Last week's ride (to Westerham)...

Last week, that is the weekend of 21st and 22nd September, I rode to Westerham following the usual route and when I got there I parked up outside of Costa with a view to enjoying a large English Breakfast tea sitting outside in the sunshine. Having parked up, a man sitting outside advised me to lock up the bike as somebody had their bike stolen last week. He blamed local kids and pointed towards the church indicating where he thought the kids were coming from, not the church, of course, but the houses beyond the church. He might be wrong, he might be right, who am I to suggest either way? So I padlocked the bike outside Costa and went inside...only to discover a huge queue of people ordering, no doubt, complicated drinks. "Can I have two soya latte's with coconut powder sprinkled on top, plus two flat whites with semi-skimmed milk, a cappuccino, made with soya milk and sprinkled with chocolate..." so I left and wandered down to a place I hadn't visited for some time, the Tudor Rose tea rooms. While tempted by the cakes, especially an iced cherry Bakewell tart, I resisted and just ordered a pot of tea. I sat by the window looking out at my bike through the leaded panes and just chilled, knowing, however, that soon I'd have to be on my way, back to Sanderstead some 11 or so miles uphill, but no matter, that's what it's all about, I cycle somewhere and I have to cycle back. 

Tea in the Tudor Rose, Westerham

Talking of the ride back, I rode past the antique shop and then past the Velobarn (which has never appealed) and along Pilgrims Lane. I managed to get home in an hour, not bad going and then, after doing a bit of shovelling in the back garden, levelling out the detritus left by the fir tree we took out on 16 September, I crashed on the sofa. But then I realised there was no margarine or butter or whatever you call it and promptly got up, jumped in the car and drove to the supermarket to buy some. I really needed a shower after the ride and I noticed how sweaty I was once in the car. I rolled down the windows not wanting to leave the car stinking of sweat and resolved to roll them up again later on, but then I crashed again on the sofa and completely forgot. During the night there was heavy rain and the car was full of rainwater, there were even two puddles of water on the floors in the back and all the seats were wet through. Not nice. We managed to get the water out of the back and did our best to dry things out, but there was an unbearable smell of rancid carpets left behind. Annoying as we were driving to the Cotswolds. We had to place towels and plastic bags and God knows what else on all the seats to protect us from the damp but there was no protection against the stench of rancid carpets. Fortunately, we soon got used to it and all was well and now, a week later, after giving the car a good airing and taking it for one of those hand car washes, all is well with the car too. I, however, am kicking myself for letting such a thing happen. I should have rolled the windows up after getting back from the store, but I didn't and then, having made myself comfortable on the sofa I fell asleep and that was that. Very, very annoying and I hate myself for allowing such a state of affairs to have happened. But happen it did and that's all I can say about it. Fortunately, all is now well and I have resolved never to do such a thing again.

That bloke in the white shirt advised me to lock up the bike

Two great rides...to Westerham and Oxted

I've been meaning to ride to Westerham for some time and now I've done it. I had, however, intended to leave the house at 0700hrs, like in the good old days, but didn't get on the road until around 0830hrs. The weather was good. In fact, I was definitely over-dressed with a fleece and a high-viz top I'd bought for a bargain in one of those 'outdoor' shops in Redhill, £23 reduced from £60! Not a bad deal.

Bike with puncture, Costa Westerham

I followed the route of old, up the 269, turning left just past Botley Hill and heading down Clarks Lane, except that instead of simply following the road around and into Westerham I turned left on to Pilgrim's Lane and headed for the Velo Barn. I'll admit that it was on my mind to go there instead but there were so many people arriving from various cycling clubs that I pushed on into the town... and discovered that I had a puncture, the first one in simply ages. Fortunately, it was a front wheel puncture and not a rear wheel affair. The bike limped into Westerham and I parked up outside of Costa and went inside to order a large English Breakfast tea. I took it outside and sat next to the bike. The tyre had completely flattened and it was just a matter of time before I set about fixing it. The weather was amazing, bright sunshine and I spent an inordinate amount of time simply sipping tea and people watching until the moment arrived: I stood up, wheeled the bike to a spot where I had room to turn it upside and begin the boring job of fixing it.

God knows why but I discovered that I didn't have any tyre levers and felt even more deflated than my front tyre. I thought long and hard. Should I go into the Costa and ask for a teaspoon? Should I wander around the stalls of a summer fayre that had been erected on the green and ask somebody for something that might do the job, or...do I ask a fellow cyclist. I chose the latter option and was handed a tyre lever. The guy in question was going in for a coffee, he'd cycled from West Wickham and had been down in Sevenoaks. We chewed the fat about the various hills nearby, like Titsey Hill and White Lane and I think he was fairly impressed by the fact that I was able to do them both with relative ease.

Outside of Caffe Nero in Oxted on Sunday morning...

I fixed the puncture, handed back the tyre lever and headed for home via the antiques shop en route. In side I spotted two amazing-looking picnic sets from the 1950s, like something out of Enid Blyton, and a vintage hose reel, a little rusty, perhaps, but then rusty stuff is all the rage in gardens these days. I wandered deeper into the shop and spotted a 1930s policeman's bicycle, reduced from £450 to just £250. Quite a bargain. I even spotted a Tracey Island toy. 

The tree in all its glory...

The ride back was par for the course and on Sunday I rode to Oxted, going down White Lane instead of Titsey Hill. I stopped at Caffe Nero and ordered a pain aux raisin and a cappuccino and again sat outside people watching until it was time to go. My route home avoided riding up Titsey Hill which I simply wasn't in the mood for; instead I road along Pilgrim's Lane to Rectory Lane and then rode up the hill. In all honesty, the exertion was the same and I should have simply rode up the hill like I normally do. I sped down the 269, along the Limpsfield Road and home and then went out and bought a mower. 

I write this on Monday 16th September. I'm taking the week off, but today is a sad day as our tree in the back garden is coming down. We don't particularly want it to be felled but it's going to be. I really don't like taking out trees. In fact, I've never done it before but our tree is getting out of control and it can't really be trimmed. There are plenty of problems all to do with lack of sunlight, not so much in other people's gardens (or ours) but the tree is sapping the energy of everything in its vicinity; and while it's not a big deal in our garden either, the tree has expanded sideways, it's making the grass mossy and is simply has to go. It's sad.

It's now 1033hrs and all the greenery is off of the tree, the actual greenery was only a few inches in depth meaning that had we trimmed it, the tree would be brown and, we're told, would never green-up again, so it had to come down. Right now it looks like a huge magic mushroom leaning slightly to the right from where we can see it from the house. There's three guys doing the job and I have to say that I wouldn't mind being a tree surgeon. In fact, when I was a kid I used to want to be a tree surgeon. Why, I don't know, but there used to be a company called Pennell ('the tree people') and they must have been fairly active around where I lived in Carshalton, hence my desire to be a tree surgeon. It's actually quite a cool job, you spend all your time in the fresh air, up a tree with a chain saw, I love it! And it's quite cool to be able to say, if asked, that you're a tree surgeon. You could possibly start off just saying you're a surgeon and then adding the tree bit later, but hey, I love the idea of being a tree surgeon, I'd hate to be a medical surgeon.

The tree at 1047hrs on 16th September.

Any way, it's had to come down, more's the pity, but that's the way of the world, it's not down yet, but that'll be the next part of the job. They're having coffees and Jaffa Cakes at this present time, but work will resume shortly. It's 1041 and work has restarted.

It won't be long before all trace of the tree is gone; it's been part of the house for many years and we've really enjoyed it's company. We've watched it grow and we loved it and we still do but there comes a time when things have to be done and that's about all I can say. I'm now looking at rhododendrens and possibly even another tree, one that won't grown so high, but let's see. 

Yesterday I bought a new mower, it arrives on Thursday and the grass will need a jolly good cut after that, then we'll start looking at how we can improve the space vacated by the tree.

I wasn't expecting the garden to look very good after the tree came down and I was expecting to be exposed to all the neighbours in the next street, but no, thanks to other shrubs and bushes behind the tree we took down, it looked okay. In fact, it looked great. The garden was sunnier than before and there were no big shadows cast across the lawn that were there before. So, in reality, while we all thought it was going to be a mistake, it wasn't, and we're definitely going to make the area look better with a few new shrubs and bushes, but, as I say, all is fine and, when all is said and done, the tree should have come down a long time ago. Look, I hate taking trees out and I'm hoping I can put one back in now that I've actually had one removed. I'll leave it there for now, actually, I'll simply leave it there, it's done, it's dusted, the tree won't be coming back and on one level, yes, it's sad, but on another level we can fix the grass, the neighbour's happy and we're happy.