It's been a while since we've headed out on our bikes and so with a good forecast for the Bank Holiday weekend we found ourselves trying to choose the least warm day for a bit of cycle, not often that happens is it? Usually on a Bank Holiday we'd be trying to guess which day would be least wet...
Indeed.
We opted for Sunday for our ride and while it was warm, Monday was expected to be warmer. I've had a bit of a wobble with my bike lately, since I picked it up from its service. The brakes have been readjusted and are super efficient, I think I'd got so used to them being much looser than it gave me a bit of a surprise!
I've also struggled to get the saddle height right since then too. When we left the shop it was too high so coupled with new brakes and not being able to reach the ground (that's not so good) the cycle home was trickier than it should have been. We readjusted the saddle height but then it was too low and I felt as if my knees were reaching my ears as I cycled, and it was painful too.
We did get it better, I think it still needs some adjustment but I need to regain my confidence with it before we adjust it again. So when MOH suggested a cycle this weekend, he must have been wondering what he was letting himself in for.
He did the sensible thing though and suggested we started with food, and so we found ourselves ordering a cooked breakfast at the Riverside Tea Room in Eynsford seventeen seconds before they stopped serving breakfasts - not bad going - and I'm glad we did, it was a great breakfast.
Full of poached egg, sausage, beans, bacon and toast we set off following one of the routes in the Lost Lanes book, which I've had for a while and which we've often looked at but not cycled any of the routes until this weekend. As we left Eynsford it was uphill and I overtook a walking cyclist in full lycra and if I'm honest, he seemed as shocked as I was.
My bike was the only one with a basket I saw all day, and it did get some looks from those with road bikes and the lycra, but I did ok. I tired towards the end of the ride, and it was only when we got home that MOH let on that there was some debate online about this ride's rating as moderate, some suggesting it should be marked strenuous. Hmmn.
There were a couple of hills - around Shoreham - that I struggled with. My seven gears simply weren't enough. I've discovered I'm better with hills that are more gentle, even if they're longer than those that have a steeper incline. There were two of those that I ran out of gears for and so opted to get off and walk. It was hot too, and the two bottles of water I took were later supplemented by an extra bottle of water, and still wasn't enough.
After Shoreham I really had had enough and made the decision to cut short the second part of the ride and head along the A225 on the more direct route back to the car. It was a busy road, but not that busy, and I was done with hills. There were some of those gentler incline hills on our way back to Eynsford station, but given the road we were on I knew I needed to keep going, and so I did.
Along our route though there were plenty of pretty Kent villages - and considering we were something like twenty five minutes and fifteen miles from home - it was a world apart from our South London streets:
THE MILL TOWER IN SOUTH DARENTH WHICH APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN "CLING FILMED"
ADMIRING THE ARCHITECTURAL STYLE IN FARNINGHAM
THE LION HOTEL IN FARNINGHAM
THE KENT COUNTRYSIDE
LULLINGSTONE CASTLE
SOMEHOW, THIS DIDN'T LOOK OUT OF PLACE
So a successful ride, if not a slightly shorter one than MOH hoped for, and a slightly hotter one than I'd hoped for too. And I think I've overcome that wobble I mentioned too, so it's likely that I'll be using it at least a couple of days to get to work this week.
And the rest of the day was spent recovering on a sun lounger in the garden... It would have been rude not to!
Post Comment Love & Blogger Showcase 25-28 August 2017
Hello there and welcome to this week's Post Comment Love. If you were here last week, it was great to see you and if you're new here this week you're also very welcome. Morgan and I just know you'll find some great posts linked up this week, and maybe even some new-to-you blogs too. Please do stop by some of the other posts linked up so everyone benefits from our fabulous linky community love.
This week has been one of those weeks where I'm sure I've done loads but if you were to ask me what I'm not sure I could tell you. There's been gardening, allotmenteering, and a bit of sting (ouch!), lots of lovely food, some blog post and friends along the way. It's been busy at work, but there's always something to do.
I have noticed it's getting darker earlier though this week and that's not so welcome. In the mornings too our living room is darker and with no natural light of its own, it's not surprising. Let's hope that's a passing blip and the sun hangs around for a bit longer.
My photo this week is one from the archives, and my visit to the London Design Festival last September. It was held at the Truman Brewery in Shoreditch - and the building was as fascinating as some of the exhibits. This one caught my eye then, and again as I scrolled through my photos this week.
Bloggers Showcase: Bryony from Rebel Momma
REBEL MOMMA
1. Who are you?
I'm Bryony aka RebelMomma; I'm mum to a 16 month old Frankie-Monster. Trying to navigate my way through this very new life and reconcile the old me with the new me.
2. How did you discover blogs/blogging?
I started reading blogs and watching blogs when I was pregnant as I found them a lot more relatable than "official" information.
3. Why did you start blogging?
I started blogging after being diagnosed with postnatal depression when my son was about 4 months old. It was and still is my therapy.
4. What do you find most challenging?
I find writing consistently the most challenging, I either seem to write non stop for a week or I hit a wall for a month.
5. What is your favourite topic to write about?
I've tried to keep the blog quite personal but I love writing anyway so just the writing itself is my favourite.
6. Are you blogging for fun or do you have goals?
Not even for fun, it's a need in me to write and it helps keep my PND at bay by getting my thoughts out of my head.
7. What is your favourite thing about blogging?
I've had friends get in touch to thank me for saying things that they had struggled to verbalise.
8. Have you ever attended a blogging conference?
I haven't ever been to a blogging conference.
9. What are your three best posts?
2. Baby daddy.
3. Knowing me, knowing you (A-ha).
10. Describe yourself in three words.
Contradictory; honest; loyal.
11. Are you a tea and biscuits or coffee and cake person?
Do I actually have to choose? Tea and biscuits.
12. What's your idea of a perfect night out?
I can't remember what a night out is like! But it would be me, my boyfriend, Jagerbombs and dancing. Lots and lots of dancing.
13. Your perfect night in?
Pizza, wine, Guardians of the Galaxy.
14. What would your best friend/OH/mum say is your best quality?
Probably my resilience. I've had a tough year.
The knot garden at Helmingham Hall
On our recent break in Suffolk I was keen to get some garden visits in, as it turned out we only managed one, and that was on our trip home. But what a one. Helmingham Hall is a private garden that's close to Stowmarket and full of garden 'rooms'. Today I'm sharing pictures from the knot garden, and for a hedge fanatic like me, it was bliss.
I mean, just look.
It was actually the last part of the garden we visited and despite what you might think, this garden was only formed in 1982. Yes I know that's thirty-five years ago (I don't know how that is either) but it's not as old as the gardens which have a five hundred year history.
The knot garden was created to be "historically sympathetic" to the house and provide visual interest when viewed from the house and the raised walkways that surround it. And it definitely works.
There are two knot patterns, both divided into four squares. Which is a lot of box. The patterns include the Tollemache fret (the Tollemache family own the estate) and some of the squares are inter-planted with herbs, others with plants themed around those introduced to Britain before 1750.
MOH was of course resigned to the fact I'd be taking plenty of pictures of hedges. He's used to that by now.
Eventually I made it through the garden to the statue, where like him I was fascinated by the bubbly plant surrounding its base. Not what I expected at all but I think I quite liked it.
The beds behind the statue were more formal borders than the front half of the garden, with many more herbs in the planting. The sweeping grass paths were a winner for me.
As was the dill, which was in full flower on our visit. It seems the local wasps were also thankful for that too.
It's great to explore privately run gardens as I think they really do have a different feel to the National Trust gardens that we so often make a beeline for. These gardens always pique my interest and wonder at how the same plants can be put together to give such a different feel. I've plenty more posts to come from Helmingham Gardens, and I don't think there'll be a garden you won't enjoy. So if you're in the area, I can highly recommend a visit in person.