Four rides this week, including a pleasant trip to Westerham...

I should really be aiming for five rides per week, but this week only managed four. I've realised that it's not so much the distance of each ride that matters, it's all about getting out on a regular basis and not to fret too much about the mileage involved. So this week I've put in a few Norfolk Nobblers (now abbreviated to plain old 'Nobbler, single lap' on Strava. It's roughly six miles and this week there was a variation. On Friday (or was it Saturday, I can't remember) I threw in a Woodland Trek, an old route from days gone by that is kind of a hybrid between a Nobbler and a ride in the woods, hence the Woodland Trek. In fact, historically, the Woodland Trek came first. I used to ride it ages ago, doing a lap of Ridge Langley and then riding up the alley to the Upper Selsdon Road, turning left and then crossing the road and following a dirt track that dissects the golf course and then dives into the woods. Croham Woods is quite picturesque, especially at this time of the year when the trees start to bud up. The other good time to be there is in the autumn when everything has a burnt orange hue to it. But make no mistake, the Woodland trek is no walk in the park, especially if you're on a bike. It's fine until you have to make a left and ride to the very top of the woods off-road, that's the killer part, but if I throw the bike into a low gear it makes it and I arrive hot and sweaty at the top, ready to veer left and follow another dirt track that travels over exposed tree roots and then spirals downwards until I reach West Hill. The problem, of course, is dog walkers. They're everywhere and I have to watch out for them, give way here and there, but often they give way to me so all is well. I was expecting people to complain about my presence on a bike, but nobody did. Oddly, there's no difference in mileage terms between a standard Nobbler, single lap and the Woodland Trek, a lot of it's the same, but the latter bit penetrates the woods, that's the only difference. Well, I say 'the only difference', another big difference is the time it takes, ie another 10 minutes and I put that down to the terrain once in the woods. The Woodland Trek is a little harder.

Large English Breakfast Tea!

Today, Sunday, I rode to Westerham as I always do. I left the house around 0834hrs and I guess I must have reached the Costa Coffee by around 0934hrs. It's weird Andy not being there. Despite a constant threat of rain, the heavens remained closed and I stayed dry. It was the same on the return ride. In fact, it started raining just as I put the bike in the garage, but there wasn't much rain, just an on/off shower style of downfall that I probably wouldn't have noticed had I been caught out in it. At the Costa I had a large English Breakfast tea in a takeaway mug (I reckon I get more tea in the paper mug than in the teapot they give me if I don't ask for a take-out. I'm amazed they haven't picked me up on it, but I guess they're thinking that I'm likely to get up and finish the drink later or something, I don't know. I took a wazz in the disabled toilet as the one for able-bodied people was either locked or there was somebody in there taking a massive, long and drawn out dump. And who wants to follow that guy? Not me. I just didn't fancy pissing behind a bush on the ride back. I rode up towards the Velo Barn and then hung a left on to Pilgrims, later crossing Clarks Lane into another segment of Pilgrims, hanging a right on to Rectory Lane and then rejoining Clarks Lane and riding up the long and drawn out hill to Botley where, once again, I decided that I'd risk the 269 instead of going through Woldingham. I don't know, I just can't face that steep bit of Slines Oak Road at the moment, not that I won't tackle it soon. After all, I recently rode up Titsey Hill from Oxted so it's not as if I can't do it.

I bought a cheap lock for the bike from Robert Dyas. It does the trick when all you're doing is parking up outside Costa on a Sunday morning and it fits perfectly around the handle bars without getting in the way of anything. Pretty cheap too, around £4.99, something crazy like that, good value. I like Robert Dyas, it's one of those shops that sells comforting products, like toastie makers and slow cookers and a range of nice mugs, ideal for dunking biscuits in. You can't beat a good hardware store if you're after a little comfort.

Right now I'm chilling out, there are candles flickering from a lantern in the fireplace, we've just watched a movie, Whiplash, which was pretty good (on Netflix) and now as the evening slowly creeps in and the light starts to fade (wow! its almost 1800hrs and it's not dark yet!) the chill-out continues. The TV has been switched off, we've all enjoyed a slice (or two) of coffee and walnut cake from Waitrose, purchased this afternoon, and none of us are hungry after my Sunday roast chicken with all the trimmings, including Brussels sprouts. It was much needed, put it that way, and I haven't done it for a while. We do need to get back to more comfort eating as it does us all the world of good spiritually.

This coming week I'm planning that all important fifth ride. It'll probably be a Nobbler, single lap, perhaps Tuesday night, who knows? But I must try for five rides next week.