The evolution of today's plans:
i) Rest day off the bike (fairly big day yesterday, school tomorrow)
ii) Maybe I'll just pop into town on the Routier for some lunch
iii) It's near closing time - might as well do Waitrose first to check for bargains then on to some dinner
The reality:
- Waitrose for no bargains
- Park via Port Meadow and Yarnton for some dead hangs and made-up yoga
- Back into town and generally all over the place passing out from, then back into the city on a few occasions
- Got to the dinner venue exactly as it closed
- Home via a sweep of the Co-op reductions section, with no joy.
Seems supermarket bargains are thin on the ground at weekends as they've already been picked bare, so I'll stick to weekday trawls in future.
I eventually headed out through Marston and stopped to inspect some freebies outside one of the houses; which turned out to be one I'd lived in 20-odd years ago as a student
Onward to Headington and eventually Shotover which was really nice (until it wasn't) - lush and green with a nice view over the adjacent hills. I made use of the lowest gears of the Fuji's glrious triple to make it first up the 6-7% of Headington Hill, then later the 9ish percent of Shotover whilst deliberately keeping my HR as low as possible; managing about 60 and 70% of max on each respectively which I thought was pretty good
I followed the path all the way up the hill to the park at the top, then down the other side towards Wheatley before darting off down a wide bridleway lined with enormous trees - welcoming the eventual smooth tarmac at the bottom. What weren't welcome were the substantial, closed spike-topped gates at the end of said tarmac that separated me from the real world; along with the total lack of signage to that point to suggest that there was no public right of way at that point..
After a minute or two of mulling my options (back up the hill really didn't appeal) the bike was slung over the point of least resistance before I hauled myself up onto the large, flat and thankfully spike-free top of the control box for the gates then hopped down the other side.
Onward through Wheatley and back into the city via Horspath, passing the Mini plant with a tweak of nostalgia; with what I assume were the offices / drawing rooms evoking thoughts of the huge part they'd played in the history of the British motor industry / political landscape (and some of the deliciously atrocious vehicles the site had been responsible for forcing upon the world).
Eventually home and a large chicken salad has been consumed in the wake of around 34 miles and 800ft of climbing (yeah, still not a lot but more than usual!) at a leisurely 10.7mph and 55-ish percent of max HR.
While any time in the saddle has to be welcomed - especially now I'm actively trying to force my body to burn off as much of my ample fat reserves as possible - I do feel a bit guilty for this one as I'd earmarked today to do plenty of little jobs and of course the ride was an easy sell in the face of the alternative.. however failures of this nature are nothing new and it's got to be better than sitting inside achieving nowt through distraction and indecision
I'd better get a decent night's kip; otherwise I'll be even more useless than usual at work tomorrw...
i) Rest day off the bike (fairly big day yesterday, school tomorrow)
ii) Maybe I'll just pop into town on the Routier for some lunch
iii) It's near closing time - might as well do Waitrose first to check for bargains then on to some dinner
The reality:
- Waitrose for no bargains
- Park via Port Meadow and Yarnton for some dead hangs and made-up yoga
- Back into town and generally all over the place passing out from, then back into the city on a few occasions
- Got to the dinner venue exactly as it closed
- Home via a sweep of the Co-op reductions section, with no joy.
Seems supermarket bargains are thin on the ground at weekends as they've already been picked bare, so I'll stick to weekday trawls in future.
I eventually headed out through Marston and stopped to inspect some freebies outside one of the houses; which turned out to be one I'd lived in 20-odd years ago as a student
Onward to Headington and eventually Shotover which was really nice (until it wasn't) - lush and green with a nice view over the adjacent hills. I made use of the lowest gears of the Fuji's glrious triple to make it first up the 6-7% of Headington Hill, then later the 9ish percent of Shotover whilst deliberately keeping my HR as low as possible; managing about 60 and 70% of max on each respectively which I thought was pretty good
I followed the path all the way up the hill to the park at the top, then down the other side towards Wheatley before darting off down a wide bridleway lined with enormous trees - welcoming the eventual smooth tarmac at the bottom. What weren't welcome were the substantial, closed spike-topped gates at the end of said tarmac that separated me from the real world; along with the total lack of signage to that point to suggest that there was no public right of way at that point..
After a minute or two of mulling my options (back up the hill really didn't appeal) the bike was slung over the point of least resistance before I hauled myself up onto the large, flat and thankfully spike-free top of the control box for the gates then hopped down the other side.
Onward through Wheatley and back into the city via Horspath, passing the Mini plant with a tweak of nostalgia; with what I assume were the offices / drawing rooms evoking thoughts of the huge part they'd played in the history of the British motor industry / political landscape (and some of the deliciously atrocious vehicles the site had been responsible for forcing upon the world).
Eventually home and a large chicken salad has been consumed in the wake of around 34 miles and 800ft of climbing (yeah, still not a lot but more than usual!) at a leisurely 10.7mph and 55-ish percent of max HR.
While any time in the saddle has to be welcomed - especially now I'm actively trying to force my body to burn off as much of my ample fat reserves as possible - I do feel a bit guilty for this one as I'd earmarked today to do plenty of little jobs and of course the ride was an easy sell in the face of the alternative.. however failures of this nature are nothing new and it's got to be better than sitting inside achieving nowt through distraction and indecision
I'd better get a decent night's kip; otherwise I'll be even more useless than usual at work tomorrw...
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) Unfortunately, between my ride and the proposed walk, heavy rain over Dartmoor caused a landslide which blocked the railway line. Anyway, it looks very nice up there so hopefully we will do the walk on my next visit later in the summer.
