Suburban ride to mum's – 13.5 miles

At 0641hrs it's grey and misty outside, but it's dry too, which is good news. It's also very still as I sit here in the conservatory, the halogen glow from the computer screen illuminating a small space around the desk. Outside, the birds are tweeting. How they manage to get to grips with computers I'll never know.

Today the plan is an urban ride to mum's as nobody else is going cycling this weekend and it's a good opportunity to see Bon and mum and enjoy one of mum's cosy breakfasts. Both Phil and Andy are otherwise engaged, leaving me to my own devices. An urban ride to mum's means no need to pack a huge thermos flask of water plus milk and teabags. My load will be lightened in other words. I'll leave on the hour, so about 15 minutes more of sitting here writing.

Yesterday it was announced that Scotland has voted no to independence, paving the way for the resignation of Scottish National Party leader Alex Salmond and enabling the British establishment to breathe a sigh of relief. Oddly, 45 per cent of Scots voted to break away from the UK with Glasgow and Dundee standing out as the most pro-independence regions of Scotland. I was expecting trouble on the streets – and there has been unrest in Glasgow – but I'm glad that the UK hasn't been broken up. I'm not a fan of nationalism of any sort. In my opinion nationalism is up there with religion as one of the major causes of unrest in the world. There's nothing worse than tribalism and that's what nationalism breeds – cue Scotsman with painted faces pretending to be Mel Gibson.

Halfway through breakfast at mum's this morning.

The French have been dropping bombs on ISIS positions in the Middle East and it seems to have gone quiet on the Ukraine front other than the country's president meeting Obama to ask for military assistance should his country be invaded by the Russians. Here in the UK a girl named Alice has gone missing and while nobody has dared mention that she might have been murdered, they've discovered that a Latvian convicted murderer might be involved as he passed the very spot where Alice was spotted on CCTV just 15 minutes after her, riding a mountain bike. The bike has been recovered by the police, but neither Alice nor the Latvian have been seen in three weeks. All very suspicious if you ask me, but one thing bugging most people, including yours truly, is why we have allowed a convicted Latvian murderer into the country.

Riding west towards Sutton
I left the house around 0710hrs, headed west along Barnfield Road, north along West Hill, and then west through Essenden Road. I turned right on to Carlton Road and rode towards Croydon following the Selsdon Road to the A23 Brighton Road, past Cycle King and up Warham Road. I rode through the council estate via Denning Avenue and on towards Five Ways (aka the Purley Way). Traffic was picking up as I rode along Stafford Road into Wallington heading for Boundary Road where I hung a right at the mini roundabout and then later turned left into Grosvenor Road. After making a right turn into Park Road, I skirted around the park and headed for Benyon Road where Jon called and I had to call him back to say I was approaching the lights at the Windsor Castle – no more than five minutes from mum's place.

When I got there, breakfast was almost ready: boiled egg and fingers; cereal; and soft bread rolls washed down with a cup of tea and followed by some fresh orange segments. We chatted about this and that – family stuff mainly – and then watched (on my iphone) a brief excerpt from an old children's programme from our childhood. The Singing Ringing Tree was released in 1957 (although we didn't start watching it until the mid-to-late 60s. It still holds a certain magic for us (it's also a little weird, but that was always its appeal). If you want to watch a bit of it, key 'Singing Ringing Tree' into Google or, better still, YouTube.

Yours truly and Jon ready to ride home from mum's

After bidding farewell to mum, Jon and I headed down Rossdale together, but went our separate ways at the bottom: Jon turned left on to the Westmead Road and rode towards Sutton. I headed right into Westmead Corner, turned right again into Shorts Road and then right again into Alma Road. At the T-junction with the Carshalton Road I turned left, rode past the BP Garage and turned right into Oxford Road. I was riding towards Carshalton Beeches High Street which morphs into Banstead Road and then Banstead Road South further up, turning left into Staplehurst and right on to Park Hill. From here onwards it gets a bit more rural with the Oaks Park on the right and a couple of smallholdings and fields on the left. After about a mile I turned right on to the Croydon Road and basically kept on going straight into Purley before winding my way along suburban back streets towards the Purley Downs Road, where, after a short climb, I turned left into Norman Road, past Purley Oaks railway station and then on to the lower end of the B269 – yes, the road to Botley Hill. After a couple of hundred yards I turned left into West Hill, the southerly end, which is very steep, but I managed it despite only having eight gears at my disposal (I couldn't change down for some reason). Lastly, I hung a right into Barnfield Road and was home by just gone 0930hrs.

I managed to burn 356 calories over 21.75km. In total I was on the saddle for roughly 90 minutes and my average speed was 14.7km per hour (roughly 9 miles per hour) but I wasn't pushing it. It was good to just mosey along at my own pace.

Urban Ride – take two (12 miles)

While I was up at 0600hrs, I loitered about and didn't hit the road until 0830hrs after tea and peanut butter sandwiches, well, one peanut butter sandwich. In fact, I loitered with one intention – not to go cycling, but in the end I persuaded myself that a ride was needed. Outside, the weather was looking good: clear blue skies and no sign of rain clouds.

Urban ride, urban imagery – where's some graffiti when you need it?

The big debate going on in my head was where to go – the Tatsfield Bus Stop or the urban ride over to Carshalton to see mum. I chose the latter and headed down West Hill, turning left on to the Upper Selsdon Road and then left into Helder Street before a right on to the Brighton Road and then first left and up the hill towards the roundabout on Pampisford Road.

I travelled past a vast expanse of playing fields, skirting around the edge of a housing estate and then crossing the A23 and turning right towards Five Ways. I hung a left into the industrial estate, followed the road round on to the Stafford Road and headed towards the top of Wallington High Street. The lights were red but soon they were green and I went straight across, the gym on my left, heading down towards the mini roundabout at Boundary Road and hanging a right towards Carshalton High Street. A left turn at the lights took me on to Ruskin Road, past Carshalton Park, into Benyon Road and across the lights at the Windsor Castle, past Wanash Gardens (a block of flats) past the BP Garage and right into Alma Road. At the bottom a left turn on to Shorts Road, under the railway bridge and left on to Westmead Corner and then left again into Rossdale.

I stopped for a breather on the industrial estate

An ambulance was parked up outside the house of 'Uncle' John's house. Real name, John Clark, a former teacher, and his wife Beth. John Clark is now 83 and the ambulance was for him. But all was fine and soon the ambulance and its paramedics were gone. I enjoyed a cup of tea and a few biscuits with mum and then headed back, using a different route. I went into Shorts Road but took Dog Shit Alley to West Street and then cut through Grove Park, coming out at the far end of Carshalton High Street and riding towards Wallington Green and the Duke's Head pub.

I crossed the lights by the pub, past Wallington Grammar School on my left and onwards to Beddington Park, also on my left, followed by The Plough, another Young's pub on the Croydon Road and then up to the T-junction where I turned right towards Five Ways and then second left up Denning Road, through the housing estate and emerging on the Bramley Hill roundabout. I went straight across, hung a right into Nottingham Road, past Whitgift School and down to the lights on the Brighton Road where I turned right and headed towards the Esso garage where I turned left and made my way to the Upper Selsdon Road.

I cycled past the Conservative Club, past the old Rail View pub (now simply The View) and then under the railway bridge, right into Carlton Road, left into Essenden Road, right into West Hill and home.

I ate porridge with more peanut butter and a mug of tea followed by a wash, shave and shower and then off to Pimlico to have lunch with some relatives – a very, very tasty curry.

The Kona on the urban ride

The Kona on Saturday 15th December during a nice urban ride.

Urban ride....on Saturday 15th December

"I'm not cycling today. I sent you an email. Enjoy your ride." There was a smiley face after the message, I noticed, as I stood on the doorstep, rucksack on back. But there was no point in going back in the house. I was outside now so I might as well make the most of it. Had Andy's text arrived any earlier (following one from me stating that I'd be ten minutes late) then I might have said no to a ride, but I'd done the hard bit – woken myself up and made the tea – so I resigned myself to a ride.

Through the industrial estate off the A23 heading towards Stafford Road.

And I was pleased with my self-motivation, although a little unsure of where I was going to go; definitely a short ride to the bus stop was my first thought, but I considered an urban ride to Carshalton (a 12-miler there and back) to see mum and have some breakfast. It was a good ride. The weather was good too and it was easily one of those mornings when everything seems right. Cycling is a very spiritual thing and I was feeling uplifted by the freedom of it all as I cut through the industrial estate off the A23 and headed down Stafford Road towards the top of Wallington High Street.

The traffic was building but it wasn't anywhere near troublesome and I reached mum's at around 0800hrs. After placing the Kona in the garage to keep it out of sight from thieves (if there were any in a tiny Carshalton cul de sac at such an hour) I went in for breakfast and four cups of tea, courtesy of my own flask and teabags.

Breakfast at mum's. What could be finer after an urban ride on the Kona?

Breakfast consisted of a boiled egg and fingers, some bread and marmalade and Alpen. Mum and I chatted about this and that and then I headed home, going back through the famous Dog Shit Alley, through Grove Park and out on to Acre Lane towards Wallington Green then up towards Five Ways, through the council estate (along Denning Road) and then a brief spurt on the Brighton Road before hanging a left and joining the Selsdon Road towards home.

On Sunday, Andy and I cycled to the Tatsfield Bus Stop.