoping they didn't get too wet!!

A 72 mile trip, well worth doing, and definitely include the Needles and Alum Bay (the detour on the west point of the island).  This was a particular highlight!

IOW weekend - day 1

We're back to the Isle of Wight for the weekend with friends that we met in Costa Rica last February, Michelle & Steve and Unnur & Sveinn from Iceland.

The weather is grey and drizzly, but we are undaunted as we wait to catch the ferry.

We study the map and plan an anti clockwise trip to make sure we get to see Alum Bay and the Needles on the Saturday as the forecast is much better than Sunday's weather forecast.

After catching the big ferry from Southampton to Cowes, we then catch a little chain ferry.  Stuart is carrying two panniers on his bike with both his luggage and mine.  I'm hoping that this means I will be able to keep up with him on the hills!

Shortly after we set off the sun comes out, the temperature warms up considerably and there is an emergency stop to remove layers.

When we get to Yarmouth we head down a disused rail track and stop for lunch at an old railway station that has been converted into a delightful restaurant.

More layers are removed, it really is a lovely day!

Today is an easy day's cycling so plenty of time to stop and take photos!

The colour of the sea is amazing, and this pic was taken on my iPhone so no use of superviv!

I think this is my favourite photo of the day, quite a moody shot, taken as we are trying to find the best viewing spot for the Needles.

Eventually, we get to a great viewing spot, discovered by Stuart. 

It's at this viewing spot that my second favourite photo of the day is taken!

Walking back from the Needles we have a fabulous view of Alum bay

And in the gorgeous afternoon light the colours of all the different sandstones are easy to see in the cliff face

Unfortunately, after our lovely sunny sojourn to the Needles the rain that was forecast for 4pm turns up early, and rain jackets are needed again.  We get fairly comprehensively lashed with rain for the last hour of our bike ride.

Luckily, the Mouse Inn guest house where we stay has a great restaurant, so we don't need to venture out again for an evening meal.  Steve lives up to his nickname of the Biffa, with no food being left to waste.

After dinner Sveinn tries to explain cold fusion technology to us, which is the area in which he works and lectures around the world.

After he has explained the basics to us, I can't help wondering if that volcanic eruption in Iceland, which grounded the world's flights, was in fact Sveinn experimenting in his garden shed!

A special ride

5th October 2011 was the darkest of dark days, but 5th October 2016 life is brighter, life is special and time to celebrate with a glorious ride around the countryside.  Beautiful quiet country lanes and a delightful new teashop. 

Great day out!