To Oxted...

I left the house late. I can't remember the exact time, but probably after 0900. I could check this just by looking on Strava, which recorded the ride, but it's on the other side of the room and I've just about made myself comfortable in front of the laptop. I'm never 100% sure where I'm going when I leave the house. I could go anywhere, there are many permutations, but I had in my mind a trip to Oxted where I could roll up at Caffe Nero, order a mug of tea and an apricot croissant and sit there reading. I'd bought myself a copy of The European as Trump is heading back to the White House and I wanted to read what some left-leaning commentators were saying about him. Not that I didn't know what they were saying about him. So I headed off, in the wrong gear at first (I had to circle the road a few times as I cranked the bike in to the right gear). I headed off in the usual direction: along Ellenbridge, up Church Way and then the B269 all the way to Botley Hill. Cyclists aren't liked by the car drivers on the 269. There have been times when somebody in a car on the 269 rolls down the window and shouts some obscenity or other. Today, no obscenities, but sometimes they honk their horns loudly and that always makes me jump, which, of course, was their intention.

There hasn't been any rain of late, but instead just a dreary greyness. I rode down Titsey Hill with my hands on the brakes and later rolled on to Granville Road heading for Oxted's high street. As usual it was busy. People walking to and fro and doing what you might expect people to be doing on a Saturday morning. I headed uphill towards the Caffe Nero and parked up outside a charity shop, padlocking my bike against a chunk of tubular metal designed specifically for people (cyclists) to do just that. I queued and eventually ordered an English breakfast tea and the aforementioned apricot croissant. I found a seat, opened my copy of The European and read Matthew D'Ancona's article on Trump in between sips of tea and mouthfuls of apricot croissant. It was great. I loved every minute of my time in the coffee shop and afterwards reluctantly headed outside for the gruelling journey home up Titsey Hill, but not before a quick look in the charity shop where I checked out two books by Iain Banks, one being Canal Dreams and the other I can't remember but they both grabbed my attention and I will read them. I didn't buy them, but I suppose I should have as they were something crazy like 30p. And then it was time to head home. I jumped on the bike and rode back down the High Street, heading back up Granville and then towards Titsey Hill, wishing I didn't have to do it, but I did and besides (as I kept telling myself) it's only 15 minutes of pain and it would be over, which it was and soon I was back on the 269 heading home.

I reached home around 1230hrs and sat down for a bit, drinking tea and eating bread and marmalade before heading outside and mowing the lawns front and back. It felt really good. The mowing took my mind off of things that had been bugging me. The rear lawn was large, the front lawn not so large but I managed them both and then I decided to clean the mower, get rid of the grass that was adhering to the blade and the underside of the mower. I'm determined to look after my new mower and try my level best to keep it in tip top order. I cleaned the whole thing and put it back into the garage and locked the door and then I came into the house as the light was beginning to fade and read another article from The European before watching Episode One of Series 9 of Shetland. I love Shetland, probably because I have this urge to go live there, not that I ever will, but I just imagine myself in a house by the sea, a real fire roaring away and me just being there without a care in the world. In all honesty I felt good. I hadn't felt this good for a long time. There I was sitting on the sofa watching Shetland, drinking tea, dunking a couple of Digestive biscuits and just loving every minute of it. I switched to YouTube to watch a few Steve Wallis videos, which made me feel even better. I love Camping with Steve, I love stealth camping and I like a good dinner. Tonight, a takeaway from Wagamama. I don't normally like Wagamama but I had a Katsu curry and it was wonderful. 

A lot of stress had been lifted and I was feeling great, I was feeling relaxed and at peace with the world... for a change. Normally, certainly of late, I've been preoccupied, stressed, unhappy and depressed and I'm not kidding myself that it won't return, but today, right now, I feel good.

Tomorrow, I'm heading for Tatsfield to meet Andy. We always enjoy our Sunday meeting and our chat and I am looking forward to it. There's nothing better than doing two rides in a weekend. I've had many weekends where I've only managed one (like last week's ride to Tatsfield) and probably the week before also; I used to record all my rides, but I don't anymore and that's another sign of my general despondency. I need to get back to writing more as it's good for the soul. But let's not get fretful, today's been an amazing day and I put it down to the ride and the lawn mowing, a strong sense of achievement mowing the lawns and especially cleaning up the mower afterwards.