Easter

A 4 day weekend - hurrah!  Easter means lots of different things to different people, but for me it meant the time to fit in 4 bike rides in 4 days!

Although last year, my fitness and speed all improved greatly due to training for Ride 100, winter has taken its toll and I've slowed down again.

I need to start my loops around the Common again, but I'm waiting for it to be 5 deg at 5am, and no sign of this yet!

So 4 days and 4 rides

Good Friday and Laura wants to check out her route to Bluebell cafe in Marsworth as she is leading a VCC group on Friday. 10 of us head out, a lovely group, a lovely ride

But then some fool (me!) suggests going to Wendover to check out some new cafes.  This only adds an extra 10 miles to the journey, but includes The Hale!  A beast of a hill, that I have been dreading.  However, delighted to find that I made it up the hill without getting off.

Easter Saturday 

Roy, Laura, Stuart and I head off to Essex to ride a circular loop from Elsenham to the Blue Egg cafe.

A lovely area, very picturesque and nice quiet roads.

Roy appears to be an ideal cycling companion, he first suggests a bonus teastop at Debden in a lovely farmhouse cafe

(And at the end of the day also suggests a quick drink in the pub.  He has the right attitude to cycling!)

Blue Egg cafe has a particularly fine selection of cakes

And I think we all enjoyed the day

Easter Sunday

A brief VCC ride today, due to it being Easter Sunday, so a bit disappointed with the mileage, but a lovely meander back home with Jo, where we get to stop and look at the bluebells and share a twix

We then make our way back through a very posh part of town, where I point out a house that a friend from youth club lived in.  I was never invited back to this house!!

Pic to follow

We decide that the people living there probably aren't happy because all you really need is a bicycle, bluebells and a friend to share a twix with!

Easter Monday 

It's just me and Stuart and we are off on an adventure (well, the train to Milton Keynes, but that is a close as we'll get this weekend!)

Last time we cycled home from Milton Keynes we had a headwind all the way, but today the forecast is for a northerly wind, so ideal weather conditions!

But it was cold and grey!  It was bank holiday Monday after all!

Despite the weather it was a lovely ride, but next time I do this route I want sunshine!!