New observer, new style, new geography.
biking
Quarter of a turn
A quarter of a turn around Cambridge
My sense of the geography around Cambridge, where I’ve lived for decades, is confused. I’m finally getting the hang of it and want to be able to ride in a big circle around it without getting stuck on the boring A14. This trip is a couple of hours riding on a sunny saturday. The most exciting part was Caxton to Comberton,
Blast to Peterborough
The excuse for the trip was having to pick up a parcel from the ridiculously distant PDP depot. The high point of the trip was the handmade sponge cake and cuppa at exotic Sainsbury’s Peterborough, and narrowly avoiding being backed into by someone in the car park. The route back home via Whittlesea and Coates (where I bought my first bike) and March is not that good on reflection. But what a beatuiful day, the temperature heading to 28 degrees on the bike.
Riding North west of Cambridge
I wish I had a better idea of the geography around here. If I did I wouldn’t have spoilt an interesting ride by ending up on the A14.
A little discovery in Essex
After a bit of a gap I went on another observed ride in preparation for the IAM motorcycle test and on a rare sunny day. The starting point was the ever popular McDonald’s Sawston (I can’t understand why anyone would drive out there for a hamburger). About 50 miles of riding included dropping off at Hideout Leather, a successful company founded in the 1970s that specialises in made to measure leather jackets and suits for bikers ( I read a long article about Kate Jennings, the woman that founded the company but can’t find it). The showroom is at Ashdon, Essex, not far from Safron Waldon in the middle of nowhere (CB10 2LZ). As well as stocking a range of other high quality biking stuff, like Daytona boots, their own brand is impressive, just at a quick inspection its clearly really hard wearing leather and nicely put together. A nice retro number ( a little like this http://www.hideout-leather.co.uk/hideout-mens-leather-brando-jacket but with a belt) starts at £700, so not cheap but it would last a lifetime. Its tempting.
New Book from Ted Simon
I’ve been reading Ted’s second (I think) book Riding Home (sometimes I think its called Riding High oddly). I see he’s got a new book coming out, Rolling Through the Iles, about a journey he’s taken in Britain, ‘back down the old routes that led to Jupiter’s Travels’ says the front cover. Hmm, nothing like milking that first book.