The bike left the shed !

Road tested the new saddle today ! Yeay, it worked a treat, really springy and sort of comfy too, for a few miles at least. And the bar extension things too, they're great for going up hills and for getting a different riding position from time to time. Oh and the bike computer too, that was interesting, not only does it give your speed, but also average speed, trip distance, total distance, some other stuff I dont understand and even the temperature ! I couldn't stop looking at it. My average speed was 9.8 mph which I recon is pretty good, I could cover a good few miles in a day at that speed. Going up steep hills I was going about 4-6mph and down hill about 20-25 mph ? All in all a good road trial was had from a not so gruelling distance of 12.8 miles ! Ok ok , but it's a start ! I dont leave for a couple of weeks at least ! I cycled down to the boatyard at Gweek, a lovely place, boats everywhere, and gossip too, I stood and chewed the cud for a while with Grumpy John, Jelly John and Jonny two shoes ... There's loads of Johns down there, a yard of boats being worked on, layed up, loved or forgotten and homes too to the pretty eclectic bunch who live there. We talked of France, cycling, women and boats... Women and boats are staple gossip topics, but France and cycling were the big news subjects. Jonny two shoes sold me a "bar bag" at huge expense, reckoned he paid nearly 70 quid for it and I was getting a bargain ? Anyway it will be very handy for my passport and camera and money, that sort of thing ? And it unclips really easily and becomes a kind of man bag ! Practical anyway .... "Eat loads", I was advised by Jonny, he's cycled to Sweden and probably across France too already and knows all about long distance touring. Yes, eat loads he said, cakes, chocolate, stuff like that, lots of carbohydrates. I'd not even considered that sort of thing ! Like a lamb to the slaughter .... It was a good place to stop off for a natter though and catch up on who's sunk, sinking, sailing or pregnant !

Then headed home, new bar bag mounted and wobbled off down Gweek drive, a beautiful road between steep lush woodland... Thinking to myself, this really is a great way to get about. It's got all the benefits of walking, but much faster and much more fun when going down hill ! Cars were really bugging me though, noisy and passing far too close ... Look out, after 900 miles I could become a right ole tree hugger !

Albeit only about 12 miles but it's a start for somebody who really wasn't too keen on push bikes before the mad plan was hatched !?