Bubble in the desert

A blog I started whilst on a GE "Bubble" assignment in Nevada. I'm back in Cambridge (UK) now but still miss the desert and my friends out there.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Cycled home from Dad and Tineke's place in Elstree - 60 miles or so

I cycled from Dad and Tineke's in Elstree back to my house today, I think it was about 60 miles. You can see the route I took on Google if you hit the 'Get Directions' button when you click on the previous link. Well, it's close to the route I took. At one point I missed a turn and ended up on the A10 going north. I didn't like it much so I took a bridleway across some fields back to the place I originally hoped to head towards. It was a bit rough but not too bad.

It was a little cold and damp today and even rained a little but it was still a real treat to head off across country roads, just one lane wide most often. I saw lots of pheasants and even turned one corner to be confronted by a huge blue peacock. I cycled on my mountain bike and although it has road tyres is not ideal for long distances. The hills were quite tough though were much much easier than I was used to in Nevada. I can't have gone more than 200ft up any particular hill whereas a Kingsbury - Luther loop would start with a 3,000ft climb!

I was staggered that I could ride on country roads from the north east of london all the way to cambridge with very little traffic on most of the roads. I wonder why more people don't cycle around on such beautiful routes. One reason is perhaps the difficulties in navigating. Many times the signage was non-existent or deliberately misleading. 'Why?' you might ask. Well, I think the signs are designed to lead traffic away from quiet roads. I cycled about 8 miles away from Boreham Wood and came upon a sign at a T-Junction pointing right to Boreham Wood. At another time I saw signs pointing both left and right to the same village! Other times there were no signs. And at others there were places I was in thst were not on my map. Needless to say I spent a lot of time stopped just looking at the map and my route rarely worked out as I planned.

I left at 11.30, took a break at 15:15 and finally got home by 18:30. It was pitch dark by 17:00 and the last bit of the journey was not much fun but people gave me loads of room on the whole. My super-dooper front light failed after about 20 minutes. I guess the lead acid battery has deteriorated through lack of use.

It was nice to cycle through Hertingford Bury and have the chance to visit my Gran and Grandad's grave.

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