The Quantock Hills, at last!

We finally managed to arrange the long discussed Quantock Hills ride last weekend. We all met up at my place in Bristol after work on Friday afternoon.

Once everyone got to my house it started to rain and then as I expected the light shower to pass, it then started to thunder and thunder hard! We must have been right under the thunderstorm in the local pub that we ate dinner at. There was lightning all around us and very heavy rain as well. We were sat under a sloped glass extension in the pub so could see the heavy rain pouring down the roof. It was quite amazing but didn't bode well for the weekend.

As it turned out the weather for the weekend couldn't have been sunnier or drier. Actually we probably would have like a little less sunshine as it was very sunny on Saturday and even sunnier on Sunday.

Along for the ride were Ben (Susan's flat mate), Wiki, Susan and James (work friend Becky's husband). Here they all are on Saturday morning outside our accommodation at The Hood Arms. Possibly the last time we were seen in one piece. :-o

The route started off with a gentle uphill ride along the main road from the hotel in Kilve to Holford where the actual Quantock route started.

We had a nice uphill climb of around 500ft in well-shaded forest. It was a good climb to start the ride off with as it warmed everyone up for the days riding.

There were quite a few people that we saw all day along the Quantock hills, something that surprised me. I guess there are a number of car parks at the edges of the hills which makes it quite accessible to lots of people.

Here's Wiki looking particularly cheerful around the top of the hills as Ben cycles off.

Wiki had a new compass that she wanted to try out on the day. We had quick practice before we set off from The Hood Arms. Immediately Wiki proclaimed that we should head right along the main road from the pub, obviously we needed to head left!

There was a very good, and also very steep and rocky descent into Smith's Combe. While we were struggling down the descent two extremely fast mountain bikers literally flew past us. They must have been barely touching the ground on their way down. Ben went down the route very quickly but these two other riders were something else. I guess if you have the courage you can just let yourself go and fly down the tracks. If you do make a mistake though I'm guessing it would be hospital time.

Wiki managed to get down this descent with only a few stops and she didn't even walk any of it, which made her particularly pleased. Unfortunately Susan did fall over when trying to stop when going down, but she wasn't seriously injured. I think the steepness of the slope meant that while she could stop herself, her bike wanted to continue down the hill with her in the way.

One of many steep climbs throughout the day. Unlike Wales where there are a few long and sometimes steep climbs on a days riding, the Quantocks was more of a case of shorter climbs but many more of them. Ben labeled me a hill-climbing demon as most of the time I was first up to the top of the hills, I blame my big thighs. At least everyone's smiling in this photo. :-)

After yet another climb we decided to stop for lunch in a shaded area before leaving the forest. The sun was particularly hot around lunchtime and only Susan had put on any suntan lotion. We all had bought some along, but none of us thought to bring any along for the ride, as it was quite overcast when we set off.

Here's Ben after another climb to some fantastic scenery of the north coast and Bridgewater Bay. Unfortunately we went the wrong way at this point and had to turn back down the hill for a bit.

Susan coming down a good gentle but steep decent. You can get an idea of the speed when coming down the descent in this movie. I remember when I was coming down this hill in front of Wiki. I stopped at one point just after negotiating some steps as the track got a lot steeper, and Wiki shouted at me to get a move on. So spurred on by Wiki's voice I just rode down the steep bits to the bottom. Then when Wiki got to the bit where I stopped, she stopped too and then realised why I had came to a halt for a minute.

Here some of us are at the very peak of one of the higher Quantock Hills. We were all very happy to have made it this far up to the peak.

A better idea of the terrain around the peak. Everyone else had made it up by this point.

An even better panoramic view from the peak.

I recall that at one point I was following Wiki and she ran into a muddy track, I tried to go left around her and my front wheel just dug into the mud when I was moving along. I ended up vaulting over my handlebars as my front wheel just stopped. As it turned out I flew along past the mud and landed on my hands and ended up lying chest down a few yards further ahead. Wiki and Ben said it looked like quite an impressive vault. It was a total reflex action on my part to end up laying on my front avoiding all the mud too!

On the way up what turned out to be the final and longest ascent Susan spotted a herd of deer on the right. Wiki and I completely missed the deer as we were busy cycling up the hill. I guess if you do walk up you might see a little more of the scenery.

Even Wiki and I gave up trying to cycle up to the very top of this hill. It was around 4pm by now and we were all starting to feel the affects of cycling all day. On the way down the hill we saw what was probably a group of beginners on a bike ride with a couple of tour guides. A couple of the beginners we carrying obvious injuries.

Around half way up the hill Wiki was saying that she really wanted a fizzy drink. Quite unusual for her as she doesn't normally drink fizzy drinks. We all put it down to exhaustion and heat stroke and had a good laugh over the subject. We were actually starting to run out of water at this point. Both Ben and I only had small amounts left in our camel packs and everyone else had run out by now.

I still had some energy at the top and while waiting for the others to get here I did my Capricorn One film end scene of running towards the camera while Wiki took some photos. I did feel a little odd at this point as my legs didn't feel tired at all, despite everyone else saying they were suffering a little. I put it down to my own delusions of grandeur.

Once we finally descended back into a valley we came across a relatively shallow ford. It appeared as if cycle tracks went into the river for around 50 yards. While everyone else decided to cycle around the river route to the right I really wanted to try cycling through the ford.

Once everyone else had got to the end of the ford I started across it. I did manage to get to the other side without stopping at all, which I was quite pleased about. However at the end of the ford there was a ten-inch lip that I had to put a foot into the ford to pull my bike up to the bank. I must admit about half way along the water I was slipping quite a bit on the algae covered rocks. I did wonder whether I would make it at that point.

Here's a shot looking back at the ford and path.

At Holford on the way back to the inn, we found a very nice and quite posh hotel. In our very muddy state we weren't allowed inside the hotel, but we were served drinks outside. James had some very tasty scones as well. He did eventually share out the last scone to the rest of us as he just couldn't manage any more. ;-)

Wiki even had her fizzy drink that she was craving.

We got back to The Hood Arms at around six and as well has a good shower all had a well-deserved drink. It must have been one of the best pints of Guinness in recent memory for me.

Dinner was in The Hood Arms as there wasn't much choice of anything else in Kilve. There is only one pub and one corner shop in the village. After dinner everyone else was quite tired so went to bed relatively early at 10.30. I was still up for at least one more drink, so Susan and I stayed up for another hour with a couple of drinks.

We managed to complete around two thirds of the actual killer loop that we were following. Including getting lost a few times we did 18 miles which is a good days cycling off road.


Sunday started with a drive down to the southern Quantock Hills. This area is mainly forested and it was a good idea to cycle here for half a day, as it was clear and sunny from sunrise.

We started at a car park, which was quite high up, so the first few miles were just quick wide tracked descents. Eventually we reached a small stream with an incomplete bridge. We all took turns crossing the steam. Everyone made it without putting a foot down in the stream, but it was very muddy on both sides of the stream.

Here's Susan's attempt.

We decided to just cycle around the forest tracks without following any map directions. Whoever was in the lead would just decide to follow whichever path looked most interesting to them.

We came across a single track which was quite muddy and grassy. It turned out to be a great track as it was slightly downhill as well as being technical. It came to a grassy junction where we stopped for a short break. It really felt as we were in the middle of nowhere in the forest at this point. A very calm and relaxed feeling.

At this point we were counting our injuries from the previous day. Can you guess who's knee this is with the big bruise? Fill in the opinion poll on the left of the blog to have a guess.

Here are the group after we finally decided to look at the map for some more sensible directions. I think Wiki had decided to stop testing her compass and map reading skills at this point.

On the way back to the cars we had to go over the same unbridged river as before, here's James crossing it.

And here's Ben making the crossing and also making it look much easier than the rest of us did.

A few more climbs later and we eventually reached the cars again. We then headed back to the inn for a shower and then back to Bristol. We only managed 8 miles this morning, but we were only out for three hours and most of the routes were wide-open tracks.

At Bristol we went to Wagamamas for a late lunch. James had to get back at this point, but the rest of us went for a brief shop and tour around Bristol.

I took everyone around parts of Clifton and down to the town centre. Here's a view of the old unused cranes by the Arnolfini.

And here we all are enjoying the lazy afternoon Sunday sunshine.

I had a fantastic weekend and would like to thank Susan, Wiki, Ben and James for coming along for the weekend and making it as much fun as it was. It was just as good as the Real Ale wobble, but in a very different way. The much warmer climate made it much more of a pleasant ride rather than the challenge that the wobble was.

If only every weekend could be as much fun! :-)

We're already planning our next trip, I've heard mentions of possibly a canadian boat river camp out and also a ride around either the Lake District or Peak District. I look forward to them both as I know I'll enjoy it with such great company on my adventures.

Car repairs, cycling, bomb sites and bluebells.

I'm having to make some minor repairs to my new car as it ages. After all it is just over two years old now. My S2000 was six years old and I never had any problems with it. However my Alfa isn't ageing as well. It has already had one of the windscreen squirters stop working and now some of the interior trim is coming away. The squirter was easily repaired by taking apart the tubing, but the interior trim is proving a little more difficult. Here's my temporary botch job to hold the trim in place for now, till I can get some better glue for it.

Of course I could take it to the local Alfa dealer to have it repaired under warranty, but I'd have to take a day off work for that and really don't want to unless I really can't repair it. As an object I do still like it, but as a reliable car it is testing me. :-)

Last Monday on the bank holiday I took the opportunity to cycle around Cheddar Gorge and the Mendips again. It was still quite muddy on the routes despite the recent spell of good weather. It's always nice to do a route twice, the first time to figure out where to go and the second time to try to do it with minimal stops.

You can just about make out my tracks here where I came to an abrupt stop in the mud and had to put my foot into the mud to avoid falling over.

I took a slight detour on the long rocky downhill section of the route and came across this interesting sign, which was directed at people entering the path that I had just come from!

Last Thursday Susan and I went out on a really nice ride around Russells Water, a small village near the work office. There is a small nature reserve there and as a result some really nice tracks to ride.

Here we are at the village with our two cars parked up.

Around the nature reserve there were plenty of bluebells in the forests. They looked like a blue mist over the undergrowth and smelt fantastic.

It was a really pleasant ride and we discovered some unexpected nice tracks. All preparation for the Quantock Hills that we're about to ride this weekend.

More on this ride to come...

Parents leaving and the work allotment.

Just over a week ago my folks had to go back to Hong Kong. It's difficult to believe that they had been over here for five weeks already.

On their last night here my mum made one of my favourite meals. Lobster with ginger, spring onions and noodles. It was a great meal and everyone enjoyed it.

In this photo you can see Aran, Eric (a friend of my parents who used to run the 'other' take away business in Alton) and Nanette (Aran's mum).

Here's Elise showing me her tiger mask that she made at school with a friend. It was very impressive.

It was very sad to have to say goodbye to my parents. I'm not sure when I'll get to see them next, possibly much later on this year, or more likely sometime next year.

At work we have been given some space on the manor house grounds for an allotment. Claire, Richard Bridge and Simon have been working on it the most, with occasional contributions from other people within the company.

It's coming along quite well and some of the vegetables really are growing. The proof will be in the tasting, but it should be good to get some produce from it.

Here's Emily, Richard Bridge and Richard Body around the pond, which has some frogspawn!

This is Susan and Ian, and you can see the vegetables in the background. The rhubarb is on the right. Actually quite a few more vegetables can be seen now that the sun has finally come out.

Weston Super Mud and More Babies.

Last Wednesday we all went to Weston Super Mare to the beach. The weather was still good and it would be great for the kids to have a day at the beach.

The tide was very low once we got there, and the beach is very shallow. Not quite the white sandy beaches of Sydney but as good as it gets in the South West of England.

Aimee and Elise both had a donkey ride on the beach. Elise's donkey even managed a quick trot at the end as well. We all had a good time by the beach and even had fish and chips for lunch too. We did find a really nice restaurant where the food looked great but unfortunately it was fully packed, so we had to go to the place across the road. The food here wasn't so great, even Elise mentioned that the restaurant across the road looked much better.

Last weekend I took the chance to catch up with my friends up north. I went to see Anne, Dave and their daughter Jennifer on Friday night in Manchester. Here's Jen studying Dave's position in a game of ASL that we were playing.

On Saturday I went further north to Preston to see Claire, Jeff and their new arrival Bethany. She was only four weeks old when I saw her. Here she is in my arms, probably wondering whom this strange guy was holding her very tentatively.

A Couple of Snakes...

Here are a couple more photos that were taken by my sister from the Longleat Safari day.

This is Elise holding a real live python snake. It was very brave of her to hold the snake! There was also a big tarantula that you could hold as well. I chickened out of that one.

There was a place that also contained absolutely loads of snakes. I was being very brave to enter the snake pit and play with them, despite taking a few bites.

Safari Time!

My parents, sister and two nieces are visiting me for a few days in Bristol. It does mean that I have a very full house but it makes a welcome change for a while.

Here the two worst offenders are in my house, one distracting me while the other stuffs 'surprises' down the side of the sofa for me to find later on.

The little terrors are taking over my house, leaving a mess wherever they go. It's even worse at dinnertime when all the rice that doesn't make it into their mouth goes on the floor. I think I'll be cleaning up after them in the weeks to come.

They're taking over my car too!
No doubt putting dirty shoes on the seats and half chewed sweets under the seats.

We went to Longleat Safari park on Tuesday. I was wise enough not to visit the monkey enclosure. Even without a car aerial there's still plenty of room for them to scratch the car and take bites out of it.

A very strangely named Bongo! I thought Elise was making it up initially but they are called that.

A close up of one of the cool rhinos that they had in the park.

There were also some deer in the park which if you wanted to you could buy a cup of food for them to feed from your car. You can see one of the deer making a secret drugs score in the background.

When we got to the tigers and lions they were all lying down. It was quite warm in the midday sun so they all looked like they were playing dead. A word of advice, unless you have air con in your car don't visit the park in a warm summer.

Overall I wouldn't really rate it as an experience to remember. It was quite expensive per person and didn't feel right to see the animals from inside your car. I'm sure it must have been a good revolutionary idea to see animals in their natural habitat (the UK!) from your car. I think visiting a large zoo is much better really.

More Llanwrtyd Wells Biking.

Last weekend I went to Llanwrtyd Wells with Leslie and Steve to get in a couple of days mountain biking. We set off on Friday night to make sure that we got a full days cycling on Saturday. We planned to stay at the Neuadd Arms which is right in the very centre of Llanwrtyd Wells.

I was quite pleased to be able to fit all three bikes and three people with luggage into my car. It was a tight squeeze but it all did fit, even if I couldn't see out the back of my car.

On Saturday morning we set off at around 10 am on the Esgair Dafydd off-road circuit route, which started and finished in Llanwrtyd Wells and according to the guide should only take 3-4 hours and go for 26km. With Leslie and Steve being beginner bikers and also my ability to get lost I figured it would take the better part of six to seven hours, i.e. a full day to complete.

Initially there was a very steep climb up some rocky single track, which was quickly followed by a tricky descent over a similar rocky track. Then we encountered the first of three fords, which we would have to cross during the day.

I went first and as I cycled across the ford my bike started to get deeper and deeper into the water till I could cycle no more and half my bike was in the water! I had to put a foot down and dismount from my bike to walk the rest of the way.

Leslie and Steve didn't do much better, unfortunately Leslie put more than a foot in the river as well.

After this we had some great downhill single track, which was a little muddy as well and slippery on the grass too. In fact most of the ride all day was quite muddy and wet thanks to plenty of short showers throughout the day.

Next we had a fantastic (for me) 2km climb up the side of a hill. I started out cycling up to see how far I could get, but at about 3/4 of the way up I decided not to stop and continue till I got to the top. I was very pleased to be able to make it to the top without stopping, however it was quite a level stone track and none of it very steep either. It probably took me around twenty minutes to get to the top.

Leslie and Steve however took a little longer as they had to walk up most of the track. Once we got to the top there was an immediate rapid descent down the other side which was just as much fun!

Once we got to the bottom there was a great view in between the hills. We all had to stop to admire the view and marvel at the fact that we couldn't hear anything else but each other and the sounds of birds, sheep and the stream that we followed.

We eventually had to cross another ford of which neither of us was successful in crossing without putting a foot down.

By this time it was getting close to lunch and we saw an abandoned farm by the river. The farm was on the other side of the river, there was a narrow bridge that we could have walked over or there was another ford to try to cross as well! Leslie went first and put the usual foot down, then I went and you can see my effort here:

Steve decided not to get wet feet again and walked across the bridge instead. Of course the only reason he did this was to protect my camera from the water.

We decided to stop here for lunch. It did hail a little bit while we were sheltered under some trees and eating our packed lunches! Lucky for us that we arranged packed lunches or we would have to rely on my hunting skills and would end up with cold nettle soup.

After lunch we did manage to get a little lost, as the directions weren't very clear. We had to cycle down a very steep rocky track and then realise we couldn't cross the river and cycle, read walk back up the steep track.

Eventually we found the correct path again after asking for some directions from a local farmer with a home counties accent. Are there any welsh farmers out here?

Now we had another long steady climb up to the top of another hill. Although this climb wasn't as high as the first one it did feel worse as we were all a little tired.

The effort was worth it though as there were some fantastic views from the top.

Here's Steve sitting down near the top of the hill where we decided to stop for a water break.

You can get an idea of how steep the drop was by the trees on the side, which were pointing directly upwards.

We stopped here for a while to admire the view and we also saw a red kite flying around the trees as well.

We were all agreed that even though our legs ached from either walking for cycling up here, the view was fantastic and worth the effort.





Here you can see the view directly down the steep hill onto the river that we were mostly following.

The hill kept going up and up around each bend. At one point you could see what you thought was the top of the hill till you came around the bend only to find out that the hill went even further up. I still felt quite energetic by the time we reached the top of the hill but Steve and Leslie were flagging a little bit.

Eventually we ended up climbing to the top of Esgair Dafydd forest at around 500m from sea level according to my OS map.

Here I am near the top of the hill enjoying a break while waiting for Leslie to catch up.

We all finally made it to the top and then came down the other side of the hill.

It was an exhilarating descent down the other side. Probably about a 1km descent zig zagging down a wide track. I got up to some hairy speeds but enjoyed it all and had a big smile on my face by the time we reached the main road at the bottom.

Finally there was a 4km ride back on tarmac roads, we all got to ride even faster because of the smooth downhill surface. Everyone enjoyed the days riding despite some tired legs.

Sunday's cycle started a little later and unfortunately staying in bed got the better of Leslie so she didn’t come out.

Steve did make it out with me though. We decided to do half a days riding today so we could get back home in plenty of time.

We only did a short blue run near the bike lodge from the Real Ale Wobble. I knew the run as I had done it before the last time I was here. Initially there was a 6 mile cycle along tarmac to the cycling lodge.

Then there was another great ascent up the hill to the top. I didn't think that I was going to ride it all because legs felt a little tired, but ended up doing it all anyhow. I always 'lie' to myself when trying to do something that will really push me. I tell myself that once I'm around the next bend I'll stop. Then once I get there I convince myself to go around the next bend and so on, till I reach the top! A little crazy I know, but it works for me.

Once we were at the top we had a fun descent down the side of the hill on a very muddy and watery single track though the forest trees. We both ended up covered in mud but with big smiles on our faces.

Here's Steve coming down the track slippering and sliding on the mud:

I had yet another great weekend cycling out in Llanwrtyd Wells. I'd love to take some more of my friends out there and sample some more of the routes over the summer.

Biking, Eyes, Birthdays and Snow!

I went down to my sister's place in Farnham last weekend. It was my dad's 65th birthday on Friday so we planned a trip to London for the entire family.

On Saturday morning I had a quick ride around Caesar's Camp near to where my sister lives. I hadn't done much exercise for the past ten days because of illness so I was eager to get out on my bike again.

Here's the view from the top of a hill at Caesar's Camp. It was very quiet because it was early Saturday morning and I only saw a few dog walkers around the place.

Because the place is only a few miles from Helen's house I decided to cycle there and back as well.

For some reason there were some cows at the army training camp as well and as usual they were in the way of my cycling path! You can get a good idea of most of the terrain around the camp from this picture as well. While it's not an ideal off roading site it is certainly better than nothing.

Unfortunately on my way back from the camp I fell off my bike again! I was waiting at some traffic lights to turn left and I didn't realise that I had a front puncture from some glass on the road. As I pushed off to turn left the front wheel just slid from under me as the metal rim made contact with the tarmac. I bruised and grazed my left knee quite badly from falling on the road but other than that only my pride was damaged. The poor woman behind me in her car looked quite shocked at my fall, but I smiled and waved at her to say that I was ok.

It was quite typical for me to survive the off roading without any problems and then fall over on the simple bit on the way back home.

Later on in the day we caught the train to London for a spot of Chinese lunch and to take a trip on the London Eye at 3pm.

The train trip into Waterloo station was a nightmare as the usual 40 minute ride ended up taking around three hours! At first there were some engineering works which meant we had to take an alternative route into London and then there was a fire on some signals which caused all trains into Waterloo station to be cancelled.

At one point we were all packed like sardines on a train for about 90 minutes. What made it worse was my bad cough. At least most people on the train were quite friendly and also very understanding.

We finally made it into London and didn't miss our allotted time for the London Eye. I remember coming here when it first opened and came to the conclusion that it was ok but probably not worth the £14. I came to the same conclusion again today!

At least this time it was during the day so I could see more of London but all the same for a thirty minute ride it wasn't that great.

Even my nieces Aimee and Elise didn't think it was that great. What didn't help was that just as we got off the Eye it started to rain quite heavily so we had to run for shelter and decided to head back to the underground instead of hanging around outside around the Eye.

For the rest of the afternoon we visited a great Italian ice-cream parlour which serves ice-cream in the shape of Italian food. You could get pizza or spaghetti shaped ice-cream which even tasted great.

Elise ordered some spaghetti ice-cream while I stuck to some mint choc chip which had way too much cream for my tastes. I even had a banana milk shake to complement my gluttony.

After this we went for some shopping around Covent Garden. I had planned to look for some new shoes, but just ended up with a couple of new tops from Muji and Icebreaker.

In the evening we had a great Chinese meal in China Town. While the main courses weren't that great the two starters of roast duck and lobster more than made up for it.

On Sunday morning it snowed quite heavily for a couple of hours. Most of it settled as well and we had a great time playing out in the snow while it lasted.

Elise couldn't wait to get out in the snow with all her skiing clothes on.

Even my mum and dad joined in the fun. Here you can see my Dad, Aimee, Elise and my mum in my sister's back garden. You would never think that this photo was taken in the start of April rather than the middle of winter.

We had a funny snowball fight as well around the back garden. At one point my dad was chasing and being chased by Aimee and Elise trying to throw snow at each other.

I helped Aimee and Elise build a snowman in the back garden. Even with both the girls trying to sabotage the snowman by passing a large branch through its middle for arms and also knocking half its head off in an effort to shape the head. It was one of the best snowmen that I've ever built. With the help of Helen it had all the trimmings as well.

At one point the carrot nose of the snowman fell off and Elise innocently put it back on the snowman's waist!

Surprisingly enough most of the snow had melted by lunch time, mainly because it was April and the daytime temperatures were quite high in the sun.

As you can see Aimee was quite taken by the snowman!