To Westerham!

This weekend is going to be 'touch and go' on the cycling front. In fact I was fully expecting abort texts to fly and no cycling to take place. Why? Because of the rain, that's why. My iphone has a little cloud and rain symbol for the next few days, meaning it expects the Easter holidays to be a complete wash-out.

In fact, I'm amazed that we even got a ride yesterday (Good Friday) and even more amazed that we made it all the way to Westerham and back without getting a soaking. When I peered out from behind the curtain in the morning things looked sort of okay, but there was that 'it could rain at any moment' feeling going on as I trudged downstairs to make my porridge. Every morning I make porridge with blueberries, raspberries and a sliced banana. I might have mentioned this before, it's a good way to start the day, then I sit at the table with just one light on and check out the on-line world; well, alright, I look at the BBC website, check out what the papers say and then I might look at my emails, nothing special.

As always when I'm due to go cycling I check my phone for any abort texts and normally there aren't any so it's then a case of simply getting on with things: finishing breakfast, making the tea for the ride and then heading out to brave the elements. I was running 'mildly late' as I put it on a text to Andy, but all was fine as I headed along Ellenbridge, veered left and up Elmfield, turned left on to Morley, right on to Church Way and then roared, well, alright, I didn't roar, I trundled, along the Limpsfield Road towards the green.

As you can see I used a filter on this shot...

We decided to head for Westerham, mainly because we hadn't been on the bikes for three weeks – rain could have made it four weeks. On the way the ride was punctuated by the sound of gunshot from across the fields – pheasant shooting, I guessed, or possibly early morning clay pigeon shooting. I had a couple of close calls with cars driving too close so I used the off-road path for the last few yards of the 269. The ride was fine, albeit a little grey, but there was no rain and we decided to visit the Tudor Rose on our arrival, except that it was closed so we paid a visit to Deli Di Luca, a pleasant little caff, where Andy bought the tea and almond croissants, very nice. We sat there for around 30 minutes and then headed out of Westerham and up the hill towards Botley. It's always, without fail, a tedious ride to the top of the hill, but once we reach the 269 it's a straight road back to the green.

Once home the rain started and it didn't stop. It was one of those days: rain, rain and more rain. Nothing much was done.

Right now it's Saturday morning and Andy and I had both decided not to go cycling today, which is a shame because the weather looks good. Andy said yesterday that he wouldn't be going so I invited my mum round for lunch – it means driving over to Sutton and back twice plus getting things organised – so going for a ride is not a good idea. However, it's a clear case of Sod's Law: we don't go cycling and the weather turns out fine. You'll probably find that the rest of the Easter weekend is a wash-out, but the key thing is we got out to Westerham yesterday (a 22-mile round trip).

Here's hoping we'll get out tomorrow and Monday.