Let it snow, let it snow, but not in Bath.

A couple of weeks ago it snowed quite heavily for the best part of a week. As you can imagine the country ground to a halt and most people became very lazy and took a couple of days off work. I couldn't believe the number of people who suddenly couldn't get into work without even trying. Maybe it's just me...

Here's the snow from my office window at home in the early hours before I set off for the gym.

Fortunately for me I could easily work from home and cycle/walk to wherever I really needed to go. For me it was business as usual and the only disruption to my week was an extra day working from home and not being able to cycle to the gym.

I did take the opportunity to build a snowman in my back garden. I'm quite proud of my effort and it was great fun to play in the snow.


The following weekend after the snowfall Debbie and I took a day trip to Bath to see the sights. I'd been to Bath many times before but never as a tourist. Most of the time it was to see someone or to do some shopping.

We took the train out on Saturday morning from Bristol Parkway station. The tickets were quite cheap and because we did some online research we got some half price vouchers for the tourist exhibits that we wanted to see.

Here's Bath Abbey. I'd walked past it many times but never thought to stop and take the time to see inside it.

We started off visiting the abbey and then wandered around the town looking at the sights and sounds of Bath. We were surprised to find that all the snow had melted in Bath, despite the surrounding area still being quite white.

A statue just outside the abbey on the way to the abbey crypts.

We also went to see the Roman Bath Spa. This would have been quite an expensive place to see, given that each ticket was £12.00! Fortunately our vouchers gave us a two for one offer.

Even though the actual space of the Baths is very small the owners had done quite well to make a visit to them last quite a while. It took us a good hour or so to walk around the place, and we could have taken much longer if we stopped at every exhibit.

We had audio guides, which talked your way around all the interesting things to see at the Spa. The tour took you around several levels in the Spa and there were quite a few scale models showing what the place would have looked like in Roman times.

The main courtyard of the Roman Baths. You can see the steam coming off the very warm water.

It was quite impressive to see the hot spring water bubbling up from the ground and I could quite easily see how the Romans would have thought that it had magical healing properties. It would have been quite refreshing to take a dip in the spa despite the cold outside temperatures.

Debbie overlooking the source of the Spa water.

A great day out in Bath wouldn't be complete without a couple of pints of Guinness. So after stopping at a local pub we took the train back to Bristol.

We had a good time in Bath and I had a very different perspective of the place from before. It's amazing what you can find on your doorstep. After living in Bristol for over twelve years it made a refreshing change to see a place from a tourist point of view.

Mountain Biking at Superbowl XLIII

Still having problems uploading video to my web blog. Will have to look into another way of showing video.

A couple of weeks ago I took a couple of days off work for a long weekend. It was Superbowl 43 on Sunday night and as is traditional with my university friends we get together for beer, food, games and to watch the Superbowl. We normally alternate between each of our houses for the venue, as we tend to turn the house into a gaming mess. This year we were at Dave's place in Manchester, and his wife and daughter went to visit his in-laws place.

On Saturday morning Dave and I went for a mountain bike ride out in the Peak District. I chose a route around Chinley Head just west of the Peaks from a mountain biking guide that I had.

Here we are at the start just before setting off.

While it didn't rain that morning it was incredibly windy out on the Peaks. We managed to get a little lost several times trying to find our way along the bridle paths.

The hill doesn't look very steep, but believe me it was quite steep.

Here's a video of Dave trying to climb up the bridle path. It looks very silly but he is trying to cycle up a steep incline.

[Dave cycling video]

It was just so windy out there that we were being blown all over the place. We even had to cycle a bit to be able to move downhill if the wind was against us. If you weren't careful then you could have been easily blown aside while cycling along.

The sheep had the best idea and huddled together in the shelter of the walls.

Here we are just before a nice drop. Just before the drop we were quite sheltered from the wind, but as soon as you came over the hill the wind hit you full in the face and it was difficult to stand up.

[Video of the wind]

Dave braving the windy weather to get a photo.

In the second half of the route we were on the other side of the hill and in the shade of the wind. Since the sun was out and we were sheltered from the wind, it felt quite warm for once.

I was very pleased to be able to complete the fifteen miles without any problems with my back. After a full week of exercise I didn't have any problems cycling around and felt very good. I really can't wait for more rides later on in the year.

My muddy bike after the ride. :0)

The rest of the weekend was taken up playing games, computer and board and drinking too much beer. We hooked up two xbox 360's for some multi-player Halo 3 games. In the end we ended up playing more co-operative games rather than against each other. It was probably more satisfying for the non-Halo players as they weren't cannon fodder for Dave and I.

Phil, Dave and Jase tucking in to our Superbowl meal of wings, ribs and potato wedges. I'm very glad that I got some exercise to work off the weekend's food excess.

Another great Superbowl weekend for the four of us. I think Dave won the most games out of everything that we played.

On Sunday night after the Superbowl I went back to Debbie's place to spend the night there. While it was quite cold at Dave's place in Southern Manchester, once I neared Debbie's place in East Manchester it was snowing quite hard.

Road, wot road?

For the last few miles of the journey I could hardly see the road! Fortunately I knew the route quite well and knew where the road went. This was to be the start of a week of heavy snow for the UK.

My car outside of Debbie's place, Debbie's snow covered Micra is just behind my car.