With the blossoms out and the weather almost perfect, bar the occasional shower of rain, I decided this week to bite the bullet and get back to my rides of old. I opted for Oxted and rode 10 miles for a haircut, but first a green tea and an apricot croissant, sitting at the back of a Caffe Nero reading my book, Osamu Dazai's No Longer Human, an interesting book if ever there was one. I've finished it and now I've moved on to James O'Brien's How They Broke Britain, another great book. It was good to be back in Oxted and back on a 20-mile ride, which I later extended when I turned right off the 269 and headed down Beech Farm Road instead of continuing straight towards Knights Garden Centre. It was pleasant in Oxted. The sun was out and I made a point of looking in to the charity shop next to the Nero, just for a wander around. I like charity shops but rarely buy anything, perhaps one day.
The ride back is a little daunting as Titsey Hill is involved and I haven't riden up any really steep hills for some time, but managed to take it in my stride. This was the Saturday before Easter Sunday and when I reached home I felt good and set about trying to fix the lawn. The week before I was almost done with it when the rain fell from the sky and everything had to go back in the garage: lawnmower, leads and extension lead. On Saturday, after the ride I decided to resume the job but it wasn't easy, the lawn being wet and the mower not really up to the job. In other words it's still in need of fixing and currently looks a bit rough around the edges.
Yesterday, Easter Monday (make that Bank Holiday Monday) I was planning to meet Andy at Sheree's. Unfortunately, I slept badly and had to abort, but later went out on at short ride of around six miles and then headed out to one of those stately homes and gardens. We visit a lot of them and to be totally honest I only go for the cafes as there's nothing better than a cappuccino and a Cornish pasty and possibly some cake. Although I've decided not to have any more cappuccinos or cake and I'm hoping to stop chocolate too*. So instead of coffee and cake I ordered a cheese and ham sandwich and an English breakfast tea, well, an English black tea, there was no telling whether it was a breakfast tea and to be frank they all taste roughly the same. You might say that a cheese and ham sandwich was just as bad, if not worse, than a cappuccino and a slice of cake and you'd be right, but the options weren't that good. In all honesty, I tend not to eat a lot of ham (hardly any) - or cheese for that matter - so it was a bit of novelty and I must say that I enjoyed it.
Andy's back from both Spain and Cornwall. He took the train to Spain, travelling all the way from London to Paris on Eurostar and then taking a train to Barcelona and onwards from there to Malaga. I was hoping to hear about his adventures but of course my lack of sleep prevented it. Still, there's always next week.
* I've managed to stave off a craving for cappuccino but I still need to put in more work on not eating cakes and chocolate, although I've cut back considerably on chocolate. My current obsession as I write this addendum on 18 April, is carrot cake.
